From Software Dev to Caregiving CEO: Kreisler Ng on Purpose Over Profit

[0:16]  Welcome back to another episode here on the Heart and Hustle Podcast. Our next guest says to me, "I used to think comfort was the goal. Then I was laid off caring for my dying mother-in-law and changing diapers in my living room. That's when I realized this is what I'm supposed to be doing. So, listen. Tell us a story. Is it Kriler?

[0:35]  Chrysler like the car.

[0:37]  Chrysler. See, I was going to say it right, but I had to butcher it cuz we were talking about names the whole time.

[0:42]  I get it a lot. I was good.

[0:46]  Um, so talk to me, man. Like this. You spent 20 plus years, I'm not mistaken, in software and development.

[0:53]  Yes.

[0:54]  Life was lifing. uh you had a huge change within the last year and a half of your of of what you were doing that got you very uncomfortable and and you called yourself a corporate slave actually for 20 years. What was that exact moment that shook you out of that comfort?

[1:10]  Yeah. I mean like I like you said Ephra I I just I did 20 years corporate. I knew what I was doing. I was comfortable doing it. Um it was safe. I I'm I'm a probably maybe a risk averse person, you know. uh all I knew um it paid well, right? It kept the bills paid the bills. Um but yeah, and then in in um in during COVID, you know, when I met my mother-in-law, let let me take it back a little bit. Uh that was probably now eight or nine years ago. Um she was already homebound, so she was sick. She couldn't leave the house. That's essentially what it means, right? Healthwise, she just was always in pain. Um and so she had a private caregiver with her um at all times. Uh my wife and I live more than 30 minutes away. Um and then COVID hit. You can imagine that crazy time. Everyone, you know, there's a lot of trauma there, right? I won't open it up too much. Uh but her caregiver gave us 24-hour notice and said, "I'm quitting. I'm leaving. You guys figured it out yourself how you take care of your mom, right?" And remember, this is a woman who's late 60s, can't leave the house, needs a lot of help. Uh and so my wife and I figured out we we took care of her. Um and and we became her caregiver for for about 2 and a half years, 3 years before she passed in the home. Um but one of the things she always when I met her, she didn't like what I did was she's a person of high faith. Really believes people should help people and and the world. Um she felt what I did building software, I mean to help people, but in not in her way, you know what I mean, of really legitimately helping someone, right, in in their lives. Uh, and so she always reminded me every month like I don't like what my son-in-law does. You know, I get it pays, but if you could make a living helping others, that would be best. I would like that. Um, so she passed away. We just actually celebrated, I'm looking at the calendar, maybe two weeks ago, three years. Uh, she passed away abruptly in the home. Uh, and then a few months later, I got laid off from my corporate job, you know, doing 20 years. And, um, that hit me that hit me hard. Uh and and really I thought about her words about you know how to live a purposeful life, how to help others. Um and initially I thought I was going to go back to corporate. That's all I know. Remember comfort.

[3:29]  Uh and then but what I ended up thinking was you know how I became her her caregiver the last three years of her life. Uh and so that's where I started a home care agency called Ride at Home um here in Long Beach, California. uh really helping others in the home.

[3:45]  Wow.

[3:45]  Just like my mother-in-law. Yeah.

[3:47]  What what was some of the you know,

[3:51]  you were forced out. Some people wouldn't have taken the risk before, right? So the the the the emotions are probably even a little bit more scarier. Like what is what is next, right? What why why me? You're probably asking yourselves all these things like the why me? What's next? All this. you you really had to survive that that whiplash. One week you're in software, the next week you're you're giving hands-on care. You're you're learning like those moments that you were helping your mother-in-law. You were truly learning for what was next in your journey. You didn't even know was happening. A lot of times we're in these spaces where is the unknown. You talked about being comfortable. Life was challenging you to be uncomfortable. You didn't even know it. And now more uncomfortable than ever. What are your feelings like today, man? What are you still feeling nervous? Are you excited? Like what are those feelings today?

[4:40]  Yeah. I I mean I've been open for about a little over a year now, right? The home care agency. And and to your point, you know, I have my day just like anyone else where I think what am I doing? You know, like I'm I'm learning. I'm helping. It's meaningful. Uh I think someone told me, "Hey, look, it uh purpose doesn't keep the bills, you know, keep the lights on, too, right? You still need to be able to sustain yourself and the business and your caregivers and your staff and all that stuff." Um so you know I have my moments of frustrations and nervousness of learning new things, learning the business, um learning the health care system. remember I was in corporate this is completely different very local business right like very hey

[5:21]  15 square miles this is kind of my area right that I operate in um learning sales and marketing you know those are all things that I'm learning by and and keeping myself uncomfortable right like even even this podcast when you invited me I I don't do this often uh but I I do you know you talked about your mission and sharing the stories of others and really helping others and I was like oh this this is it's not about me. It's not about my ego, about my nervousness. It's about sharing my story so I can help others uh as well. So, um yeah,

[5:54]  and there's so many people, man, that want to be entrepreneurs

[5:57]  until they realize what entrepreneurship actually takes. And I and you actually I remember you kind of in awe as I told you my story like, wow.

[6:05]  Yes. Yes.

[6:06]  You've been having the hustle.

[6:07]  I'm just getting started and just getting started respectfully. So, right. You you're over a year in. you're, you know, loving it. There's still a smile on your face. Clearly, you're enjoying it.

[6:19]  What What are some of the things that you've learned from entrepreneurship that can't be taught? A lot of people I I think that when we talk about entrepreneurship, you only learn it by doing it. No one can teach you this. No one can comp one can prepare you for this. There's a lot of people that want to do what you want to do, man. They want to open up this at home care center. They want to get into this space of giving back. Um, they're just at they're just very nervous. They're scared. any words of encouragement for those people?

[6:48]  Okay, first of all, just accepting you're never going to be ready. Like I I think other people told me that, right? But I'm like, "No, no, I think I'm ready. I I you know, mentally, financially, I think I'm ready, but when you're in it,

[7:02]  it's very different." And and there's never a a perfect time. Cuz that's you know, what people always say, right? Like I was forced into it, like you said, your friend, but I there's never a perfect time. you just you just kind of commit, right? Obviously, you have responsibilities. You want to honor those responsibilities as a person. Um but you're like just jump in, you know, that that's that's what I did. Uh and and you'll figure it out cuz everyone from what I can tell does, right? Whatever how it looks. Um and and I think just keeping I I think I spoke of an entrepreneur friend who's been doing it for 20 years, right, when he first came out of college and he's been kind of coaching me through things. Um, and he said, "It's it's hard, right?" I'm like, "Yeah, it's hard, you know." And he said, "Well, you know what? You're showing up every day with your hard hat. Just show up every day." That's it. Just show up every day. He said

[7:53]  he should just show up every day and and you're that's what it is, right? And and and that's how I see it. And and I think

[8:00]  um yeah, and I think that's a lot of success, right? Is show up every day. It's not being quote unquote smarter than the other person or anything like that. Uh, it's just putting yourself out there and putting the effort in every day, even no matter how hard it is.

[8:15]  Anytime that someone askes ask me the question like, "How do you do it?"

[8:19]  I say you got to stay consistent. Like, consistency wins. Like, there's going to be times you want to give up. If you don't think that,

[8:28]  we just kind of had a story, you know, prior that hopping on here. There's been many a times of those moments where I asked myself, why don't I just go to a nineto-5 where I can just clock in and clock out and have to not worry about it. But there's also a time in my life where I said, why am I stressing over somebody else's problems when I can stress over my own? And in reality, you're stressing over your own problems. You can control every everything, right? And and maybe not right now the way you want to. You have to play every single

[8:58]  part of your business. Wear multiple different hats. But what happens is that when you get someone now on board that you actually have an idea of what marketing looks like that you have an idea of what you know a leader looks like and what this person should be doing. So now you have an expectation. If you can't do it as good as me or better then it's a win. If you can't do it better than me and I don't even know this world then you're not part of the team, right? Like that's just what it looks like man. So it is it is very you're learning so much man and it is fun. It's fun and it's challenging and there's times you want to give up and there's times like you're asking probably yourself like why did I even do this? Why who told me to do this?

[9:37]  I think I asked you that too, right? Like you said you've been hustling for for 20 years and I'm like I just I just started. I'm learning you know and and and I'm used to you know like anyone thinking I'm used to that every two week paycheck and I and I've had to adjust right like as someone says you're you're paying to go to work right now. I'm like, "Yep, I'm paying to go to work right now cuz I believe in that long-term vision." So,

[10:01]  yeah. Listen, it's been three years. What what what do you hope she'd say if she saw you and what you built now? Your mother-in-law.

[10:10]  Oh, that's a that's a really good question, man. Um,

[10:17]  what do I think she would say?

[10:20]  Yeah. What would you say with what you've been able to build? You You took her advice. you went out and and now you're in a space of helping people.

[10:27]  Yeah. Yeah. She'd be happy, right? She'd be happy, you know. Um

[10:36]  Yeah. That's all I can say. I I think

[10:38]  she probably like you finally did it. You took my advice. You should have done it sooner. You said 13 You should have done it 13 years ago. Like what are you waiting?

[10:47]  Yeah. Yeah. But no, no, she she'd be happy, right? Like like my wife is in healthcare, too. So, um, and and she she kind of navigated my wife toward that and you know, she

[10:57]  I love it.

[10:58]  And so, um, no, I I think I think it's anything, right? Helping others, not just healthcare, right? Um, but yeah, no, she she I think she'd be happy with so far kind of what I've done.

[11:11]  Now, as an entrepreneur,

[11:13]  there's sometimes there's no steady paycheck. Your caregivers could be underpaid, families could be underinsured. How do you keep going when the math is not even mathing? doesn't always

[11:22]  work.

[11:24]  Yeah. Yeah. So, it's I I always tried no matter what and I've trained my staff this too. I I said, "Look, I mean, the reality is in in my space, home care, you have to beat poverty to get some sort of assistance." Like, insurance companies don't cover it.

[11:44]  You know, most of them don't. It's mostly out of pocket. Um, and so you can imagine I get calls every day and I've trained my staff of like even if we can't help them, like you know they can't afford it. They've said it, give them resources, right? I say, "Hey, these are the resource list. Ask them to ask for their social worker and XYZ or case manager or hey, check out this nonprofit. They might be able to help you." Um, so even though we can't help them personally, like when you say the math isn't mathing, right? Like I can't I gota I got to pay my caregivers, you know, living wages as well. uh we we go okay well these are these other resources in our in our community that could potentially help you or or some options for you. Um so that that's how we help people when we we can't either financially make it work right and we always try to work with families. Some families also think that they need a lot of care

[12:37]  and the reality is you don't need 247 care or 12 hours a day or something like that. uh we can make it work with families where you just do a few hours a day I if that or even two or three times a week.

[12:50]  All right. You said something very interesting the first time that we met. I want you to kind of tap into this. So

[12:54]  yeah,

[12:55]  when we talk about families, there's still a misunderstanding about the real cost of long-term care.

[13:00]  Um and what it and and

[13:02]  can we talk about what do you wish they knew before it became

[13:07]  this crisis or becomes this crisis? cuz I remember one time you saying I don't want people like in reality I'm in this business but I don't want you to come call me.

[13:15]  Yeah.

[13:15]  Right. Like there's so much there to kind of break down man like and I I just love you you become the resource teaching people what they don't know even when you can help them.

[13:23]  But you're also trying to help people before they even get to this space in their lives.

[13:28]  But people are having a misunderstanding man. Could you kind of clarify that?

[13:31]  Yeah. So so no it's a very good question. So the the first thing I said was you know a lot of people assume insurance covers homeare. So, meaning when I say home care, meaning caregivers, meaning it's not medical, but it's all the things for your audience that we all take for granted when we're younger. Whether it's

[13:47]  feeding yourself, getting out of bed, bathing yourself, right? Going to the store, those things all my caregivers specialize in, right? Um, and so, everyone assumes insurance covers everything, right? Whether you have Medicare or or Medicaid, uh, it's going to cover this. It does not cover this. They only cover medical things, right? Enough to keep you alive. But as we know, you need to do those things

[14:14]  to stay alive. Now, the reality is most people will have family members as caregivers like I did with my mother-in-law, right? As long with my wife. Um, but then people don't consider that. So, they don't save for that. And so, what I mean by don't use my services is when we're young, Ephra, we need to take care of ourselves. like make it a lifestyle into eating right, working out, sleeping. Uh you don't need some crazy diet or anything, right? Everyone knows what they should be doing. We just don't do it.

[14:45]  Correct.

[14:45]  And so we don't realize that. But when you're at 70, 80 and and you know your chronic conditions are building up or you didn't take care of yourself, you're going to need a lot of care. And a lot of people go, "Oh, well Medicare will just cover it." I'm like, "If you got no family taking care of you, right?" like

[15:03]  any of that or friends.

[15:06]  It's going to be hard. It's hard. Yeah.

[15:08]  Right. And and as you know the the aging population, silver tsunami, right? Everyone there's like 11,000 people retiring every day in America over 65. Uh we're living longer and the reality is it's going to be to me at least less and less resources at least financially, right? Um to cover it. So what what can you do? What's in your control? Yourself, your lifestyle. Hey, real quick. If you're enjoying the podcast, we first want to say thank you. And we also just want to give you a little insight of what we're up to at Francis. Some even realize that we're working with organizations to help them use AI to create that real human communication experiences. Whether that's actually supporting your your families, those patients, or the entire community. We're actually creating tech that connects. Check it out. Francis.ai.

[15:58]  Yeah, man. Health is the the best wealth. as your mother-in-law would say, right?

[16:02]  Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So, she always says, it's not a real problem unless it's your health, right? Because no matter how much money you have, you can't fix it.

[16:10]  Yeah.

[16:11]  I even though you're in this space of getting uncomfortable, you continue to get uncomfortable because you even went as far as going on YouTube. So, even though you say you don't do this often, you went on to something that it a lot of people won't do. get in front of a camera to share resources to tell the your your your story public. The mess, the fear, the finances. What made you want to tell the truth when most people fake success?

[16:39]  I I think it, you know, as much as I help people, it it's also challenging me if that makes sense. your friend or going on this podcast even talking to you or having my YouTube channel or posting on social media every people who know me closely and not many like I'm an introvert I I don't I'm fairly private but stuff like this it get doesn't get talked about you know and and if I if I may you I'm going to change it a little bit slightly go

[17:07]  ahead

[17:07]  right I think maybe you and I talked about at one point I'm like even in western society we don't talk about death right and I was like everyone goes oh that's really morbid I could see some people listening going, "Oh, that's that's where we going with this, right?" Ephrain, who who why did you invite this guy? Um, but

[17:27]  it's reality.

[17:29]  It is here. And and and we should obviously we all want to live longer, all that good stuff, and have a good quality of life. But I'm like, that's reality, so we should talk openly about it, right? Um, and and and you know, sharing on things like that. Not that I talk about death all the time, but I'm like, "Yeah, people should plan." I see it every day. Families are struggling with, "Oh, we didn't have a plan or this happened or mom didn't set something aside, so we don't know what to do, right? She's stuck in the hospital and she can't talk,

[18:01]  you know." Um,

[18:02]  yeah.

[18:03]  So, yeah. And and I I to what you were just saying and I say this sometimes when I'm in the space of at home care or or just speaking about death

[18:11]  is that I think last year my mom she's like, "Hey, I would love to have all my kids together with us playing bingo and I have something to tell you guys."

[18:20]  Okay.

[18:20]  What?

[18:21]  Like sounds a little scary. Sounds a little scary.

[18:24]  Yeah.

[18:25]  But no, um we get there and she's like, "Hey, I just want you guys to know that I've been um preparing. I've have everything that I want already written. I already have who's going to um be my voice. Even though this is what I want,

[18:39]  like you mentioned, if I can't talk, who's going to make sure this is what I want?

[18:44]  I don't want you guys to fight over it, to think about it.

[18:47]  I already have everything written for you guys. All I need you guys is to make sure this plan goes exactly how I planned it

[18:54]  so that no one is worrying about who should take care of me. No one's worrying about what did she want. And it was very scary.

[19:01]  But then I do see why that matters because I've also seen the opposite side where people now get into their mom and dad's passing away. Now everyone's talking about money. Now everyone's talking about who's going to do this. Now everyone's talking about that. Now the the family starts to break up because the plan was never in place. So my mom has done her best. there's seven of us to make sure that we all understand the plans that when she, you know, the day that she decides or God decides to take her away, you know, from us that the plan's already there.

[19:31]  We didn't have to worry about it and stressed just a little bit less now because she thought about the future.

[19:37]  So, I hear you, man. It's a very scary conversation as a young as her her child. I didn't want to hear it, but I hear

[19:42]  you don't want to hear it, right? like you're like I I just I don't you know and you have a tear like mom you're going you're going to live for a long time right let's not talk about it um and and I'm the same way I think it's a it's a human human you know this person you love right it's your mom so of course uh but

[20:01]  it's out of love right your what your mom's doing is out of love right it's like it's because I love all my kids and so I don't want anyone

[20:08]  worried about it right um and you don't need a ton of money that's the other thing some people oh I need a ton of money to plan. I'm like, it's not about that, right? It's about having a plan written down and everyone aligns to it. And um because yeah, I see a lot of families will argue, kids who argue, right? Different religions, whatever it is, right? Money and it just tears people up and you're like, I don't think that's what your mother envisioned.

[20:35]  Correct.

[20:37]  Yeah.

[20:37]  I love this, man. I love that we're having this conversation that people normally don't have. And it's funny that you said you're introvert. I like to say that I'm introvert as well, believe it or not.

[20:44]  No.

[20:48]  My wife looks at me like, "No, there's no way." It's one of those things that I got to feel comfortable. All right. If I feel comfortable and of course I cuz I the line of work I am the person that has to make people feel comfortable. So, but even that is hard. If you don't think I get on this podcast every day with with a little bit of excitement and nervousness, I do.

[21:09]  Even though I've done over a hundred of these, I'm still excited. I'm still nervous about it. Why? Because I love what I do. But sometimes it is hard to talk to someone and and and because you don't know what it's going to look like. Are they going to talk back to you? Can they hold the conversation? Right? So when I go to places, I could either be the life of the party or I'm the guy in the corner trying to be like, "Please don't talk to me." Um, and once you get me talking, then it's like you, man. Once you get talking,

[21:35]  it's a vibe.

[21:36]  It's a vibe.

[21:37]  Yeah. Yeah. And you know, energy because another thing that you mentioned is that you you've hired around energy, not just skill, which is so so crucial, man, because especially as you're growing, um the energy has to just match. You you have to feel at peace. You have to feel like they're a asset to you and and not just a hindrance, right? Um what does that look like in practice though when lives are literally on the line?

[22:03]  Yeah. I mean, and and I, you know, I'm not going to, you know, I could get legally in trouble, right? Well, you're hiring a baseline energy. What does that mean? Right? I'm not saying that, but I just It's like surrounding yourself, right? They're not even talking about employers. Talk about Think about your friend group, people you surround yourself with or professionals. Do Do they upskill you? Do they do they do they challenge you, but they also make you feel good, right? Do they give you confidence? uh or are they putting putting you down, right? Or are they any of that? That that's what I mean by energy, right? You you can't train for that, you know, but you can pick for that. You are they making me better, whether it's a caregiver challenge me on something or my staff, right? Or um you know, I'll give a really quick example, a quick story. Um I had I had a buddy. I've known him since high school. You know, we're not super close, but I've known him enough. And I was actually talking about the business maybe I don't know six seven months ago going through my struggles just venting a little bit and it it it took me back. I haven't talked to him too much since he he kind of went first words out of his mouth wasn't encouragement or challenging me to do something. He said, "Well, when are you going to quit?" And I was like, "Bro, like what?" You get what I mean, right? Like I He's like, "When are you going to quit?" He asked again. And I was like, "What? I I yeah, I'm I'm complaining a little bit. You know, I fully admit that that's not healthy if you do that too much. But and and I was like, do I know you? You know, do I want to surround myself with someone who just goes, "Oh, yeah, just throw in the towel. Just do that."

[23:38]  Um and so that's where my energy, right? Like I don't I don't spend too much time with him anymore. I don't talk to him about the business anymore because I'm like, "I don't

[23:45]  I don't need that."

[23:47]  It it is very important and important in a place where you're building your foundation. And what you're doing right now is building a foundation that will scale beyond you, right? That that will live beyond you. And I I think in a space like this where you're so early on, that is the most important thing you can do is one is don't tell everything that you're going through, right? Or at least don't tell it to certain people. because myself in this in this you know taking the leap of faith two years back and and kind of to what you're doing today

[24:18]  is I I had to speak to friends less friends that I used to speak to probably on a weekly maybe every other day

[24:26]  and because they would say things like oh how's your small community doing

[24:30]  oh well this is happening so what are you going to do now like it it it was always like just almost belittling me in a in a place where my mental was already struggling

[24:40]  I needed to be poured into, not taken away from. Um, and those there's a lot of things that I had to the the music I was listening to. Um, saying things out like when people say don't say don't tell all your business, they say it because so many people could also pray on the opposite of what you're praying for,

[24:59]  right?

[25:00]  So, there's certain things that you just don't say or or be mindful of who you say it to. There was only a few people that knew I was doing wrestling because you know what? I just I no one needed to know because you know what I was hearing as I was doing this but wrestling's fake. Like what do you mean you're doing it in your garage? Like what do you what what like the you're you're 35 years old. You're a grown man.

[25:22]  But I just mentioned to you all these dreams that I've had as a young kid that came to life because I stay consistent because I didn't let the naysayers tell me any differently. I call those same friends same friends now that told me then I laugh at them and say, "Remember when you told me wrestling was fake? Remember when you told me that what the hell am I doing cuz XYZ?

[25:42]  Look what it brought me to and those same people are still comfortable in the the the same old cycle, right? That rat race.

[25:50]  Yeah.

[25:50]  You know. Yeah.

[25:51]  So you man, you you you breaking that curse. You've definitely you got uncomfortable. You're staying uncomfortable more than anything. So listen, I I I love we're we're talking some good stuff here, man. I love I love that you hire around energy. And when we talk about energy is that as a leader, we got to make sure that we hire people that, as you mentioned, challenge you but are smarter than us.

[26:12]  We can't be the smartest in the room.

[26:14]  No.

[26:14]  Then we're not growing,

[26:16]  you know? So, yeah, I'm looking for people that are more educated than me. I'm looking for people that have more hustle than me, that know more marketing than me, not because I I want to learn from you, but that's what life is about as a leader. you are now in a leadership role and you want people to to do the things that they love and I think that's what's also you're kind of in a space um you know where people hire people that you love. You don't want a yes man. So

[26:41]  I respectfully understand when you say energy you're not just sitting here looking at you know race you're not looking at sexuality you're looking at can they fit the need that my company needs at the moment.

[26:53]  Yep.

[26:54]  So I love that man. I love that. We're having a good conversation man. Do you remember your first task that you actually had to delegate to protect your energy and your mission? Actually,

[27:03]  first task um yeah, actually I I would say hiring. I know it's weird. We're talking about hiring, right? Like so when I first started um I I hired she she's still with me. She's awesome. Uh and she's kind of my I call her doer of all things. That's literally what her business card says. I mean officially it's office manager but she does everything right and and so as I hired her the goal was to build up the team right of caregivers so she had to do hiring like orientation interviews so I trained her through all that um and and I know I' I've seen the literature so business leaders oh hiring the founder always needs to be involved in hiring and I still am right I get final approval um but there there's that's the first thing I delegated right was I was like look you're aligned with me you know what needs to happen I you know, I know you enough. Um, and I always tell people, look, we all make mistakes. I make mistakes. I made terrible hires before. Like, what's just reality, right? So, as long as I say, we only get in trouble when we don't learn from it. It's only time we get in trouble. So, um, yeah. So, that was the first thing I I delegated. I know it sounds crazy to some people probably, but I'm like, no, I I I delegated hiring to a certain extent to her. Sometimes you got to

[28:20]  sometimes you got to see, you know, sometimes you may be overlooking great talent.

[28:24]  Um, so I love it. And and and you know what, back to hiring, it's like dating.

[28:29]  You you you'll go through multiple people before you find the one. I can imagine that

[28:34]  who your your wife is today that wasn't always your girlfriend, right? You had to go through a couple different girlfriends to realize, oh no, this is the one that I want to spend the rest of my life with. And that's exactly what it looks like for office manager, for for a caregiver. You want to find someone that you can spend the rest of your life with that you would love to see them and their family win. Like that's what it is all about. So uh man this this is some good stuff man. What is the home care industry you think

[28:57]  uh or or why does the homeare industry you think need um people who don't come from healthcare? Cuz I think that's also something that you spoke about and I think it's also really good to to talk on.

[29:07]  Yeah. I mean I I think look from a business perspective depending on the state you're in but the reality is it's a low barrier entry of business right I mean that's why they have franchises you know they have all kinds of homeare agencies um but I think so number one it's just from that perspective from a pragmatic perspective it's easy to get into number two is because we're dealing a lot with non-medical you don't need to have necessarily a medical background Obviously, it's better, it's easier, and a lot of home agencies will hire nurses, right, and things like that to help, of course, uh, as you scale. Um, but I think really to answer your question around, you know, why is that important? I I just think it's just a different lens, right? Uh, I I I will say and and I think some other healthc care professionals have heard me, I know my wife definitely has heard me say it, coming from the tech world, you know, and I was not a genius in tech, mind you, right? I did not work for some crazy startup. I'm not a millionaire. I'm not, you know, but I I I I just I look at healthcare and I'm like, "Oh my gosh, the tech they're using is literally 20 years ago, 25. I mean, they still fax."

[30:20]  They fax everything. Medical records, blah, blah, blah. The systems don't talk with one another. And and so that's why I personally think it's important to have a lot of people from outside the industry because every nurse I talk to, doctor goes, we've been doing this for 30 years. It works.

[30:37]  Yep.

[30:38]  I'm like, but you're going to make a lot of mistakes. It's costly, right? Uh

[30:43]  so saying that

[30:44]  you having a background in software technology AI being one of those things that I think healthc care people are also trying to incorporate at least when it comes to that one-on-one patient interaction. Um but there's also so much room to use it on the admin side of things. And I'm a big believer that if you implement this on the back end, add them in the repetitive task, you'll allow people to do more of the things they love and less of the things that they just can't stand. Are you guys in the space of of dipping your toes into AI and imp, you know, implementing that technology into today's world into the at home care?

[31:21]  Yeah. Uh there there's definitely a space for that AI. Like I personally have not too much um not yet cuz I think I'm fairly new but as I get more repetitive task and I start scaling my goal is to automate like you said the things that no one wants to do right like it's but it's required there's a lot of paperwork there's a lot of documentation in healthcare for good reasons I understand um but a lot of that can be automated because at the end of the day what you want to do is spend more time with the patient

[31:52]  but whatever you're doing if you're you So you anyone listening can realize, hey, when I go to the doctor's office, they're constantly typing. A lot of them don't even look at me. They're like typing. They're taking notes, right? They're taking they're documenting, right? They have toa, right? Or for insurance reasons and they're like, "Okay, yeah." Mhm.

[32:10]  Now, I I know they're already experimenting with experimenting with AI that is taking notes for you, right? Charting for you for the doctor or for the nurse,

[32:19]  uh, and then summarizing it. and it's all digital, you know, and now someone could actually spend more time human to human because remember we're in healthcare. This is about humans.

[32:30]  Uh like just being with one another, right? And just listening. Um and so I I think that's where I think it's headed. You know, there's a lot of the data and repetitiveness, the errors, uh the costliness of running software in the background. I think it's it's going to lower a lot and and and I think it's going to help a lot as especially people live longer and age, right? as we mentioned earlier um with the space because the system is getting overwhelmed as we all know. So

[32:57]  no, it's funny that you mentioned I tell that to anybody that's in the healthcare industry is that I can't stand go to the doctor

[33:03]  because it's not like they look at me anyway. They said spend five minutes with me never look at me probably don't even know what I look like. I could walk out and you go back in like did that person have glasses on? I don't know because that's truly what it it's like man.

[33:15]  Yeah. When you think about, you know, back in the days, we had that family doctor that knew the family.

[33:21]  Nowadays, man, they don't know anybody. They got to see so many patients within an hour and then they got to do all these documentations and it's an experience. I want to have an experience when I go and see someone that I felt like they cared cuz as as humans, we want people to care for us the same way that we care for others. And if we don't experience that, it's what am I going for? You know, like you're just doing almost like your job. you're just kind of just check doing the check mark check boxes and all that. Yeah.

[33:47]  So, it's a little annoying, man. But what you are today,

[33:50]  it's a voice for so many. So, this next question is for someone that's listening who's stuck in the uh the rat race or in the corporate world, but they're called to serve.

[33:59]  What's the first move, man, that you you you think that they should make?

[34:04]  Oo, first move. Um, I think just kind of laying out why you want to do it is the first thing.

[34:15]  Mhm.

[34:17]  Cuz that's going to challenge you, right? Your why has to be greater than everything else, you know, because you're going to be thinking about and I'm not I'm not advocating, hey, just quit like the next day, right? I'm not going to say, hey, just just, you know, even though I said jump in, but jump in with an real clear understanding of, well, why am I doing this? Um, and I'm not saying the why pays the bills, right? But it's going to keep driving you toward that when it's hard, right? When you're like, ah, here I go withdrawing more money, right? To pay for this in the business or whatever it is, right? Um, or I got to pay rent, you know, kind of thing. Um, but I I think that's the first thing I would say is your first move. And then obviously the really quick second thing is I would say be responsible too, right? like like understand, hey, this is my responsibilities as a person as well, right? Whether it's your family or you got a mortgage or you got kids to to to take care of, you know, obviously be responsible. Um, but I also know those responsibilities will tend to walk you back into not jumping in, right? So, you kind of have to understand that, right? And if you have a spouse or a partner, um, that is key, too, right? Like my wife's been amazing in in supporting me. She's not stressed. I'm the one that's stressed, right? So,

[35:34]  but but that's amazing, you know, because as you know, E, right? Like your wife is super supportive. Uh

[35:39]  is is you need that when in times when you know when you come home, you're like, "Ah, it was a rough day today."

[35:44]  Yeah.

[35:45]  Yeah. No, I uh shout out to to all those significant others really that allow um their significant other to chase a dream and sometimes put their own careers on the back burner, right? Um, and and your wife is doing it for you. My wife definitely has done it for me. I mean, I've I've tried multiple businesses, man. I from a cafe owner to a furniture and an appliance shop to t-shirt printing to, you know, like other,

[36:09]  you know, it's it's I'm always thankful for her for I'm not going to lie to you, man. The reason that I knew she was the one,

[36:18]  she seen more in me than I was seeing for myself at the age of 21, 22 years old.

[36:24]  Wow. you know, she seen who I who I had the potential to be

[36:28]  if I lean more into faith, lean more into God, if I prayed a little bit more, if I if I surrounded myself with better people, stop calling everybody a friend.

[36:37]  Like, when I think about that, that's what that's, you know, it really allowed me to see past who I was, past all this trauma that I was encountering. And then when she found out the trauma and the baggage, cuz we all bring baggage into a relationship.

[36:51]  Yes. that she was she helped me go through it, man. You know, and realize like, hey, it's going to be okay. This is who you were. It's not who you are,

[37:02]  right? So, I I love it. Shout out to all the ladies out there. Shout out to all the wives. Okay. Wives, husbands, whoever, everything. Yeah. No. No. Definitely.

[37:10]  Yeah.

[37:10]  I love it, man. Um, would you do this all over again?

[37:14]  If you if you if you were never I'll take this back. If you were

[37:18]  still in corporate world, do you think this would have happened? Do you think you would have took the leap of faith or do you think God did this and you're just a and put you in this world for you to figure it out? He's still with you obviously on on this journey.

[37:32]  Yeah.

[37:32]  What is your thoughts on this man? Would you be here today if it wasn't for the layoff?

[37:39]  Honestly, I don't think so. Right. It was almost, you know, as I said, when when my mother-in-law abruptly passed, I got laid off to, you know, immediate soon after, right? And so, no, I I I think I said I was a riskaverse person early on in the podcast

[37:58]  and so I I fully admit, you know, it was a forcing function for me.

[38:04]  You know what I mean?

[38:04]  But are you glad it happened the way that it did?

[38:07]  Yeah. Yeah. I mean I mean there are hard times, right? Even right now there there are hard times where I'm, you know, but I just I look at everything else and and I look at the world and I look at some of my friends and and and we talk and and you know, sometimes I I'm more of a negative person than your friend. It might not come off that way, right? I know my wife tells me I'm more negative, even my staff sometimes. Uh and you know, you know, I'm always a glass half empty, right? Type of person. Uh still working on that. That's an improvement area. But some people I just celebrated one year a little over one year being open and and some people are like congratulations and and my immediate reaction sometimes is for what and they're and a lot of people they're like you took the pledge I wouldn't even I would be too scared or I I think about it all the time for the last how many years I just never did it

[38:56]  right or yeah what if right or some people go you know what a lot of businesses don't even last past a year

[39:01]  and I was like I don't realize that I I just don't people are like no seriously people will throw in the towel a lot earlier than you think um and I was like, "Okay,

[39:09]  so let's talk about it." You started this with an idea,

[39:12]  right? Yeah. Just you, just you, your wife,

[39:15]  maybe a group of friends. How many how many uh caregivers do you have today?

[39:20]  How many patients and caregivers?

[39:21]  Uh about 30 caregivers and and about uh almost 15 patients. Yeah.

[39:27]  Come on, man. 30 caregivers that started with just an idea. like you now have and and it's a lot cuz that means you have 30 families that also need to be fed

[39:36]  plus your own.

[39:37]  It's a lot plus all the patients, right? So, there is a lot. But you're literally, as everyone mentioned, you're only a year in

[39:44]  there's so much growth in a year. What happens in another year?

[39:49]  A year ago, okay, let me tell you, a year ago, I was still trying to figure out what was my lane. I knew what I loved. I left the airline industry

[40:00]  and I was betting on myself and I had all these ideas

[40:03]  and I knew I wanted to do mobile podcasting all that and I I you know I'm in the coaching space so you know trying to find clients there but then it also came towards the same last year towards the end of the year end of 2024 where I went to my wife and I think I mentioned this to you where I said um I don't have any money like it was a hard conversation to have to my wife with my wife and I remember saying to her like, "Hey, should I just get a job?" And her saying to me, "God didn't bring you this far to quit." And then a year later, here I am talking to you. Here I am. I wrote a journal. Here I am talking to like what it looks like.

[40:40]  Tons of people. Yeah.

[40:41]  What does it look like here? You know, today look forward, man. Never look back. Continue to move forward when times get tough. And it is it's it is easy to just go negative because we're humans.

[40:53]  But um what does success look like for you now, man? man, after seeing what you've walked through over a whole year and seeing what life has brought you.

[41:01]  Yeah.

[41:01]  What does success look like for you?

[41:05]  Is this success,

[41:07]  you know? Yeah. So, I I think of it two ways. I'll start with the personal side. Um on on the personal side, you know, I have a young daughter. I think I mentioned Katie Frame uh and and young family. Um and I want to be present for her. I don't I don't want her to feel even though I'm physically there, that's what a lot of people do, but I'm thinking about work or business or whatever it is.

[41:33]  So that's success to me. One is like being present for my family uh particularly for my daughter, right? Um as she grows up. And then number two on the business side to me is just I call it the vision, the three 100s. You know, I'm still playing with the idea in my head, but it's it's 100 people vouching for me in the community, whether they're in healthcare or a community leader, whatever it is.

[41:59]  It's 100 families I'm impacting or patients and there's 100 caregivers that I'm impacting or providing work. Right?

[42:06]  Okay.

[42:06]  That that that's how I view it, right? Like I don't I don't need to grow, you know, some people grow into like a huge empire. I mean, that's fairly big honestly, but in home care space, but some people have like few hundred caregivers, right? 500, 600, you know, I'm not I'm not looking for that, right? I don't I don't I don't need that. I I just want to have a meaningful impact and to be able to go home and and be with my family.

[42:30]  Well, you're at 35 caregivers, almost halfway there in a year. So, I you're definitely going to hit that 100 there. I'm one of those people that's going to vouch for you and what you do. So, I'm at least one of a hundred. I can imagine there's so much more. Um you got 15. You said patience. So, you're a quarter of the way there. Um, you've made progress because you've never given up and you showed up every single time, even when life is hard. I'll leave you with this blind question, man. I know we're coming up to time.

[42:53]  Yeah.

[42:54]  What part of caregiving broke you and how did rebuilding from that moment change how you lead today?

[42:59]  Oh, what part of caregiving broke me?

[43:02]  Yep.

[43:03]  I I would say watching someone age, right? Watching my mother-in-law age and and anyone, right? even with families or patients I work with. Um, and then just watching them age, there's suffering, right? Mentally or physically, they're not feeling well. And then actually watching the families go through the emotional ride of that, whether you know, oh, got checked into the hospital or they just fell and you have anxiety and and and and look, I love the elderly, right? I do a lot ugly, but they got some strong opinions, you know, like even if you're like, "You fail, you need help." Like, "No, I don't need help."

[43:47]  It it's it's emotional, right? And they're scared, too, you know? That's the thing. So, I think that's what broke me was working with my mother-in-law and and just she was a strong willed woman, right? And and she I I knew we knew what she wanted. She was like, "In the end, you probably could have saved me." And we probably could have honestly if we took her to the hospital, but she said, "I want to pass in the home. I want to go this way, you know? So, I don't know if it broke me, but it's just really I understand, right? Like, okay, I I honor that, right? I honor that. And especially since she was 100% cognitively there.

[44:23]  Um,

[44:25]  so I I don't know if I answer your question, your friend, but I appreciate you

[44:29]  just going just going through that, right? And everyone's going to go through it. Everybody's going to go through it.

[44:35]  Um,

[44:36]  listen, man. I appreciate the conversation. We've been talking for some time. I want to respect your time. Where people can find you. What is the website? Are you on LinkedIn? So, if people want to reach out.

[44:45]  Yeah. Yeah. So, uh on LinkedIn, it's Chrysler Inc., my first name, K R E I S E R. There's not many Chrysers NG. And then, uh my company is Karen Long Beach.com. So, if you search for that, if you search right atome Long Beach, we'll we'll pop up immediately. Whether it's a YouTube channel, Instagram, all that, we're on that. So,

[45:08]  I love it. Well, Chrysler, thank you so much for your time. For those that are watching, make sure you guys do share, like, subscribe. If you want entrepreneurship tips, this man right here is living it. Okay. He can tell you exactly his dayto-day. Make sure you guys follow. Are you on YouTube? You didn't tell us YouTube. What is the YouTube?

[45:21]  Oh, I'm on YouTube. Yeah. Yeah. It's uh Same. It's actually Yeah. Right at Home Long Beach. It's going to pop up.

[45:28]  Yeah.

[45:28]  Captain Gabin, guys. Make sure you guys go follow. This is Chrysler. My name is Ephra. We'll catch you guys on the next one.

[45:32]  Appreciate it, Ephra. Thank you. I get.