You’re One Phone Call Away From Becoming a Caregiver with Nicole Smith

So I also want to give you some space to talk about Daughterhood.

You do circles.

So explain it to everybody what Daughterhood is and then what the circles are and then how you- ... how you're a part of that.

Yeah.

Daughterhood was started by Anne Tomlinson about a decade ago.

So she is in DC and she is in the space.

She's runs an advisory firm.

She's testified before Congress.

She's very involved in this whole space and has been for decades.

And then her father got ill, and she was like, "Oh my gosh, I'm an expert in this and I can't even navigate this." So she was, you know, again, personal experience.

So she started Daughterhood as a, um, a place for women, mostly women, daughters, but, you know, we, we allow cousins, spouses, men, anything.

So she said, "We need a place for us to get together and just talk about this." And so there was about a, I think a half a dozen or 10 cities around the country that held these where, you know, you bring your wine, you bring snacks, and you come talk about aging parents or challenges.

And then of course COVID changed everything.

And so at that point, Daughterhood rebranded, became a 501[c]3, so now it's a non-profit, and went all virtual everywhere.

And so there's topic circles where we talk about a specific topic.

So I lead the Navigating Aging Parents topic and the Sandwich Generation topic circles.

And then there's just connection circles where you just log on and, like you said, you tell your story and vent and cry for every, you know, 10 minutes, whatever, and just get it all out.

And then the best thing that happens is that everybody on the call is in the thick of caregiving or in the thick of grief or, you know, they get it.

And so maybe if your friends don't get it or your colleagues don't get it, you're among people who get it.

And then people learn from each other 'cause someone's like, "Oh yeah, that happened with my mom and this is what I did." So you, you've...

All of a sudden you're, instead of being like really upset, you're like, "Oh, I, you know, I can pay it forward and help other people through my experience." It's amazing.

Yeah.

I'm, I have some friends that do some circles on Daughterhood as well, [laughs] so I'm familiar with it and it is a great resource.

I also, I think I've mentioned this on the podcast before, but I joined this online community and now I help the community.

I'm part of the, the advisory team for this on- new online community called Impera.

So I also want to give you some space to talk about Daughterhood.

You do circles.

So explain it to everybody what Daughterhood is and then what the circles are and then how you- ... how you're a part of that.

Yeah.

Daughterhood was started by Anne Tomlinson about a decade ago.

So she is in DC and she is in the space.

She's runs an advisory firm.

She's testified before Congress.

She's very involved in this whole space and has been for decades.

And then her father got ill, and she was like, "Oh my gosh, I'm an expert in this and I can't even navigate this." So she was, you know, again, personal experience.

So she started Daughterhood as a, um, a place for women, mostly women, daughters, but, you know, we, we allow cousins, spouses, men, anything.

So she said, "We need a place for us to get together and just talk about this." And so there was about a, I think a half a dozen or 10 cities around the country that held these where, you know, you bring your wine, you bring snacks, and you come talk about aging parents or challenges.

And then of course COVID changed everything.

And so at that point, Daughterhood rebranded, became a 501[c]3, so now it's a non-profit, and went all virtual everywhere.

And so there's topic circles where we talk about a specific topic.

So I lead the Navigating Aging Parents topic and the Sandwich Generation topic circles.

And then there's just connection circles where you just log on and, like you said, you tell your story and vent and cry for every, you know, 10 minutes, whatever, and just get it all out.

And then the best thing that happens is that everybody on the call is in the thick of caregiving or in the thick of grief or, you know, they get it.

And so maybe if your friends don't get it or your colleagues don't get it, you're among people who get it.

And then people learn from each other 'cause someone's like, "Oh yeah, that happened with my mom and this is what I did." So you, you've...

All of a sudden you're, instead of being like really upset, you're like, "Oh, I, you know, I can pay it forward and help other people through my experience." It's amazing.

Yeah.

I'm, I have some friends that do some circles on Daughterhood as well, [laughs] so I'm familiar with it and it is a great resource.

I also, I think I've mentioned this on the podcast before, but I joined this online community and now I help the community.

I'm part of the, the advisory team for this on- new online community called Impera.