Today we’d like to introduce you to Jennifer Emerick-Cayton.
Hi Jennifer, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
My husband Ian and I took a bit of a circuitous route to wind up where we are today in Austin, TX, running a startup that supports healthy and happy aging. Frankly, we got lost several times. But in my experience, it turns out that’s the best way to begin an adventure and a surefire way to end up exactly where you are meant to be. I’m of the belief that if life is going according to plan, you should probably make a new, more ambitious plan and then hope it doesn’t go accordingly. You’ll likely have a deeper appreciation for the journey (and often a lot more fun) when you have no idea where you’re headed.
Ian has been a software engineer for over three decades and my professional background is in social services, small business, and community mental health. But what’s even less interesting and not at all unique is that we are also hobby musicians. And that’s where this particular adventure began.
Since we were too shy for stages and crowds but still loved to play and sing together, we often looked for opportunities where we could be volunteer musicians. We were soon welcomed with open arms into assisted living communities. They were a kind and gentle audience for us when I harmonized off-pitch and they never seemed to mind when we forgot the lyrics; they always helped us fill in the blanks. We were smitten with everyone we met and were fascinated with their lives and honored to be a part of them.
But we soon began to hear a common story from the activity directors in these communities. They shared with us how challenging it was to find life-enriching experiences and services for their residents. The program coordinators would spend hours on the internet searching through different websites for vendors, making phone calls day and night, often to come up empty-handed. And yet Ian and I knew so many musicians and entertainers looking for gig-opportunities who would have loved to perform for these communities. There clearly was a matchmaking gap that needed to be filled. So we set out to build an online platform that would make it easier for life-enriching service providers and senior communities to find one another. This began our journey into building software that fostered happy and healthy aging.
I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey have been a fairly smooth road?
Startup life has been challenging, risky, and oh-so-much fun. We have had to get comfortable with letting go of expectations and at adapting blindly to changes. We have walked down many side roads, forgetting to leave a trail of breadcrumbs, and on any given day of the week, you can find us in the middle of learning something the hard way. But seeing the growth of the business and the community’s positive response over the last year, despite the struggles, has been very rewarding. When it’s heart-centered work, it’s worth every minute you spend in utter confusion riding the see-saw of instability. It’s a joy and a privilege to be able to do the work you love and whether we end up on the upswing or not, we wouldn’t trade the experience for anything in the world.
The first web-app that we built, Heart and Soul Care, helped senior communities find life-enrichment activity providers. Just as we were launching the platform, the pandemic hit, and those who were already vulnerable to isolation became even more so. But since service providers were no longer providing services on-site, our platform could be of no help. So, we pivoted. It was hard to let go of what we had created since we put a lot of heart and soul (no pun intended) into it. But we were too committed to the overall mission to toss in the towel. We then teamed up with our friend and colleague Amy Temperley, who had over 30 years of experience in the aging-services sector and we three started a new project. Same mission: help make it easier to access life-enrichment. Slightly different approach: curate online events and activities for people 50 and over. In the fall of 2020, A Mighty Good Time was launched.
We know nothing can thrive in a silo and we are grateful for our amazing team, supportive friends and family, and community of people we serve. My beloved Nana and Bapa, who passed away in 2017 hand-in-hand (a remarkable love story unto itself), inspired us to work towards ensuring that everyone is given equal opportunity to live life to its fullest. And Ian’s love for his mom, who suffers from Alzheimer’s disease, is the song in his heart that has serenaded us through this journey.
We’ve been impressed with A Mighty Good Time, but for folks who might not be as familiar, what can you share with them about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
A Mighty Good Time is one-stop-shop online platform that makes it easier to find virtual and phone-accessible social, creative, and wellness events that are uniquely curated for older adults. When in-person opportunities become more available, those will be included as well. We aggregate high-quality events and activities provided by organizers across the globe and compile them into one centralized, easy to use online calendar so that nobody has to spend hours scouring the bottomless web in order to find what they’re looking for. It’s all in one place, it’s user-friendly, and it’s free to access.
We also provide white label software in partnerships with age-friendly cities and other organizations who want to make it easier for their older community to find events and activities that help them stay social, active, and engaged as they age.
It is no secret that as we get older, our society and environment embrace us less and less. “Anti-aging” rhetoric is both insidious and blatant, highlighting a deeply rooted belief system that is sold, bought, re-branded, and sold again. When it comes to humans, our value seems to depreciate the older we get. I find that bizarre considering that same principle does not apply to old furniture or collectibles. And unlike a mid-century porcelain teacup, we can’t be super-glued back together when we break. You would think that alone would make our antiquity the most treasured of all.
When the later years of our life are considered to be less important than our former, opportunities for fun, exciting, and novel experiences tend to be the exclusive privilege of the young. We’re taught to believe that when we get older, we’ll neither need nor want to stay as engaged as we once were and that our days of playing, exploring and learning are long gone. As a result of this pervasive, false narrative, not much attention is put on providing accessible resources for life enrichment to older people. We think this cultural construct is total rubbish and needs to change. The only difference in the passion, creativity, and curiosity that lives inside a 70-year-old versus a 30-year-old is 40 years of practiced expression.
Fortunately, there are many movements right now across the world that are working to shift the dialogue around aging, preach the boldness of our oldness, and ensure our lives are full, fresh and exhilarating from first inhale to last exhale. We only hope that the work we are doing will help to amplify that voice.
Are there any apps, books, podcasts, blogs or other resources you think our readers should check out?
As a startup founder, I can’t emphasize enough how valuable it is to find other founders to connect with for support, advice, and camaraderie. I was very fortunate to have found and joined the Startups.com Founder’s Group. They also have a great podcast (Startup Therapy Podcast) that covers every topic you could imagine related to starting a business and surviving the journey.
I also recommend the book Traction by Gino Wickman, where he explores the Entrepreneurial Operating System.
A really wonderful podcast that will make you fall in love with growing older is an interview with Ashton Applewhite on Glennon Doyle’s podcast, We Can Do Hard Things:
Pro-Aging: Why the Best is Yet to Come with Ashton Applewhite.
(https://podcasts.apple.com/
Ashton Applewhite is the author of This Chair Rocks: A Manifesto Against Ageism, another must-read. www.thischairrocks.com/
For organizations that are supporting innovations and advances in age-tech and longevity, check out www.aging2.0.com.
If you’re curious to know if the city you live in is Age-Friendly, check out www.aarp.org/
Contact Info:
- Email: hello@amightygoodtime.com
- Website: www.amightygoodtime.com
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/amightygoodtime
- Twitter: www.twitter.com/amightygoodtime
