From Caregiver to Creator: The Story Behind KindredMind with Kirstin Thomas

In this episode of Truth, Lies & Alzheimer’s, Lisa talks with Kirstin Thomas, co-founder of KindredMind, about the personal caregiving journey that led her to create an AI voice companion for dementia families.Kirstin shares what it was like receiving repeated calls from her mom, who is living with frontotemporal dementia, and realizing that the calls were often less about the question being asked and more about the need for reassurance, familiarity, and connection.That experience inspired KindredMind, a voice companion designed to answer calls using the caregiver’s own voice, personal routines, and familiar memories. Kirstin also discusses how technology can be used to support both the person living with dementia and the caregiver without simply removing access to the phone or blocking calls.It’s a meaningful conversation about caregiving, innovation, and what can happen when a very personal challenge becomes the inspiration for a new kind of support.Visit our Website - https://www.mindingdementiasummit.com/About the Guest:Kirstin Thomas, co-founder of KindredMind a voice companion for dementia families. When repetitive calls happen, it answers and has conversations in the caregiver's own voice using personal routines and memories, easing anxiety while supporting caregiver relief instead of removing the phone or blocking calls.My mom has frontotemporal dementia. She lives in a memory care facility in Ontario, Canada. She calls me looking for my voice, the same question over and over, sometimes ten times before lunch. I could not always answer.Every caregiver in this situation eventually tries the same things. You block the calls. You let it go to voicemail. You take the phone away. You try to explain that you were just there, that you will be back soon, that everything is okay. None of it works, because the call was never really about the question. It was about the fear. And the fear resets every time, whether the call was answered or not.I searched for something that could meet that fear with warmth, every time, in my voice. I couldn’t find it. So I built it.KindredMind is a Canadian-based AI voice companion for dementia families that answers calls from loved ones living with dementia in the family caregiver's own cloned voice, calm, familiar, and present. Built on simulated presence therapy and Alzheimer Society of Canada communication guidelines. Available across Canada and the United States.Before KindredMind, my partner Patrick founded Snaile Inc., Canada’s leading smart parcel locker company. I worked closely alongside him as Chief Operating Officer and President, helping build and scale the business together. Snaile was acquired in 2024. I’ve brought everything we learned from building a Canadian tech company to the problem I couldn’t stop thinking about.Links:https://kindredmind.care/https://www.youtube.com/@kindredmindcareAbout the Host:Author Lisa Skinner is a behavioral specialist with expertise in Alzheimer’s disease and related dementia. In her 30+year career working with family members and caregivers, Lisa has taught them how to successfully navigate the many challenges that accompany this heartbreaking disease. Lisa is both a Certified Dementia Practitioner and is also a certified dementia care trainer through the Alzheimer’s Association. She also holds a degree in Human Behavior.Her latest book, “Truth, Lies & Alzheimer’s – Its Secret Faces” continues Lisa’s quest of working with dementia-related illnesses and teaching families and caregivers how to better understand the daunting challenges of brain disease. Her #1 Best-seller book “Not All Who Wander Need Be Lost,” was written at their urging. As someone who has had eight family members diagnosed with dementia, Lisa Skinner has found her calling in helping others through the struggle so they can have a better-quality relationship with their loved ones through education and through her workshops on counter-intuitive solutions and tools to help people effectively manage the symptoms of brain disease. Lisa Skinner has appeared on many national and regional media broadcasts. Lisa helps explain behaviors caused by dementia, encourages those who feel burdened, and gives practical advice for how to respond.So many people today are heavily impacted by Alzheimer's disease and related dementia. The Alzheimer's Association and the World Health Organization have projected that the number of people who will develop Alzheimer's disease by the year 2050 worldwide will triple if a treatment or cure is not found. Society is not prepared to care for the projected increase of people who will develop this devastating disease. In her 30 years of working with family members and caregivers who suffer from dementia, Lisa has recognized how little people really understand the complexities of what living with this disease is really like. For Lisa, it starts with knowledge, education, and training.Thanks for listening!Thanks so much for listening to our podcast! If you enjoyed this episode and think that others could benefit from listening, please share it using the social media buttons on this page.Do you have some feedback or questions about this episode? Leave a comment in the section below!Subscribe to the podcastIf you would like to get automatic updates of new podcast episodes, you can subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcasts or Stitcher. You can also subscribe in your favorite podcast app.Leave us an Apple Podcasts reviewRatings and reviews from our listeners are extremely valuable to us and greatly appreciated. They help our podcast rank higher on Apple Podcasts, which exposes our show to more awesome listeners like you. If you have a minute, please leave an honest review on Apple Podcasts.