Silver Ivy Solutions was created by Alesha Richards and Calum MacDonald after they had bonded over shared experiences of their grandparents’ tech struggles.
Alesha noticed how difficult modern technology had become for her grandmother, Mary, who was accustomed to a more “traditional” lifestyle. Born in the 1940s, Mary relied on familiar day-to-day routines. For instance, she used only a home phone instead of a smartphone and completed her shopping errands in person. As her health declined during her battle with cancer, even necessary tasks such as food shopping became difficult. This created additional strain on Alesha’s mother, who took on the responsibility of completing two full weekly shops to support Mary.
Wanting to maintain her independence, Mary expressed an interest to learn how to use a smartphone and order food online, but finding the time to source a device and teach her the necessary skills was difficult for both her daughter and granddaughter, who had growing work and life commitments themselves.
Calum MacDonald shares a similar experience. Since he has experience teaching music, he is used to working with students who are learning something new and often find it intimidating. The experience that he has gained from this has shaped how Calum approaches teaching: with patience, clarity, and an understanding that beginners need time and thorough explanations.
Calum frequently notices that when technology is taught, many steps are skipped and assumptions are made about what beginners already know. This often leaves people with more questions than answers and makes them feel confused or left behind.
Now, Calum is a part of Silver Ivy Solutions and will be teaching many aspects of technology as part of the various services that we offer. Calum strives to teach technology differently - by slowing down, covering every step, and avoiding assumptions. The goal is to make sure that anyone who uses our services truly understands what they’re doing, building confidence rather than frustration.
