Lee St. James is a tech-savvy consultant and two-time entrepreneur with over 25 years of business experience. Shortly after getting her MBA, she started her career at Procter & Gamble and then joined a software company. In her 30s, she started her own marketing agency, Pizazz Promotions. However, after the birth of her son and the ensuing 2008 recession, she decided to go back to being an employee and closed the agency. In her 50s, she became an entrepreneur again - founding Social Robots, a  technology start-up offering robots to help staff at retirement homes and long-term care facilities to engage, entertain, and educate residents.  

Combatting social isolation 

The idea for Social Robots grew out of Lee seeing first-hand the impact of social isolation on her father after he was diagnosed with Lewy Body dementia in 2018. At the time, she was commuting three hours per day to and from her full-time job in Toronto, where she oversaw a team designing robot apps for banks and automotive companies. Her parents were determined to 'age at home' and steadfastly refused even to visit any of the retirement homes in their area. Unable to see her father in person as often as she would like, Lee started researching how robots were being used for eldercare. 

"Social robots are meant  to address the mental health of our seniors and help the staff and volunteers who work and provide care in those homes."

There are four main things that she focuses on with the robots - talking, moving, playing music, and something that wasn't initially part of her plan, interactive games.

“I'm working on finding the funding to develop custom apps where we can do word games and trivia games and things like that."

Leaving a legacy

Starting Social Robots has been a leap of faith, and it can be challenging to live with the uncertainty of starting a new business. But, she believes it's worth the risk.

"The world needs this right now. And I fee lgood about making a difference for others. I could go out and make more money and buy more stuff, but who cares? It's about legacy and what I want my life to be about."

Her advice to older adults who want to become entrepreneurs:

“Have faith in yourself and understand that you're on a life journey. Entrepreneurs over 50 have so much experience. As the old saying goes, maybe now is the time to: ‘Do what you love and the money will follow.’”

Join Lee on Tuesday, June 7th, for Starting a Business Takes Courage at Any Age and get inspired to start your own entrepreneurial journey.