In Conversation with Brian Boston

Hi, Bridget!
Hi Brian, thanks for introducing me.

I know you have been offering services through Gentle Tech Help for eight years or so.  What prompted you to start the business? Could you share a bit about your own journey?
I grew up in Southern California in a science-focused home but, as the girl, was not encouraged to engage in that as a profession.  As an adult, I’d build my own computers and try out the newest things – like car phones!.

I started a small chain of bagel bakeries with my former husband. The last closed recently after 35 years. Ask me anything about bagels!

When the Internet took off, I was intrigued by the connections being formed by people of different backgrounds, meeting in these new virtual spaces. I put together conferences with academics and game professionals about this new field of online behaviors and then other future studies events.

When kids left for college, I moved to the beautiful Pacific Northwest for love.  There I restored some degraded land into a mostly native habitat (ongoing fight with those Himalayan blackberries!).

I worked occasionally with a company that downsized seniors moving from their long-time homes into smaller housing. This wasn’t so much about packing, though. It was helping emotionally with the transition; the “letting go” of cherished objects and beloved items. People can be stuck, even as they need the change. It takes caring companionship to move forward.

In almost all those homes, I saw tech issues that were ignored. Things that cost them money; that left them vulnerable.  It was so frustrating.  These weren’t things you’d have a stranger from Best Buy handle. They were as complex, personal, and varied as the physical items being sorted. How to upload a brokerage statement to a realtor? How to handle a bank transaction when they couldn’t get to a branch? How to cancel landline phone service? What to do with all these thumb drives of photos from long ago?

In 2018, I started GentleTechHelp.com and have been helping people since then. Getting certificates in Technical Writing and Gerontology helped hone my skills.

In addition to private clients, I give free Zoom-based tech presentations three Wednesdays a month for the King County Library System and teach remotely with other communities.

Your help through KCLS is how I found you in the first place!  It’s interesting to how see your journey evolved through relationships and the discovery of people’s technical gaps than the technology itself.
What I do is a bit different from what people traditionally think of as “tech support” and has evolved since 2018.

I work as an administrative concierge, solving the individual issues a person is having with their tech device. Do you have a good word for this? These days, issues are less likely to be a missing wire or failing chip than the tangled path so many online tasks take us down.

Many of my clients are people who were not the primary “accounting” person in their life. For example, widows who now need to not only handle everything on their own but also figure out the tech to do it.

Some clients have mild cognitive impairments. They are still living full, independent lives but are overwhelmed with all the screen demands of everyday living.

I have several therapists as clients.  They are lovely people, but not very comfortable with all the online administrative tasks they are required to do. Authors sometimes need a hand to get those manuscripts in the proper shape to be used by physical and online publishers. Even gathering and organizing 1099s and other info for taxes!

I can jump into a single issue (like obtaining a financial document from brokerage) or be an ongoing partner in making sure tasks like medical portals, tax documentation, and bill payments are handled regularly and safely.

I think you have tapped into a set of fundamental problems for many people.  It’s not the technology itself, but experience in navigating that uses technology to make the trip.
Working with people of varied abilities in the downsizing and bagel businesses, and the many different forms of software and devices needed in that family business, made my approach clear: Act with compassion, discretion, permission.

In other words, the gentleness that is in my company name!

I can see how that can be effective, especially with older adults or those who didn’t grow up with technology.

That’s my main client and student base: seniors and the “tech-uncomfortable” or curious.

The biggest challenge is getting past the shame, generally dealt with on the first session, when someone says, “I’m so stupid with technology” or “I’m so bad at my computer”.  I say that it is like any other knowledge, like speaking a foreign language. Lots of people in the world speak Mandarin Chinese but I don’t, not because I am stupid but because I learned other things in life.

 We work together to handle the issue at hand and leave those demeaning social stereotypes about older people and their devices at the door.

I have often said to students, “I can help you with your computer.  Don’t ask me to work on your car.”  Other than basics of sparks and fuel and lubrication, I am worthless to them!

I do know that keeping up on fast-moving tech can also be challenging.  What do you do to stay informed?
My ongoing sessions through KCLS touch on technology both large and small.  I focus on what people are hearing about, what people are reading and also things that they might not hear about at all: Smart Homes, Passkeys, AI.

Those talks are constantly updated, It is amazing how quickly the landscape changes. I am getting information from everywhere.  I read user guides and tech journals and subscriptions every day.

Knowing the fundamentals of the operating systems, online accounts, and website standards is a good base for handling the wide variety of software issues that come up. Knowing where to look for the root of an issue, and most common solutions, comes with years of experience.

Agreed!  Fundamentals give you the base for building more knowledge.  That plus the skills to find and stitch together solutions for a specific situation keeps you adaptable to change when it occurs. What are your favorite kind of scenarios?

• Saving money – finding unneeded subscriptions, so many sneaky ones on phones and through Amazon as well as paid Adobe and Docusign accounts rarely needed outside of a work environment is very fulfilling.
• Going through old passwords and finding a long-lost brokerage account with money in it (true!)
• Helping people rely less on those troublesome and expensive printers – do you need the information safely available or on the physical paper?
• 
  

Sometimes I think folks think because we have some tech experience, we have much broader expertise than just PCs or Macs…and sometimes they are right. What kinds of other devices and systems are you most comfortable working with?
Besides PCs and Macs, I teach about and provide assistance for iPhones and iPads – they have so many little-known functions like a carpenter’s level and PDF signing!  I don’t work on entertainment systems, internet connections or Wi-Fi.

What motivates you to do this kind of one-on-one support?
It is SO satisfying to help my clients! People come to me frustrated, at risk, at the end of their tether and it feels great to solve the problem, and to set things up so that they don’t get stuck again, all the while not selling anything. It’s delightful to be part of people’s lives over time, to help purchase airline tickets using miles to go visit the newest grandchild. I love personal stories and connections.

I know that some people are curious and want to develop themselves technically while other people was focused on time, cost, and just getting things fixed.  How do you balance explaining things clearly with solving problems efficiently?
It starts with learning what a client prefers: learning how to do something or just having it handled. Both work for me.

My client sessions always include detailed, step by step detailed notes (“Tap this, scroll here”) so they can count on being able to repeat the steps on their own. Also, these notes provide an excellent record to remember what has been changed or done in the past – especially important if family members want to keep track for safety. With one-time tasks, I explain what I am doing (and always ask permission to act) since it isn’t something either of us are likely to do again.

Aside from your classes and technical help, what other activities or hobbies interest you?
I enjoy particular kind of woodworking that started during my time in the Pacific Northwest. Simply, it is taking weathered wood of interesting shapes and grains and working with it – sanding, gently shaping, finishing with a soft wax of oil – so it looks artistic but also completely natural. As if it fell out of a tree with a beautiful furniture-like smoothness, finish and grace. Takes forever but the results show. The details are at NorthwestDriftwoodArtists.org.  I also like embellishing some of them with leftover thread from needlepoint projects.

Is there something you love doing that surprises people when they find out?
Video games! The puzzle/strategy/fantasy/story ones, not the shooters.  In the 90’s, I was on CNN and in Newsweek and USA Today for being a successful middle-class mom who was a gamer – against the stereotype!

What’s the best way for someone to contact you—email, phone, text?
I prefer email, with phone secondarily.  Either way, let me know as many details as possible – what kind of machine or software or even just what your goal is, even if you don’t exactly know what is causing a difficulty. It gives a starting point that we can see if I am the right person to help with the problem.

Your web site suggests you most commonly do online visits.  Is that correct?
Over the last few years, I have grown to do 95% of my work remotely, even if we are in the same area. It is so much more efficient on my end of things (traffic and weather issues can eat up most of a whole workday), safer health-wise, and much cheaper for the client. And no house cleanup needed! Especially over the last few years, I have spent time on both coasts for family, so remote connections allow me to always be available for my clients for issues large and small, no matter where I am.

Remote sessions also make it efficient to handle a short problem that might only take 15 minutes to fix. If people are unfamiliar with working this way, I encourage just trying it and if uncomfortable at any time, the session can be immediately stopped. Working with my camera on (no need for clients to do so), assures you’ll always know it is me on the other end.  It has worked well.  I have recommendations from happy clients who never thought they'd have a personal support relationship with someone through a screen!

What online methods do you use?
I use only the temporary connection software that is already built in to their systems (like Microsoft Quick Assist, Chrome Remote Desktop, or Facetime remote support) or Zoom’s temporary support connection. Everyone generally already has one, even if they don't know it, and they are easy for me to talk a person through the setup. Charges don’t start until we are successfully connected and can get to work.

And what do you charge?
My rate is $115 hourly remote, with no minimum time, charged in 15 blocks of time. In person, $145 hourly with 1-hour minimum Eastside if available in person.  For me “Eastside” is east of Lake Washington from Bothell and Woodinville through Mercer Island to Issaquah and Renton.  As mentioned above, each session also contains very detailed follow-up notes, the time preparing these is not charged.

Thanks, Bridget, for the chat.  I love your holistic and personal approach to helping people with tech.
Thanks, Brian.  I think that a personal connection is the most valuable way to find a trusted service partner in anything – from a home repair to a doctor.