Meet Connie Paul | Owner/Manager and Doctor

We had the good fortune of connecting with Connie Paul and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Connie, is there something that you feel is most responsible for your success?
I am a medical doctor back in my home country. Using my medical skills to set up a homecare business was like adding a crown. There was one problem, how will the clients trust me when I am not a practicing doctor here in New Zealand. So I added a post graduate course in health and sciences to my portfolio. This course allows me to know more about New Zealand healthcare, their values, diversity and cultural safety.

What should our readers know about your business?
Connie’s Angels Homecare Ltd is a locally owned business providing services to the elderly and to people with disability 65 years and above. What sets me apart from other homecare services is my combination of professional expertise in aged care and services tailored for each client. Choosing a job that I love was the best decision I made in my life because its like not working at all! I came to New Zealand to register as a medical doctor while I was having a midlife crisis. With the help of my husband and not worrying about my children as they have immigrated with me here, I set up this business. It was not easy at all. I have to gain knowledge about the culture of the place. The biggest challenge was healthcare professionals questioning my methodology as I am able to merge medical and nursing practice into one care. The lessons learned along the way is that I cannot do all the job myself such as administration, financial management, employment problems. I need support and gladly there are support every time I needed them. Services for the elderly is not limited to personal cares and home management. Along the way, I have learned that they need more support not just on the physical but on emotional and mental because loneliness is very common as most of them lived alone. Empathy is really what they need. They appreciate all the little things which we thought were just simple tasks. But as they grow older, simple tasks are getting difficult for them. Most of them would suddenly blurt out that we are angels helping them. It really melts our hearts.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
I live in Wellington, the capital city of New Zealand. I will bring my best friend to the city, treat her dinner in Courtenay Place. This place hosts different food authentically prepared by diverse people like Indian, Malaysian, Vietnamese, Chinese, Italian, Ethiopian and the kiwi cuisine. Courtenay Place is a street about 700 meters long that has a busy foot traffic. Then we visit the Te Papa Museum which presents Maori and NZ arts as well feature European artists periodically. I like my best friend to know the lifestyle of kiwis. I would like to bring her to old kiwi houses where toilets are found outside the house because it was a taboo in the Maori culture in the old days. We will take a train trip to view the alps in the South Island, cruise along Fiordland and view the majestic mountains. I will let her taste the typical food we eat at dinner time which is the basic everyday food such as meat (learn how to cook steak), potatoes and kumara and vegetables, always three elements on the plate. I will let her use the public transport such as the trains and buses as it is very clean and safe where commuters are friendly and greets you “good day”!

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
My children-Daniel, Carina and Caryl My husband-David

Website: www.conniesangelshomecare.com

Instagram: Connie de Silva-Paul

Linkedin: Connie Paul

Facebook: Connie’s Angels Homecare

Image Credits
logo of Connie’s Angels, profile pic of Connie with a client, a solo pic of Connie