Press & Media
Press Kit
For journalists, podcasters, and content creators covering AI, aging, caregiving, or family-tech. Press contact: hello@callmabel.com · response within 24 hours.
One-line description
Call Mabel is a Tampa, Florida-based consumer technology company that provides daily AI companion phone calls for seniors aging in place — built specifically for adult children who worry about parents living alone.
Company facts
Founder bio
Dick Pahl founded Call Mabel in Florida. A Citadel-trained electrical engineer with graduate studies in meteorology at Texas A&M, Dick served as a U.S. Air Force Major and an airborne weather reconnaissance officer with the 815th Weather Reconnaissance Squadron — the Hurricane Hunters. Across a career spent founding companies that turn engineering into peace of mind, he built Call Mabel after seeing what too many aging Americans were left with: an empty house, a phone that rarely rings, and a family that wasn't sure how they were doing.
Available for: podcast interviews, journalist source quotes, on-camera interviews (via Zoom).
Press contact: hello@callmabel.com
Story angles we can speak to
1. The 80% wearable problem
80% of seniors stop wearing their medical alert pendant within weeks. The $4B medical-alert industry is selling product that ends up in drawers. Dick can speak to why this is, what works instead, and what consumers should look for.
2. The B2B-first AI eldercare wave is leaving D2C wide open
Meela ($3.5M Bain Capital, Sept 2025), ElliQ (200+ senior living facilities), Papa (pivoted from D2C to Medicare Advantage in 2018). Every major win in senior AI has been institutional. Adult children buying for parents are an under-served market. Thad has a strong point of view here.
3. The sandwich generation's $600B in unpaid labor
American family caregivers provide $600B/year in unpaid labor. Dick can speak to the daily reality, the guilt that no one talks about, and what scalable interventions actually help.
4. Built by an operator, not a VC-backed startup
Engineering background. Multiple companies founded. Bootstrapped. Available for "building outside the VC system" angles, including how operator-led consumer tech differs from venture-funded peers.
5. AI without the dystopia
While Silicon Valley debates AGI risk, real seniors are dying of loneliness — the U.S. Surgeon General called it a public health crisis. AI companion calls aren't science fiction; they're tools families need today. Dick can speak to consumer AI applications that are working right now.
Key statistics we cite (all sourced)
- ~53 million Americans are caregivers for an aging family member (AARP, 2024)
- ~80% of seniors who get a medical alert pendant stop wearing it within weeks (multiple industry sources)
- $5,500/mo US median cost of assisted living (Genworth 2024)
- $600B/yr in unpaid family caregiving labor (AARP)
- Equivalent to smoking 15 cigarettes/day — health impact of senior loneliness (U.S. Surgeon General, 2023)
- 1 in 4 adults over 65 falls each year (CDC)
- 2 in 3 who fall once will fall again within 6 months (CDC)
- 21% of Florida residents are 65+ — highest concentration in the US (US Census 2024)
How Mabel actually works (technical overview)
Mabel is a voice AI that uses ElevenLabs for voice synthesis and Anthropic's Claude (Sonnet 4.5) for conversation. We do NOT use OpenAI's GPT models. The infrastructure runs on Vercel + Supabase.
Each senior subscriber has a dedicated "profile" — Mabel remembers their name, family members, hobbies, medical reminders, daily routines, and history of conversations. New calls reference previous ones.
Calls go to the senior's regular phone (mobile or landline) — no app, no device, no setup required from the senior. The family member sets up the schedule and information through our web dashboard.
Distress detection runs on each call transcript through a Claude analysis pass that flags specific concern signals (verbal cues of pain, confusion, falls, scams, depression). When flagged, an SMS goes to the family contact within minutes.
Logos & brand assets
Brand asset library (logo PNG/SVG, founder photo, screenshots) coming soon. In the meantime, email hello@callmabel.com with your specific need and we'll respond within 24 hours.