AJ Trelease
CareHome – MICRO Spring 2025
Published August 13, 2025
As part of our ‘Meet Our Founders’ series today, we introduce AJ Trelease, Founder of CareHome based in Wilmington, NC. CareHome improves medication compliance with smart dispensing, caregiver alerts and analytical reporting, reducing errors, enhancing safety, and ensuring seniors stay at home longer.
Q: What problem are you trying to solve and what influenced you to start your company?
A: We’re solving the critical issue of medication non-compliance among seniors, which leads to hospitalizations, death, and caregiver stress. Nearly 50% of seniors take their meds incorrectly, often due to memory loss, forgetfulness, arthritis, or complex regimens.
I was inspired by my grandmother, Graciela, who takes around 20 medications daily and struggles with managing them on her own. Her challenges, along with the millions of families facing similar problems, sparked the idea for CareHome.
We’re building a solution that empowers both seniors and caregivers to stay on track, stay safe, and stay out of the ER, improving quality of life at home.
Q: What does the road ahead look like for your company?
A: The road ahead for CareHome is all about building smart and scaling strategically. We’re launching test trials with early users to validate the Graciela device in real-world caregiving environments and collect feedback that shapes both the product and user experience. Our short-term focus is on Wilmington, NC, establishing a strong local foundation before expanding across North Carolina and into South Carolina.
As we grow, we’re refining our business model to focus on B2B partnerships with home health agencies, senior living facilities, and healthcare providers. We’re also fleshing out the data collection and analytics side of our software, giving caregivers and clinicians actionable insights into medication adherence trends. The goal: smarter care, fewer errors, and better outcomes at scale.
Q: What have you enjoyed most about starting your own company?
A: What I’ve enjoyed most is seeing the direct impact our solution can have on people’s lives, particularly caregivers who feel overwhelmed and seniors who want to stay independent. It’s incredibly rewarding to hear stories from early users who say the concept alone gives them peace of mind. Watching traction build in the form of winning pitch competitions, developing early partnerships, and gaining real interest proves we’re solving a problem that matters. Seeing that momentum firsthand keeps me motivated through every challenge.
Q: What is one thing you wish you understood about entrepreneurship before you ever got started?
A: Not everything happens overnight. I operate with a huge sense of urgency, so I have high expectations and used to set unachievable deadlines for large projects. It’s all a learning process though, which is what I love about this startup journey. It has helped me set better SMART goals, become more of a strategic thinker, and probably most of all, has really taught me how to effectively time-manage and rely on others’ expertise when I need it.
Q: What other passions do you have besides your business?
A: I’m actually training for a marathon at the end of October, so a lot of my free time has been dedicated to that. I’m from Connecticut, so I spend as much time as possible enjoying this warmer southern weather, whether that be working or running. I love grilling, spending time by the water, and my favorite activity of all time is probably jet skiing. When it’s NFL season, though, you’ll find me glued to a TV every time the Packers play.
While visiting Wilmington, AJ recommends:
- Definitely spend some time by Wrightsville Beach and go for a walk on the Riverwalk downtown; I do it as often as I can. There are so many hidden gems for food and drink, so it’s hard to pick one place to recommend. If I had to, I’d say my favorite spot is a tie between Rebellion and True Blue Butcher and Barrel.
Support Tulsi CareHome and AJ by:
- We are in some pretty heavy customer discovery for the software reporting side of our startup. We’d love to get in touch with as many people as we can to hear their stories and get their feedback on what they’d find the most useful in this solution. Brand and mission recognition is invaluable to us; follow us on LinkedIn and get in touch with us!