Julie Ament Gran on Leading GrandPad’s Mission to Reduce Senior Social Isolation

Anthony Codispoti (00:00)
Welcome to another edition of the inspired stories podcast where leaders share their experiences so we can learn from their successes and be inspired by how they’ve overcome adversity. My name is Anthony Cotaspodi and today’s guest is Julie Amit-Gran, Chief Operating Officer at Grandpad. They are a private technology company founded in 2014, specializing in a simple, secure tablet designed for older adults.

Their mission is to reduce social isolation and reconnect seniors with the people who matter most through user-friendly devices and world-class customer support. Under Julie’s operational leadership, GrandPad continues to expand and innovate in the senior-focused technology industry. In her more than 25 years of leadership experience, Julie held key roles at Dayton-Hudson Marshall Fields, Macy’s, and LifeTouch.

She joined GrandPad with a commitment to drive revenue and deliver seamless functionality for older adults and caregivers. The company has been recognized for bridging the digital gap for seniors, helping them navigate online communication and telehealth services with confidence. They have also earned praise from families and caregivers worldwide for making technology accessible to an often overlooked community. Now, before we get into all that good stuff,

Today’s episode is brought to you by my company, Adback Benefits Agency, where we offer very specific and unique employee benefits that are both great for your team and fiscally optimized for your bottom line. Imagine being able to give your senior living employees free access to doctors, therapists, and prescription medications. And here’s the fun part. The program actually puts more money into your employees’ pockets and the company’s too. One recent client was able to increase net profits by $900.

per employee per year. Results vary for each company and some organizations may not be eligible. To find out if your company qualifies, contact us today at addbackbenefits.com. All right, back to our guest today, the COO of GrandPad, Julie Amat-Grand. Thanks for making the time to share your story today.

Julie Ament Gran (02:16)
Thanks, Anthony. It’s great to be with you.

Anthony Codispoti (02:18)
So Julie, you brought more than 25 years of retail leadership experiences from places like Macy’s, Dayton Hudson, before joining Grand Pat. What lessons from that traditional retail world have most influenced how you oversee operations for senior focused technology today?

Julie Ament Gran (02:40)
Yeah, great question. think coming to GrandPad was an opportunity to really do something that was meaningful for me and helping people that struggled with technology. And it was really looking at kind of taking those corporate best practices. But then, you know, we’ve all been there where it’s like, ⁓ we need to do this because it says it in a book or a binder, but then really taking the practical side of that and applying it to business. So if something was a

steps one through 10, how do you look at that and say what really needs to apply to our business? So, you really operational looking at the right things to do. So when I came to GrandPad, one of the roles I had was leading our customer service team. And you might think it’s customer service. How hard is that? But it was really thinking about we’re serving older adults. And so we didn’t time phone calls. was taking the call, listening to what the individual needed.

and then really putting together kind of best practices around what did we see in terms of common themes, and then very simply taking that feedback back to our product design team. So really kind of that full circle in terms of what do we hear, what do we see, what do we see them use, and then taking it back to the product team. So I felt like everything led up to this role in terms of like going through.

very traditional companies that led me to this spot to be able to help influence this amazing product to help older adults then use technology that maybe either didn’t have experience with technology or perhaps had cognitive decline where it just was a struggle to use standard technology.

Anthony Codispoti (04:24)
So basically, it’s more of like a business operational framework that you’re able to bring from previous experiences into this world. Because the industries are a little bit different, right?

Julie Ament Gran (04:37)
Exactly. So I guess it’s a great way of saying it, Anthony. It’s kind of applying common sense to, hey, you learn these best practices. So it could be, you know, said differently. Someone goes to, you know, school to be, you know, or an MBA and they learn how to do something and then they get in the real world and they’re like, oh, wait, that’s not how it really works. And so, you know, in this case, I’m having worked at larger organizations than coming to a smaller organization and then being able to really apply as you said, that framework to

What really needs to happen in this situation? so meeting the customers where they’re at, and then as our company has grown, then applying that both to kind of a B to C and then a B to B space of like, okay, what really needs to happen here? Who are we serving? Who are the end users? And then what do they need? And then how does your business need to grow profitably in that case as well?

Anthony Codispoti (05:30)
So how did the door open to join GrandPad and why did you make the switch?

Julie Ament Gran (05:34)
Yeah.

Yeah. So at the time, our previous chief operating officer who has since retired was a colleague that I’d worked with at Life Touch for a number of years. And he reached out, we had lunch and I thought to myself, here I am working for a long term established company and he’s working for a startup like, gosh, why would I make that change? Right. And this is, gosh, late 2018.

And I remember thinking, I can keep doing what I’m doing, which I felt like I’d achieved a role. was ⁓ at that time, the vice president of operations for our field organization. And it was a role that I absolutely loved. was leading a large group of people, developing them, ⁓ working on budgets. ⁓ Some people don’t get excited about working on budgets, but turns out I do. But it was really shaping the organization.

at Life.Touch and I was really excited about that. But every time I talked to this individual, Dave Jaqueway is his name, I became more excited about what Grand Pad was doing. ⁓ I grew up in a small community. My parents ⁓ were in the farming community and my parents had very little experience with technology. They’re both in their 80s. And it really resonated with me around their experience with technology and maybe what they were missing out on, which was,

being able to connect and see pictures of their children, their grandchildren, their great grandchildren, and then also seeing extended family members that had cognitive decline. And I thought, there’s something here. Like it just literally kept pulling at my heartstrings. so that was one piece. The other piece was I had the opportunity to talk to a number of people at the company. And every single person I talked to

that worked for Grandpad, one, shared that same passion about helping older adults, but they were just smart and curious people. And there was something about that that was just such an attraction to the company of people that wanted to roll up their sleeves. They didn’t care what their title was. It was like, how do we get this done? And I think after meeting eight or nine different people, I thought, hmm, this is kind of interesting.

you will this work out? And I remember the day that at the time, the CEO made me the offer and I came home and my husband said, hey, like, what do you think? And I was kind of, you know, pale. he said, what’s the matter? I’m like, it’s a real offer. And he’s like, well, what’s what’s the matter with that? And I said, I don’t know, like startup, you know, big company. Like, what do I do? And he’s like, what are you going to do? I’m like, I’m going to call my mom. And here I am.

you know, literally in my late 40s at the time thinking like, who calls their mom? You know, but it was really just, ⁓ it was such a draw to this company. And I think for many people would seem not logical, but I felt like I could go and make a difference. And, you know, here nearly seven years later, I’m very confident that I have made a difference. ⁓ And I know the number of people that we’ve touched both.

individually, kind of as older adults, ⁓ as well as the companies we’ve worked with, you know, this was all pre-COVID, ⁓ certainly then COVID hits and we know we’ve made a difference in a number of people’s lives and it wouldn’t change it for anything.

Anthony Codispoti (09:00)
So where was the company at the time that you joined them? Was there a product out? Was it still conceptual? Okay.

Julie Ament Gran (09:06)
Yeah, yeah. So

no, the product was out. at the time I joined, which was early 2019, we had, you know, I’ll say kind of our product, I mean, it’s since been enhanced, but we, you the grand pad was out. We were doing B2C work. So we had one of our channel partners. So we’re selling the product through a channel partner and we were doing, you know, just, I’d say initial work with some B2B partners and

You know, very, I’ll say, dabbling at that point, literally fast forward a year or so, 2020. You know, we’re hearing about COVID. I think we all sort of kind of flashback and in one hand you flashback and go like, do I want to think about it? ⁓ But then you do. And I remember the day one of our partners called and said, you know, hey, they happen to be in California. And they said, we have to help serve our older adults.

can you get us 265 grand pads? And literally in seven days, we got them 265 grand pads because it was the second week in March. And so that began the beginnings of our B2B business. So today about 55 % of our business is in the B2B space where we sell the grand pad to organizations that then serve older adults, primarily

you know, ⁓ dual eligible individuals that, you know, are both Medicare and Medicaid eligible, where they want to be in their home, ⁓ but generally have, you know, a number of chronic conditions. And so the grand pad serves as, you know, a safe and secure trusted communication device that the healthcare organization can then communicate with them and allows them to safely communicate with that older adult.

They can put doctor’s appointments on the calendar. They can put resources on the grand pad and they know only a trusted circle can communicate with them. And so, you know, I think back to that time, the phone was ringing off the hook. were helping a number of organizations, you know, deploy devices. And I think back and smile at that time while you certainly, you know, it was ⁓ a horrible time from a, you know, none of us knew what was going to happen in the future. ⁓

many of us here at Grand Pad went to bed, you exhausted, but put our head in the pillow thinking we made a difference in helping some of these organizations keep people safe and connected. And that was rewarding. Right. And it helped to accelerate our business and think about how could a version of telecommunications serve this vulnerable population into the future. So certainly it was a pivotal time for us.

Anthony Codispoti (11:51)
So I want to better understand the product because on the surface I’m thinking, okay, iPad for older adults. Why not just use an iPad? I’ve got a nine year old son who’s been using one since he was six. Just put a piece of software on there that older adults can use. Tell me why my thinking is wrong.

Julie Ament Gran (11:53)
Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah. ⁓ Well, and that can work for some people. So, right. ⁓ I don’t think we claim to be everything for everyone. So ⁓ what our tablet is, is we today partner with Acer who designs our tablet custom made for older adults. So under the surface is Android software, but we take over that software. And so all of the updates. So think about your nine year old son. ⁓ There are.

you know, updates that come, right? Where, you know, you’ll get a pop-up screen that says, Hey, you need to install the latest version of fill in the blank. Right. And, you know, if you and I are very familiar with that technology, like you put in your password and you do that installation. If you’re 82 years old and never done that, what do you do? You call your son or daughter, or you say,

⁓ you know what? Your son or daughter is really busy. I’m not going to do that. Well, then if a health care call is supposed to come in and you can’t take it or you can’t get information. So really the premise behind it is right. it’s custom designed tablet. We take over the operating system, Android under the covers. We do all of these software updates behind the scenes. ⁓ So that’s kind of part one. Part two is. ⁓

the buttons are large and easy to identify. So it says very clearly like, know, call button and ⁓ easily identifiable for those that maybe have a sight impairment. ⁓ And then the really, ⁓ I’d say two parts of the secret sauce are one is ⁓ we ⁓ make sure

only individuals can call and email it that are in the trusted circle. So we find that with this particular population and quite frankly, I’ll say, Anthony, I don’t know about you, but certainly my cell phone, I’m getting calls and texts that, know, hey, ⁓ your bank account’s been compromised. And of course it’s a scam. But we find that older adults in particular becoming more more scammed and they look more and more real. And with AI technology, that’s becoming even more concerning. So

Part of our technology is this trusted walled garden that only individuals that are part of the circle can call the device and or email the device. And for many people, that is so reassuring because they have been scammed. mean, the numbers are quite staggering. And then lastly, I would say our true secret sauce is our customer service team, which we call member experience. So, you know, we wrap the custom technology.

Anthony Codispoti (14:20)
Yeah.

Julie Ament Gran (14:43)
⁓ with the custom software with our world-class service. we hire individuals that really have a passion for helping to care for older adults ⁓ that are patient. And it’s again, not your traditional call center where, hey, how long were you on the call? We timed that call, like get off the phone, take the next call. But really individuals that can be patient with an older adult, help them engage with the device.

and then show them how to use it. We also have the ability to remote into the device. So if someone’s really struggling on how to use it, we can remote into their device with their permission and help them be able to use the device in the way it’s intended. To date, our oldest user was an individual in North Carolina, Hester, at 116, so 116. And so when you think about that,

Anthony Codispoti (15:34)
my gosh.

Julie Ament Gran (15:38)
I mean, her daughter was in her nineties. Like you just think about a hundred and six, like, right? You think about how, just that is, and it makes me smile, right? Like she was able to connect. And I think of, you know, one story with a different organization where we were, they allowed us as grandpets to join and they would do these, kind of like think of lunch and learn Anthony where, ⁓ you know, they would have their group together.

And then they do little breakout rooms through zoom. We’ve got a custom interface with zoom and the breakout room I was in. One of the individuals, she was lovely lady. I would have maybe guessed she was in her nineties, very put together and they were sharing recipes and all of a sudden, like someone is talking, but it’s likely her son, because he says, I think it was mom, what do you think of this? And she said, well,

It’s very intriguing to me that I can be in my living room chair and having this conversation with other people and see you all, but I’m in my chair. And, and he said, well, isn’t that neat mom? Like, tell them how old you are. And she said, well, I’m 110, you know, and so here, you know, through this organization, they’re providing a grand pad. And I literally sat there, Anthony thinking, imagine what she’s seen in her lifetime 110, like just, and that

Anthony Codispoti (16:59)
Yeah.

Julie Ament Gran (17:00)
this technology is allowing her, you know, in her little apartment to connect with other people and feel community. Like I like I’ll probably start crying because it like it just it made me so happy that day to think of like working for an organization to know like that brought her joy and brought her son joy to be able to do that. I like all day couldn’t stop smiling because that was so fun. Right. So.

Anthony Codispoti (17:27)
So this is ⁓ like a mini iPad. What’s the footprint? What’s the measurement? OK.

Julie Ament Gran (17:30)
Yes. Yeah, so it’s an eight inch device.

you know, like you said, I mean, many people would say, hey, it looks like it looks just like an iPad. ⁓ And so, you know, custom software on it and easy to use. It can make phone calls and video calls. Right. So very much so. And, you know,

Anthony Codispoti (17:46)
Is it meant to replace a phone?

Julie Ament Gran (17:54)
⁓ We at some point in time will probably add a phone to our portfolio because some people say, well, it’s a little large to carry around, but ⁓ certainly it can make phone calls as well.

Anthony Codispoti (18:05)
And I’m looking at the website here and the pricing seems reasonable. know, I mean, there’s a special going right now. I don’t know if I want to mention the special price because I don’t know when people will listen to this, but go ahead.

Julie Ament Gran (18:10)
Great.

But yeah,

so no, I was just going to say, I mean, we periodically have specials. So but really it is meant to like, right, you buy the hardware, we’ve got different plans. And part of that has been our evolution from a consumer standpoint is to really think about how do people engage with kind of products. And so we’ve had different plans, and that’s been interesting to see. But you can see like, it’s very, very comparable to cell plans.

Part of having those different ranges is, know, often people will say like, my mom’s 94, I’m not sure she’ll use it. And it’s like, hey, here’s an option to try it. And we also have a 30 day money back guarantee. So it’s like, try it and if it’s not for you, that’s okay, right? Like, but we want people to see if it’s an option.

Anthony Codispoti (19:02)
And so how does it work? Like I set this up for my mother and it’s just sort of like always on in the cradle so that if we try to call her, it’s not like it’s on vibrate in her pocket and she’s in her purse and she doesn’t know about it. It like flashes up there or if she wants to reach out to one of us, it’s real easy because the buttons are obvious and she can click like contact directory and my son Anthony or my son Vince and

Julie Ament Gran (19:29)
Yeah,

it’s even easier than that, Anthony. So I’ll start on the first side of it. So there is the charging cradle that it can sit on. And so when the covers open on that, it actually goes right to slideshow. So like if she’s not using it, what’s awesome is, is we have a free companion app. And so you and your family can all join the free companion app and add pictures. There’s no

Anthony Codispoti (19:32)
Okay.

Julie Ament Gran (19:54)
There’s no ads in that companion app. so the pictures then go right to her gram pad and are then rotating through. So that is ⁓ a huge favorite of many of our users. While it’s sitting there, if you call it, you know, there’s lots of different options. It can flash. If someone is hearing impaired, they can see it. It can make noise. It’s very loud. We have front facing custom speakers because we do find as older adults age is.

They’re hearing the decibels available to them. And again, I’m probably not using the right language, but go down. we make sure that we’ve got front facing speakers and that they’re nice and audible. So easy for her to hear and see. We also have for those maybe that have, you know, changing condition over time. We also have a feature called auto answer where after three rings or five rings, you can set it up. However, you’d like that it can auto answer. So.

In the event, you we’ve had people towards the end of their life, or maybe they’re, you know, in a position of they can’t get up to answer, you can have an auto answer as well. So that’s kind of on, on her end, on, on, I mean, on your end, on her end, under our call button feature, you know, she would just hit the green call button, and then it shows all of her contacts. And we encourage each ⁓ member that is associated with your mom in this case to put their family photo. So.

⁓ Your picture would be there if your son had a different phone number and all the pictures are there so she can just scroll through and you’ll notice that ⁓ in the device that as you’re scrolling, it’s usually left to right and it’s part of our design. We have a group of individuals called our Grand Advisors and the youngest now I think Richard just maybe turned 80 but we any new product feature is we put in front of our Grand Advisor group.

⁓ before we roll out. And part of the reason I mentioned that is when the product was first designed and it was before I was here, you know, all of our, most of our smart devices scroll sort of vertically instead of horizontally. And so they were showing that to our grand advisors and they’re like, you don’t, you don’t read a book that way. And so our design is, you know, left to right. ⁓ And so, and there’s buttons and arrows. So on the call feature, you would, you know, kind of just scroll and find your picture and

Anthony Codispoti (22:01)
⁓

Julie Ament Gran (22:12)
Maybe one meaningful story is one of my colleagues that I worked with a few years ago, his mom had advanced dementia and he was out and about on a Saturday and he sees on his phone, he’s getting a call from his mom from the grandpad and he thought, his sister must be visiting her in the facility that she was living in. So he answers and thinking it’s his sister and it’s his mom. And he says, mom, like,

like you’re calling and she said, well, I was looking at this thing, you know, like she didn’t know what it was called, but and I saw your picture and I pressed the button and it was the first time in 10 years that she had called him on her own. like when he told me that story, like, mean, I again, I’ll probably tear up Anthony, but like just like she’s like, I saw your picture and I knew it was you, Mark. And I thought, I wonder what happens if I press the button and.

Anthony Codispoti (22:57)
Wow.

You

Julie Ament Gran (23:10)
They had this lovely conversation and it was probably just a handful of months later that she passed away. But it’s one of the dear memories ⁓ that he has of that the technology met her where she was at and empowered her to be able to talk to her son. So it’s stories like that that just, for me, make my day, right? Of like, we’re able to help people live their best life where they’re at.

Anthony Codispoti (23:40)
That’s really cool. I want to get back to talking about the business to business component, which sounds like it really grew during COVID. But first, I want to understand how you’re reaching that B2C side. How are you guys connecting directly with consumers?

Julie Ament Gran (23:54)
Yeah. So, ⁓ as you mentioned earlier, we’ve got our own website. ⁓ and so we kind of do what all say are, ⁓ common common. ⁓

Anthony Codispoti (24:03)
which real quick, sorry, is grandpad.net.

Julie Ament Gran (24:08)
Yes, well done. So we do kind of, I’d say traditional means of marketing kind of through Facebook, Instagram, Google ads, of ⁓ modern, I’ll say modern time ⁓ marketing tools. And then ⁓ we’ve got channel relationships. So, you know, where we’ll use other sort of cell phone providers where, you know, they, they sell other cell phones. And so we’re continuing to look at how we grow through those partners and

We’ve had relationships with ⁓ places like Consumer Cellular and then, you know, continue to explore other avenues to do that through major channel partners. So, you know, again, those are always ongoing, if you will, in terms of what that looks like. So that’s on the B2C side of things. And then on the B2B side of things, you know, like I mentioned earlier, we saw that grow through ⁓ COVID times.

and then ⁓ look to continue to expand that just in the ever-changing healthcare space. And so on the healthcare side of things, more on a dual eligible special needs programs, which are kind of those individuals that would be eligible for both Medicare and Medicaid are kind of really what’s in our sweet spot.

Anthony Codispoti (25:17)
Why specifically

the dual eligible?

Julie Ament Gran (25:21)
⁓ there’s within those, ⁓ there’s a lot of supplemental benefits, ⁓ that are available to those individuals. ⁓ and so just, there tends to be, ⁓ opportunity for digital equity where individuals, need assistance and like, how do I connect? So maybe they don’t have, ⁓ they maybe have a cell phone, but maybe it’s a flip phone. And so there’s opportunity for them to be able to do both digital health that way in terms of having a video call.

with a healthcare provider, ⁓ as well as ⁓ social isolation and loneliness has a huge impact on their health. so ⁓ what some of those plans do is have ⁓ benefits related to making sure like there’s ⁓ reimbursement towards depression and loneliness and isolation. And so some of those plans can carve out funding specific to that. so then matching up where

that there’s a good opportunity there, if that makes sense. so, right, part of it is just looking at those health plans that line up that would be a good benefit for grandpads.

Anthony Codispoti (26:30)
And so who are these businesses that help get you connected to the right folks? Are they like senior care facilities, ⁓ skilled nursing?

Julie Ament Gran (26:40)
It’s more the plan. like we work with, you know, ⁓ organizations like within. So like you care is a plan here in Minnesota that we work with health partners, ⁓ PACE organizations, so Program for All Inclusive Care of the Elderly. Not all states have PACE organizations, but that’s been a large group of organizations we’ve worked with across. I think we’re, you know.

in a number of states. I don’t have the number of states that we’re working with, but that was one of the ones certainly through COVID ⁓ that we’ve worked with. And then, you sometimes we’ll work with very specific plans. If there’s a diagnosis, like ⁓ as an example, you know, we’ve done some pilots with organizations that are working on kidney care, right? Where depending upon ⁓ if someone’s, you know, very isolated or a rural population. So it kind of depends on the organization a little bit in terms of what might be a fit for them.

Anthony Codispoti (27:36)
other business to business relationships would you like to see develop?

Julie Ament Gran (27:42)
Yeah, that’s great question. I mean, think we’re always looking at where there’s that need. mean, again, our sweet spot is obviously older adults. And typically we would say, you know, super seniors is something that we’ve used those greater than 75. But I would say that’s also ever changing in the sense that, you know, sadly, cognitive decline continues, you know, to not be solved. And so that is becoming younger and younger, but it’s really older adults. And then I would say

You know, we’re seeing more in the space of ⁓ rural disparities as it relates to health care. So, you know, if you start to look at some of the trends over time, ⁓ you know, there’s more more pressure on the health care system. And so, you know, I look again at, you know, some individuals in my own family and where they live and access to health care. And so, you know, how do we look at those organizations that are responsible for caring for those individuals and what access do they have to?

you know, health care and so thinking about how can technology help them see individuals ⁓ and meet them where they’re at. So, again, thinking about that rural health care side of things. One organization we work with today needs to see individuals for an annual assessment to make sure are they receiving the care that they need to and so are there opportunities there where

you know, again, they can utilize a grand pad to see someone that’s maybe five hours from a clinic. And so, you know, just thinking about those opportunities for older adults. When you look at those over the age of 65 in the next 20 years, this will be the only population that will actually grow in size because people are living longer. And so just thinking about how we can help meet that need safely from a health care standpoint, but also then reducing loneliness and isolation.

⁓ There’s some really interesting kind of facts around as we’ve seen more and more people maybe be, and I won’t have the statistic, Anthony, just so you know, but when you look at there’s more people that have divorced like in the last 20 years, you sort of take that forward into an older adult space. That means there’s likely more people that are quote single. And then like what that does in terms of people being lonely and how can we connect them in terms of a community? ⁓ And so just

You’re thinking about that of, like I said earlier, the individual that was 110 and allowing her to be in her living room and connect with other people and how we can make sure that people aren’t isolated. mean, some of the facts on isolation is really staggering for people of any age.

Anthony Codispoti (30:21)
I mean, just anecdotally, I’ve talked to a lot of folks in senior care facilities ⁓ and everybody has the same story going through COVID. know, folks who were okay, you know, kind of they were getting by, they were doing all right. And then they lost contact with family. They lost, you know, that regular contact with the people that worked there were there to support them. And they’re, they just declined. They just, you know, went through the floor and there was no recovering at that point.

Julie Ament Gran (30:49)
Yeah, there is a statistic, I think it was Dr. Juliana Holt and I can send it to you, but I think she’s got a study from the early, it’s maybe 2012 that indicates it’s, know, loneliness and isolation is equivalent to smoking like 15 cigarettes a day. And you kind of, you’re sort of startled by that number. But then, you know, what you just said, and I think we saw that during COVID, right? Of just.

people losing the will to live because they just didn’t have that interaction and ⁓ you can see it and ⁓ it kind of breaks your heart. And then it’s like, okay, what can we do? And certainly, just to be clear, I mean, we think in person, connecting with people in person is best. If you can’t be in person, right? Like, can I see my mom over the phone? And the importance of seeing them, like I…

Anthony Codispoti (31:36)
sure.

Julie Ament Gran (31:43)
You know, I video call my mom’s only three hours away, but like there’s times where I want to see like, is she okay? You know, she tends to like to garden and things like that. And I’m like, are you drinking enough water? just, and in seeing the change in how people look and just that gives you reassurance that things are okay as well. So.

Anthony Codispoti (32:06)
And so you were talking about how the device helps give folks access to care providers in a much easier way, especially if they’re not able to get out of the house on a regular basis. You guys, just to be clear, if I’m understanding it correctly, you guys aren’t providing those care services, but you’re integrating with particular virtual care providers. Can you say more about that?

Julie Ament Gran (32:23)
Yeah.

Yeah, so generally like when we work with an organization, you know, they will have kind of a care network. And so one of the buttons, like I know you were looking at the website, there’s a number of buttons that are on the grand pad. And so we provide with our B2B Enterprise version, there’s a button called providers. And then under that button, we can provide all the providers for that individual. So they can have their doctor, their cardiologist, their

⁓ their dentist. And so it’s easy for them, you know, to then just be able to call that individual. So think about like, I often say it’s like, think about all the cards that are maybe on the refrigerator for an older adult that like they’re all then in the grand pad device. The other pieces with some of these organizations, like a PACE organization, the PACE organization takes over, if you will, as the primary care for that individual. So in our B2B enterprise space,

we put what’s called the concierge button on the grand pad. So it’s the very first button. And so they can just call the pace button right there and ask them any question. And so it’s just very, very easy for them to be able to get a hold of their provider, ask questions and, you know, get that simple care versus literally having to like, you know, okay, I have to go call someone. So very easy to do. And then

provide resources so we can put, you if someone maybe has congestive heart failure and now they’re on a low sodium diet, we can put, you know, a PDF of, you know, healthy eating tips on, or we can, we’ve had organizations say, you know, we’re going to conduct a low sodium cooking class and it’s going to be virtual and we’re, know, Anthony’s going to be in his home, I’m going to be in my home, and we’re going to do that through the grand pad in our enterprise version.

We’ve got a portal situation where they can then, ⁓ much like we are today, do it virtually and show them how to do that. So there’s many benefits for the healthcare organization that’s providing the grand pad to be able to do that. The example I gave in healthy cooking or ⁓ fall prevention is another one just as an example where they can do a virtual tour of the home and just see are there hazards in the home for that individual. So ⁓ lots of different applications.

Anthony Codispoti (34:47)
Is there a feature or function that you guys, hey, this looked really good on paper and as you tried to execute it kind of fell apart for some reason.

Julie Ament Gran (34:56)
⁓ you know, there was one, ⁓ initially pre COVID that we, did an integration, ⁓ for a transportation app. And I’ll just leave the, app out of it, for the, the name of it, where it seemed like, Hey, that would, that would make sense, right? Where older adults might need to get from point A to point B, much like you and I do where, ⁓ it maybe didn’t take off as well as we thought. So we sort of backed away from that one. ⁓

So I think that’s one, I mean, I think we always look at like, Hey, should we continue to go forward with, you know, things like that of like, what, what are apps that we would want to bring forward? ⁓ you know, one of the questions we often get like, ⁓ can, can we just go to the app store and download apps? mean, because our software is custom software, that is not an option today. I think, you know, in the future, do we see, you know, like I said earlier, do we see a phone?

phone version of the grand pad. Do we see a, you know, a modified grand pad where there are apps, you know, for quote, a younger older adult. So I think those are things that we’ll look at in the future in terms of being able to provide flexibility. So the transportation app was certainly one of them.

Anthony Codispoti (36:09)
What’s the most powerful growth lever that you guys are pulling on right now today?

Julie Ament Gran (36:14)
It’s really the B2B side of it, which in that healthcare space of it, because they’re, like I said, there’s, it’s the fastest growing population, right? People are aging. ⁓ There’s more pressure on the healthcare system. There’s more, well, I shouldn’t say more. There’s generally speaking, less people going into the healthcare profession. And so it seems like there’s just this like ⁓ convergence, if you will, of

not enough people to care for individuals. How do we do it differently? And so it feels like there’s a good opportunity for us there. We’ve seen growth there. Part of it is I think there’s also health care is huge, right? And so we’re not going to be everything to everybody. And so I think it’s really important to be very, very focused on what makes sense for us, who do we make sense for and how do we serve that segment? I think

We’ve all probably seen organizations like we can do that. We can do that. We can do that. And as we look to the future, we’re very focused on what it is we do and what it is we don’t do and who we serve and who we don’t serve. And so we have, I think, an amazing product. does not serve everybody. And so and being clear about that. And that’s OK. I think I think when companies tell us that ⁓ vendors that we’re buying from, actually appreciate that. So I think we’re

we’re very focused on, as I talked about earlier, kind of that dual eligible group, because there are many underserved needs there, and it’s a good fit for us, being able to provide a digital solution ⁓ to those individuals that really have special needs and have chronic conditions and need a communication tool to help them connect with their healthcare provider.

Anthony Codispoti (38:02)
What’s the biggest operational challenge that you’ve had to overcome in your time there, Julie?

Julie Ament Gran (38:09)
Wow, I feel like you might have stumped me, Anthony. Yeah. Yeah, I mean, I don’t know if it’s the biggest one. I I think under the covers, ⁓ right, we’re an LTE provider, right? So like the device comes and you can connect to the internet. So under that, right, we use all the major providers. And so today, right, like if your cell phone doesn’t work, you can easily switch from one provider to the other. They can send you a SIM card.

Anthony Codispoti (38:12)
or just pick a big one. You don’t necessarily have to pick the biggest.

Julie Ament Gran (38:36)
You know, if you’re 86 years old, we don’t send SIM cards out. So it’s not ⁓ it’s not hard. We just replace the device, right? You send out a new device with a different SIM card in it. So not hard. Just you think differently about how you solve things operationally when you’re dealing with an older adult. Right. So, yeah. So I wouldn’t say hard. Just you think differently.

Or, ⁓ you know, if there’s, know one of the partners we worked with were changing from, you know, 3G to 4G at one point in time. And again, you know, people like, you just send out a SIM card, not for an 86 year old, right? So ⁓ the beauty is I think because we have this grand advisor group, like it really does, we tend to start, we always think about, okay,

Grandma’s sitting in her chair. How does this work for them? So we always come at it from the customer perspective. So that’s why I kind of say it doesn’t feel like anything’s hard. Like it’s just maybe more complex. So yeah.

Anthony Codispoti (39:36)
Mm.

What about something that, ⁓ I don’t know, was kind of holding you guys back in terms of growth or being able to deliver more units or something like that that you guys have had to work through?

Julie Ament Gran (39:54)
Yeah, I mean, I always say this to people is, ⁓ you know, the good news about ⁓ particularly in the B2B side, the good news about ⁓ grandpad is it’s not a commodity. The bad news is it’s not a commodity, like meaning you’re still selling a new concept. Right. So if you said, you know, like, hey, every every older adult is going to have a grandpad as part or have a have a device as part of their health care solution.

you know, would that be good for you, grandpad or bad for you? I’d say that’s good for us, right? Because it raises the boats for the industry. ⁓ So, right, sometimes when you’re talking to, you know, payer providers and talking about, you know, the solution, it depends on where people are at with the change curve. And so, you know, I think that’s part of it is just like sometimes you’re selling a new concept of like, how will people use this? So

You know, some of the organizations we work with, while you’re talking about this device, you’re actually managing the change curve, right? You’re going in and you’re delivering the device to an older adult, but then if there’s a care team, I’ll just use a PACE organization. You know, they have an interdisciplinary team of individuals from a behavioral team to, you know, an occupational therapist to a doctor.

those teams then have to embrace utilizing the grand pad to deliver care and information to you, right? So you’re managing change at multiple levels when you’re delivering a new idea. And so I think it’s that kind of concept of just recognizing it’s not just a product, right? Like it’s not just like, hey, here you go, it’s a thing and you’re done, right? Like, so.

We, you particularly in the B2B side, like we’ve got account executives and client success managers that are there with you every step of the way and are equally as passionate about their business ⁓ because we know we’re managing that change along the way, if that makes sense.

Anthony Codispoti (41:56)
It does. You know, it strikes me that one of the really cool things about your product is something you talked about in the beginning, where it’s kind of a closed system, right? Like you have to be on the list of trusted contacts for a message to get in or out, which really helps to protect the user. How do you get more people at it? Say it’s my mother and she’s got a new next door neighbor that moves in and now she wants to add Sally into her list. Can she do it?

Julie Ament Gran (42:08)
Yes.

Yeah.

Anthony Codispoti (42:25)
Is she calling you guys for you to add or how does that work?

Julie Ament Gran (42:29)
Couple ways. So she can call us and say, hey, I approve Sally to be added. And we can right there, our customer service team can do that. ⁓ Typically on the, ⁓ well, both sides B2B and B2C, there’s usually a family administrator. So like in your case, if you were the family administrator, you can add Sally, you can send a link to Sally and say, hey, Sally, I’ve approved you and you can be added. So the family administrator can add her. So easy, easy ways to do it.

We’ve got the free companion app. So when we set somebody up, like what our customer service team does today. let’s say that your mom is a new grand pad user. actually, almost 50 % of our customer service calls are outbound where we’re calling both the user, in this case, your mom and you and onboarding and saying, Anthony, who do you want added? Right. And you give us a list.

And we’ll add them and like, right, because for us, we know that the more people that are engaged with the end user, the more likely they’re going to be successful, right? And the more images coming in, ⁓ the more likely that person is going to pick up the grand pad and use it and see like, hey, did anybody post any pictures? Like, did I see anything? So it’s very easy for ⁓ individuals to get safely added. And

⁓ Unfortunately, right, happen in families. Families are messy at times, and so at times if there’s somebody that has to come off, equally can come off as well.

Anthony Codispoti (44:02)
Right. I wonder if you guys have considered either integrating with devices that do this or building out your platform to be able to offer more kind of proactive monitoring services.

Julie Ament Gran (44:17)
my gosh, like did you, must’ve read my mind. We actually ⁓ are integrating, we integrate with two solutions today. One, we have a Bluetooth weight scale. So some of our partners, particularly with congestive heart failure, the weight of an individual is pretty critical to their health. So they can gain, you know, two, three, four pounds.

quickly because of ⁓ fluid around ⁓ fluid in their body. And again, certainly not a medical expert, but fluid around their heart, it becomes concerning. So we’ve had partners reach out to us to say, hey, can we connect your device ⁓ to ⁓ a weight scale? So we’ve done that. So we’ve got an integrated solution there. And so what happens is, well, they’ve got a gram pad. They take their weight.

We’ve got kind of, say a range of programs in the sense that if the person doesn’t take their weight, a pop-up reminder happens on the scale, but we also can have our member experience team reach out to them to take their weight and then that information gets transmitted to their healthcare provider. So that’s been a really successful program. And then we have a integrated blood pressure monitoring tool as well. So.

know, same thing where we can, you know, do reminders on the grand pad to say, Hey, Julie, it’s time to take your blood pressure. And really to the point you’re making is really trying to be proactive and helping that person, you know, be healthy and monitor that and make sure that, you know, they’re, they’re watching what they’re eating and, just, or sometimes it’s not even so much what they’re eating, but maybe there’s a change in medication and those, those tools help them to see is that medication working in the way they want it to.

Anthony Codispoti (45:59)
tying in with an Apple Watch or building a Fitbit kind of competitor or?

Julie Ament Gran (46:03)
So, again, so fascinating. We tried something early on, and I’m going to forget the name of it. We are actually revisiting that conversation. What has been maybe a barrier, and this is maybe to your earlier question, is the charging of these guys is what’s usually kind of holds us up, if you will.

Again, kind of our population being the super senior group of 75 or older, as people age, just their dexterity tends to be a bit more challenging. so finding a device that carries a long battery life ⁓ that doesn’t have to be charged as frequently is always a little bit of a challenge for us. However, ⁓ that’s coming a long ways as well. and there’s also different ways, like it doesn’t always have to be sort of that tiny little connection.

So we just last week looked at like, hey, what do we put back on the table in terms of devices? Because there’s really some interesting devices that also monitor kind of your walking gate and the gate of your walk is predictive of some other health pieces. And so like, how interesting would that be for different people, both, you know, kind of individually, as well as on the healthcare side of things.

and then just fall detection is a key component. So it’s back on our product list to kind of come back to.

Anthony Codispoti (47:31)
Okay, we’ll check back in maybe in a few months and see how that’s progressing. Kind of shifting gears here, know, Julie, we all go through big, tough stuff in life, right? We don’t often talk about that. I want to give you a chance to share a big serious challenge that you’ve overcome in your life and how you got through it.

Julie Ament Gran (47:33)
Yes. Yeah, absolutely.

Yeah. Well, you know, I think everybody from the outside, you look at people and you always say like, oh, like, don’t they have it? Like that person is, you know, like they got it all together. And I think, you know, you always step back and go, well, wait a second. Not everybody has it all together. And first of all, everybody’s going through something like you just don’t know what they’re going through. So, you know, we probably all have multiple stories. You know, mine is

I’ll just say is, I don’t want to say interesting, but is mine. know, a little over 13 years ago, my first husband was suddenly diagnosed with lung cancer. And so I’m going about my career and, know, with some regret, I’ll say, you know, my career was very, important to me. And so worked a lot of hours and

And long story short, here we end up going through radiation and chemo and in a short timeframe, ⁓ his health rapidly declines. And what is interesting in that is ⁓ through that, you learn a lot about yourself, you learn a lot about the people you work with, you learn a lot about family.

Through that, ⁓ I had the opportunity to, I guess, look inwardly and at times think like, why me, right? You can sort of take different perspectives in that. And ⁓ sadly, I lost him after five and a half months. It was a short journey and ⁓ still painful to this day, of course. ⁓

But I remember a really close coworker of mine who had a different story, but a sad one, said, you know, it’s a little bit about perspective. And I kind of looked at him, you know, I think it was at at a bitter, bitter phase probably. And I said, well, what do you mean? And he said, 99 and a half percent of the world would want to be you.

And I kind of, and I, and he said, look at it. You have an amazing family. You have an amazing support system. You have, you know, taken the lessons that you’ve learned in life and applied them to a career. You’re a curious person and, ⁓ you like wake up every morning trying to make a difference. He’s like 99 % of the world would want to be you. Yes. You’ve had this horrible thing happen to you.

but they would want to be you. Like you live in a first world country, you have access to food and water. And it was this pivotal moment, I think for me of you can choose your perspective, right? This horrible thing happened and you don’t get to choose it, but you can choose your perspective. And so it’s forever on me, but it’s

So you can wake up and say, and in life and at work and in relationships of why did something happen and focus on like, why did that happen? Why did that happen? And kind of narrow down. ⁓ And I think it was probably who I was a little bit before that happened. But it is certainly who I am today in the sense of people will come to me at work. my gosh, this thing has happened like this. it’s like.

And literally a little bit of, and Mike was his name, my first husband, and I’d be like, nobody died. And you laugh a little bit, right? Because that’s what you have to do. But I think it is perspective and let’s talk through it, right? Of like, hey, and I say that not to make light of it or anyone that is going through it, but it is to try to look at situations and to say, hey, they’re…

what can you learn from this? What can you take from it? And like, it can it move you forward ⁓ in your life, in your perspective? And and can it help somebody else? And and so that’s really been a little bit of my journey. And and at times like I know at work, you know, I will share that story to, you know, maybe help people through a difficult situation and to share like this is who

who I am and where I am today, right? And I’m fortunate in the sense that I say, I’ve had another chance at love and I’m happily married today and I have a stepson. And so, you see people and you see them for a moment in time. And so just know that everybody’s got a journey, so.

Anthony Codispoti (52:49)
So you mentioned your friend sort of giving you this different perspective. Was that a perspective that was easy for you to embrace?

Julie Ament Gran (53:00)
At that moment in time, maybe not as easy. I think he saw I was having a bad day, so I think it was a chance for him to just like, here’s a perspective. In his case, he equally had a journey. He lost a child to SIDS. He was a recovering alcoholic. He, in that point in time, shared his story with me to

to show how he came out the other side of it, right? And that it is a journey and partially sharing the story like, we’re friends and like, if you’re having a bad day, let’s talk about it, right? So like it was kind of the power of friendship and it was the, like you kind of need to hear this cause like there’s paths you can go down. Like, so it was, ⁓ I’m forever grateful for the conversation, right? Like he’s a dear friend today and.

You know, he’s since retired and we don’t talk all the time, but like, I also know I can pick up the phone and call him and, and feel so blessed to have had so many positive people in my life. And he’s just one of many.

Anthony Codispoti (54:09)
Say more about that because I’m curious what the support system was like for you going through that.

Julie Ament Gran (54:14)
Yeah, I mean, I think, you know, it’s it’s a world of I mean, in general, right, I think you you get what you put out there, right. So I think through through my career, I feel like ⁓ I’ve always been a person that ⁓ I mean, this is a little bit of an aside, but like I’m always like the person back in the day when there were quote cubes of like, what are those people doing over there? Right. Like, I’m a curious person. And so I think because

of being curious. ⁓ I also like to be helpful. I don’t know that I’ve ever said, that’s not my job. ⁓ And so part of that is I think I like to be helpful ⁓ and put that out there. So I think when going through sort of this time of, I had to leave the office at a certain time to pick my husband up to get him to a treatment, I had to

literally had a team of people, because I was a little bit notorious, knowing for working long hours, it’d be like, okay, it’s time to go. right. And, and, and so people, had this support team of, they knew how candidly to manage me in a difficult time. And, um, and I think they could see like I had a boss that was like, you need to do what you need to do. Like meaning you’re going to work at times and be available at times. Um, and.

towards the end, candidly, I remember ⁓ people talking about like, you probably need to take a leave and they’re like, well, we’ll need to take your computer away from you. I say that smiling because they knew it was also a distraction because they’re like, how do you manage this? So ⁓ it was an, I’ll just say an interesting time as I look back at it, a little bit surreal in the sense that

doesn’t seem like you, it’s a little bit kind of like we talked about earlier, if you kind of think back of COVID and you’re like, did that really happen? Like, cause there’s a part of me of like, was that, I guess that was me, right? So.

Anthony Codispoti (56:20)
You know, in times of grief and loss, you know, some people they do better to sort of unplug and be in their grief, be in their sadness. ⁓ Others take more of a, need something to distract me and keep me busy. What was your balance like? Were you kind of going back and forth between those two or did you gravitate towards one or the other?

Julie Ament Gran (56:42)
You

Um, it’s funny that you asked that question. Like it was, it initially seemed like I needed to be in work. like, was like get through one day, like bright seed kind of go through and it’d be like, okay, it’s Friday. Like, okay, I’m done. I’m done with work. Like, meaning like, I just try to get through the day. And then I kind of get to Friday night and I’d be like, okay, I don’t have to talk to anybody for awhile. And then I get to about Saturday at three o’clock and I’d be like, Oh, like.

like, I would, it would, there’d be this quiet time where I’d like, cause I’m, ⁓ and some people don’t believe me, but I’m an introvert by nature in the sense that like, I gain energy by, you know, time by myself and like listening to either podcasts or, or audio books. ⁓ but they’re right. was this window of time where if there was too much time by myself, then, you know, look at

how sad my life is because I had this terrible thing happen. So, and I’m a routine person, so I quickly recognized, I was like, oh, I, there’s like, I got to figure this out, right? So like, it was probably a combo for me, like, meaning I knew I needed some time where I had like, quote, a low on time where I could kind of like reflect on like, okay, here’s what happened and, and, you know, how the

how time at work went so that it wasn’t just sort of masking the grief, right, but it’s like dealing with it. But it was also like, I can’t have too much time alone because then it becomes this sort of like, what was me? Yeah. So ⁓ and to your point, like everybody deals with it differently. And so like, when I’ve known other people to go through something similar, it’s trying to offer support without sort of saying, here’s how you do it, because it’s different for every single person, right. So

Anthony Codispoti (58:18)
Spiral. Yeah.

Yeah. One thing I’ve noticed observing myself, I’ve never experienced loss on that level, but certainly have had loved ones pass away. And I typically do best with a small amount of alone time to process in grieve. Better with more time to do it with other people who were affected by the loss or maybe not, but can support me and sort of hear and allow me to process and vent. ⁓ and then.

pretty quickly for me anyways, and what I’ve experienced up to this point, move into, okay, now I have to move on. Now I need to put one foot in front of the other. And that doesn’t mean to say that the grieving process is done. It still bubbles up at times, unpredictable, but I see you nodding your head.

Julie Ament Gran (59:20)
Great.

Yep.

Yep. Yeah, I’m very much like that as well, Anthony. I you know, we’re gosh, I don’t know if it’s 13 or 14 years, I’d have to do the math. But, you know, I can talk about many of the things very calmly. And there’s things like I can on a moment’s notice, you know, be in tears, right. And so but for me, it was I did have to put one foot in front of the other, like I had to move forward. And some of that probably is

just maybe how I was raised. I mean, in the sense of, you know, I remember a day in sort of, you know, towards the end where it wasn’t going well. And I called my mom and like, you know, I was in tears and, and she like, let me cry for what felt like two minutes. And she’s like, okay, are you done now? And I was like, like, I kind of not really, you know, she’s like, okay, but like, what are, what are we going to do moving forward? Like, what are you going to, you know, and

And in a way, right, like that was a, okay, like there’s something about action, at least for me, whether again, in this personal situation or even at work, like action for me feels like there’s control. And while we’re quote, never in control, action has some sense of, ⁓ moving forward and feels like you’re doing something. And so, and I tell that to people at work.

as well. Like sometimes there’s things that of course are out of our control. What can we do, you know, in the situation that can help move it forward? And that sometimes gives people comfort. It does for me.

Anthony Codispoti (1:01:00)
Hmm.

You know, ⁓ thinking about just a couple of folks I’ve lost in my life, my grandparents who played a big role in raising me, I still have moments of sadness as I remember and think of things. ⁓ But for those situations, it happened in the normal course of time, they had lived a full life. And so for the most part, when that sadness comes up, there’s still a great deal of love and gratitude coming through with that.

I wonder in your case with the passing of your husband, maybe it’s harder to get to that place of love and gratitude and perhaps there’s still more bitterness that comes up when those emotions well up. Yes, no.

Julie Ament Gran (1:01:46)
Yeah, I mean, I think you feel gypped, right? I mean, just to say it straight, not great in the sense that like, hey, ⁓ how did this happen? Why did it happen? And then ⁓ you kind of go like, okay, I can’t do anything about it. And this will sound Pollyanna, Anthony, and it’s not meant to be, but simultaneously while he was going through it, a coworker, and I didn’t know him super well, but he

was going through something similar with his wife who had brain cancer and she ended up having brain cancer for seven and a half years. And through that journey, ⁓ they had two children, Mike and I didn’t have children, but over the course of time, right, they did a number of surgeries. And so she lost the ability to speak and to move. And I remember like thinking to myself, like,

could I have survived seven and a half years of that? So in a way, ⁓ I was kind of like, am I grateful for five and a half months of treatment? So I found myself, while I felt gypped, felt thankful for the weird journey I had, if that makes sense.

And, you hear of other stories, like I interacted with a gentleman recently who his wife had early onset dementia and she’s, you know, already unable to speak. And I think she’s only 62. And I thought, ⁓ wow. Like, so I, again, I kind of came back to try to be at the perspective stage of didn’t like it ⁓ can be better, but at least it’s not this like, so.

Yeah. Yep. Chris. Yeah.

Anthony Codispoti (1:03:36)
So you eventually remarried. What’s your husband’s name? Chris, how

long before you felt like you were ready to go out and date or meet people?

Julie Ament Gran (1:03:46)
Yeah, so ⁓ that’s an interesting story as well. it was ⁓ fairly soon. mean, I, you know, like with within a year of Mike passing away and part of that, like some people will be startled by that. Right. ⁓ Part of it. And again, goes back to Mike and I story like we, you know, we knew he was in hospice. We knew he was was dying and we were going through, you know,

the hospice checklist, more or less, and vivid story of I was making him dinner and ⁓ you’re, mean, the things that you’re doing, Anthony, are a little bit ⁓ surreal at this time, but we’re, buying a burial plot, right? You’re buying things that you don’t think you’re ever buying. And you can buy one plot or two plots if you’re doing casket or cremation, right? So like, I’m like, so I’m asking the question and Mike says to me,

Well, we’re going to get cremated, but you should buy two. And we had a dog and I was thinking, well, I don’t know if they’re going to let us bury Wiley at the cemetery. But and he’s like, well, no, like you’re young woman. You should get married again. And I want you to get married again. And like, of course, I’ll tear up again. He’s like, but like, want that for you. And so, you know, what a gift, right? Because I think there are situations where that doesn’t happen. So.

I happen to be a person of faith and I truly feel as though Mike had a hand in picking Chris. so, Chris has a wonderful son and so some people don’t get a chance at love once, I got it twice and so here I am, so on the other side of that. So, life is a journey, right? And you…

It comes at you and it’s unpredictable and messy and good all at the same time.

Anthony Codispoti (1:05:43)
Thank you for sharing all that, Julie. ⁓ I’ve just got one more question for you today. But before I ask it, I want to do three things. First of all, anybody looking to get in touch with Julie can visit her LinkedIn profile. And we’ll have a link in the show notes. But it’s Julie, ⁓ A-M-E-N-T, Gran, G-R-A-N. ⁓ And also to get in touch with the company, they’ve got a great website, lots of details you can buy on there, grandpad.net.

Julie Ament Gran (1:05:47)
Yeah.

Anthony Codispoti (1:06:10)
And then as a reminder for listeners, if you want to get more senior living employees access to benefits that won’t hurt them financially and carries a financial upside for the company, reach out to us at adbackbenefits.com. Finally, if you’ll take just a moment to leave us a comment or review on your favorite podcast app, you’ll hold a special place in my heart forever. Thank you. Okay. So last question, Julie, a year from now, you and I reconnect and you are celebrating something big. What’s the big thing you hope to be celebrating one year from today?

Julie Ament Gran (1:06:42)
God, I feel like it’s two things. that’s probably, Well, yeah, well, two things would be one, ⁓ we will have the next, probably the next generation of our tablet that will be out there. So, which is just a normal evolution, I guess, ⁓ of our product, but we’re excited about that. ⁓ 5D enabled, so that’ll be fun. And then ⁓ it’ll likely be ⁓ just further expansion into the healthcare space of.

Anthony Codispoti (1:06:44)
Let’s hear it. Let’s do it.

Julie Ament Gran (1:07:09)
You know, large partners. I know not specific, but part of that is how it works. Right. So, but just really, you know, hitting major milestones with helping lots of older adults. I mean, I, feel a little bit generic in saying that Anthony, but I just, when I look across the country and see, you know, how, how many people need to be able to connect digitally and get information. And there’s so much changing with.

all these different plans and just being them able to safely, you know, and securely connect and know that they’re not being scammed. I so anyways, I’m rambling, so I’ll try to be concise, but I just, think it’s really just helping more seniors ⁓ and older adults and them feeling safe and confident with technology because it’s here to stay and we want to be a part of that conversation.

Anthony Codispoti (1:08:04)
And

for the new generation of device that’s coming out outside of upgraded hardware and all of that and the 5G capability, which is really nice. Are there other features that people can look forward to?

Julie Ament Gran (1:08:15)
You know, oddly enough, compared to other technology, the answer is no. And mostly on purpose, like meaning because we want to keep it simple, right? So behind the scenes, like, yes, there’s the insides of it. Yes, will be different. But for the external side of it, no, just because we want to keep it simple. yeah.

Anthony Codispoti (1:08:23)
Keep it simple.

Well, Julie A. Grant from Grant Pat, I want to be the first to thank you for sharing both your time and your story with us today. I really appreciate it.

Julie Ament Gran (1:08:45)
Well, thank you, Anthony. It was an absolute pleasure.

Anthony Codispoti (1:08:48)
Folks, that’s a wrap on another episode of the Inspired Stories podcast. Thanks for learning with us today.