What kind of leader will you be in a crisis? Rocky takes a leap into Southwest Airlines’ customer service guidelines and how they handled the 9/11 tragedy with integrity. Joining us today is special guest Kim Lanning, focusing on a different kind of crisis management: helping families find assisted living, independent living, and memory and in-home care as they age. Lanning talks leading by caring, educating people who have simply “never been told,” and encouraging us all to get a headstart on planning our future.
What kind of leader will you be in a crisis? Rocky takes a leap into Southwest Airlines’ customer service guidelines and how they handled the 9/11 tragedy with integrity. Joining us today is special guest Kim Lanning, focusing on a different kind of crisis management: helping families find assisted living, independent living, and memory and in-home care as they age. Lanning talks leading by caring, educating people who have simply “never been told,” and encouraging us all to get a headstart on planning our future.
Yes, welcome to this edition of a survivor's journey with rocky destefano. Thanks Larry. The premise of our show is that everyone is leading something or someone, whether you're a parent, leaving your family, a coach, leading a team or a team member, leaving a few or a CEO leading an organization. All of us are on a path of being a leader and this is our title, a service, Jeremy. Fantastic. Rocky, I understand we have a guest in the studio today. Who is that? While we have kimberly landing, although she prefers to be called Kim Kim, and she is. She's very, very well schooled. I'm going to say that she has many, many letters after her, but I'm going to let her tell us all of that and what they mean. Well, welcome Kim to a service journey. Yeah, and Kim is the founder and president of caring avenues, which is an aging life care from. She's focused on meeting the needs through client centered planning and she specializes in helping families throughout the country, uh, qualify for Medicaid veteran's benefits. Fantastic. We're going to hear more from her later in the program, right? Yes. We asked, well, you know, first I'm overwhelmed at the response from that story you read last week about toby, your first. You're a member toby's lamb. I'm so touched. Oh well, who could forget it? Hey, you know Pat's right. Pets are almost perfect or not mouthy like our kids. You know, everybody. Everybody loves pets is what I've noticed. So it was a good story. I think I do have a follow general. Do you have a followup story, right? Another cat story and for me? Well sure. We can come up with a cat steroid lay folk. Hey, if you'd like to see a copy of that story. It's pop. It's posted on the website, a servers journey and speaking of the website, I know that we've partnered with acs, creative in developing our new website and when it comes to being creative and creating a website, it pays to go to the pros. That's why we've gone to acs, creative. They drew brochures, logos, direct mail campaigns, ad campaigns and websites. So if you're looking for a company to help you build the backside of your podcast and to help your business grow, again, the name is ace dot s creative. They don't play games with your money. Yeah. And you know, I'm very impressed with the look of the site and it really, it, it, no offense against Larry our eye, but it really shows how bad we are. A website. So you'd go to the pros, right? Absolutely. Again, um, that's acs creative and you can contact them on the Internet. It's very simple. It's a c creative plus, you know, I'm, I'm pleased to announce it. Isabelle s sends Amaechi. So you struggle with that name, sends it to you. Okay. You had, she was wondering a guest not long ago and now she's on the team. She is going to be heading up some of the creative work on the new website that is in production. Actually, it's really close to being a unveiled that, but she's working closely with acs, creative and I can't wait for everybody here to see the new ones. I think that was like a talented transition because I know Isabelle used to work at chick filet. You're in Claremont. She did. She was in high school and she went off to f s you our current, you know, we, I don't know this is airing or this is an airing, but we're recording at the day after their first game and it did not look very good last night. Speaking of the day after yesterday, we are recording this the day after Labor Day. Yeah. And I've been pondering this question. What happened to all of the holidays? Okay. So I feel like that's loaded, but tell me what you mean by that, Larry. You know, I, I actually mean that. I met you at office depot yesterday. Yes we did. We live on a very small town and on Labor Day. Yeah. And that means office depot was open and your staff was working. They were working, you were working. So I figured, well, who's who's enjoying the holiday for labor, you know, labor statistics show that like 70 percent of us employed or in the service industry. So that means everybody's open, everybody's doing something right. Okay. So, so tell me your point, Larry, what are you getting at where I'm just saying what happened to the holidays? You know? Um, I would love to say it. It was great when things were closed down. Do you remember those days when it wasn't just Easter? I guess Easter is still fairly shut down and Christmas Day, but boy, I tell you what, that's a rarity now. But if you work at Disney, you're working 24, you know, there's never a holiday there. Yes. So it's just to me it's just ridiculous. I am, I just pining for the old days. Is that it? Yes you are. But that's okay. I think that there was a lot of great things about the good old days. Well now chick fil was open on Labor Day holiday. You have holiday schedules, right? Yeah, we do. I mean we're open, you know, restricted hours. So we do close early, but I'll be honest, the reason businesses are open is people are out like never before. We were busy up until the day until the hour we've closed. Wow. So all right Larry, so I, I'm going to get it, you know, it's my turn now to keep us on task. Yes. Yes. Tell us what's on tap for this edition of a service journey. Well, with great care and concern that we have our guests in the studio. Kimberly's here and keep saying Kimberly, see, I know Ken. Larry. I'm so. I am A. He.
Speaker 2:So formal. Thank you. Kimberly is business, but I always knew growing up that if my mom called me kimberly and got the rest of the name out, I was in so much trouble. You see Larry, you were causing flashbacks here. Oh my goodness. Hey, wait a minute. We've got to do one other thing. I forgot. Okay. You can, you can, you can use your voice. The voice. I love moments in leadership. Thank you Larry. All right, so first I just wanted you to know that we found this information on a American Express Small Business Open Forum and we found this information on that forum and it's about southwest CEO James Parker, and he believed that because southwest had built its company on sound principles, business principles for over 30 years, that they were able to handle a crisis better than any other airline. Well, certainly one of the biggest crisis that hit the airline industry in all of us was nine slash 11. So how did southwest handle nine slash 11? Well, you know, first of all, if anybody who's flown southwest, you know that they're kind of known for their customer service and they're a little bit irreverent normally, but there are a lot of fun. And really, if you think about customer service and airlines, it's an industry that's kind of fraught with awful customer service. So southwest distance itself from other airlines by putting the customer first no matter the situation. So on September 11th, uh, airlines were forced to shut down for days while the rest of the nation recovered from the terrible attacks. And I think that's one of those days where everybody remembers where they were. Like I remember being paralyzed in. I actually was driving to work and sat in the parking lot for almost 20 minutes. Omar just being shocked at, you know, all that was happening. At least you weren't on an airplane flying someplace and having to land someplace and now knowing where you're at. But you know, because of all that happened, it meant that all airline passengers and flight attendants and pilots, they were stranded with the planes across the country. But instead of merely sitting and waiting, southwest employees were encouraged to take the passenger's bowling or to the movies to pass the time. And really many airlines, they started cutting jobs in the months following nine slash 11. The airline industry had been badly damaged for sure. And many airlines were forced to cut their workforce by almost 20 percent. But instead of following that trend, southwest announced only three days after nine slash 11, that southwest would keep all of their employees and they would start a 179 point$8 million dollar profit sharing plan for their employees. Wow. So Se a cu, most southwest, southwest. And he said, se, did I get the wrong direction? And you know, in case in case southwest everyone to endorse us, I think you should get like to fly with them know. Okay. So
Speaker 1:the CEO made the epic decision in leadership and they were able to handle the crisis better than any of the other airlines, you know? Absolutely. Well, and you know that there's this plaque I used to, I forget where it was, it was in somebodies office, probably my principals, maybe I spent too much time in the principal's office, but he had this picture and it was a c that was just frothing and really rough. And the waves were huge and it had a statement that said, any body can steer the ship. When the waves are calm, it takes a leader to steer the ship. When the waves are fierce, will you look at James Parker? He could have done a lot of things, but I think he definitely stepped up as far as leadership. Oh, that's neat. And that's almost sounds like something chick-filet would do. I mean, you know. Wow. Yeah, I would hope so. I would hope so. You know, again, it's, it's how you. I always hear those stories of how people react in crisis and I, I love, you know, you hear those great stories, right? So what kind of leader are you going to be if you're in a crisis? That's the question of the day. Sounds good. Perfect. So again, we have a guest here in studio a and we're very pleased to introduce kimberly a seat. Now Larry's. We're very pleased. Introduced Kim and do we pronounce it landing and we got it right. And again, she's from caring avenues and we're very excited to learn more about caring and just her whole area of expertise and what she offers. She definitely helps families find assisted living, independent living and she helps with memory care and in home care. So Kim, welcome
Speaker 3:to our show. Thank you very much for having me.
Speaker 1:And now this, there's one very important thing about Kim and I want to say I'm going to say this, just say o h, I might say I. Oh see, this is a, this is a beauty. See, this is the community were already forming. She is a fellow Ohio state Buckeye Fan. Therefore she is a person of incredible worth and intelligence. Oh well that's good.
Speaker 3:Well I need to go now. I can't get any better than that.
Speaker 1:Yes, I'm, I, I am a little biased but yes you are. So we're, we want to start and we just want to ask kind of share a little bit about yourself where I kind of spilled the beans about where you grew up and your family, like your brothers, sisters, mom and dad. All those kinds of things
Speaker 3:was. Um, I was raised in not fountain and I graduated from Indian Lake. Okay. I'm not going to give the year because in that obviously gets done the age, but I grew up on a small farm. My Mom and dad still live there. Oh Wow. So they were there for quite a few years. I'm not giving my age away. What did you guys grow? Well, um, we actually grew horses. Oh Wow. They have to be grown to we. Um, and we were the, we were the kids in the that when there was an animal that was the runt of the litter or wasn't going to be able to get the extra special care from the farmer, they would always give us the, the animals and my sister and I would pick would raise them and everything until they were big enough. And you know, we've raised pigs, sheep, goats, and
Speaker 2:you have a favorite animal. Is there one that all of my horse, all the horses that I showed
Speaker 3:over the years, I was four h we showed. We showed across the horse show circuits with Ohio, Iowa, Western Horse Association. And so grow up around the horses. My Mom and dad still have to. My Dad still goes trail riding.
Speaker 2:Wow. Yeah. That's awesome. It is. Farming is healthy living because they're, they're doing well still and it's great to see them still out and active. Very inactive. So now we're, you now you said you had a sister. Uh, what was your family makeup? Did you have brothers, sisters, or. I have a sister. She's younger than me and she'll let you know that all the time. I have a sense, I have four sisters are older than me, but they all still try to get people to say that I looked the eldest. Oh, well I do that to my sister too. It's something about being the older sibling because I always introduce her as my much older sister and she gets so mad at me. Yeah, I have an older sister. That's right. You do. She's up in Chicago. Right, right. Everybody's excited about that. I'm sure. Got It. Okay. So talk about. So you, so your first jobs were probably really helping around the farm. I would imagine. We did a, we did a lot of the farm work on. Yes. I know how to Bale Hay and I think everybody should. Everybody should have to experience it at least once. Um, and, but, you know, growing up I did do a lot of babysitting, which was nice. Um, to a degree. Yeah. That was the days before you had to get background checked and I mean like, you know, not that it's like he let somebody come into your home, you've got to know everything about them. Back then it was okay. I know her, she, you know, she lives down the road. I think she's safe. Yeah. Yes. And um, we also, uh, I grew up, one of my first jobs was I, um, I worked in a fitness club. Oh cool.
Speaker 3:Right. Right out of high school. And um, I am, I guess my biggest thing of where I started out where I am today was I thought I wanted to be a nurse. So I worked in, I thought were better place to work than in the emergency room. So I became a
Speaker 2:unit clerk there and I'm sure you've got some very interesting stories about emergency room stuff. Oh yeah. We, it's, it's tough. And those are in the book. Yes. In the book and the Book and you know, I saw, I have great respect for my doctors,
Speaker 3:nurses, my sister is a, is a geriatric nurse so, you know, but I found out that nursing was not my gig
Speaker 2:so, so talk about
Speaker 3:that because I think in life it is important, you know, for, and I always tell I have three daughters, they're right at that age where they're trying to figure out what they want to do and I always tell them it's not what you make, it's what you spend, number one. So there's honor in any career that you choose, but it's okay to try something and say, okay, this is not for me because rather do that than spend time hating what you do. So. So what was it about being a nurse was at the pace or. No, it was actually, it was actually the respiratory side. Oh yes, yes. But I, because the other part I could handle, right? Um, you know, but I found out that I hadn't really good organizational skills. I could keep everything behind the desk running smooth so that the doctors and nurses could be with the patient and so I. well, I thought, well, I'm not nursing school's not my thing, but I was offered the opportunity through the hospital to go onto college and so I went for her. My business degree. No. Now where did you go to school? I'm a graduate of Urbana University. Yeah. Yeah. Roberto is a great school. And you. Avaya. Come on. Hey. Hey. How are not too many people know where being a university, but it is a small. It's a small liberal college. Oh, went to a small liberal arts. It's not University of Illinois. Nope. Sorry. No, no. Now you made Larry because he's gonna go in. So sorry. But um, after I graduated from, from college, I went to school. I started out working in a nursing home as a director of an Alzheimer's unit and I worked under the social worker.
Speaker 2:Okay. Now that is a, it's a calling and my mother spent 17 years working in a nursing home and my gosh, the story she would tell us and how much the, the, the they became family, but you know, how much the patients and the people that lived in the home became, you know, part of her life. And uh, it, it's a hard, it's hard. It's sad because you're there and you're really helping them through the last part of their life sometimes. And it's a tough industry. How long did you spend in that?
Speaker 3:I spent on her with the nursing home side. I spent probably about seven years there and, but I was the main person. I had to talk to the families when they had an overdue bill. I always hated that because they looked lost. Yes. And all I could tell them as they needed to make arrangements with the business office and that here's a list of things that have to get out of your mom's. And here's the number for Medicaid. You need to call and get them on that.
Speaker 2:Okay. So now you had this job, but that it sounds like you didn't enjoy being the enforcer. Right. Okay. I didn't.
Speaker 3:I had to do what, what the nursing home or corporate office said that I could just see how lost these families were.
Speaker 2:Okay. Now explain to me, because I, I know what you mean, but for, for the listeners, why are they so last?
Speaker 3:Because a lot of times our, um, our moms, our dads, they, you know, ourselves when it comes down to what we have in the way of finances, what we have done with our money, um, you know, if there's life insurance, a lot of times the parents won't tell the children what they have. So the family is already overwhelmed because mom's in a nursing home.
Speaker 2:Some guilt that they're having to have them in a nursing home. Yeah,
Speaker 3:exactly. And so, you know, the finances doesn't even come into play for them and they're just worried about their mom and then they get sticker shock when they see the private pay after Medicare stopped paying. Yes. And all I can do to help to just make things worse for them by saying, this is what you have to do. You have two weeks, we will meet back. If you don't have this started, then we're going to have to discharge mom and and I, you know, it was, it was hard because I could see the,
Speaker 2:there's all the emotions felt. Exactly.
Speaker 3:Yeah. So I got, I got the slip blessing of transitioning from one part of the corporation to another. I worked in their home healthcare and hospice side as a community educator. And
Speaker 2:now this seems like you kind of in a roundabout way maybe found your life's calling in a way.
Speaker 3:Did it? Took the. It took this journey and I've been so blessed. I can't say that I've been perfect, but no journeys. Personal attorney is perfect, but I went to work there for the home healthcare and hospice side and the person that was in the position before me had set up a couple of speakers as well. One of those speakers was an elder law attorney and he talked about veterans' benefits planning and Medicaid planning and how they work together and went after his talk. I was like, this is exactly what I wanted. I wanted this family, this family should have heard some of this. That's right, because I still to this day I can tell you like that what they looked like still. And so I went and talked to him and I ended up going to work for his law firm. Marketing is his law firm. But then I ended up doing his care coordination and that's where I am today.
Speaker 2:Okay. So now talk about, um, first of all it was, was this attorney in Florida or this attorney was in an Ohio. Okay. So talk to me about how you ended up in Florida. Well, what happened was I, our family always vacationed here. Everybody vacation again. And while the first time if I did, I found a job I would have stayed in. Ohio is a great place to be from to b from. But when you go through the winters, it's 20 something years
Speaker 1:and 30 years you get tired of it. You didn't know.
Speaker 3:Yeah. And um, so my husband one day came home from work. He was working as a corrections officer and the wind chill was 40 below and that'll do it right there. We're moving. And the gates, the hydraulics for frozen. So they, he had to hand crank it. He came in and he said, this job is a much, much better job for a younger person. You said, are you ready to move to Florida? Were like, yes, before you change your mind, let's go. And we did and it actually, I, I have grown more as an aging life care professional or care manager. And then I had all the years I had practiced in Ohio.
Speaker 1:So now is that just because there's so many a is you know, Florida has an aging population. I know you have some stats to share with us, but without a doubt, a lot of people retire here in Florida. Is that the reason for the growth or is it just what you've learned or what you've been through?
Speaker 3:What I've learned and what I could put into practice, and I have always learned, and this is my philosophy of client centered planning, if you have that good care manager or aging life care professional, you have a good financial advisor and a elder law attorney. Those three professions can help that family put a plan in place to help wrap that protection around the family and I, I learned from a wonderful financial advisor from an. I've been working with him for since 2008. Is that anytime you do any, any benefit planning for a senior person, senior, you should always look at flexibility and liquidity. Okay. Cause on the healthcare side, you never know what's going to happen. They may be good, you know, during the first part of the planning, but then something happens at something traumatic with the healthcare side that you have to have that flexibility in liquidity to regroup and be able to figure out if we're going to be able to meet the end of the plan that was put in place. Or if we have to have the liquidity to back out and re and re position in that point.
Speaker 1:So you said a journey and a financial advisor and there's a third. What was the third one? That would be
Speaker 3:the aging life care professional or a care manager?
Speaker 1:That would be me. Sure, sure. Okay. Kim, Kim, Kim. So, um, what I'm, I'm taking notes I want to follow along. It was running on and I'm actually taking notes too because I'm wondering like when is a good time to start planning, because I'm sure some of what you saw when you were in Ohio when you first were in this, is that it wasn't that people, you know, we're, we're idiots. Or they just didn't think about planning for this.
Speaker 3:Not you don't think that it'll ever happen to you. And it's happening for all of us. Right? Happening for all of us and things are going faster for us. It's just like we're in September. I know it was just like yesterday. It was January. Yep. So, you know, we, and I always tell families are, I always tell everybody that earlier you can start planning and if you start at um, and we're in our mid fifties even, that gives you a good start because here's the thing, the laws change all the time for eight, for anybody age 65 or older. I bet you guys didn't know this, but when you turn 65, the, the, um, the government gives you a law. Okay? What's that label for your labeled the, um, at, at age 65 then you are no longer in on the Medicaid side, you are no longer considered for the General Medicaid. You are looked at in a category of aged, blind or disabled. So there is a whole other different set of, of Medicaid laws and rules for anybody that is 65 or older age blind or disabled aged, blind and disabled. Wow, that's a good label. Seems like it's not. But it is. If you look at it from Medicaid side, Medicaid is a program that for the younger generation they are. It is, it is an opportunity that when you're down they will help you give you a lift up to be out in and to be a productive citizen at age 65 or older. What we look at there are the is looked at, there is, are you a, you know, are you making the, the care, getting the care that you need, are you able to pay for the care that you need? So I always tell families that we look at, they look at Medicaid in a different way. They look at how to help you pay for that longterm care. Now share with us, because I know you had some stats around the cost and it's scary. It's staggering. I, I was shocked when you shared it with us before. What does it cost to live in a care facility? Well, I have some Florida snapshots that were just brought out in, in July of this year. The number of Medicaid nursing home beds in the state of Florida is 80 3003 69. The average, the average cost of a nursing home per month is$7,908. My Gosh, the percentage of population age 65 or older right now is 19 point nine percent. And I guess with the population living longer, longer, the need for beds is just expanding. It is. It is. And they anticipated the percentage growth of 65 or older by the year 20, 32 at 88 percent. So that's telling you that now we've got a lot of planning that we need to do and if you look at the Medicaid waiver waiver list here in Florida and they have a wait list of$67,000 and that is for in home care and also assisted living care, assisted living. Right?
Speaker 1:So, so you really do so. So you're calling is coming alongside these families that are going through this. Hopefully getting them at the early point where you can help them plan, but I'm sure you do a whole lot of okay this is happening. How can I help you through this process is that, is that accurate?
Speaker 3:We look at is where are they at right now, what, what's going on, what do they have in the way of their legal documents or financial documents and also doing a healthcare and looking at the healthcare side of it and then taking that information at that point and then having them help put a plan in place as to where, okay, this is where you're at now. This is where you want to be. Well, here's the steps in between and the benefits or the facility that meets their needs and one of the things that we do to for our senior population in Florida is if children live out of state, mom and dad are here, then I'm aging life care professionals. What we do is we help be a bridge that gap between the children on state mom and dad here, so we can help coordinate those benefits and services, take them through their doctor's appointments, be there in an emergency situation and report back and be that advocate for that senior but also that family.
Speaker 1:So you really kind of our lifeline for a lot of people. So without a doubt you're serving a lot of people. It sounds like. How, how, um, how have you found like it has there been a, you know, a story that has touched your heart. Something may be that you took somebody who had that wildlife stared where they didn't know what was going on or what to do and you kind of help them through the process and I'm sure you can't use names, but do you have a story that's really kind of keeps you going on the day when you wonder why you're doing this to yourself?
Speaker 3:Well, I do. Um, and actually she was my first care management case here in Florida, no one or so, and she always has a near and dear place in my heart and I still, I still grieve for her even though she's been gone now for over a year. But when I met with her, she was a, she was widowed, she was estranged from her children and her power of attorney was her niece who lived in Pennsylvania. So we, we worked with the nice and I worked with the, with the aunt and I would take her to her appointments, report back and we also are looking into planning even though she was in an independent facility, we still put a plan in place and by doing all that I got to learn a lot about her and when the nice would want to do some, you know, make a suggestion or change, do something, she'd say, well I think that my aunt would like this. And then I would say, well no she wouldn't because she's talked to me. So I would always say, well, you know, that's a good idea, but what about this? And then I would say what her aunt wanted. She goes, you know, that sounds, that sounds a lot more like her, let's, let's do that. And I'm like, there we go.
Speaker 1:Just having the proximity to the patient and being able to spend time with,
Speaker 3:they get to know them and, and, and she wanted to pass away in her apartment, in the independent living facility because she wanted to have her cat cougar with her. She never. Yeah. And so he, you know, we, we did what we needed to do, she had the means to do it when we were able to bring you in a nonmedical company and we were able to, when it come time for hospice, bring hospice in. I have a couple of nurses that are on staff work with us and so we were able to, when the medic, when they assisted in or sorry, nonmedical company was not able to further along in her illness because of their regulations, then that's when the nurses stepped in and worked with the or the hospice nurses and we were able to keep her where she wanted to be. She passed away peacefully in her apartment with her, with Cougar,
Speaker 1:which is, I mean, you know, the older I get, the more that's my, you know, I, I always say to my wife, can I just pass peace, peace, fleet, you know, I mean, it, it, it means a lot to be able to die with dignity. And um, it sounds like you work with a lot of different agencies to and hospice being, I guess maybe one of the last. Normally.
Speaker 3:Well actually if I, if I know because yet again I worked educated for hospice, if I see a client or a that meets the hospice criteria, I would rather see them on hospice sooner rather than later because it is medicare funded, so that's, that's money they've already paid out that we need to utilize that Marie and hospice is such a wonderful organization because it will, it will help with that client through the transition, but it will also help the families. Yeah. So,
Speaker 1:well it sounds like Kim is a real server without a doubt. In fact, I, you know, I was wondering too, and I at first though I wanted the echo hospice. My father passed not too long ago and I was blown away by hospice and just the organization as a whole top to bottom, how much care and how much I, you know, we always use the term dignity. They allowed us to be there and allowed my father to pass with dignity and we got to spend a lot of time, quality time with them. So it's a wonderful organization. How
Speaker 3:many clients are you able to serve? Because it sounds like it, this is a lot of work. It's not easy. It's not easy. We have a really good team, Michelle, one of our other care managers and Michelle's here too. She's the one that keeps me on task. Um, we all need a Michelle. We do and we've, like I said, we have a, we have a nurse that's a snow from Ohio. My mom told me I needed to hire, don't regret it a bit. Joe and I grew up together showing horses so when they start, when they come down here and they actually stay here in Claremont, um, when they are here from November to April. Joe's on board working with us. Yeah, exactly. And we've got pete, he's in the villages so he does not the care management side end of it so much, but he keeps our name out there and we've got Dhea and back office. And of course the boss, the big boss man. My husband works for us with us too. He keeps us all or tries to keep us all in line. You know, it sounds like it's a, it's a a fair number of employees or team members, but still a small outfit. We're still small. How many people do you guys work with and serve and is it always changing? It's always changing because once we get that benefits approved, then the families can stay with us as a care management or we've. We've finished our Biz are part of the deal. Exactly. And or, but we still remain in contact with them. They have the ability to. Something happens over the following year after we got the benefits in place for them, they can call us to still answer questions or refer them on because a lot of times maybe we're not the fit for family, but we don't want to leave them unprotected, so we always give them that next step of who to go to, who to talk to, which is, I mean the greatest act of service. Sometimes it's so catered know that this isn't a fit or we really can't help you, but there's this organization that can sometimes that's the greatest hope you can give to somebody and I feel so blessed because I was recently, well, I sit on the elder affairs council for here in Lake County. I represent district three. I didn't get Claremont that sometimes we went one day and. But then I also was asked, we asked to be part of the Advisory Council for Michigan United Mission United as a part of united way. It's a lateral move and mission united. They're dedicated to helping veterans. Didn't matter whether you served during peacetime, wartime, any, anytime veterans as a veteran that if you are, if they're coming out of and trained out of the service and transitioning to home, they have services available to help them. If there are, if they're already here and are still struggling to re Jose Reyes. Exactly. That's the word. Then they're here. They're missing. United is there to help them and they help their families too, so there's a lot of different different groups grouped into that mission. United, we were asked to be part of the senior veterans to help figure that out. So so how great is the issue with veterans because I would imagine that, you know, it's on everybody's thoughts, just how underserved they are. How big of a population of veterans do you work with? Is it a big percent of your clients? A lot of our clients, our vet, our veterans or surviving spouses of veterans and there is, there is benefits that are out there for them but they don't think that they're in. They're entitled to use them. So educating, educating, educating and it sounds like, you know, you serve in a lot of ways but, but maybe your greatest servant servant, well you're your greatest service is being the roadmap because I think sometimes it's overwhelming. You mentioned that look in their eye. It's not that there's not possibilities or things that they can do, it's just that you have no idea how to get there. Our family was the same way and this is the part that really breaks my heart because I'm going into the veterans stuff. My grandpa served during World War Two honorably. Great. Its greatest generation exactly. And he did everything he was supposed to do. My grandpa, he used the va healthcare system, so that was good. But nobody ever told my grandfather, anybody from the va, none of them ever told them that there was a pension that he was entitled to to help bring help pay for services that he was paying for out of pocket for here, Mike, he or my grandma. And um, the part that really, and, and it's, it's breaks my heart. It still does because my grandparents were not rich. And when my grandfather passed away, my grandmother did a Parkinson's and we had, my mom was one of eight kids and each one of my aunts and uncles were wonderful, you know, um, but I understand this too from the field that I'm in, that they can, you make pie crust promises. They and those are easily made, easily broken. Um, they all agreed that my grandma would stay at home and out of the eight kids there was roughly maybe three that we, you know, there may have been a fourth one here and there, but because of their work schedules and my grandmother with her part, her Parkinson's and dancing, there was a couple of days that she was there alone by herself, that she should have never been left alone. Right. And so, you know, it's not from neglect or anything like that. It was just, they were trying to figure out what to do and when I found out about the aid and attendance pension, that is pensions that set aside for any veteran who served during a period of war time. And if I would have, um, would have known that that benefit was available for my grandmother. Um, you know, it would have helped a whole lot. Exactly. Even if it would've just been$600 because this was back in the nineties. Why don't you think that is? Why do you think that, you know, because I, I, I like to think the best of people. So I don't think it's malicious that they're not told. Is it just oversight or is it, it's just so it's a big bear. You're trying to rustle and you can't figure it's a, it's a big, big. Um, I don't want to say it's a big bear, but it's just not so well known when you started to see it. Well, when I first got my taste of the this eight, it's called aid and attendance pension. When I first got the taste of this, of what it was, I was brought into work with a family that a, was in an assisted living facility while she had had a massive stroke, so she wasn't able to go back. So she was going into a nursing home and just about four months before that there was a financial advisor went in and talked about this aid and attendance pension and how you can reposition your assets today, qualified tomorrow. And so the family bought into it, repositioned her assets to get her qualified for it. Well, she had a healthcare event that she wasn't able to go back and be in that assisted living. And so she went into nursing home, well, the family file for Medicaid, they were denied because of the improper transfers. There was never advised that there was a. Once you transition, transferred money out, you've got a penalty period they were ever told that. And so, you know, the family was family was, didn't know what to do. And we ended up looking at everything. We had to look at the, what the financial guy had done. We found out that he never filed the veterans benefit application for that lady, which I would imagine it happens a lot too. I said, well, I went and I wrote down every question I had regarding this aid and attendance pension. And I went right down to the, to the, the uh, regional va office in Columbus, Ohio. And I sat with the, with one of the veterans service officers and I had a two hour inservice. And that's where it all clicked with me on our veterans. Right now here in Florida, we are actually the third largest state of veterans population. There are 1000 or 1 million, 524,400 veterans in the state of Florida. That's amazing. That number there is. There are
Speaker 2:1 million, 380, 1000, 170 male veterans and 144,000, 229 veterans and this is just in the state of Florida. Will, it sounds like you're kind of a full service, you know, what you do looks different for every single client it is because no two people have the same circumstances and so a lot of times you're kind of marrying your knowledge base with the attorney, with the financial planner, trying to pull it all together to kind of help people. Uh, of course, I think you're helping a lot of people that didn't plan, but you're also hopefully helping a lot of people that want to plan and are trying to get an early start to it. You can plan for it at any time. It's just if the early you plan, the more options are open to you. You can even do crisis planning. There is always something open to you. It may not be all that you would like to have had, but there's still something that can be done. Okay. So it sounds like what we need is we need to know how to get in touch with you because I would have. Now I probably need to come down and talk to you. I'm, I just turned 50 and I know I'm canceled. You know how that is. It's either getting older or the alternative I'll take getting older, but you know, my wife and I really were at that point where we're starting to think, okay, it's a lot closer than it seemed, you know? Yeah. And um, so, so how does or how would somebody get ahold of you? Is there a website that you have or a phone number like you. Our website is instead of progress we see now you need acs. And here's the thing, here's the thing, it's like when you have a small group, it's like everything we know we, we try to make our own. Wow. It was bad. So you're in central Florida. We are in central Florida. And you have a phone number, I'm sure. We do. Our number is three, five, two five. Oh, four, four, eight, zero, zero. We also have a toll free number, which is eight, six, six, eight, two eight, seven, seven, zero one. Yes. And, and by the way, I love your tagline, I meant to read this earlier, but it's empowering seniors to meet the challenges of aging, but you don't have to be a senior. You can be, you can be any age. It's never too early to plan. I'm an OCD person. So now I'm going to be thinking about this until I finally call you and say, okay, let's sit down and figure this out. Um, my in laws have been, I, you know, of course my parents, they were immigrants from Italy. They didn't really, I mean they were learning everything about America and so they did not plan as well. Thankfully we had people step in that really did help kind of, you know, people that offer services like you, um, they, they live in Naples, otherwise we would have used you, but no, you. But, um, my inlaws have been the exact opposite. They've been planning since they were in their early forties. Wow. And it's, it's, they tell me all the time, here's what's supposed to happen, here's where everything is, here's our longterm disability, you know, um, you know, and it's amazing what is out there, but I didn't know any of this existed, so I have a feeling you could be a very, not only an advocate for people that, uh, maybe it's, it's, it's, they're there, but you're probably instrumental in helping people plan away before you get there. So that's what I would love to do. I would love to make sure that, that everybody has a plan because my job is to keep the decisions in that sense, that senior persons corner. Yeah. Because even though you have family, children always think that they know better than mom and dad and I always, there's been a couple times I said no, they're able to make up their own mind to make that decision and it's better to make those decisions when you don't have to make them, when you're not in that crisis. So the planning is important. Okay. So we're going to get to a fun segment, which we kind of surprise people with, but I wanted to one more time, give us your phone number, your toll free number. Our toll free number is eight, six, six, eight, two, eight, seven, seven, zero one. And we are able to, Pete Pete, put people in contact with other people that do what we do around the country, the website. We're going to be posting that on the website. You can go to our website to get the earth phone number. And again, it, it's never too early. So if you're in your twenties, I know we have some listeners that are in, they're actually in their teens, which is kind of scary all the way up to very, very old people like me and beyond. But it's never too early or too late to call because even if it's even if you're in 72, still it's still good to know the path and what's going on. So please use Ken, but let's get down to this one or that. Okay. So this is our segment now. So we're going to give you and, and, and there's no right or wrong answer. Now I might be partial to one more than the other, but that's okay. So what I'm gonna do is I'm going to give you two names or two movies are, and I'm going to ask you to share which one you like better and maybe why and when we do this, because sometimes our topics are heavy, so we want to end on a good note. Okay. So the first two is uh, and, and if you don't know one, let us know because we're kind of nerds here. So Elan Musk or Richard Branson, which one do you prefer and why? And, and, and you know, both of them. I know their names. Yeah. Elon musk is tesla. Okay. He's the electric car guy. And Richard Branson is a surgeon. That's right. He's Kinda the, the Virgin Atlantic Airways playboy owner. You know, he's a hoot. I liked him. He liked to have fun because I, because I, you know, we were talking before about Jimmy Buffet, so you know, if you like Jimmy Buffet, then you like a good time. And Richard Branson seems okay. How about Steve Jobs or Bill Gates? Is there a platform that you liked? The. Are you a Microsoft or apple? I am actually a Bill Gates. I'm an. I'm a Microsoft. Okay. So now tell me, is there a reason you like Bill Gates or is it just what, you know, some of the platforms that he has, especially with education and he gets a lot of money away and it's an. I believe that that's good too. That you should always, you should always help and share. That's right. Yeah. Yeah. He, he seems like he's very intentional with his legacy of, of how he could help out of the two. He seems to be the most approachable. Yeah. Yeah, yeah, I would agree with that too. I see there's Larry now. Alright. So how about Steven Spielberg or Walt Disney? Oh, I like Walt Disney because again, I have granddaughters. I have a daughter, a son and I, we watched Disney. That's right. Time. If you have grandkids, you're spending some time with Disney for sure. All right. How about now? Star wars or Harry Potter? This is our nerd question. How big of a nerd argue and I'm a star wars girl. Yeah. Yeah. We probably, we grew up around that time so it's hard to, um, okay. This is, we always say this is for my daughters at home rock and roll or Broadway. That's hard because I don't have all kinds of museums. I know Michelle was telling us that you're always singing, we're not going to put you on the spot. We asked you to sing, but she said you know, a lot of songs. But I like, as I say, I like rock and roll and. But I also want, I love musicals. Is there a certain one that's touched you or that you really love or. Well, I actually have two music also. First of all, I love the music man, but then again, that's one of the best business. Yes. Lessons that you could learn is watching music man. Yes. And here in river city, the capital t, but then I also like guys and dolls. Oh yeah, that's a client. You know, my mom, uh, I swear to you, we listened to that album nonstop when I was growing up. I knew guys and dolls and South Pacific. Oh my gosh. Yes. Oh, my son said, hey mom, I'm going to be in the musical. And I said, Hey Ethan. I said, you're not in choir because I know, but I tried out and I made it. I said, well, great. And he goes, I'm going to be liver lips, Louis. No, I have to tell you, uh, guys and dolls story. I was a lucky enough to find myself in the UK. I was in England and London has, I think the second biggest Broadway district. Really? I'm in the world, which I didn't know. I knew nothing. I'd never been to a Broadway show. And I went to a c guys and dolls because who was the actor? I'm really good looking guy and Brando. No, this is actually even later he just passed. He was in roadhouse and yes, I saw Patrick swayze in guys and dolls in England suddenly had been so cool to see that it was great and he was talented, more talented than I realized. And ever since then I cared way too much about show too. And I'm musical. So I'm, I'm, I'm happy like I'm too. So I put down Broadway there. Yes, yes. Well, uh, I think you passed the test. Okay. We, we, we, we like those answers. Um, but again, we want to ask one final question. Is there a favorite favorite leader that maybe you look up to or maybe a quote that you try to live your life by and this is really put you on the spot here. And here's the thing, the person I looked up to you the most, what it was at Mary Kay ash because of the founder of Mary Kay. And the reason for that. And also it helped me get through my college years because I didn't have a lot of time to research. Yeah, I would call the golden. They'd send me what I needed. But with Mary Kay, when she set up her, set it up, um, she wanted everybody to feel like they were number one at that moment in time in her life. And she believed in the fact that if you put, you put your faith first, your family second and your career third, you will always come out a winner. That's fantastic. And, and you didn't know this, we didn't prompt you with this, but we just did a server's moment, which servers moments are every Tuesday they drop and they're just a minute or two, but it's kind of like a, b, 12 shots like a pick me up to kind of get you going for your week and we're really big about on your way in to work. Remember that we're serving. And so we just did a segment. I'm Mary Kay and how instrumental she was not only the things you were talking about but also how she came at a time when women were not afforded the opportunity and she cared a lot. She really wanted to start it because she wanted to give women the opportunities that only men had at that point. So it's great that you brought her up. She changed. She actually trained her replacement, her boss. Wow. So wow. That's awesome. That is fantastic. Well, Kim, thank you very much for being with us today. Here. You got it right. I'm so proud of you. You're learning well. I've listened in on the servers journey and rocky, do you
Speaker 1:have anything to say to Kim Now? I just wanted to thank you so much for being on the show and I. Yeah, I'm fascinated by different industries and areas. I knew nothing about this until you came in and now again, it's. It's amazing the things you do in the way that you're able to serve and help people. I wanted to let you guys know too. I am so very blessed and honored that you asked me to be part of your servers journey. Thank you very much. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. We're honored that you're honored. Eddie. Eddie, I'm talking to you before. Before you click us off, I just want you to. I want to thank you for joining this year on a servers journey. Are you going to tell people at Ias? That was a. that's an inside joke. Okay, so Eddie. Okay. Keep your hands on the steering wheel and keep. All right, let's keep going. Straight, I don't even know this inside joke. Well, someday I want to be involved in an inside joke, you know, Eddie, so remember to subscribe to the podcast and if you subscribe, you know you're going to be getting a server's journey moment that's on Tuesdays. There's like rocky said and if you like what you hear, tell a friend. If you don't like us, let us know and we'll try to improve. But that'd be a good idea. Yes, absolutely. As you mentioned earlier, or websites going into overdrive and we want to thank acs, creative. Um, I can't think if it's today or tomorrow. The website's going live. Yes, it is so exciting. I'll servers journey.com. We'll be there and. Well it's there, but the new upgraded, the overdrive will be there. So rocky, until next time I'm, you're ever faithful companion. Yeah. You're a sundance kits and my age, cassidy. Oh, let's go off that cliff. Now we date ourselves. Look it up guys. Google. Anyway, we're all on a journey. You know, we, we really believed that it ended up while you're on this journey, it's just how you serve. And that's why every week we share this service journey. I'm rocky desk, the final, and thanks for joining us. And together we're going to become better leaders.