Jim Greatorex is the vice president of VGM Live at Home.
VGM Live at Home is a nationwide, collaborative membership community with services and solutions for independently owned and operated, certified accessible home modification providers and contractors.
VGM Live at Home built its network of providers as the solution to this societal issue. They continue to add resources to their membership, so the VGM Live at Home providers are the trusted source of “Best in Class” companies in their market.
Some of these resources include:
As a division of VGM & Associates, VGM Live At Home also gives its members access to the services offered by other VGM divisions. Their overall focus is to help independent businesses thrive.
VGM Building Opportunities Summit
Contact VGM
Contact Jim: jim.greatorex@vgm.com
website: https://homedesignsforlife.com/
Email: homedesignsforlife@gmail.com
Jim Greatorex is the vice president of VGM Live at Home.
VGM Live at Home is a nationwide, collaborative membership community with services and solutions for independently owned and operated, certified accessible home modification providers and contractors.
VGM Live at Home built its network of providers as the solution to this societal issue. They continue to add resources to their membership, so the VGM Live at Home providers are the trusted source of “Best in Class” companies in their market.
Some of these resources include:
As a division of VGM & Associates, VGM Live At Home also gives its members access to the services offered by other VGM divisions. Their overall focus is to help independent businesses thrive.
VGM Building Opportunities Summit
Contact VGM
Contact Jim: jim.greatorex@vgm.com
website: https://homedesignsforlife.com/
Email: homedesignsforlife@gmail.com
Janet (00:00.94)
Hello everyone and thank you for being with us today. Our guest is Jim Greater X and he is the vice president of the VGM Live at Home membership program. Jim, thank you for being with us today.
Jim Greatorex (00:17.634)
Oh, it's my pleasure, Janet. I'm so excited to be able to talk to a social media queen of aging in place with your professional network and all the stuff you've done with that. I think you've brought a lot of awareness to what we're all about. And so anyway, I'm happy to be with you.
Janet (00:37.644)
Well, thank you. I think social media queen is a stretch because I'm actually quite terrible at social media, but I'll take it.
Jim Greatorex (00:45.085)
Ha ha!
Jim Greatorex (00:48.586)
Well, you're the you're a queen in our industry, which, you know, which.
Janet (00:51.636)
Oh, thank you. Well, Jim, tell us about VGM.
Jim Greatorex (00:58.07)
All right, well, VGM, first of all, is a conglomerate of 27 different business units of which the VGM Live at Home Network is one. All right, and we, you know, we mostly work in the acute home care settings, and we have community of businesses that we provide membership services to. And we have one for home medical equipment companies that do oxygen and.
CPAP and hospital beds and manual wheelchairs, all that. We have another community that helps companies who do the custom wheelchair work, which is called Complex Rehab. And that division is called US Rehab. We have our orthotics and prosthetics division. We have a division that actually helps women's boutiques who work with women in post-mysectomy needs and mom and baby. And then we have my division, which is a home accessibility.
market and we call it home access now and we help folks who remodel homes for people who age in place or have a mobility challenge family member. So that's VGM as a whole. We also have all kinds of service companies that serve those communities and then we have non-affiliated kinds of companies. I could
Even people who live in this market, we're in Waterloo, Iowa, they don't really know what VGM does because we kind of have all these different things we do. So they just know that VGM gives back to the community. People like working there and we kind of leave it at that.
Janet (02:44.26)
Okay. How large is the membership base for the access, home access program?
Jim Greatorex (02:54.062)
Right now we have approximately 270 parent companies with over 500 active locations. And we're in all 50 states. We certainly don't have the market saturated. The industry as a whole is still non-mature, although I can't say that anymore. It's maturing and evolving. And we've done a lot in the last two years in particular. And we've seen tremendous growth.
We believe last year the industry grew about 22%. So things are happening, but we're still building the infrastructure, still evolving and defining ourselves, professionalizing ourselves. So it's, but we're coming a long way. It's, there's a light at the end of the tunnel.
Janet (03:44.888)
Okay, great. Well, I'm very happy to hear that the industry has experienced a 22% growth because frankly, we are relying on this industry to continue to grow in order to have work, especially for clinicians outside of the medical model.
So my first question to you is, how does VGM Live at Home plan to address the increasing need for safe living environments, especially considering the expected doubling of the population over the age of 80 years old in the next 10 years?
Jim Greatorex (04:28.842)
Well, we're in the process of building a national network of certified, vetted, full-service home access companies. And instead of maybe being a product jockey who is looking to just sell somebody a stair lift or something, we want somebody who can go in a home and assist perhaps a medical professional like yourself. And.
Jim Greatorex (04:57.694)
recommending the what can happen in the home to help make it safer and Give more independence to the people who live in it. So so that's the biggest piece of what we're doing it and We help the our member companies with all kinds of different services and we can maybe get into that a little bit later, but so but there is a problem with
the lack of housing for people over the age of 80. And really it's the baby boomers that are gonna be the big source of growth in the coming 10 years. And I think what's gonna happen is that, a lot of us have been waiting a long time for this industry to grow and get bigger. Consumer awareness hasn't been there.
Nobody knows what a home access contractor is. And also the greatest generation that we're still serving really is the last generation that lived through the depression and they really need to be talked into some of these home improvements by their adult children because they just can do without, they don't need to have any of this stuff. So it's.
Those are some of the challenges I think the industry has had in getting recognized and getting some of the market integration that we expect to have, but we feel like that'll change soon.
Janet (06:36.568)
I agree with you. With only 3% of homes currently designed for safe living for older adults, what do you perceive as the biggest challenges in making homes safer and more accessible?
Jim Greatorex (06:53.002)
Well, I think there's about three things that we need to do, maybe four, right? I think we need to, our industry needs to reach out and build trust with the medical community. I think in some markets, the medical community has reached out and they haven't had a good experience and they may have chosen the wrong folks to work with.
So in turn, there's a hesitancy from the medical community to reach out and invite the home access company to be part of the home care spectrum. And we're looking to try and change that. And you know, there's all kinds of services and medical things that they want to have happen in the home.
But the home isn't, in many cases, viable for that to happen. So we're trying to make people realize that there are passionate professional folks out there who can be a solution provider in this case. And we're starting to collaborate more with the medical community and teach contractors who, listen, they haven't been in the medical community. And teach them.
how to earn the trust and respect of them. And in turn, I think sometimes the medical community also needs to come to the middle a little bit and send an olive branch out to our folks to make them feel like we want you to be part of this and we wanna welcome you in. And I think, I just hear from both sides that there's the home access people have a lot.
farther to go to earn the trust, but I do think the medical community could be a little bit more welcoming. So if we can make those things happen, I think that would be a big deal. The next thing is that we need to educate, I think we need both educated clinicians, mostly occupational therapists who are involved in this, on the in-home side. And I think there's a movement for that to happen.
Jim Greatorex (09:17.758)
We also need to have better education for our home access folks and learning a little bit more about how to work with the medical community and also just be able to understand the disease states a little bit better and all of that. So that's stuff that is being done. And then we need to build the infrastructure of the industry a little bit.
As we said, the industry grew 22% last year. This year, it's not growing at that rate. It could, but we don't, just like everybody else, we don't have enough help. And we are, we have businesses that grew a lot, and sometimes it's difficult to grow 20% every year. I mean, we got small businesses, and they're learning how to do business. And so,
There's just a learning curve and a lack of resources when it comes to personnel and the ability for even the manufacturers to keep up with the demand. So all of that stuff needs to happen. So that's a challenge. And then we gotta get more people in this. We gotta get some great minds to come in and help us all evolve and do this right. And...
really this is not just a good business opportunity, but it comes with some obligation on, especially the home access side. I mean, you've got to take care of people in the right way. Some folks will only have enough money to do this type of work once. And you need to make sure that you give them the best value and the best solution for the best outcome that they could possibly have. And those are all things that will happen, but you know, it...
just won't happen overnight and we're working like crazy to make things evolve.
Janet (11:16.688)
I couldn't agree with you more and I am a strong believer in the fact that a home modification is a collaborative effort between the home access professional or the general contractor, the clinician if the person has a progressive condition or a traumatic event happened to them.
We may also have an equipment specialist. We may have an interior designer. We may have a realtor. And I think that if all of us were more educated in what each specialty does and the role of that professional in the whole modification process, then it would be easier for us to understand each other and be able to work together because
there wouldn't be that, you know, competition or maybe that struggle for power. Because the reality is that I come from, as a clinician, I come from my own space. You know, I can only speak from my own clinical background, my education, my experience, and I'm relying on that home access professional to also inform me.
in the areas where I lack experience and knowledge, for example, with construction. I need him or her to tell me, you cannot remove that beam because it's a structural beam, or there's plumbing in that area. So we can only do backs.
Jim Greatorex (12:50.452)
Thank you.
Janet (13:07.004)
And so I'm relying on that. It really is a collaborative effort to come up with the best modification for that person or that family. And like you said, give them the best value so that these changes will help them live in their home five, 10 years from now. That's what it's all about, right? No one profession has all the answers. And I think all of us need to understand that.
Jim Greatorex (13:37.602)
Well, I'll say I couldn't agree with you more. It's going to take a lot of us to get together and put the best minds in the room. And I think the sooner the better. We're starting to do that now. And we're getting a lot of interest from the medical community. They're kind of finding our network now. And a lot of people didn't realize we were around. It's just, you know, again, as you evolve, you've got to.
You gotta run before you walk and we're getting to the point, excuse me, walk before you run and we're getting to the point where we're at least starting to go into a slow jog here. So it's a, we're getting there.
Janet (14:21.752)
So what does that process look like when a clinician wants to work with VGM and be included in these cases where the client does have a progressive condition or a traumatic event happen to them? And you need the expertise of an OT or PT to...
provide the proper modifications for that person.
Jim Greatorex (14:57.45)
Well, it's an interesting question, Janet, because right now there's a lot of folks who leave their rehab or if they've gone through a traumatic health incident or an injury. And really the home assessment piece is not thorough. All right. And it's, and I think that what happens is that.
Right now, there's a lot of folks that are reaching home access companies through a pain point. So, in other words, oh my, mom just fell going up the stairs. We got to get a stair lift in here. Let's see who sells stair lifts. And they go and connect with a company that does that. They come in. And in many cases, a company will do the stair lift, but they won't take the time to ask some of the...
Other questions about the rest of the home. How about bathing? How's that going? Those are things that are happening right now that it's gonna be, it's gonna take us a while to get to the point where the medical community builds systems that recognizes these risks in the home and that we have the educated people go in and realize them and help
the client come up with the best solution. And again, that's why it's evolving. The whole thing is still non-mature. So working together with occupational therapists, where we work with a leading OT who is building a network of occupational therapists who want to be in this industry.
Right now, they're struggling to get enough work to make a living doing it. And in some cases, if it's a covered service by the payer, the reimbursement rate is not, doesn't help if the person lives like 40 minutes away from you. You have travel and all these things. It really is a tough way to make a living. So I think virtual home assessments are now starting to happen. I think you may be involved with some of those and you could speak to it. But.
Jim Greatorex (17:23.682)
I think that's a way that we could at least start to get better and continually, you know, never be satisfied until we really feel like we have an infrastructure and a system that's going to take care of people in the right way. It's there. It's going to happen. It just, I wish I could have had a crystal ball and tell you when.
Janet (17:44.98)
So it sounds like I'm hearing you say that there are a lot of missed opportunities to have more business because if someone for example needs a stairlift and this is something I've said about ramps because many people ask for ramps and in my opinion by the time that a person or family realizes that
need a ramp. They're in a desperate situation because now they're not able to access their home, either get in or get out of their home. So this has become an emergency. But the reality is that if someone is having difficulty with getting in and out of their home, they probably needed different supports in the home five years ago. And I would bet to say we can start in the bathroom.
And so if you had, like you said, if you already had a clinician going in there and doing a home safety assessment, someone that can identify that a person has difficulty with, let's say, dressing and undressing, you know, with functional transfers to the toilet or to the shower, then we can help. Not only can we create more business for everyone.
right, more work opportunities, but we can also prevent a fall, which home safety is related to one third of the falls that people age 65 and older experience every year. So there is a lot of work that we can do in terms of prevention.
Jim Greatorex (19:38.538)
Yeah, I definitely agree. And here's one thing that I think is that I'm going to say out loud, and I hope you don't get mad at me, Janet, okay? As the home accessibility market grows, the revenue stream that is going to grow the most is a private pay market, okay? And the medical community is not wired well to work
Janet (19:47.42)
Okay.
Jim Greatorex (20:09.078)
It's really you call it the retail market, right? All right, the way the retail market works is that you don't go in and the medical community is used to giving the least expensive most cost-efficient solution that is gonna Solve the problem. Maybe not in the best way, but it will probably solve the problem Okay, and I think in a retail setting we need to be able to show a consumer all options and Let them choose
how much of a modification or how much they want to change what they have. So in other words, you know, I worked with OTs for the first 35 years of my career and PTs in the home care setting. And you know, when the home assessment happened in the bathroom, if people struggle to get in and out of the tub, it was a tub transfer bench or, you know, a handheld shower and a
and maybe something screwed onto the side of the tub to help them get in and out. And that was the solution. And, you know, good, the bathroom's fixed. Away we go. And in turn, you know, a lot of people may choose that they realize that if they remodel a bathroom with a nice walk-in shower, the experience that they have is going to be way better. And it also is going to enhance the value of their home,
a cool thing. So I think that it is something that home access companies worry about on the clinical side is that the clinicians are going to go in and talk them out of everything that they may have available to them.
Janet (21:48.38)
Okay, I had to first, you know, that's a great point that you brought up. And no, I, I am not going to get mad at you for saying that, but I, I agree with you. And that was why I became, um, CAP certified was because I wanted to learn how can I make recommendations that don't involve, involve ugly adaptive equipment because people don't want that in their bathroom.
Jim Greatorex (21:56.475)
Hahaha
Janet (22:17.172)
You know, if it's an emergency and you know, you need to get home from the hospital and be able to get on and off that toilet, you know, within two hours of getting home, that's one thing. But I don't believe that adaptive equipment should be the permanent solution to creating accessibility and increasing independence in a person's space. You know, like you said, it's you will have many more people.
that will be open to making changes in their home, especially when they don't have urgent needs, which is your biggest market when it comes to aging in place. If you can offer them solutions that are attractive and that are going to make their home more comfortable and are not going to be an eyesore, especially if you have guests coming in to use that space. Because
Not only are they, do people not wanna use that three-in-one commode over their toilet and those ugly grab bars, but they especially don't want their friends going into the bathroom and seeing that equipment and them being labeled as being handicapped, or quote unquote old. Because I had many patients that that's what they would tell me. I'm not putting that in my bathroom because I don't want anyone to see it.
Jim Greatorex (23:46.506)
You're exactly right. That is the case in that. But I'll tell you right now, I'd say 95% of the home access projects our membership group does is reactive. I mean, there are a lot of stuff that you're not going to do until you need it. But the bathroom isn't one of them. It's both reactive and proactive. I mean, some people have to do it. And some folks choose to do it before they have an injury. But most people aren't going to.
put a ramp in until they can't get in the house and nobody's going to put a stair lift in until they need it. Another option that people are looking at now that could be more on the proactive side is home elevators are becoming a huge, more utilized solution in this marketplace. In some states, it's you actually, our group can't.
do it because you need this commercial elevator license to put in an elevator of which 2% of the knowledge you get in that certification you would use in a residential setting, but there have been some overreaching rules and regulations that have not allowed people who are very capable of putting those things in to do it. But beyond that, that is another solution that's out there.
Jim Greatorex (25:13.502)
Hopefully we can change and that percentage of people that are buying things proactively will happen.
Janet (25:22.628)
Okay, okay great and that's a perfect lead into my question, my next question because I want to know about government advocacy. How is VGM Live at Home advocating for government rules that allow tax breaks for individuals investing in making their homes safer?
Jim Greatorex (25:23.022)
Thanks for watching!
Jim Greatorex (25:46.346)
Well, we were very involved in an effort last year. And one of my dear friends, Louis Tenenbaum, has an organization called Homes Renewed. It's kind of been put on hiatus. Louis practically all by himself got a bill introduced that would give people tax deductions for a pretty good menu of home access modifications.
and a lot of proactive stuff. And we, you know, a lobbyist was hired, and to make a long story short, what we learned at the end is that this industry doesn't have the, isn't big enough to appropriately support a federal bill to give it any chance at all at passing. The other thing is, is the concept we have
is wasn't good either. The tax deductions that we had put together we thought was going to be a very low cost. We also didn't realize that when you're dealing with healthcare policy, you are able to put in savings that a law will bring. Like by investing in this, you'll save money on healthcare. When you deal with tax things, they price it so that
every person eligible would utilize the tax deduction. And it ended up coming back with a $95 billion bill to it. And we thought it was going to be, you know, budget neutral and non-controversial. Well, it was very controversial and extremely not budget neutral. So I've kind of now gone, and I was told by one of the leading senators in the US,
He's in Iowa, Senator Grassley, that, you know, this is not the vehicle that works well with us. So in turn, what we have found is that it is much more better to work in the state programs. And right now we're working with a bill in Massachusetts. This was a benefit that was given to Rhode Island.
Jim Greatorex (28:11.006)
citizens where the real need here to help people is middle income, all right? Low income people, there are state funds in many states that can help them, all right? And then in, you know, for people who are upper middle income and whatever, I mean, it's their home. They can invest in their home. Every, the amount of people that are doing home remodeling
over the age of 55 is enormous. So they have the money to do it. They can pay for it, all right? We do struggle with the middle income folks, all right? And this bill in Massachusetts, in Rhode Island, first of all, would allow a $5,000 grant or 50% of a project. So if a project was 8,000, they'd give them four, all right? And it was, you know, it had to be approved services that are all listed out.
Jim Greatorex (29:11.218)
And that bill passed and it was sold out and they've seen the benefit of it and they keep increasing it every month. Well, there's one member in Rhode Island who saw how well this was going in Rhode Island, a little tiny state, right? So he does work in Massachusetts. He got it introduced in Massachusetts. If we can get this bill funded, and by the way, the income,
Jim Greatorex (29:40.638)
What you need in order to qualify is you need to be within 120% of the median income in the county that you reside in. So that's taken care of the middle income folks. And that is a real danger to our country is that if we don't take care of these folks, they not only will become more expensive because what happens is if they can't live in their home, they end up selling their assets.
They go to some type of senior congregated housing usually. And it doesn't take long to deplete their assets. And now what happens? They become a ward of the state. And it's very expensive for the states to care for them. They don't have a choice in where they live. And it's just, and most of them end up really living in a place where they would never have chosen to, and they usually end up.
many of them die lonely and alone. And we can do better than that as a country. And that's part of something that we need to be the solution for. So we are all about helping anybody who wants to put a bill in that'll help middle income people. And that's something that we can win and make a difference on. Then maybe as this thing evolves and this industry becomes more...
We prove ourselves that we're saving money. Maybe other investments will happen. And hopefully we can build a supply of age-friendly housing that will be on the marketplace now and that will have value because folks will, when they get to the point where their house doesn't work for them, oh, there's one that just came available that has got all this setup already in it. And I mean, that's what we need to do in the next 10, 15 years with the existing.
housing market.
Janet (31:39.22)
Right, and what can you say about private payers paying for some of these home modifications? I know that with people that invest in, I can't remember the name of it, in an insurance policy where they can have help come to them in their later years.
that some of those insurance policies are paying for home modifications, what do you know about other private payers?
Jim Greatorex (32:17.474)
Well, I think you're talking about long-term care insurance. Yeah. And that's an industry that, unfortunately, is stagnated. And they're not getting as many folks buying into it. And so they're really trying to find the most cost-effective means to be able to take care of folks, because they don't really want them to be in the long-term care facility. So if they can keep them out two or three years longer, I think that's important.
Janet (32:19.964)
Yes, long-term care. Thank you. That word escaped me.
Jim Greatorex (32:49.45)
But there are people who are using, I mean, value-based care is a buzzword in healthcare now, okay? And I'm not going to go into the definition of it. I'm going to put it in terms that I can understand, which is pretty simple, all right? It means investing in services that has the potential to bring cost savings to the healthcare system.
Janet (33:06.484)
Okay.
Jim Greatorex (33:16.674)
Well, it just so happens that home safety or home accessibility has a good chance of doing that and reducing falls. There is billions and billions of dollars spent on falls for people over the age of 55 every year. And if we could just influence and prevent 15, 20% of them, we pay off in multiples of 10.
So it's a big savings. It's just that it hasn't been proven. All right, so what's happening is that there are companies out there that are using a value-based care concept going to like Medicare Advantage plans and they are looking to provide a benefit that wouldn't it wouldn't necessarily be They'll cover a stairlift or whatever. They'll cover a home access project
and give money towards it. So it could be $2,000. It could be $4,000. That was the numbers I've heard, whether or not they're, what happens, I'm not really sure. And what will happen with that is that will help evolve the industry because they're not going to just give that money out and let anybody do the work. And they're also not going to, they're going to want to have certified home access companies do the work. And they're also going to want to have the medical oversight.
of occupational therapists, which is the predominant resource that goes into the home and helps assess the needs of the consumer. So what will happen is I think that will evolve the industry to make the medical community and the home access contractors work together to learn their roles. And if we can do this right, we have a chance to prove our worth. And I mean, it could evolve to be more benefits and more benefits. If they save a lot of money doing this.
They'll invest more in it. So that's the layman term for what I kind of see as perhaps a future coming. It'll be interesting in the next two years to see what happens, because that's when all this stuff is going to be piloted and tried.
Janet (35:32.432)
Okay, well I think there's a lot of potential in a program such as that where you have private payers contributing to the cost of a home modification and then making sure that you have the right professionals in place so that you know there's we can keep track of what's going on and then also be able to document.
how people are benefiting from these home modifications and how it's also reducing fall risks and then cost. Cause I think it's about $300 billion a year that are associated with falls in people age 65 and older. And the statistic is that one person that is 65 and older falls every second of every day. And it's a one in five falls
results in either death or a serious injury that leads you to a hospitalization. And most falls results in either a hip fracture or a traumatic brain injury, which are two very serious conditions. So it's very important that we do address the issue of home safety and how a lack of home safety contributes.
to falls in older adults.
Jim Greatorex (37:05.042)
I agree. A lot of the rest of the world, especially Europe, has already recognized this and they're ahead of us in this particular aspect. There's a lot more options for accessible housing in that part of the world than there is here. Japan is now starting to recognize it and invest in it, in their system. So it'll happen. It's going to happen here. We just, you know,
that our government is not really, they aren't approving and doing much business there right now. So it's hard to get anything new through or any investment. It's really difficult. So that's why we believe that, you know, going to the states who, you know, where when you're looking at what they would have to pay for somebody that becomes a ward,
of the state is an astronomical figure. Let's help them save money there. And it's a really easy conversation to have and get some interest from them. So we're hoping to take the Massachusetts and Rhode Island model and hopefully spread it throughout the country.
Janet (38:10.581)
Yeah, I agree.
Janet (38:18.276)
I hope so, Jim. So let's talk about member benefits with VGM. What are the key benefits and services that members of VGM Live at Home can expect? And how do these benefits distinguish your organization in the market?
Jim Greatorex (38:38.198)
Well, we work with a lot of leading manufacturers. And a lot of times when people get into this industry, they struggle to be able to connect with a manufacturer that has interest in bringing them on as another dealer. But if they're a VGM member, they recognize that...
First of all, they're passionate and they mean business when they're really gonna be a player in the marketplace, which means a lot to them. And also, a high percentage of our members are high growth companies who succeed at a quicker pace than maybe those that don't, because they get some institutional knowledge that they don't have to learn by the school of hard knocks, and they have services available to them that will help them grow their business quicker. So.
So that's one of the things that we do. The other thing that we offer them is, there's a lot, but we are working on, with our education projects, we've now figured out that we need, how about if we had an apprenticeship program for the industry, because nobody can keep their field tax, and because there's no career path. And so one of our members has developed a two-year program.
We had a consultant who was very educated in apprenticeship programs that gave us some insight. And then this member ran with it and they put together this two-year program. It has the carpentry field as the dominant education piece in it. And in an apprenticeship program, you need a mentor to watch over the...
person and see that they're doing those skills correctly. There's 400 hours of classroom stuff that needs to happen. Many states have great benefits for this that will offer, like this in Michigan where this one is, they have $3,000 that they pay the employer to put an apprentice on. They offer a tool allowance. Sometimes they pay for some of the classroom work, sometimes they pay for all of it. And,
Jim Greatorex (41:01.958)
And so between that and we also have a learning system here at VGM that if we put the all that education in there, it has an apprenticeship administration piece to it so that people will be able to do that. So, and we also have a person who is adverse in or is very well situated to talk to states and be able to.
get them to accept an apprenticeship program and all the documentation and all the things that have to work, we have a consultant that will help us with that. So we kind of have a turnkey solution for providing an apprenticeship program. So that's a cool thing that will help build middle class jobs for people who are in the homes doing all the work. That was a long answer, I apologize. It's hard to... Yeah.
Janet (41:54.371)
Well, you have a lot of knowledge.
Jim Greatorex (41:57.546)
And then we're, you know, we have a lot of webinars and we do, we allow our members networking opportunities. But at the end of the day, we're all about building cost efficiencies. We want to be thought leadership and we want to involve, offer our members impactful experiences. And we do that by having live events, which we have one coming up next month that.
We have two full days of home access content exhibitors, members sharing best practices, building opportunity summit. Thank you for teeing me up on that. It's in San Antonio, November 9th through the 11th. And it's really designed for home access companies and the company executives. Here's where we meet together. We discuss the challenges of the day.
Janet (42:31.776)
Yes, tell us about your conference coming up.
Jim Greatorex (42:56.182)
We have a lot of tracks and we have some presentations, but it's mostly interactive discussions. It allows people to meet other home access contractors from all over the country, make friends, be able to call somebody up, hey, have you ever seen this happen before? What do I do here? We've got consultants who come in, who have built an expertise in a certain aspect of the business that a lot of people need help with and they're available to them.
It's just a lot of stuff. And what is really cool, and this is a time, I wanted to say this at some point in time, I'm gonna say it right now, is that what I love about working in this industry is that I meet people every day who call us up, they're very excited to find us, because their life journey has taken them to a point where they have kind of...
realized or found out about this niche little industry that's out there that provides these services to homeowners. And all of a sudden something clicks and it's like this is the purpose in life they've been waiting for. All right. Everybody has that moment in life where you go, wow, I think this is what I was born to do. And we see this all the time. And so when people get involved in this.
They really are, they want to help people, all right? They understand the obligation. They realize they've had a relative that didn't get this or struggled to get it and they had to do it or whatever it was that brought them here to this point. And, you know, they find their purpose. And when you get people that have done that, then now you can really be effective in going to
promote your business to others and to take care of customers. These are customers that are going to trust you because you're going to understand the show empathy. You're going to care about them. You're going to ask the questions that need to be asked to do the job right. And you're going to help them find the best solution. And we're getting a lot of people who are coming in and this is their purpose. And that's what makes being in this industry. This is the last job I'm ever going to have.
Jim Greatorex (45:20.278)
And I love it. I mean, we just get to do a lot of really cool things for people, work with the help these guys understand the medical community. That was part of my prior career. And we get to evolve this industry, make it into something that we can all be proud of. I'm very excited about it.
Janet (45:41.096)
Yeah, I agree with you. I have conversations with people all the time, some professionals, some clients or caregivers, and everyone can relate. It doesn't matter who you're talking to. Everyone can relate to some kind of situation where someone lost their independence or was struggling with being independent and their quality of life went down.
And I couldn't agree with you more. The having purpose to how you earn a living is paramount. And that is why I have always loved being an occupational therapist is because I was given the opportunity to help people. And I know that every day I went to work, I did make a difference in at least one person's life that day.
and it just it feels great and you can be creative. That's another thing that I love about home modifications is it gives you the opportunity to be creative because there usually are three or four different options that you can offer to someone and you know especially when you work with other professionals then you can really come up with something great.
So I agree with you. I think it's a great profession and it's a great way to earn money and just the possibilities, especially as time goes by for clinicians. I can only speak for myself that we have the opportunity to perhaps earn more money than we did as clinicians and also have more control over our work.
Jim Greatorex (47:32.23)
I hope so. I really do. I mean, it is, I think if you find your purpose and you really, you know, I think we're all here because we all have a purpose. That's what that's part of the human being, our whole universe is designed about finding your purpose and applying it. And most purposes that help others are the ones that, yeah, you can you can make money and make a great living doing it. But you also get fulfillment. All right.
Janet (48:01.31)
Yeah.
Jim Greatorex (48:01.75)
You get something inside of you that is fulfilled that you may not get if you're just doing a job that doesn't have a lot of human interaction or whatever. And this particular is probably the most unique customer touch that you can have in the construction industry. Where you're, I had a guy in Missouri, I love this guy. He's a big burly guy.
He has a big beard. He looks like he's ZZ Topps brother, all right? And just a teddy bear kind of a guy. And he came up to me and he joined our network. I think it was about four years ago, five years ago now. And he goes, Jim, I ran into one of these jobs. I was like, it was only like $1,500. I went in and I put a couple of grab bars in, widened this woman's bathroom door. I got done, Jim, and the woman hugged me four times.
Janet (48:33.088)
Okay.
Jim Greatorex (48:58.87)
He goes, I've never been hugged in my life. All anybody wants to do is complain about how long I take, how much I cost. I didn't realize how important this work was. He went and transformed his whole construction company into just doing this type of work. And he's done really well. He's grown his business tremendously in the last four years and looking to open another location.
And it just goes to show you, he found his purpose. And it's, when you do that, the path becomes clear. And it's kind of funny how all things fall into place.
Janet (49:39.456)
Well, that's a great story, Jim. Thank you for sharing it with us. And thank you for being on my show. I know that a lot of clinicians will really appreciate listening to you and learning about VGM because we want other options. So I hope that VGM can be that beacon for
clinicians who are trying to forge a different path for themselves. And I think that we have a lot to offer.
Jim Greatorex (50:15.902)
Absolutely. It will all happen. It will. I have, I'm very confident it's, you know, again, when? I don't have the crystal ball, but it will happen. It has to because we've got too many, there's too much that needs to be done in the next 10 years for it not to happen and not for some good people to come along. And it'll be their purpose. And they will want to be able to be a
Jim Greatorex (50:45.698)
this whole system work together to get a great outcome for folks and get make the last two or three years of their life not be the worst. Can be live with dignity and home. All right. Home. That's what we're all about. We're not restructuring houses. We are we are preserving the home. And I'll tell this quick story and because I know we've gone long but I mean, when I was a young man.
my young boy, all right, I lived in Maine, all right. And in New England, Saturday night was a night that we went up to my grandparents' house and we had homemade baked beans and brown bread, all right, and molasses donuts. I mean, it was every Saturday night. And then after that, we all went in and watched the newlywed game, and then Lawrence Welk was on and.
I might have kind of zoned out when that happened when I was a young kid. But anyway, that's what we did. And it's a great memory for me. I mean, it was wonderful. But as important as that was to me, it was five times more important to my grandparents that they were able to do that and that we all got together as a family. And that's what we get to participate in is preserving that home and family piece.
And once people move out of that home and they live in somebody else's building, it's not their home. And I learned that with my mom. She went to assisted living. You know, it just wasn't her home. And it wasn't the same. And it's so we get to preserve that. That's what people want. And
You know, it's not going to be the answer for everybody, but it's really going to, it's going to help a lot of people. And it also had the end result is our communities will be stronger and seniors will be taken care of in the way they should be.
Janet (52:45.292)
Yeah, well, thank you for sharing that with us. And I used to watch Lauren's vlog with my parents too. So Jim, I know that people are going to want to get in touch with you. So tell me what is the best way for someone to contact you?
Jim Greatorex (52:52.706)
Hahaha.
Jim Greatorex (53:05.066)
Well, there's two things. You can go to our website, vgmliveathome.com. I'm easy to get a hold of. The best way is email jim.greaterex, which is great, G-R-E-A-T-O-R-E-X, at vgm.com. Jim.greaterex at vgm.com. Those are the best ways to reach me.
On the website you can leave a message for us also. We'd love to hear from you, whatever aspect of the industry you're in.
Janet (53:41.944)
And Jim is also very active on LinkedIn, so you can reach him through LinkedIn. And I will also provide a link to the conference that VGM is holding next month in San Antonio, November 9th through 11th. Right?
Jim Greatorex (53:49.09)
You're right.
Jim Greatorex (54:03.635)
Exactly right. Thank you.
Janet (54:05.456)
Okay, thank you, Jim.
Jim Greatorex (54:08.59)
All right, thank you, Janet. It's been a pleasure.
Janet (54:11.741)
Likewise.