Kerry & Melinda Kirby Changing Lives Through Innovation

Kerry Kirby's passion for making technology work better for humans radiates throughout this conversation. As founder and CEO of 365 Connect and recent recipient of his company's 100th innovation award, Kerry shares how his team is revolutionizing the multifamily industry by eliminating friction points in the renter journey.

From automating lease processes that eliminate human error to creating AI-powered marketing tools that maintain brand consistency while highlighting unit-specific details, Kerry's vision consistently puts human experience at the center. "We're using AI to create better human experiences," he explains, describing how automation frees property staff from tasks they never signed up for while enabling them to focus on meaningful resident interactions.

The conversation takes a powerful turn when Kerry reveals the deeply personal motivation behind the Kerry and Melinda Kirby Foundation. After losing his father to kidney failure at just 33 years old, Kerry developed an innovative partnership between Uber Health, the Kidney Foundation, and Louisiana state government to provide free transportation for dialysis patients statewide. In its first year alone, the program has transported over 580 patients, completed approximately 1,200 rides, and reduced hospitalizations by 40% - a model he hopes will spread nationwide.

As a founding member of the Multifamily Innovation® Council and their Technology & AI Center of Excellence, Kerry emphasizes the unique collaborative environment it provides for industry leaders to share challenges and solutions openly. His advice for aspiring innovators? "Look at your processes, identify what could be better, start strong with one improvement, and build from there." Ready to transform your approach to multifamily technology? Connect with Kerry to learn how innovation can create better experiences for both your team and your residents.

Connect with Multifamily Women®:

Multifamily Women® Summit: https://multifamilywomen.com/
Carrie Antrim on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/carrieantrim/
Be a Guest on the Podcast or at the Summit: https://apps.multifamilywomen.com/speakingrequest
Multifamily Women® Leadership Series: https://apps.multifamilywomen.com/join

Transcript

Speaker 1 0:20

Welcome back to the Multifamily Women podcast. I'm your host, keri Antrim, and today I'm joined by someone who has been with us since the first summit in 2019. Keri Kirby is the founder and CEO of 365 Connect, a recognized innovator in multifamily technology and a longtime supporter of the Multifamily Women platform. Keri, we're honored to have you in today.

Speaker 2 0:43

Well, thanks for inviting me. I'm really excited to be here with you today.

Speaker 1 0:47

That's great. So you have been recognized. Obviously, we can see the awards behind you. You're a leading innovator in multifamily. For those who may not know you yet, how would you describe the work that you're most passionate about?

Speaker 2 1:02

Well, we basically deal with all what I call the uh, we're interfacing tools. So I think what we're passionate about and things change from doing this since 2003 is making things less friction. In it kind of looking at today's renter and the things that they're looking for, so utilizing the latest technology, I think AI is amazing. Building a lot of things with AI just to make the renter journey, a very easy and frictionless environment.

Speaker 1 1:41

Yeah, I think that's so important. I think there's a lot of opportunity specifically in that area of making things frictionless. We talk about that a lot in the Innovation Council and what can be done, and I know that you have been working hard on that for a long time. That's great. Obviously, you've won multiple awards. Where do your ideas for innovation come from?

Creating Frictionless Renter Experiences

Speaker 2 2:03

innovation come from All over the place. Some of them are sometimes we get partner groups together, sometimes it's through customers talking to customers and they'll talk about a problem and we'll just take it back and kind of database accumulating problems and looking for what we call commonalities in problems. So we just accumulated things over time, including we just picked up our 100th award and that's for our leasing platform. So we took the Blue Moon Lease documents, which were used by over 8 million units across the industry, and we've completely automated it automated where we can create a lease, send it, collect the money without a human ever touching it.

Speaker 1 2:54

That's amazing, wow. And your 100th award, that's quite an accomplishment. Congratulations on that, thank you. So when you're developing these new products, how do you balance the creativity part of it with the practicality and the needs of the multifamily industry?

Speaker 2 3:14

I think the things that we've seen problems with over time and that companies are struggling with Leasing was born out of people having mistakes in leases because it's a we call it a train and drain kind of thing for property. So we said how can we do this better, how can we automate it, how can we take people out of it and eliminate mistakes? And then we recently did another thing called Unit Rep, which we actually launched last year at the multifamily NAI, where we took how can we build marketing messages that are compliant and distribute those to people and make it completely hands-off and keep it in the tone and brand it to the property and market to things they care about, which is their community, the unit level of things with pricing and visibility in it, and we launched that project last year.

Speaker 1 4:21

That's incredible. So you're always I know you, we've been friends for a long time you're always like on the forefront of technology and innovation and what's coming next? What do you see on the horizon? That is like the most exciting for you.

Speaker 2 4:36

I think the use of AI. It's put into processes, which is what we're working on now like a rep. Is um being able to automate things and remove people from what I call these multiple jobs that they've probably never signed up for. Um, like a leasing agent, is expected to show you write a police. Uh, answer all these, these, all these, all these different facets, and I think that, through AI, basically create better humans and create better human experiences.

The Future of AI in Multifamily

Speaker 1 5:13

That's great. And then you're you're leaving them time, you know, to do the other things that they can focus on and, and you know, drive the business in in a different way, absolutely. I want to talk about the, the Carrie and Melinda Kirby Foundation, because I see that on social media. I know that you guys are making a huge impact beyond business, which I think is just so inspiring. What inspired you to start the foundation? Where did that come from?

Speaker 2 5:45

Well, we've always been charitable and it started with this business. We couldn't do it without this business and, as we tell everybody, we touch you guys, customers, our employees, y'all are all part of it. So we've done a bunch of things throughout the years, and local things, so we decided to kind of formally form it so it would have better, almost like its own business. Melinda, who you know, and she loves you, we love her too.

Speaker 1 6:22

And she loves you, by the way, we love her too.

Speaker 2 6:26

We decided to form a foundation so we could have almost like a business model. So We've been doing things with the Kidney Foundation. We do things with a place called Stark, which is a disabled community that they serve and have been around for 50 years doing that. We do a thing called Hope House for children that have been abused and they're kind of a middle ground for them in between we'll call it justice and recovery, as it may have happened to them. So our focus is kind of healthcare, educational and just humans. You know we want to help people. So one of the biggest things we've done is we've been working with the Kidney Foundation for quite a while and our passion there is.

The Kirby Foundation's Life-Changing Impact

Speaker 2 7:19

My father was one of the first kidney patients to ever go on dialysis. Many years ago he died at the early age of 33 years old kidney failure before things were really perfected, including dialysis. Well, dialysis was his life-long, so he was taken way too early. He was a Louisiana State Police officer, military veteran and his passion was going to the FBI. That's where he was headed, was going to the FBI. That's where it was headed. So what we did about a few years ago is we started working with the Kidney Foundation, we want to do something to honor my father and help other dialysis patients. So, harry being the dealmaker, he is patients. So, harry being the dealmaker, he is put together a little bit of a hybrid thing. So a lot of people don't know.

Speaker 2 8:27

But Uber, who we call, has a healthcare division. It's called Uber Health HIPAA compliant rides. So we teamed up with Uber, the Kidney Foundation, the Ministerate and us providing the funding, and we provide rides statewide across the entire state of Louisiana to dialysis patients needing to get to an appointment. It's all verified through the Kidney Foundation that either don't have another means maybe they're in an insurance gap waiting for approval that either don't have another means, maybe they're in an insurance gap waiting for approval. We completed a year at the end of June and we have transported over 580 patients, done something like 1200 rides and we've, according to some stat, reduced hospitalizations by 40% in providing that service. And now this is an ongoing thing. It has no end and we're in year two. We started year two.

Speaker 1 9:32

Wow, that is incredible. I've got chills. I'm a little speechless because I'm hearing this for the first time. That's amazing, carrie and this is all through the carrie and melinda kirby foundation that you did this unbelievable. So that is amazing. How can we learn more about that? Where do we go?

Speaker 2 9:52

well, actually, the the thing about it is we're doing this. Tomorrow is my father's birthday. Tomorrow, a press release will be released by us and the Kidney Foundation with all the stats and the impact we've had and everything, and we originally put out a press release with Uber when we launched this venture last year. So I have to say that, okay, that's amazing. With Uber when we launched this venture last year, I have to say that that's amazing.

Speaker 1 10:23

What an amazing legacy, an incredible way to honor your dad. With him passing at such a young age, that had to be just so difficult. This is an incredibly inspiring way to honor him. I'm sure he's proud. That's amazing. Congratulations on that success.

Speaker 2 10:40

Thank you and again, we couldn't do this without everybody that supports us in this industry.

Speaker 1 10:47

Yeah, yeah. How do you view the role of business leaders giving back into their communities, just like you're doing? You said that's available statewide in Louisiana, which is incredible. How do you view that as our role as business leaders? I think it's critical and what we're doing. You said that's available statewide in Louisiana, which is incredible. How do you view that as our role as business leaders?

Speaker 2 10:59

I think it's critical and what we're doing with the Kidney Foundation. There's a kidney foundation in every state and we wanted to serve as a model for others in their states or take a part of the state and provide that service. So you can reach out to me I've already crafted the model and all the people at Uber to make this happen. And a little secret we're working on. We're supposed to on World Kidney Day. We're working. If the company doesn't go public, we're going to go with the Kidney Foundation with the bell on the New York Stock Exchange.

Speaker 1 11:42

Oh my gosh, I can't wait to watch. That's so exciting.

Speaker 2 11:46

Yeah, wow. So Linda and I will be bringing a bell home. We hope this coming year it's in March.

Speaker 1 11:52

Yeah, okay. Well, we'll be sure to follow that closely and make sure everybody knows about that. That's amazing. Congratulations on that success and the impact that you're making locally and what is sure to be nationwide, I'm sure, at some point. So that is unbelievable. Thanks for sharing that.

Speaker 2 12:11

Thank you for asking. I have all that information. You're always welcome to let the world know and serve as a model so people will follow and do it in other places as well.

Speaker 1 12:26

Yeah, absolutely. We'll make sure to have that information readily available as well. Now we get to see each other every Friday in the Multifamily Innovation Council and I'm wondering you know you've been a part of that since the beginning as well how has that experience influenced your perspective on the way you build or think about products?

Speaker 2 12:51

A lot. I love you know the history of it. This is Patrick and I used to do a call every week just to talk about technology and industry. One day I think he said what would it be like to have a property company come and bring them in and get their perspective? Fast forward to today, we get those perspectives. I listen, I take notes and I love hearing problems, because everything that we have is built off of trying to solve problems.

Speaker 1 13:24

Is there anything that has surprised you about our conversations?

Speaker 2 13:30

I think some of the surprises are that a lot of people have the same problems that are not being solved. I find that surprising, some of the openness and honesty that people are willing to talk about and say, you know, we have this thing and it's a challenge and we don't know how to overcome it or work around it, and other people chime in and say, hey, we did this, we did that. Just the openness and sharing of what's going on and trying to make our industry better has been really eye-opening on and try to make our youth better has been really eye-opening.

Speaker 1 14:15

Yeah, I actually agree with you there on how candid people are and how open they are and willing to share challenges or opportunities. And then other people can chime in and say, oh my gosh, we've got the same thing or we did and we handled it, we tackled it this way, this worked, this didn't. I've been really surprised about that, too pleasantly surprised, because it is such a safe space for people to share and contribute and just collaborate together. It's been kind of awesome to watch.

Speaker 2 14:41

It's incredible If I could send a message to everybody out there come join us. I've been around this a very long time. There's nothing else like this in the industry. There's no place like this other than a multi-family intervention council.

Speaker 1 14:59

I agree. And for women who are wanting to get to the next level in their careers, how would you say that the Innovation Council would help them do that, or where's the value for them there, if they're thinking about it?

Speaker 2 15:13

Well, I have a ton of women leaders in there and I think you know, first off, they're inspiring, super intelligent. I think there's so much to learn there and you get to know your fellow members and I think the tone of everything if I have to take a word is to help people and uplift them and come up with solutions to make us all better. So I think it's a great place for women to come in, learn, become part of it, get to know these other leaders in the industry.

Speaker 1 15:52

Yeah, I agree, and I think the fact that you know we meet so frequently and we are having these conversations and we're always Patrick is so good at always looking forward and knowing what's on the horizon as well there's not a lot of like fluff for lack of a better word, right a lot of like um fluff for lack of a better word, right? We're actually talking about real things that are happening on a daily basis in real time and what you know what to look forward to in the future, and all of these things that are coming at us every day. I think it's been a great place to collaborate on that as well yeah, it's.

Speaker 2 16:22

it's really some, you know, to these problems, some forward thinking on solutions, because it the industry's changing, a renter demographic is changing and you have to move with it. So people look at it like, well, it's real estate, how you know technical is it? But it's all tech in there and I think that innovation council certainly is on the forefront. Patrick, I tell him he's like a Jedi or something, an AI. He knows, he has immersed himself in a lot of this and really knows what's going on there. He's my go-to. I need to know something AI. I love that.

Speaker 1 17:05

Now I'm a member of the awards.

Speaker 2 17:06

Yeah right, I like that AI Jedi.

Speaker 1 17:08

Now I'm a part of the awards. Yeah right, I like that AI Jedi. That'll be his new job title here.

Speaker 2 17:12

I'm going to give him a shirt. Ai Jedi.

Speaker 1 17:14

I love that. That's awesome. So, looking back at your journey, because you've been in the industry a while, what advice would you give to leaders who want to innovate but maybe they feel limited by resources or just fear? You know they haven't done this before. What would advice would you impart?

Speaker 2 17:34

I think you need to look at your processes. What could you do better? What could you do better with people if they weren't, you know, enslaved by tasks that is maybe holding them back from doing other things and then start strong, pick something and start there and test it and then edge your way. What I would like to say? Just throw the whole place at it, do a piece at a time. Yeah, that sounds like to say Just throw the whole place at it, do a piece at a time.

Speaker 1 18:09

Yeah, that sounds like good advice, and if people want to learn more from you, they want to learn more about your philanthropy or 365 Connect, what you're doing in the multifamily space. As far as innovation technology, AI, what is the best way for people to get in contact with you?

Advice for Future Innovators

Speaker 2 18:25

Well, there's two ways. There's 365 Connect. We have obviously 365connectcom. We have contact forms, emails on. You can pick the best route to get in touch with us. And then for our foundation, we have a website on there. It's basically nested inside my website, which is kerrycurveycom. And then we also have a domain called curveyfoundation. It's actually a domain, if it are not curveyfoundation.

Speaker 1 19:00

Okay, I love that. We'll have all of those posted Again. Thanks for being on the podcast, kerry. Like I said, you and Melinda have been supporting us from the very beginning. In fact, you and she attended the very first summit in 2019. I've got pictures of you standing up and dancing from that summit. Maybe we'll put those in the show notes. No, I'm just kidding, but really appreciate the support throughout the years and it's been great to you know watch 365, what you're working on and have you in the innovation council as well. So thanks for sharing the time today. Really appreciate you being here.

Speaker 2 19:36

Thank you, and the women's summit has been a success since the day you did it. It was a missing piece to the industry and we're so happy to be part of it.

Speaker 1 19:46

Oh, thank you so much. Thanks everybody for tuning in and we.