WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:02.220 All right. Welcome to the AdaptX Podcast where 00:00:02.220 --> 00:00:04.160 we have conversations with individuals building 00:00:04.160 --> 00:00:06.500 accessible businesses, advocating for inclusion 00:00:06.500 --> 00:00:09.019 or excelling in adaptive sports. Today I'm joined 00:00:09.019 --> 00:00:11.160 by Chase and John Prieve, the founders of Hi There 00:00:11.160 --> 00:00:13.099 Solutions, a company that creates communication 00:00:13.099 --> 00:00:15.539 solutions for the over 400 million deaf and hard 00:00:15.539 --> 00:00:17.219 of hearing around the world and their hearing 00:00:17.219 --> 00:00:19.260 friends and family so they never miss a word. 00:00:19.699 --> 00:00:22.210 Guys, thanks for joining me. Yeah, looking forward 00:00:22.210 --> 00:00:26.010 to talking about the product or products and 00:00:26.010 --> 00:00:28.589 your journey through entrepreneurship, but maybe 00:00:28.589 --> 00:00:33.729 let's start with the origin story. Chase your 00:00:33.729 --> 00:00:37.990 initial exposure to disability and what spurred 00:00:37.990 --> 00:00:40.869 this creation that is Hi There Solutions. Absolutely. 00:00:41.329 --> 00:00:46.460 So Brendan, from a family connection. My grandparents, 00:00:46.939 --> 00:00:50.179 Walter and Anna Prieve, so Chase's great -grandparents, 00:00:50.439 --> 00:00:54.840 Walter and Anna were both Big D deaf. So they 00:00:54.840 --> 00:00:58.079 were not audible. Walter actually attended the 00:00:58.079 --> 00:01:00.600 Wisconsin School for the Deaf. Now this is 100 00:01:00.600 --> 00:01:05.159 years ago. Fast forward about 90 years from then 00:01:05.159 --> 00:01:09.049 and... I had what's called a cholesteatoma. So 00:01:09.049 --> 00:01:11.329 it's a tumor that was in my middle ear, required 00:01:11.329 --> 00:01:13.930 extensive surgery. As a result of that, I was 00:01:13.930 --> 00:01:17.790 left with a severe hearing loss. So just our 00:01:17.790 --> 00:01:20.209 family connection to the deaf and hard of hearing 00:01:20.209 --> 00:01:23.409 community starts with Walter and Anna, and then 00:01:23.409 --> 00:01:26.689 continues on with myself and my hearing loss 00:01:26.689 --> 00:01:29.750 journey. But the inspiration for the HiThere 00:01:29.750 --> 00:01:32.469 Solution mobile app and our two solutions award 00:01:32.469 --> 00:01:35.400 -winning that comes from chase exactly so we 00:01:35.400 --> 00:01:37.719 have two solutions first one is hi there it's 00:01:37.719 --> 00:01:40.659 instant video calling with actions in 10 languages 00:01:40.659 --> 00:01:43.519 instant messaging anime american sign language 00:01:43.519 --> 00:01:46.299 emojis with sound we never cover a user's face 00:01:46.299 --> 00:01:48.760 we distinguish between speakers our other solution 00:01:48.760 --> 00:01:51.659 is just talk which is meant for face -to -face 00:01:51.659 --> 00:01:53.500 communication between a deaf hard of hearing 00:01:53.500 --> 00:01:56.920 individual and a hearing person which is a speech 00:01:56.920 --> 00:01:59.540 to text text to speech chat board also in 10 00:01:59.540 --> 00:02:02.579 languages instant messaging and animated American 00:02:02.579 --> 00:02:04.719 sign language emoji. So I've got two quick stories 00:02:04.719 --> 00:02:07.439 about how we came up with these solutions. The 00:02:07.439 --> 00:02:10.740 first one is I have a friend, she was born hearing, 00:02:10.900 --> 00:02:13.340 but at the age of four, she went deaf overnight 00:02:13.340 --> 00:02:16.099 due to a medical condition. So as you can imagine, 00:02:16.120 --> 00:02:19.219 that's very scary for her and then for her parents. 00:02:21.340 --> 00:02:24.539 So she does not know sign language. She does 00:02:24.539 --> 00:02:27.680 a lot of texting, reads lips, only understands 00:02:27.949 --> 00:02:31.050 30 % of a conversation. She cannot use a telephone. 00:02:31.430 --> 00:02:34.490 She relies on FaceTime to communicate if she's 00:02:34.490 --> 00:02:37.650 not in the same room as another person. She was 00:02:37.650 --> 00:02:41.990 in Mexico, June 2019, and she FaceTimes me. Wanted 00:02:41.990 --> 00:02:44.129 to show me around her parents' beach house. I'm 00:02:44.129 --> 00:02:46.430 like, okay, I answered FaceTime and it was awful. 00:02:47.550 --> 00:02:50.069 First of all, if you can't hear me, and then 00:02:50.069 --> 00:02:53.030 your internet connection keeps cutting out, so 00:02:53.030 --> 00:02:56.319 FaceTime starts freezing up. And or the screen 00:02:56.319 --> 00:02:58.639 just goes black and there's no captions. Well, 00:02:58.919 --> 00:03:01.419 that's a horrible experience for a deaf, hard 00:03:01.419 --> 00:03:03.419 of hearing person. Eventually she got upset and 00:03:03.419 --> 00:03:06.360 just clicked hang up and only texted me the rest 00:03:06.360 --> 00:03:09.199 of the time there. So I told my dad about that 00:03:09.199 --> 00:03:11.680 experience I had with my friend. And I'm just 00:03:11.680 --> 00:03:13.800 like, you know, Apple really prides itself on 00:03:13.800 --> 00:03:16.680 inclusivity, accessibility, innovation. Why don't 00:03:16.680 --> 00:03:19.699 they just simply add captions to FaceTime? An 00:03:19.699 --> 00:03:22.419 hour later, we came up with our company. Hi there. 00:03:22.659 --> 00:03:25.930 Our company logo, as you can see here. And it's 00:03:25.930 --> 00:03:27.889 instant video calling with real time captions. 00:03:28.030 --> 00:03:31.110 Like I said, it's a messaging 10 languages and 00:03:31.110 --> 00:03:33.349 device agnostic. Unlike face onto, you can have 00:03:33.349 --> 00:03:35.830 an Apple device. You can have an Android device 00:03:35.830 --> 00:03:38.169 and still make a high there at all. Our second 00:03:38.169 --> 00:03:40.969 solution just talking about this way. My friend, 00:03:41.509 --> 00:03:43.669 you wouldn't know she was deaf unless she had 00:03:43.669 --> 00:03:46.710 her cochlear implants on because she has no deaf 00:03:46.710 --> 00:03:49.770 accent. Her boyfriend, though, heavy, heavy deaf 00:03:49.770 --> 00:03:52.889 accent. It can be difficult at times to understand 00:03:52.889 --> 00:03:56.610 what he's communicating. So every Sunday after 00:03:56.610 --> 00:03:59.830 church they used to go to Jamba Juice and I'm 00:03:59.830 --> 00:04:02.250 putting that you skew and pass nets for a reason. 00:04:02.590 --> 00:04:04.930 They went to the same Jamba Juice for a number 00:04:04.930 --> 00:04:08.229 of years, same location, and this one particular 00:04:08.229 --> 00:04:11.650 Sunday was no different. My friend goes in and 00:04:11.650 --> 00:04:13.849 you know Jamba Juice, it's noisy in there for 00:04:13.849 --> 00:04:16.230 a hearing person with the blinders, hard surfaces, 00:04:17.009 --> 00:04:19.970 music, things like that. My friend, she goes 00:04:19.970 --> 00:04:22.689 in, places her order just fine. Boyfriend on 00:04:22.689 --> 00:04:25.129 the other hand, Very difficult back and forth 00:04:25.129 --> 00:04:26.990 conversation between him and the person buying 00:04:26.990 --> 00:04:28.550 the counter. Eventually the person buying the 00:04:28.550 --> 00:04:30.949 counter just points at the boyfriend, looks at 00:04:30.949 --> 00:04:34.029 my friend and says, what does he want? Really 00:04:34.029 --> 00:04:36.050 demeaning and degrading in my opinion, they didn't 00:04:36.050 --> 00:04:38.709 have anything to accommodate him or accessible, 00:04:38.889 --> 00:04:40.610 right? So we came up with just talk that speech 00:04:40.610 --> 00:04:42.470 to text, text to speech, chat board, perfect 00:04:42.470 --> 00:04:45.189 for deaf, hard of hearing, face to face communication. 00:04:45.930 --> 00:04:50.129 So, and do for just talk to companies need to 00:04:50.129 --> 00:04:52.709 adopt this or is it just the user comes with 00:04:52.709 --> 00:04:56.430 their mobile app and then. They just implement 00:04:56.430 --> 00:05:00.870 the technology there. So companies per the title 00:05:00.870 --> 00:05:05.089 3 and title 1, they need to be compliant and 00:05:05.089 --> 00:05:07.550 providing accessible solutions for customers 00:05:07.550 --> 00:05:10.720 and employees. So we put the onus on. companies 00:05:10.720 --> 00:05:13.939 in seven key industry verticals. Yeah, so Brendan, 00:05:14.019 --> 00:05:16.839 we have two business models. One is a business 00:05:16.839 --> 00:05:20.920 to consumer model where our Hyther Solutions 00:05:20.920 --> 00:05:24.319 mobile app, which includes Hyther and JustHawk, 00:05:24.779 --> 00:05:26.819 are in the Apple app and Google Play stores. 00:05:27.779 --> 00:05:31.160 That's our business to consumer side. Last summer, 00:05:31.339 --> 00:05:35.420 however, we made a pivot And we pivoted because 00:05:35.420 --> 00:05:38.120 of an experience that I had that just opened 00:05:38.120 --> 00:05:41.399 up kind of our business way of thinking and approaching 00:05:41.399 --> 00:05:44.879 the market as far as accessibility. I'll share 00:05:44.879 --> 00:05:49.459 that story in a minute. And it is a business 00:05:49.459 --> 00:05:54.160 to business model that we've created and are 00:05:54.160 --> 00:05:56.439 executing on at this point in time. So here's 00:05:56.439 --> 00:05:59.600 the story. So we've heard over the years from 00:05:59.600 --> 00:06:03.779 our deaf and hard of hearing friends and influencers 00:06:03.779 --> 00:06:07.420 and advisors and our deaf friends have helped 00:06:07.420 --> 00:06:10.379 us along our journey in order to develop our 00:06:10.379 --> 00:06:13.899 solutions so we can proudly say our solutions 00:06:13.899 --> 00:06:16.879 are created by the deaf for the deaf, which is 00:06:16.879 --> 00:06:20.879 very, very important within that community. We've 00:06:20.879 --> 00:06:23.480 heard from them that they do the same thing that 00:06:23.480 --> 00:06:26.079 hearing people do. They go to the bank and open 00:06:26.079 --> 00:06:28.040 a checking account. They pick up a prescription 00:06:28.040 --> 00:06:31.079 at a drug store. They shop. They travel. Their 00:06:31.079 --> 00:06:34.199 travel stories were just unbelievably awful. 00:06:34.920 --> 00:06:38.120 So I have a severe hearing loss, as I mentioned, 00:06:38.180 --> 00:06:41.240 and I travel for my day job every week. So I 00:06:41.240 --> 00:06:43.160 said, well, let me do some market research on 00:06:43.160 --> 00:06:46.199 this. So I booked a flight, Denver to Phoenix 00:06:46.199 --> 00:06:48.819 round trip on American Airlines. And Brendan, 00:06:49.220 --> 00:06:52.180 pick your airport, pick your airline. They're 00:06:52.180 --> 00:06:55.910 all the same. Awful. I put in my profile. I have 00:06:55.910 --> 00:06:58.850 a severe hearing loss and I need special assistance 00:06:58.850 --> 00:07:02.750 and I waited and I waited. Finally, two days 00:07:02.750 --> 00:07:04.949 before the flight, American Airlines special 00:07:04.949 --> 00:07:09.689 assistance calls me. Now imagine if you're chases 00:07:09.689 --> 00:07:11.769 French, you can't even use the telephone, right? 00:07:12.449 --> 00:07:15.269 Thankfully, I still can use the telephone with 00:07:15.269 --> 00:07:17.509 my hearing aid technology in there. You know 00:07:17.509 --> 00:07:19.470 they're leaving me messages. Mr Prieve need 00:07:19.470 --> 00:07:22.029 to call us or emailing me. Call us, call us. 00:07:22.189 --> 00:07:24.610 So I call them. It's awkward, but I call them 00:07:24.610 --> 00:07:27.649 up. And the first question I get hit with is, 00:07:27.810 --> 00:07:30.850 Mr. Prieve, what exactly is your medical condition? 00:07:32.170 --> 00:07:33.709 Well, I said, it's right there in my profile. 00:07:33.910 --> 00:07:36.350 I have a severe hearing loss. How can you accommodate 00:07:36.350 --> 00:07:40.470 me and assist me on my flights and at the airport? 00:07:40.910 --> 00:07:43.569 And they said, we have good news for you, Mr. 00:07:43.790 --> 00:07:48.110 Prieve. We can get you a wheelchair. I said, 00:07:48.129 --> 00:07:52.269 well, look, I can walk fine. I don't need a wheelchair. 00:07:52.730 --> 00:07:54.990 What else do you have? Well, alternately, Mr. 00:07:55.110 --> 00:07:57.430 Preve, we can have someone walk you down to the 00:07:57.430 --> 00:07:59.790 gate. Well, they do this for blind, low vision 00:07:59.790 --> 00:08:01.990 individuals. And I said, well, look, even though 00:08:01.990 --> 00:08:04.750 I wear glasses, I can see just fine. But I'll 00:08:04.750 --> 00:08:07.810 tell you what, I'll take you up on that. And 00:08:07.810 --> 00:08:10.730 I want the person to do one more thing. When 00:08:10.730 --> 00:08:12.709 we get to the gate, I want them to sit at the 00:08:12.709 --> 00:08:14.649 gate and listen for the overhead announcements. 00:08:15.000 --> 00:08:17.360 Because even hearing people cannot understand 00:08:17.360 --> 00:08:19.819 what's being said in the overhead announcements, 00:08:19.959 --> 00:08:23.000 and the boards are not captioned. So they said, 00:08:23.100 --> 00:08:24.800 yes, we'll take care of you. Just show up. So 00:08:24.800 --> 00:08:26.899 I show up on a Monday morning out at Denver Airport. 00:08:27.060 --> 00:08:28.980 I check in with American. They take me over to 00:08:28.980 --> 00:08:32.539 Prospect Air Services. The gal is looking for 00:08:32.539 --> 00:08:35.080 my name in the iPad. She does not see it. She 00:08:35.080 --> 00:08:38.480 puts it down. She pulls out a wheelchair as he's 00:08:38.480 --> 00:08:41.429 standing there. I said, put that thing away. 00:08:41.590 --> 00:08:43.090 You're supposed to walk me down to the gate. 00:08:43.149 --> 00:08:45.049 So she does. We go all the way up to the terminal 00:08:45.049 --> 00:08:47.629 where American Airlines is. We get to the gate 00:08:47.629 --> 00:08:50.169 and then she turns to leave. I go, what are you 00:08:50.169 --> 00:08:51.769 doing? You're supposed to sit here and listen 00:08:51.769 --> 00:08:54.120 for the overhead announcements. Oh, no, I've 00:08:54.120 --> 00:08:56.460 got to get it back up to the Great Hall. The 00:08:56.460 --> 00:08:59.399 gate people for American, they'll take care of 00:08:59.399 --> 00:09:03.039 you. Well, no one shows up. No one does anything. 00:09:03.259 --> 00:09:06.019 And finally, when the wheelchair folks are boarding 00:09:06.019 --> 00:09:08.460 early, they wave me over and they say, Mr. Prieve, 00:09:08.460 --> 00:09:10.820 you can get out now. All right. Well, I get on 00:09:10.820 --> 00:09:13.379 the flight. I'm wearing my hidden disabilities 00:09:13.379 --> 00:09:15.960 lanyard that identifies myself with a hearing 00:09:15.960 --> 00:09:18.659 loss. And I talked to the two flight attendants 00:09:18.659 --> 00:09:22.230 at the front of the plane. And I identify myself. 00:09:22.370 --> 00:09:25.850 I'm John Priebus of Your Hearing Lost. Do you 00:09:25.850 --> 00:09:29.389 happen to have all the announcements in some 00:09:29.389 --> 00:09:32.450 kind of a written form where I can follow along? 00:09:33.250 --> 00:09:35.929 And they said, well, not quite. Here's what we 00:09:35.929 --> 00:09:38.950 do have. We have the initial safety announcement. 00:09:39.049 --> 00:09:41.029 They pull out a pamphlet and they hand it to 00:09:41.029 --> 00:09:45.330 me. It's in Braille. for his hearing loss. All 00:09:45.330 --> 00:09:48.909 right, you guys have nothing. So then, to wrap 00:09:48.909 --> 00:09:51.309 this all up, I'm in Phoenix. I'm gonna fly back 00:09:51.309 --> 00:09:55.149 to Denver now. I check in with American Airlines 00:09:55.149 --> 00:09:58.129 Special Assistance, and I'm assuming the role 00:09:58.129 --> 00:10:01.450 of Big D Deaf, so I'm not audible. I'm just signing. 00:10:01.659 --> 00:10:04.100 with the folks at Special Assistance. Well, they're 00:10:04.100 --> 00:10:06.240 freaking out. They're like, time out. We need 00:10:06.240 --> 00:10:09.460 an hour, an hour before we can get someone over 00:10:09.460 --> 00:10:12.200 here to interpret and communicate with you. And 00:10:12.200 --> 00:10:14.820 I'm like, tick -tock, man, my flight. So they 00:10:14.820 --> 00:10:17.639 pull out a scratch piece of paper where, you 00:10:17.639 --> 00:10:20.340 know, sliding and cryptic notes back and forth, 00:10:20.460 --> 00:10:23.200 obviously not ADA complying or anything else. 00:10:23.539 --> 00:10:25.320 And they're even asking me, hey, would you like 00:10:25.320 --> 00:10:27.460 to sit in the exit row? And I'm like, oh, sure, 00:10:27.620 --> 00:10:30.789 all right. deafness right i've got to be willing 00:10:30.789 --> 00:10:35.909 and able it was just awful and then finally at 00:10:35.909 --> 00:10:38.029 the end of this conversation they take me over 00:10:38.029 --> 00:10:41.809 and they pull out another wheelchair for me to 00:10:41.809 --> 00:10:48.210 wrap it up We spent the next hour and we're just 00:10:48.210 --> 00:10:50.750 researching Americans with Disability Act, Title 00:10:50.750 --> 00:10:53.029 III, Title II. We're looking at the Aircraft 00:10:53.029 --> 00:10:56.789 Carrier Access Act, the FAA Reauthorization Act 00:10:56.789 --> 00:11:01.450 of 2024 that has a special section that Congress 00:11:01.450 --> 00:11:05.090 has appropriated funding for, for pilot projects, 00:11:05.850 --> 00:11:09.889 for airports to conduct projects to improve accessibility, 00:11:10.190 --> 00:11:13.230 to meet the ADA standards. and we just pivoted 00:11:13.230 --> 00:11:17.070 our entire business model to B2B, business to 00:11:17.070 --> 00:11:19.970 business, and identified six or seven industry 00:11:19.970 --> 00:11:22.450 verticals, obviously airports, airlines being 00:11:22.450 --> 00:11:24.769 one of those, but you can imagine the others, 00:11:25.110 --> 00:11:29.610 banking, healthcare, stadiums and arenas, retail, 00:11:30.090 --> 00:11:33.830 hospitality, city county governments. These are 00:11:33.830 --> 00:11:36.730 the shift that we made with our technology and 00:11:36.730 --> 00:11:40.789 our solutions to help these businesses become 00:11:41.080 --> 00:11:44.120 much better compliant with the Americans with 00:11:44.120 --> 00:11:47.840 Disability Act. So from the business standpoint, 00:11:48.320 --> 00:11:50.360 so from the bank standpoint, the airline standpoint, 00:11:50.779 --> 00:11:55.799 what is required of them to be able to use your 00:11:55.799 --> 00:11:59.179 technology? Sure thing. It's primarily down to 00:11:59.179 --> 00:12:02.559 two things, an internet connection, and well, 00:12:02.600 --> 00:12:06.399 three things, internet connection, a smartphone, 00:12:06.820 --> 00:12:10.470 iOS or Android. Or an iPad, which is new for 00:12:10.470 --> 00:12:12.870 us because one of our local city county government 00:12:12.870 --> 00:12:16.149 customers requested it be available on an iPad. 00:12:16.210 --> 00:12:18.889 Third thing is market it. Put it on your website, 00:12:19.070 --> 00:12:23.690 do a PR run. And like our local city county government, 00:12:23.789 --> 00:12:26.950 they have decals of our solutions indicating, 00:12:27.009 --> 00:12:30.029 hey, we're deaf friendly. We're going to use 00:12:30.029 --> 00:12:32.850 Just Talk to communicate with you at 11, 10, 00:12:32.929 --> 00:12:35.389 11 government buildings here in Broomfield, Colorado. 00:12:35.639 --> 00:12:38.679 Yeah. Brendan, you asked earlier, you know, is 00:12:38.679 --> 00:12:41.639 the burden on the disabled, in this case, deaf 00:12:41.639 --> 00:12:43.700 or hard of hearing individual? It is not. We're 00:12:43.700 --> 00:12:46.779 putting the burden purely right on the business, 00:12:47.179 --> 00:12:50.360 the airport, the stadium, the city county, where 00:12:50.360 --> 00:12:52.759 they are providing the hardware, be it either, 00:12:52.759 --> 00:12:54.820 as Chase mentioned, a smartphone or a tablet, 00:12:54.840 --> 00:12:58.080 an iPad in this case. And as they encounter a 00:12:58.080 --> 00:13:00.259 deaf or hard of hearing individual that needs 00:13:00.259 --> 00:13:05.139 a communication, accommodation, our Just Talk 00:13:05.259 --> 00:13:08.159 And our high there are the solutions that will 00:13:08.159 --> 00:13:11.299 be available for that individual. Yeah, bring 00:13:11.299 --> 00:13:15.000 that interaction. Yeah, I would imagine all the 00:13:15.000 --> 00:13:17.419 burden should be on the on the business, but 00:13:17.419 --> 00:13:19.820 I would imagine that makes it harder to scale. 00:13:19.980 --> 00:13:22.620 Right? Because now you have to educate all of 00:13:22.620 --> 00:13:25.100 these businesses and employees who have really 00:13:25.100 --> 00:13:27.440 no awareness of disability or even knowledge 00:13:27.440 --> 00:13:30.830 of these topics versus. selling a product to 00:13:30.830 --> 00:13:34.289 a consumer who is well aware of these challenges 00:13:34.289 --> 00:13:37.470 and can easily recognize the value in it. So 00:13:37.470 --> 00:13:41.210 you've gained traction in your local community 00:13:41.210 --> 00:13:44.289 and you have those immediate connections. How 00:13:44.289 --> 00:13:47.809 do you plan on bringing it nationwide or to other 00:13:47.809 --> 00:13:49.710 communities? Because there's only two of you 00:13:49.710 --> 00:13:52.169 and there's lots of government buildings around 00:13:52.169 --> 00:13:53.769 the country and around the world that need to 00:13:53.769 --> 00:13:56.110 be educated and trained. So I guess what's kind 00:13:56.110 --> 00:13:59.539 of the model to scale that and grow it? Just 00:13:59.539 --> 00:14:02.899 here in our backyard in Broomfield Colorado with 00:14:02.899 --> 00:14:05.779 our first city and county government with a paid 00:14:05.779 --> 00:14:10.559 pilot in order to launch the technology into 00:14:10.559 --> 00:14:14.789 city county state. Government vertical from there. 00:14:14.789 --> 00:14:18.450 We've already had a much interest with other 00:14:18.450 --> 00:14:20.909 small with other communities here in Colorado 00:14:20.909 --> 00:14:23.909 and then yesterday she said this fantastic meeting 00:14:23.909 --> 00:14:27.389 with the City of Houston and their Accessibility 00:14:27.389 --> 00:14:30.649 Commission Board City of Houston 4th largest 00:14:30.649 --> 00:14:35.149 city in America, right? So there's there's a 00:14:35.149 --> 00:14:39.289 plan in order to get ourselves a toehold if you 00:14:39.289 --> 00:14:41.659 will. within city county government. We'll start 00:14:41.659 --> 00:14:44.580 in Colorado and then we'll expand out in the 00:14:44.580 --> 00:14:46.980 airport vertical. Because it's just the two of 00:14:46.980 --> 00:14:48.980 us right now until we get some funding and we 00:14:48.980 --> 00:14:51.399 can hire more chases, more county executives 00:14:51.399 --> 00:14:55.860 to grow our verticals. But our airport vertical 00:14:55.860 --> 00:14:59.379 with the support of the FAA Reauthorization Act 00:14:59.379 --> 00:15:02.779 of 2024 and the grant funding that's available 00:15:02.779 --> 00:15:07.480 for pilot projects, just since The authorization 00:15:07.480 --> 00:15:11.759 was put out in May of this year, so May 2025. 00:15:12.039 --> 00:15:15.100 We've already met with, we've got 35 or 40 airports 00:15:15.100 --> 00:15:17.399 already in our funnel, our sales funnel, if you 00:15:17.399 --> 00:15:20.240 will, where we've met or scheduled the meeting 00:15:20.240 --> 00:15:24.259 to meet with them, showcase the tech, and begin 00:15:24.259 --> 00:15:27.039 to put together pilot projects. So, Brendan, 00:15:27.419 --> 00:15:30.759 we looked at the airport vertical very strategically. 00:15:30.980 --> 00:15:35.460 Why? Because we selected Of course, a range of 00:15:35.460 --> 00:15:38.419 small, medium and large airports, but locations 00:15:38.419 --> 00:15:42.460 where there could be spillover to other key verticals 00:15:42.460 --> 00:15:44.639 that we want to get into. I mentioned stadiums 00:15:44.639 --> 00:15:47.100 and arenas previously, right? So, hey, look, 00:15:47.120 --> 00:15:49.120 all right, we're going to be picked. We're meeting 00:15:49.120 --> 00:15:51.539 this afternoon with the city of Houston, right? 00:15:52.039 --> 00:15:54.220 So earlier using airport with the Houston airport, 00:15:54.440 --> 00:15:56.720 Chasehead City, Houston, the city yesterday, 00:15:56.720 --> 00:16:00.100 right? So we looked at cities where there are 00:16:00.100 --> 00:16:06.120 NFL, NBA, MLB. WNB, et cetera. We're looking 00:16:06.120 --> 00:16:08.460 at where are their professional sports teams? 00:16:08.639 --> 00:16:10.960 Go stadiums and arenas, same thing. They've got 00:16:10.960 --> 00:16:14.500 to also comply with the ADA guidelines. And we'll 00:16:14.500 --> 00:16:17.019 start with airports. And then as we begin to 00:16:17.019 --> 00:16:21.039 branch out, you go to Lambeau Field, for example, 00:16:21.120 --> 00:16:23.519 and they'll say, well, hey, how do we test out 00:16:23.519 --> 00:16:25.419 your technology? We'll just go over to the Green 00:16:25.419 --> 00:16:28.320 Bay Airport. They've got our tech over there. 00:16:28.840 --> 00:16:30.740 Same thing. And if you think about airports, 00:16:31.500 --> 00:16:34.919 and then we mentioned a hospitality space. Well, 00:16:34.980 --> 00:16:37.600 gosh, what restaurants happen to be in airports? 00:16:38.200 --> 00:16:41.240 All the biggies, McDonald's, KFC, Burger King, 00:16:41.779 --> 00:16:44.659 Panera, Starbucks, you name it. So then when 00:16:44.659 --> 00:16:47.220 we go to those verticals, Starbucks, for example, 00:16:47.419 --> 00:16:50.019 hey, well, where else are you? We're interested 00:16:50.019 --> 00:16:53.450 with a corporate deal. Oh, well. Go check out 00:16:53.450 --> 00:16:56.350 any number of airports and our tech is available 00:16:56.350 --> 00:17:00.169 for your Starbucks customers within those airports. 00:17:00.509 --> 00:17:03.690 So we strategically took a look at how do we 00:17:03.690 --> 00:17:07.390 leverage airports in order to help us with other 00:17:07.390 --> 00:17:11.450 industry verticals. So a real nice plan, but 00:17:11.450 --> 00:17:14.150 again, we could sure use a whole lot more chases 00:17:14.150 --> 00:17:18.710 and get big faster. Yeah. Do you think you have 00:17:18.710 --> 00:17:22.730 to demonstrate how it benefits? more than just 00:17:22.730 --> 00:17:24.630 the deaf and hard of hearing population. Like 00:17:24.630 --> 00:17:26.569 we see that a lot of tech that was designed for 00:17:26.569 --> 00:17:29.289 people with disabilities has unintended consequences 00:17:29.289 --> 00:17:31.490 that benefit people without disabilities. And 00:17:31.490 --> 00:17:34.529 do you think there's a lane for you to demonstrate? 00:17:35.049 --> 00:17:37.450 I mean, we know that there's a lot of people 00:17:37.450 --> 00:17:39.650 who are deaf and hard of hearing, but you could 00:17:39.650 --> 00:17:42.470 imagine that someone who has no exposure to disability 00:17:43.150 --> 00:17:45.289 doesn't see sign language in their day -to -day 00:17:45.289 --> 00:17:47.490 life and probably assumes that it's not a problem. 00:17:47.930 --> 00:17:50.529 So do you have to demonstrate that this technology 00:17:50.529 --> 00:17:52.730 could benefit people who aren't deaf and hard 00:17:52.730 --> 00:17:54.809 of hearing as well? I think we know from research 00:17:54.809 --> 00:17:57.410 that like 80 % of people without disabilities 00:17:57.410 --> 00:17:59.569 prefer to watch videos with captions even if 00:17:59.569 --> 00:18:03.470 they aren't hard of hearing, so. There are other 00:18:03.470 --> 00:18:07.930 disabilities that. certainly can use captions, 00:18:08.029 --> 00:18:15.910 for sure. There are disabilities, neuro diverse 00:18:15.910 --> 00:18:21.650 individuals, you think of ADHD or autism, disabilities 00:18:21.650 --> 00:18:25.089 like that, they too. I mean, they certainly can 00:18:25.089 --> 00:18:28.089 utilize our technology as well. And Brendan, 00:18:28.170 --> 00:18:31.309 one thing that your listeners as well should 00:18:31.309 --> 00:18:35.710 understand is that people age into disabilities. 00:18:36.170 --> 00:18:39.369 They age into disabilities rather it be related 00:18:39.369 --> 00:18:44.660 to mobility, cognitive, blindness. Or hearing 00:18:44.660 --> 00:18:47.319 hearing loss. Same thing. They age into those 00:18:47.319 --> 00:18:49.680 things and just in the US alone, right? We've 00:18:49.680 --> 00:18:52.460 got a large population that's aging baby boomers. 00:18:52.480 --> 00:18:55.799 If you will even Gen Xers as they begin to age 00:18:55.799 --> 00:18:58.680 in as they get older, they're aging into disability. 00:18:58.900 --> 00:19:01.599 So even though they may not have a disability 00:19:01.599 --> 00:19:04.819 now or need some kind of in our case hearing 00:19:04.819 --> 00:19:07.299 equipment that could that could help accommodate 00:19:07.299 --> 00:19:11.369 them. We think we're at the right time with regard 00:19:11.369 --> 00:19:14.490 to our tech in order to take advantage of just 00:19:14.490 --> 00:19:17.049 the demographics in just the U .S. alone for 00:19:17.049 --> 00:19:20.250 sure. Yeah. Is there technology that kind of 00:19:20.250 --> 00:19:25.329 challenges the need for the solution like AirPods? 00:19:25.609 --> 00:19:28.109 I've seen some stuff where AirPods can double 00:19:28.109 --> 00:19:31.410 as a hearing aid and stuff. Is there another 00:19:31.410 --> 00:19:34.289 disruptive tech that you would be worried about 00:19:34.289 --> 00:19:37.369 interfering with your solution? I personally 00:19:37.369 --> 00:19:41.549 don't see one. AirPods, sure, all they do is 00:19:41.549 --> 00:19:47.009 just amplify the sound. Real innovative Apple, 00:19:47.329 --> 00:19:50.529 again. Whereas with Starkey, like my dad has, 00:19:50.529 --> 00:19:53.190 it has AI in it. It can adjust the frequencies 00:19:53.190 --> 00:19:55.890 based on his environment. AirPods can't do that. 00:19:56.329 --> 00:19:59.559 In terms of our solution, they're... we've not 00:19:59.559 --> 00:20:02.059 come across one. And again, we have a differentiator 00:20:02.059 --> 00:20:04.660 in the fact that we design solutions for deaf 00:20:04.660 --> 00:20:06.900 hard of hearing by deaf hard of hearing. Case 00:20:06.900 --> 00:20:09.500 in point, our animated American sign language 00:20:09.500 --> 00:20:13.400 emojis were designed and suggested by, specifically 00:20:13.400 --> 00:20:17.819 designed by two -time Miss San Antonio MFA Rutkin, 00:20:18.039 --> 00:20:20.819 who is deaf herself and has a great organization 00:20:20.819 --> 00:20:24.500 called Aid the Silent down in San Antonio. Yeah, 00:20:24.779 --> 00:20:27.480 I know. I mean, I know from editing videos and 00:20:27.480 --> 00:20:30.539 making videos that AI generated captions aren't 00:20:30.539 --> 00:20:34.319 often correct. So and that's obviously a huge 00:20:34.319 --> 00:20:36.400 issue, right? Because if you're automatically 00:20:36.400 --> 00:20:39.019 generated captions aren't correct, then the message 00:20:39.019 --> 00:20:43.420 gets lost. So do you know how accurate your captions 00:20:43.420 --> 00:20:46.940 are? And what do you guys do differently that 00:20:46.940 --> 00:20:51.920 these other technologies don't, I guess? There's 00:20:51.920 --> 00:20:55.779 a competitor, not to us so much, they do have 00:20:55.779 --> 00:21:01.380 a product that is designed for kind of a one 00:21:01.380 --> 00:21:04.119 -on -one conversation. Unfortunately, Brendan, 00:21:05.059 --> 00:21:08.079 their business model, in our opinion, a bit flawed. 00:21:08.460 --> 00:21:11.559 You have to pay higher and higher and higher 00:21:11.559 --> 00:21:14.980 prices on a monthly basis to pay for accuracy. 00:21:15.779 --> 00:21:17.940 Our whole premise going into this, as we were 00:21:17.940 --> 00:21:20.539 advised by our deaf and hard of hearing friends, 00:21:20.900 --> 00:21:23.859 was basically make this thing 99 % accurate. 00:21:24.259 --> 00:21:29.180 So we utilize AWS, Amazon Web Services, AWS APIs, 00:21:29.579 --> 00:21:32.700 specifically one that's called Transcribe. This 00:21:32.700 --> 00:21:38.920 is AI powered, AI generated, real -time transcriptions 00:21:38.920 --> 00:21:41.220 or real -time captions, some people call them, 00:21:41.640 --> 00:21:44.220 and it autocorrects. I mean, it's learning and 00:21:44.220 --> 00:21:46.160 it autocorrects, so it'll go back and correct 00:21:46.160 --> 00:21:48.900 the word based on the context, if you will, of 00:21:48.900 --> 00:21:52.900 a particular sentence. So we have a high, high 00:21:52.900 --> 00:21:55.440 degree of accuracy, and that was on purpose. 00:21:55.559 --> 00:21:59.539 Yeah. Yeah, no, it has to be. And I think, like 00:21:59.539 --> 00:22:02.099 you said, the tiered pricing for the accuracy 00:22:02.099 --> 00:22:05.099 seems pretty flawed, because as you guys likely 00:22:05.099 --> 00:22:07.680 believe, too, accessibility is a right. It shouldn't 00:22:07.680 --> 00:22:10.299 be a paid service and add on additional paid 00:22:10.299 --> 00:22:16.440 service. Challenges to get, I guess, in your 00:22:16.440 --> 00:22:18.400 entrepreneurial journey as a whole, what have 00:22:18.400 --> 00:22:21.759 been the biggest challenges for the company to 00:22:21.759 --> 00:22:25.309 gain traction? Sure thing, as it relates to VC 00:22:25.309 --> 00:22:28.009 funding or... Yeah, just anything. What have 00:22:28.009 --> 00:22:29.829 been the biggest barriers along the way and how 00:22:29.829 --> 00:22:31.730 have you kind of addressed them? Sure thing. 00:22:31.809 --> 00:22:34.509 The biggest barriers I have seen, I'm sure you've 00:22:34.509 --> 00:22:36.430 got a different opinion, but from my perspective, 00:22:36.829 --> 00:22:40.809 it is basically getting this feedback from VCs. 00:22:41.009 --> 00:22:44.349 As an example, your market's too small. Really, 00:22:44.710 --> 00:22:48.089 it's 52 million Americans have hearing loss that 00:22:48.089 --> 00:22:50.849 could benefit from our solution. So 15 % of the 00:22:50.849 --> 00:22:54.660 population... Globally, it's 466 million individuals. 00:22:54.779 --> 00:22:59.140 As of today, that number's probably low. By 2050, 00:22:59.660 --> 00:23:01.500 the World Health Organization thinks there'll 00:23:01.500 --> 00:23:03.819 be one in four people will have a measurable 00:23:03.819 --> 00:23:06.220 hearing loss. So don't come and tell me the market's 00:23:06.220 --> 00:23:08.680 too small, that there is no market. Chances are, 00:23:08.720 --> 00:23:10.859 Mr. BC, if I'm talking to you, you'll probably 00:23:10.859 --> 00:23:13.160 experience hearing loss at some point in your 00:23:13.160 --> 00:23:17.359 life, be it you, a loved one, or a friend. The 00:23:17.359 --> 00:23:19.839 other one is just lack of awareness in general. 00:23:20.140 --> 00:23:24.289 It's like, You know, I know somebody with a disability. 00:23:24.369 --> 00:23:26.869 I know somebody with hearing loss. Okay. So what 00:23:26.869 --> 00:23:31.210 are you going to do about it? The person saying 00:23:31.210 --> 00:23:32.950 that it's just like from my perspective. It's 00:23:32.950 --> 00:23:35.549 like, okay, you know this What have you done 00:23:35.549 --> 00:23:38.289 for this community? Right? So those are my biggest 00:23:38.289 --> 00:23:40.250 challenges It's almost like if you could encompass 00:23:40.250 --> 00:23:44.450 it all just educating people. Yeah. Yeah and 00:23:44.450 --> 00:23:48.470 and really with a lot of venture capitals or 00:23:48.470 --> 00:23:53.539 even family or angel funds They like to see a 00:23:53.539 --> 00:23:57.680 lot of traction. They like to see more down round 00:23:57.680 --> 00:24:00.480 kind of money before they come in, which is fine. 00:24:00.589 --> 00:24:04.250 Yeah, we've we have bootstrap to date. So it's 00:24:04.250 --> 00:24:07.329 it's all it's all on us. No problem. We're going 00:24:07.329 --> 00:24:11.130 to gain our traction. In fact, just after this 00:24:11.130 --> 00:24:15.250 particular call, we've got a couple other family 00:24:15.250 --> 00:24:17.250 funds that we're following up with where they 00:24:17.250 --> 00:24:19.089 they actually reached out and said, hey, look, 00:24:19.089 --> 00:24:22.730 we want to learn about your traction for consideration, 00:24:22.730 --> 00:24:26.069 right? For some early seed money for us, which 00:24:26.069 --> 00:24:29.150 is all fine. It was all just part of the entrepreneurial 00:24:29.150 --> 00:24:33.250 journey. You've got to be prepared to sell fund, 00:24:33.589 --> 00:24:36.789 to basically be bootstrapping along the way, 00:24:36.970 --> 00:24:40.529 so you can demonstrate we've got a great idea, 00:24:41.009 --> 00:24:45.329 there's a market here, people will buy, and we've 00:24:45.329 --> 00:24:48.789 got a very, very viable product or solution, 00:24:48.789 --> 00:24:52.609 if you will. That's what the investors want to 00:24:52.609 --> 00:24:56.049 see. Yeah, Chase, you're not a technical founder, 00:24:56.230 --> 00:25:00.720 right? What was the software development process 00:25:00.720 --> 00:25:04.640 like? Sure, thanks. Yeah, so I'm definitely not 00:25:04.640 --> 00:25:07.079 a coder. Don't know how to do that. I could barely 00:25:07.079 --> 00:25:12.299 spell API when we started. So we went out and 00:25:12.299 --> 00:25:16.400 sought bids for our solutions from third party 00:25:16.400 --> 00:25:20.279 software developers and it was basically just 00:25:20.279 --> 00:25:22.400 vetting them, taking a look at their portfolio 00:25:22.400 --> 00:25:26.710 of work and just. Being with their end customers 00:25:26.710 --> 00:25:29.369 and to see who is the best fit for what we envisioned 00:25:29.369 --> 00:25:31.869 and dreamed of doing. And we eventually settled 00:25:31.869 --> 00:25:34.990 on two, three companies that are making it happen 00:25:34.990 --> 00:25:39.029 right now. Yeah. And so you self -funded that 00:25:39.029 --> 00:25:42.299 portion of the process. So going forward. What 00:25:42.299 --> 00:25:46.140 is funding needed for staff? Like you said, more 00:25:46.140 --> 00:25:49.599 more cases as they're ongoing on technical ongoing 00:25:49.599 --> 00:25:53.619 technical software development costs. Yeah, so 00:25:53.619 --> 00:25:57.200 our biggest line item, if you would, for our 00:25:57.200 --> 00:26:00.900 cap raise is in fact scaling. So, again, hiring 00:26:00.900 --> 00:26:04.730 more cases and marketing efforts. Another portion 00:26:04.730 --> 00:26:08.509 is customer support for our customers, because 00:26:08.509 --> 00:26:11.650 we're growing so quickly. Two of us just can't 00:26:11.650 --> 00:26:13.529 handle the customer support it needs. I mean, 00:26:14.369 --> 00:26:18.670 yesterday, anyway, that and development costs 00:26:18.670 --> 00:26:22.230 as well. Maintaining, making sure that our product 00:26:22.230 --> 00:26:25.750 remains awesome. And we also have future products 00:26:25.750 --> 00:26:30.750 we want to include as well. Oh yeah. No, it's 00:26:30.750 --> 00:26:35.329 all good. Yeah. Yeah, you mentioned so you mentioned 00:26:35.329 --> 00:26:38.430 6 or 7 vertical sectors airports being 1 of them 00:26:38.430 --> 00:26:42.930 are gyms and fitness centers 1 of those sectors. 00:26:43.650 --> 00:26:52.460 They can be. They definitely are an entity of 00:26:52.460 --> 00:26:56.980 business vertical that too needs to comply with 00:26:56.980 --> 00:26:59.559 the Americans with Disability Act in terms of 00:26:59.559 --> 00:27:01.880 accommodating individuals with disability, in 00:27:01.880 --> 00:27:04.680 our case hearing loss. Deaf people like to work 00:27:04.680 --> 00:27:09.559 out as well and they're kind of lower, if you 00:27:09.559 --> 00:27:16.900 will, on our funnel. our sales funnel. And the 00:27:16.900 --> 00:27:19.559 reason why I say it's lower, it's not like it's 00:27:19.559 --> 00:27:23.700 unimportant. It is, but it takes people to get 00:27:23.700 --> 00:27:27.440 there. We've got stadiums and arenas that are 00:27:27.440 --> 00:27:30.579 targeted, especially at the pro level. College, 00:27:30.819 --> 00:27:35.119 university is the next tier for us as well. That 00:27:35.119 --> 00:27:37.319 all leads itself into what we believe would be 00:27:37.319 --> 00:27:40.759 spillover into the local community with gyms, 00:27:41.079 --> 00:27:45.119 fitness centers, etc. Rec centers also. Interesting 00:27:45.119 --> 00:27:51.539 side note. You've heard of, of course, the Olympics, 00:27:52.119 --> 00:27:55.759 right? Summer and winter games. Awesome. You've 00:27:55.759 --> 00:27:59.119 probably heard of the Paralympic Games for individuals 00:27:59.119 --> 00:28:03.660 with mobility disabilities. You may have even 00:28:03.660 --> 00:28:06.680 heard of, I'm sure, the Special Olympics, right? 00:28:07.380 --> 00:28:11.400 Well, there's also the Deaf Olympics, a very 00:28:11.400 --> 00:28:17.960 lesser known sports event. But every four years, 00:28:19.019 --> 00:28:21.660 the teams from around the world, countries from 00:28:21.660 --> 00:28:24.900 around the world send teams of deaf athletes 00:28:24.900 --> 00:28:29.859 to compete in their summer games. In fact, upcoming 00:28:29.859 --> 00:28:33.460 in this fall, November is the Deaflympics in 00:28:33.460 --> 00:28:36.460 Tokyo. Several years ago, it was held down in 00:28:36.460 --> 00:28:38.740 Brazil. It got pushed back one year because of 00:28:38.740 --> 00:28:41.720 COVID, but every four years, countries around 00:28:41.720 --> 00:28:44.539 the world send their athletes to compete in a 00:28:44.539 --> 00:28:47.839 number of sports, summer games types of sports, 00:28:48.359 --> 00:28:53.480 track and field, weightlifting, cycling, et cetera. 00:28:54.839 --> 00:28:58.779 And unfortunately, in the United States, our 00:28:58.779 --> 00:29:02.130 Team USA athletes They do not have corporate 00:29:02.130 --> 00:29:04.150 sponsors. They don't have corporate sponsors 00:29:04.150 --> 00:29:07.329 like you see with the U .S. Olympic teams, Special 00:29:07.329 --> 00:29:10.549 Olympics, Paralympics, etc. They just don't. 00:29:10.789 --> 00:29:16.609 These athletes, sadly, are also self -funded. 00:29:18.170 --> 00:29:22.230 We like to say, look, they're running bake sales 00:29:22.230 --> 00:29:24.950 or whatever just in order to raise five, six, 00:29:25.130 --> 00:29:28.589 $7 ,000 to cover their own individual costs to 00:29:28.589 --> 00:29:32.509 fly to Tokyo and represent Team USA in their 00:29:32.509 --> 00:29:39.009 sport. So our tech, of course, certainly can 00:29:39.009 --> 00:29:42.109 be used at games like that. But this is just 00:29:42.109 --> 00:29:45.730 a side note for your viewers and listeners that 00:29:45.730 --> 00:29:51.039 unfortunately, The Deaflympics, Team Deaf USA 00:29:51.039 --> 00:29:54.200 Sports Federation, is not funded corporately. 00:29:55.039 --> 00:29:57.759 So we always, whenever we can, we try to make 00:29:57.759 --> 00:30:01.140 awareness whenever we're on a podcast or in meetings, 00:30:01.380 --> 00:30:04.079 et cetera, especially with big corporations. 00:30:04.420 --> 00:30:07.660 If you're looking for a wonderful philanthropic 00:30:07.660 --> 00:30:11.559 cause, funding the Deaflympics and Team USA, 00:30:11.789 --> 00:30:14.670 What would just be wonderful wonderful because 00:30:14.670 --> 00:30:17.890 again these these these individuals and coaches 00:30:17.890 --> 00:30:20.250 they're on their own they're paying out of their 00:30:20.250 --> 00:30:22.809 own pocket in order to compete for team USA. 00:30:23.630 --> 00:30:28.650 Yeah I don't have a fully fleshed out or formulated 00:30:28.650 --> 00:30:32.910 case for why fitness should be higher up on your 00:30:32.910 --> 00:30:36.000 radar. I guess I'm just thinking. playing a fitness 00:30:36.000 --> 00:30:40.319 is there's 3500 locations around the world, something 00:30:40.319 --> 00:30:43.779 in that ballpark. When you go into a gym, and 00:30:43.779 --> 00:30:46.579 I haven't been in a gym outside of my own for 00:30:46.579 --> 00:30:49.700 10 years, but there's music playing, it's loud, 00:30:50.180 --> 00:30:52.140 whether you have a hearing impairment or not, 00:30:52.599 --> 00:30:54.579 might be hard to hear someone and communicate 00:30:54.579 --> 00:30:58.920 with someone. I feel like that's a pretty, maybe 00:30:58.920 --> 00:31:02.039 pretty good spot to implement something like 00:31:02.039 --> 00:31:03.960 this that would just make the experience better 00:31:03.960 --> 00:31:09.619 as a whole. Brendan, we mentioned the city and 00:31:09.619 --> 00:31:11.619 county of Broomfield, Colorado, where we have 00:31:11.619 --> 00:31:14.740 a pilot project going out using iPads. One of 00:31:14.740 --> 00:31:18.200 the 10 locations is actually at their rec center. 00:31:20.240 --> 00:31:22.779 They saw the need, so did we. We encouraged, 00:31:23.160 --> 00:31:25.839 put it over at the rec center. It helps us get 00:31:25.839 --> 00:31:29.720 early data on deaf or hard of hearing individuals 00:31:29.720 --> 00:31:32.420 going to a rec center, for example, in Bermfield, 00:31:32.420 --> 00:31:36.099 Colorado, and being able to utilize our technology 00:31:36.099 --> 00:31:39.140 as a communication accommodation in a facility, 00:31:39.400 --> 00:31:41.980 kind of a fitness facility, if you will, just 00:31:41.980 --> 00:31:46.240 like that. So we recognized it early. It's just 00:31:46.240 --> 00:31:50.460 that - Can only do so much at once. Can't really 00:31:50.460 --> 00:31:53.299 do so much at once. Yeah, different goals, gym, 00:31:53.680 --> 00:31:56.940 and planning. And any time fit, there's 24. We 00:31:56.940 --> 00:31:59.779 need people. I mean, Chase, you went to University 00:31:59.779 --> 00:32:05.000 of Colorado Boulder, right? Yeah. Do they have 00:32:05.000 --> 00:32:09.920 resources for alumni internship programs, maybe 00:32:09.920 --> 00:32:13.079 students within the business management degrees? 00:32:13.220 --> 00:32:17.859 No. Not really, but I have done extensive work 00:32:17.859 --> 00:32:20.500 in their professional mentoring program. We've 00:32:20.500 --> 00:32:23.279 hired a few interns from that program who turned 00:32:23.279 --> 00:32:26.480 out really, really well. As it comes to accommodation 00:32:26.480 --> 00:32:30.019 for deaf hard of hearing, they don't have anything 00:32:30.019 --> 00:32:33.809 much. Yeah, I guess I guess I was more so thinking 00:32:33.809 --> 00:32:37.869 like is could that be an affordable or inexpensive 00:32:37.869 --> 00:32:41.349 way to have more maybe not account executives 00:32:41.349 --> 00:32:43.509 but people that could do some of the the day 00:32:43.509 --> 00:32:46.190 -to -day work like a University intern or something, 00:32:46.190 --> 00:32:52.950 but what is keeping a company like Apple you 00:32:52.950 --> 00:32:56.950 mentioned earlier from Creating a solution embedded 00:32:56.950 --> 00:32:59.950 within FaceTime that achieves a similar outcome 00:33:00.250 --> 00:33:02.930 Sure thing. Lack of credibility within the deaf 00:33:02.930 --> 00:33:05.309 and hard of hearing community. We've heard, you 00:33:05.309 --> 00:33:08.269 know, FaceTime currently is in beta with their 00:33:08.269 --> 00:33:11.349 captions. It's one language, does not distinguish 00:33:11.349 --> 00:33:14.309 between speakers, not accurate. In fact, we've 00:33:14.309 --> 00:33:15.910 heard from our deaf, hard of hearing friends 00:33:15.910 --> 00:33:18.369 and influencers who have tried it. They're like, 00:33:18.509 --> 00:33:21.890 it's terrible. It covers a person's face unlike 00:33:21.890 --> 00:33:24.630 us. So if you read lips, it's a poor solution. 00:33:25.450 --> 00:33:27.829 Yeah. and just lack of credibility. Again, we're 00:33:27.829 --> 00:33:30.150 built for deaf by deaf and hard of hearing like 00:33:30.150 --> 00:33:33.910 my dad. One of the things, Brendan, a company 00:33:33.910 --> 00:33:40.170 like an Apple or Google or Meta with WhatsApp, 00:33:40.269 --> 00:33:46.049 for example, it's all about monetization. FaceTime, 00:33:46.190 --> 00:33:48.849 although it's It's really not free because you've 00:33:48.849 --> 00:33:52.049 got to buy a thousand dollar phone or whatever 00:33:52.049 --> 00:33:54.410 an iPhone costs, right? You've got to have that. 00:33:54.789 --> 00:33:57.789 You've got to have some kind of a cellular plan. 00:33:57.930 --> 00:34:01.369 So now you're paying. hundreds maybe dollars 00:34:01.369 --> 00:34:04.690 a month just to have a cellular plan. So even 00:34:04.690 --> 00:34:07.470 though, okay, yes, FaceTime is available, many 00:34:07.470 --> 00:34:09.510 people think, oh, this is so cool, it's free, 00:34:09.590 --> 00:34:11.230 it's really not. You're buying a phone, you're 00:34:11.230 --> 00:34:15.050 buying a data plan, so it's not. But really, 00:34:15.449 --> 00:34:18.380 it kind of boils down to... How can a company 00:34:18.380 --> 00:34:20.300 like that or companies like that, how can they 00:34:20.300 --> 00:34:24.559 monetize it for a consumer? There are many, many 00:34:24.559 --> 00:34:26.719 consumers think of it right around the world. 00:34:27.119 --> 00:34:29.920 Half the smartphone market are in fact Apple 00:34:29.920 --> 00:34:33.599 or iOS devices. The other half is Samsung, Google 00:34:33.599 --> 00:34:36.679 devices. But they look at it as for the mass 00:34:36.679 --> 00:34:39.539 market, and they're a business. How do we monetize 00:34:39.539 --> 00:34:42.239 this? Very difficult to do that when you are 00:34:42.239 --> 00:34:45.360 kind of building it on the back end and you haven't 00:34:45.360 --> 00:34:49.139 integrated it into your offering upfront. Yeah. 00:34:49.539 --> 00:34:51.239 Do you think you could have built these solutions 00:34:51.239 --> 00:34:54.059 if you didn't have the personal experience with 00:34:54.059 --> 00:34:56.199 deafness and the hard of hearing? I think we're 00:34:56.199 --> 00:34:58.480 going to have different answers. I mean, we built 00:34:58.480 --> 00:35:01.960 it, so I know we could have. It just was that 00:35:01.960 --> 00:35:05.559 initial spark right of seeing a problem that 00:35:05.559 --> 00:35:09.039 my friend had with what was currently available 00:35:09.039 --> 00:35:12.920 and it's just like we can do better. No absolutely 00:35:12.920 --> 00:35:16.420 and again as people age into disabilities this 00:35:16.420 --> 00:35:19.079 just and you had mentioned hey many people prefer 00:35:19.079 --> 00:35:21.320 they like to watch movies with the captions on 00:35:21.320 --> 00:35:24.139 it just it just made sense for us several years 00:35:24.139 --> 00:35:28.099 ago to dive into this make the commitment bootstrap 00:35:28.099 --> 00:35:31.820 because We know there's an unmet need and I think 00:35:31.820 --> 00:35:34.539 that's where many entrepreneurs they have an 00:35:34.539 --> 00:35:37.750 idea. it does take time. You've got to do market 00:35:37.750 --> 00:35:40.030 research. You've got to look at, can we do, you 00:35:40.030 --> 00:35:43.510 know, it's, you know, what is it? Can you do 00:35:43.510 --> 00:35:45.889 it? How does it work? And, you know, will it 00:35:45.889 --> 00:35:48.090 be successful? You've got to, as an entrepreneur, 00:35:48.429 --> 00:35:50.550 you know, be able to answer all those questions 00:35:50.550 --> 00:35:54.550 and then, and look at the end consumer. In our 00:35:54.550 --> 00:35:57.210 case, we've got a B2B model. The end consumer 00:35:57.210 --> 00:36:00.909 is, yes, it's a business, airports, dating. fitness 00:36:00.909 --> 00:36:03.849 center, et cetera. But ultimately, another end 00:36:03.849 --> 00:36:06.050 consumer is the deaf or hard of hearing individual 00:36:06.050 --> 00:36:10.909 that's basically enjoying, hopefully, that experience 00:36:10.909 --> 00:36:13.530 with their communication accommodation. Yeah. 00:36:14.030 --> 00:36:17.889 Since my work in this podcast to a degree revolves 00:36:17.889 --> 00:36:20.389 around fitness and physical activity, outside 00:36:20.389 --> 00:36:24.130 of adopting your technology and your solutions. 00:36:24.269 --> 00:36:27.429 What do you think the fitness industry as a whole 00:36:27.429 --> 00:36:29.889 could do better to support people with disabilities, 00:36:29.929 --> 00:36:32.550 whether we want to focus just on the deaf and 00:36:32.550 --> 00:36:35.469 hard of hearing or the greater disability population 00:36:35.469 --> 00:36:39.389 as a whole? What could gyms do better? What could 00:36:39.389 --> 00:36:44.309 rec centers do better? Personally, model what 00:36:44.309 --> 00:36:46.869 you're doing in terms of marketing your gyms. 00:36:46.929 --> 00:36:50.250 Invest more money in marketing that you are accessible 00:36:50.250 --> 00:36:53.429 for folks with disabilities. Market that you 00:36:53.429 --> 00:36:56.929 have. Leagues if you will. I've got a good friend. 00:36:56.929 --> 00:37:00.329 He has cerebral palsy. He's power chair user. 00:37:00.510 --> 00:37:02.829 He's in a soccer league, which is really cool. 00:37:02.869 --> 00:37:05.349 I would say invest more in terms of marketing 00:37:05.349 --> 00:37:09.550 that hey, this community is here. Let's go create 00:37:09.550 --> 00:37:12.250 something for them by them. That's my thoughts. 00:37:12.630 --> 00:37:15.489 I agree. It all boils down to promote yourselves 00:37:15.489 --> 00:37:20.510 and make offerings, programs, etc. We're inclusive 00:37:20.510 --> 00:37:24.849 and we're accessible. And to promote that, it's 00:37:24.849 --> 00:37:28.909 just gyms and rec centers can get an awful lot 00:37:28.909 --> 00:37:33.949 of credibility by having that type of a marketing 00:37:33.949 --> 00:37:37.110 promotional plan and the programs that support 00:37:37.110 --> 00:37:39.909 those offerings as well. Yeah. Yeah, it's tricky. 00:37:40.170 --> 00:37:43.670 Like you walk a fine line between, oh, look at 00:37:43.670 --> 00:37:46.309 me. I'm supporting people with disabilities. 00:37:46.510 --> 00:37:50.619 How wonderful versus the awareness piece of like 00:37:50.619 --> 00:37:52.579 people with disabilities assume your gym's not 00:37:52.579 --> 00:37:54.880 for them because historically it never has been 00:37:54.880 --> 00:37:57.780 so you have to invite them in and you have to 00:37:57.780 --> 00:38:01.380 show that it is but there's also like it's i've 00:38:01.380 --> 00:38:05.119 seen it cross the line to a point where it seems 00:38:05.119 --> 00:38:09.460 more performative than anything where um or inspiration 00:38:09.460 --> 00:38:11.460 poor and however you want to label it where you're 00:38:11.460 --> 00:38:14.159 just trying to use disability to build social 00:38:14.159 --> 00:38:18.650 capital or social kind of um bandwidth. So yeah, 00:38:18.769 --> 00:38:22.250 I think marketing is an essential piece for it. 00:38:22.869 --> 00:38:25.389 But what's your vision for Hi There Solutions 00:38:25.389 --> 00:38:28.909 maybe for the next three to five years, if you've 00:38:28.909 --> 00:38:30.849 kind of mapped out that far? I know sometimes 00:38:30.849 --> 00:38:33.210 you get so bogged into the day -to -day, it's 00:38:33.210 --> 00:38:35.590 hard to think long -term vision. But what do 00:38:35.590 --> 00:38:37.909 you hope to accomplish? Sure thing. Next three 00:38:37.909 --> 00:38:40.250 to five years, long -term vision is to become 00:38:40.250 --> 00:38:42.690 basically a household name, right? Kind of like 00:38:42.690 --> 00:38:46.489 Coca -Cola, it's hey. Can you grab me a Coke? 00:38:46.730 --> 00:38:48.710 Rather than can I get a soda or a pop? We want 00:38:48.710 --> 00:38:51.489 to be that for either with our brands. Then, 00:38:51.610 --> 00:38:53.929 like I mentioned earlier, we do want to innovate 00:38:53.929 --> 00:38:56.369 beyond just what we're currently doing. We have 00:38:56.369 --> 00:39:00.230 solutions into education, vertical, myself, as 00:39:00.230 --> 00:39:02.469 you can see the guitars behind me. I play music. 00:39:02.610 --> 00:39:04.989 I love music. So we have a couple of deaf hard 00:39:04.989 --> 00:39:08.530 of hearing advisors who are professional rappers, 00:39:08.750 --> 00:39:12.420 hip hop artists, Grammy winners. I want to do 00:39:12.420 --> 00:39:14.420 something within the music space. What are your 00:39:14.420 --> 00:39:17.519 thoughts? Yeah, so education, music, gaming. 00:39:18.599 --> 00:39:21.179 There's a number of ways we can certainly go. 00:39:21.199 --> 00:39:23.019 We're going to build our beachhead. Of course, 00:39:23.099 --> 00:39:26.219 we're going to stay in the US in our backyard, 00:39:26.340 --> 00:39:28.980 build our beachhead. And then as Chase had mentioned 00:39:28.980 --> 00:39:32.119 at the top of the podcast, it's basically, look, 00:39:32.239 --> 00:39:35.570 there's an awful lot of. deaf hard of hearing 00:39:35.570 --> 00:39:37.889 around the world globally that can certainly 00:39:37.889 --> 00:39:42.250 use our solution. So an expansion globally is 00:39:42.250 --> 00:39:44.650 within the realm as well, three to five years 00:39:44.650 --> 00:39:47.570 from now. How did you encourage these advisors 00:39:47.570 --> 00:39:50.929 and influencers to get involved? Sure thing. 00:39:51.010 --> 00:39:54.050 A lot of networking, getting on Zoom meetings 00:39:54.050 --> 00:39:56.469 or meeting in person, describing what we do, 00:39:56.670 --> 00:40:00.570 showing what they do. We have one deaf advisor. 00:40:00.690 --> 00:40:04.389 His name is Justin Osmond. Yeah, from that Osmond 00:40:04.389 --> 00:40:06.650 family, Donnie and Marie, he's their nephew. 00:40:06.929 --> 00:40:10.570 He plays the violin, motivational speaker. He 00:40:10.570 --> 00:40:13.190 almost got, he got very emotional when he saw 00:40:13.190 --> 00:40:16.110 Just Socking High there and was using it. Another 00:40:16.110 --> 00:40:18.789 one of our advisors is Staff Sergeant, retired 00:40:18.789 --> 00:40:22.090 Shiloh Harris. He's like, hot damn, I've needed 00:40:22.090 --> 00:40:26.530 this my entire life. He was injured in serving 00:40:26.530 --> 00:40:29.429 in a country in Iraq during IED. He got his ears 00:40:29.429 --> 00:40:32.230 blown off. Um, and he, he loves it. He's a good 00:40:32.230 --> 00:40:38.329 friend of ours. Look behind me. That's awesome. 00:40:38.489 --> 00:40:41.170 Yeah, no, it's cool to build something and then 00:40:41.170 --> 00:40:43.309 have an entire community rally behind it. Right? 00:40:43.409 --> 00:40:45.610 It's like, it's validation that what you're building 00:40:45.610 --> 00:40:48.369 is, is actually needed and you're not just creating 00:40:48.369 --> 00:40:50.989 a solution for a problem that doesn't exist. 00:40:51.949 --> 00:40:55.489 Yeah, we can include links relevant links in 00:40:55.489 --> 00:40:57.949 the show notes so people can directly find them. 00:40:57.989 --> 00:41:00.670 But like what can listeners do to be most helpful? 00:41:01.969 --> 00:41:07.090 Most helpful? I would say spread awareness of 00:41:07.090 --> 00:41:11.949 what we do, provide feedback. We are doing some 00:41:11.949 --> 00:41:14.940 changes, modifications to our app. So, we are 00:41:14.940 --> 00:41:16.920 going to have a press release when we execute 00:41:16.920 --> 00:41:18.800 or go to Market Strategy and just do some coding 00:41:18.800 --> 00:41:21.940 updates. So, for now, spread awareness of the 00:41:21.940 --> 00:41:24.599 brand. Get it out there. Say there's this really 00:41:24.599 --> 00:41:27.239 cool company that's doing amazing work, award 00:41:27.239 --> 00:41:29.599 -winning work for the deaf and hard of hearing 00:41:29.599 --> 00:41:32.719 community. We were the Amazon Web Services North 00:41:32.719 --> 00:41:34.880 America Social Impact Partner of the Year award. 00:41:35.099 --> 00:41:37.400 for accessibility as matter of fact, won a couple 00:41:37.400 --> 00:41:39.579 other really great awards. So, yeah, more awareness 00:41:39.579 --> 00:41:43.699 is better. How about you, Deb? Yeah, any sharing 00:41:43.699 --> 00:41:47.320 this show or just sharing maybe our website, 00:41:48.139 --> 00:41:51.800 our YouTube channel on their platforms, for example, 00:41:52.119 --> 00:41:55.760 just creating awareness is all part of the strategy. 00:41:55.980 --> 00:41:57.719 Yes, we're going to go to the corporate level, 00:41:57.920 --> 00:42:00.699 Chase and I, let's say airports or stadiums. 00:42:00.760 --> 00:42:04.400 Pro teams, Starbucks, McDonald's, we'll be at 00:42:04.400 --> 00:42:07.380 corporate. It's always nice to have the groundswell 00:42:07.380 --> 00:42:11.719 too. You guys need to bring in an accommodation 00:42:11.719 --> 00:42:16.340 here, hide their solutions, just have some awesome, 00:42:16.340 --> 00:42:20.469 awesome tech. It's beautiful. Yeah, so boots 00:42:20.469 --> 00:42:23.349 on the ground advocating for their local businesses, 00:42:23.489 --> 00:42:25.650 whether it's ones they frequent or ones that 00:42:25.650 --> 00:42:29.130 they work for to adopt these technological solutions 00:42:29.130 --> 00:42:32.250 and stuff. What's the best place for people to 00:42:32.250 --> 00:42:35.010 find you? Where are you most active? Most active 00:42:35.010 --> 00:42:38.550 would be LinkedIn, Chase, C -H -A -S -E -T, my 00:42:38.550 --> 00:42:43.730 last name, Pariv, and then www .hithersolutions 00:42:43.730 --> 00:42:47.050 .com. We have an Instagram, but we're most active 00:42:47.050 --> 00:42:49.760 on LinkedIn. Okay, yeah. I'll, like I mentioned, 00:42:50.079 --> 00:42:52.079 include those direct links so people can easily 00:42:52.079 --> 00:42:55.460 find them. But John, Chase, thanks so much for 00:42:55.460 --> 00:42:58.280 talking. I love hearing about people's origin 00:42:58.280 --> 00:43:01.840 stories and their growth and these solutions. 00:43:01.940 --> 00:43:04.099 And I always take away stuff from my own experience 00:43:04.099 --> 00:43:06.860 that I can use. So thanks again for joining me. 00:43:07.239 --> 00:43:09.099 Awesome. Thanks for hosting us. Really appreciate 00:43:09.099 --> 00:43:11.739 it. Thank you. Thank you for listening to the 00:43:11.739 --> 00:43:14.480 AdaptX Podcast. Our effort to amplify the ideas 00:43:14.480 --> 00:43:16.400 of our guests and create more inclusive and accessible 00:43:16.400 --> 00:43:18.840 industries is futile unless these episodes reach 00:43:18.840 --> 00:43:21.139 a larger audience. If you enjoyed our discussion 00:43:21.139 --> 00:43:23.340 today, please leave us a rating or a review on 00:43:23.340 --> 00:43:25.539 whichever platform you use. And if you would 00:43:25.539 --> 00:43:27.320 like to learn more about Adaptex, the course 00:43:27.320 --> 00:43:29.059 that we teach to health and fitness professionals 00:43:29.059 --> 00:43:31.079 in the projects that our organization is working 00:43:31.079 --> 00:43:33.300 on, you can subscribe to our newsletter through 00:43:33.300 --> 00:43:37.059 our website www .adaptx .org. Until next Monday.