Entrepreneur and promoter of the industry, Matt Reiners, Chief Growth Officer at Parasol Alliance, shares leadership tips, how to simplify technology adoption, a vision for enhancing connection through tech, and the future of senior living technology.

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Recorded at the Hamilton CapTel booth at LeadingAge Annual Meeting.

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Produced by Solinity Marketing.

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Intro

Welcome to season eight of Bridge the Gap, a podcast dedicated to informing, educating, and influencing the future of housing and services for seniors. The BTG network is powered by sponsors Accushield, Align, NIC MAP Vision, Procare HR, Sage, Hamilton Capital, ServiceMaster, The Bridge Group Construction, and Solinty and produced by Solinity Marketing. Bridge the Gap in three, two.

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00:37 - 00:48

Lucas McCurdy

Welcome to Bridge the Gap podcast, the senior Living podcast with Josh and Lucas here in Nashville at the Leading Age National Conference with a good friend and guest, Matt Reiners. Welcome back to the program.

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00:48 - 00:58

Matt Reiners

Hey, I am so delighted to be here with you guys, and it's been so cool to see how Bridge the Gap has grown over all these years. You guys are the OGs when it comes to this, so.

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00:58 - 00:59

Lucas McCurdy

I know Josh looks like it.

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00:59 - 01:13

Josh Crisp

Yeah, yeah, it's starting to show, but thank you. So you've been around for quite a while yourself and also been part of helping grow the mission to Bridge the Gap. So thank you as well.

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01:13 - 01:15

Matt Reiners

Hey, hey, we're all in it together, right?

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01:15 - 02:13

Lucas McCurdy

Yeah. And growing your own platforms to which, we're all big fans of. So we're going to be talking about tech. We're going to be talking about the unique challenges that senior living operators face. We're here in the Expo center, and technology has actually really probably been a constant theme and discussion over all of our podcasts.

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We've done roughly 8 to 10 of them. Technology is coming up. It's unavoidable. There's a whole entire section here in the Expo Center dedicated to technology. Matt, have been involved in technology for the majority of your career. For our listeners that don't know you, all three of them walk us through, you have a very unique journey.

I love your origin story. About hearing loss, your story about your personal life, your personal story about your grandmother and that company that you founded. And then you've transitioned a couple times. Walk us through that.

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02:13 - 03:25

Matt Reiners

Starting from the beginning, I'll try to do this in about 60 seconds through the 13 years of my life here. So I first started a silent disco company helping people around the country throw a silent disco event. For those of you that don't know what it is, think of a party with no out loud sound. Everything is being played through wireless headphones.

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Most absurd thing you would ever see, but people would love it. You know, a few years into that, a few things happen simultaneously. You started getting phone calls from senior living communities asking for help. They're struggling with hearing aid programs. Think resident council meetings, worship services. Bingo, right? Can never forget about bingo. And they're looking for a wireless headphones system designed for a group setting, individual volume control.

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And out of that was born Eversound. And that's a company that after seeing what my grandmother was going through. Couldn't hear. So she’d never go to anything. And her basically quality of life sucked. So that launched Eversound back in like 2016 through that, along with my co-founders Jake and Devin. Had an awesome team and had an awesome opportunity to be acquired by Uniguest. So they acquired us in May of last year, stayed on at Uniguest for about a year or so, and then from there found a new calling to just kind of change the technology culture and joined Parasol Alliance.

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03:25 - 03:32

Lucas McCurdy

How's that going? So you said a big thing. They're changing technology, culture. What does that mean?

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03:32 - 04:12

Matt Reiners

When I think about technology. Like, especially in this industry, I think we're a laggard in terms of industry when it comes to technology adoption and all that sort of stuff. I think it's that balance between that human touch in that care element. But how do we use technology to do that?

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And when I think of the technology culture, I think so many times technology has just been under IT and just kind of assumes that they need to do everything. But I think as we think about technology and as we move forward, every department needs to embrace it, departments need to talk when they're making technology decisions.

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And really just trying to make it more at the forefront and really making sure that people are set up. Communities are set up to succeed as they implement technology.

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04:12 - 04:46

Josh Crisp

Well, you know, I think that's a lot to talk about. I mean, we could talk for 2 or 3 podcasts about all that. But, you know, I think one of the things that you touched on, I think one is that one of the things that you're helping lead on is, a provider partner that helps them navigate all of that because, you know, there's so many various types of providers, there's so many different. But most, I would say, don't have the luxury of having an in-house technology division, if you will, that understands senior housing plus technology. 

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04:46 - 05:52

Matt Reiners

I would say so, especially some of these, you know, standalone or smaller classes. You know, they might have a VP of it that's a generalist, that's doing a little bit of everything. But, you know, as we're adjusting and moving forward, we need more of these specialties. Like cybersecurity networking infrastructure. You might have someone that's really good at one of those things, but really trying to give them all of them, all of the different angles and all that expertise, to really set them up for success there.

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And, you know, it's funny. I remember talking to the VP of IT where I said, what do you do? He's like, if it has a cord and plugs in, people assume that I know what to do with it. And I think as we're moving forward with all these like integrations and stuff, like we need to help people navigate that because I think being on the tech vendor side. It's everything I cared about was trying to get that technology piece into a community. And now being on the other side and seeing all the technology pieces. People will come to conferences, see something that they might like, might be like the golden spoon, right? They bring that back to their team, get really excited, and then implementation just kind of falls off a cliff from there. So trying to help people navigate that and be intentional about their technology stack.

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05:52 - 07:06

Josh Crisp

I want to change the course here. Lucas may get fussed at me for doing this, but this is sort of a selfish thing. As I sit here beside you, believe it or not, you're starting to get a little age. You're getting a little gray in your beard, you're like me and Lucas have, which means that's wisdom, right? I think you have. I remember the first time I saw you, I think it was like a EFA event or something. You had these flashy shoes on. You're dancing to music that nobody else can hear. And I'm like, I couldn't help but look how well you have positioned yourself as a leader of a tech company.

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And going through the life cycle that I think a lot of young entrepreneurs and or salespeople hope to do. And we're on the floor with a lot of people right now. What would you say to the young leaders? You've found a way to do some things that I think not a lot of young leaders can do, which is be able to stay consistent in your messaging and your brand, regardless of what solution you are presenting to people at the time. It's a continuity, which I think has led to your success. So what would be some tips to the young leaders in tech out there that they could use, to kind of help them along their journey?

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07:06 - 07:53

Matt Reiners

So I think getting really good at storytelling is super important as you're sharing the story of the company or the tech solution that you're doing and like, what's the why behind it? And if you can get people into and bought into that why. I think kind of everything else falls into place from there. And in terms of the consistency, right. I got the sequins on right now. It's definitely my personality type of if you look at the 16 personalities, I'm a promoter. If you couldn't have guessed that. So I think when you look at this industry, you know, it's easy to stand out and draw attention, for better or for worse. And I think just even leaning into that kind of identifying what your brand voice, your individual voice, and I think now like people buy from people. And if you can try to lean into some of that personal thought leadership and kind of, you know, incorporate that into what the company is doing, it's a win win for all.

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07:53 - 08:08

Josh Crisp

That's great advice. So, a year from now, you know, we ask this question a lot in our Mastermind events, and Lucas does a really good job unpacking all this for those events. But what would you say you hope that we're talking about or celebrating in a year from now? If we're back at a Leading Age event?

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08:08 - 09:01

Matt Reiners

In a year from now, I hope that we dig a little bit or we understand a little bit deeper about AI. I think it's the biggest buzzword. I think you see every company out here promoting that. They've got some sort of AI capabilities into their system. But I think if you go a layer deeper, not a lot of people know how to use it, understand it, embrace it.

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And I think, too, as we look at as an industry, it's like, how are we incorporating that into our day to day? I think the biggest opportunity in the short term, especially over the next year, is how do we make that? How do we really optimize our own productivity so we can maximize time being spent with the residents?

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Right. Like talk to life enrichment all the time, putting together all the stuff I've sat down, walk them through some things that they can do for free, and now they're getting all this time back that they can spend with residents. So I think it's really embracing that, understanding that and knowing how we can use that to be successful versus just seeing it as a buzzword. And no one really knows, but it does.

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09:01 - 09:09

Josh Crisp

So for the person out there that's listening, that's a community leader that just heard that. It's like, okay, let's get on the pathway for that. What's their first step?

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09:09 - 09:26

Matt Reiners

Their first step. So we did launch a whitepaper. I have to be self-serving here, a white paper about all the AI, out there and kind of where we see the future of going. That's completely free on our website at ParasolAlliance.com. You can definitely go check that out. And then I would start talking to other leaders, seeing how they're doing.

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I heard something the other day of someone setting up like an AI internal committee where people are kind of figuring that out and, like, you know, you should start putting some, governance around how you expect people on your team to use it if you're not wanting to use ChatGPT or some of these other platforms coming up, but just establishing some rules around that. And I would say, you know, being open to what it could potentially look like, I know always security is top of mind. So make sure you're being intentional and going about it the right way.

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09:52 - 09:55

Josh Crisp

That mostly went over my head. Could I say just call Matt.

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09:55 - 09:56

Matt Reiners

You can call me.

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09:56 - 09:57

Josh Crisp

All right. Yeah yeah yeah yeah.

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09:58 - 10:17

Lucas McCurdy

Well I mean that's a big topic. I've walked around and that's been a topic. AI has been a discussion point in these conversations. So it'd be really interesting to revisit this next year and see where that's going. It seems like it's obviously going to touch literally everything. So awesome.

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10:17 - 10:48

Lucas McCurdy

We're about to get wrapped up here, at Leading Age. I think a lot of people here are kind of packing up and wanting to get out on Broadway, and, here's some honky Tonkin, but, Matt, it was so good to spend time with you and get an update. On your journey. And thanks for all that.

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You've been pouring into this industry. We'll make sure that we link what you're doing. You have a podcast, and stuff that you're always putting out there, and we'll link to that whitepaper as well, for our listeners. So thanks for your time today.

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10:48 - 10:59

Matt Reiners

Thanks so much, gentlemen, and I appreciate you guys have really knocked down the door. I think in terms of content creation and what that can look like from a thought leadership perspective. So you've inspired me along my own journey. So appreciate you guys.

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10:59 - 11:14

Lucas McCurdy

Thanks, man. I appreciate that. And to our listeners, connect with us. At btgvoice.com download this content and so much more. Also hit us up on LinkedIn. Let's hear your conversation, and your thoughts around this conversation. And thanks for listening to another great episode of Bridge the Gap.

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Outro

Thanks for listening to Bridge the Gap podcast with Josh and Lucas. Connect with the BTG network team and use your voice to influence the industry by connecting with us at btgvoice.com.

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