Insights on Aging in Place and Home Design

Ever wondered how long-term usability in flooring can impact your life? Join us as we welcome Brooke Seldon from Cost and Floors, a trailblazer in the flooring industry with a fascinating journey from being the daughter of a builder to becoming an influential figure in the Richmond construction community. Brooke shares her remarkable story, including the pivotal role her faith and professional relationships have played in her career. You won't want to miss her insights into the interconnected and tight-knit nature of Richmond's construction industry.

Transitioning to a traditional office environment can be quite the adjustment, and Brooke’s experiences are both humorous and enlightening. She offers valuable advice on the significance of educating clients about floor covering and the aging in place concept. Drawing from her background in teaching, Brooke emphasizes the importance of making thoughtful modifications in home design to ensure accessibility and long-term usability. She also highlights how certified aging in place training can significantly impact customer satisfaction and business growth.

Finally, we delve into the broader implications of aging in place and multi-generational community planning. Brooke passionately discusses the benefits of designing homes with accessible features and the value of intergenerational interactions within master plan communities. Tune in to hear personal anecdotes that underscore the importance of planning for future accessibility and don’t miss the announcement of an exciting aging in place event on October 24th. This episode is a heartfelt celebration of industry appreciation, future collaborations, and the positive impact the construction industry has on our lives.

Chapters

• 0:03 Building Relationships in the Construction Industry
• 10:30 Aging in Place
• 19:56 Aging in Place Considerations for Homeowners
• 24:21 Aging in Place Community Planning
• 30:43 Industry Appreciation and Scheduling Next Meeting

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:03

I love that, love that.

Speaker 2: 0:05

Hey y'all, Welcome back to another episode of Feed Me your Construction Content. I'm Carolyn McMahon.

Speaker 1: 0:10

I'm Joshua McMahon.

Speaker 2: 0:11

I'm so excited for our guest today.

Speaker 1: 0:13

I know you are. You've been waiting for a long time for this.

Speaker 2: 0:16

Oh goodness, you made it happen, Josh.

Speaker 1: 0:20

You think I made it happen oh yeah, well, she's here for me, not you, there you go. You think I made it happen.

Speaker 2: 0:22

Oh yeah, Well, she's here for me, not you.

Speaker 1: 0:24

There you go.

Speaker 2: 0:24

There we go, but we have Brooke Seldon on today from Cost and Floors yes.

Speaker 3: 0:29

Yes, so excited to be here with you guys. I've met you in different directions all over, doing different facets of everything, again just proving how small Richmond is.

Speaker 2: 0:39

In the relationships, and we've said it before, do not burn a bridge in Richmond, oh, the relationships, and you know, we've said it before, do not burn a bridge in richmond, oh, my gracious. No, but just all the people that I've touched, you've touched. That made it sound really weird, but you know what I mean.

Speaker 3: 0:53

Well, you know it not inappropriately touched, you just mean I mean we've, we've had an effect on their lives in a positive way, of course of course hopefully hopefully it's positive, we're going to go with that.

Speaker 2: 1:06

We're going to go with that. So, Brooke, we like to start. You know, just a little bit of background on Brooke. Whatever you want to say is good.

Speaker 3: 1:16

Sure, well, I am so thankful to be with y'all today and I was flattered when you asked this is quite the platform for you guys and you know, I know you're both very well respected and I love to talk shop with both of you in different elements. So I've known both of you in different facets, one through home building, one through selling and designing and and all the things like that. So it's just a great opportunity for me. So, thank you for having me. You're most welcome. So a little bit about me. I am, you know, the daughter of a builder. Welcome. So a little bit about me.

Speaker 3: 1:45

I am, um, you know, the daughter of a builder, which kind of makes this whole thing 360 for me. You know, when I grew up, um, my dad was, like I said, a builder and I always knew kind of the family orient that home building was. You know, whether we compete, whether we win together, we lose together, but we still all love each other. You know, we might, we might fight a lot, but at the end of the day, we still love each other, right, and that's what I'm going to go with. Okay, I love it All. Right, I'm going to, I'm going to go with that. So, um, I feel really thankful and fortunate um to be where I am today, you know I, but you know life changes and it was time to make some changes in my life.

Speaker 3: 2:28

So I went and sold carpet. It was, you know, and learned fuzzy side up real quick and, um, and it was kind of, you know, kind of just thrown right into it, my mom was in floor covering. Um, she did very well in the commercial floor covering world. I kind of watched her do that. But you know, really just had a building basis, um, and you know, had my real estate license, cause I sold for my dad, you know, when he was doing building, and so I had that and did some selections for them.

Speaker 3: 2:55

Um, so I had that background but I never really had been in sales like that. So I sold um soft surface for a while, as we say in floor covering, and then I went and sold some wood. I did actually we do love wood on this program, I know, and that's how it came back. Yeah, well, most people do. So I went and then I sold tile and then I went back to soft surface and it seems like a lot of jobs in a short period of time, which it is full disclosure, but every time I like to think that I was bettering myself and growing and I also like to think that it prepared me to. I am a person of faith and I think God has a plan and I think it got me to where I am today because I know I sold enough just to be dangerous, so now I get to put everything I know together, um sell all kinds of different kinds of flooring, but still be in the home building industry, which I continue to stay close to, whether I was in new home sales or not.

Speaker 2: 3:54

So how did this job with trip and with cost, and even even come about? Because this is not a position that you replaced, it was a it was a new position for Koston.

Speaker 3: 4:03

It was a new position. I mean, I think it's a new thought process for them. You know, like the floor covering world and the building world being small, ralph did my dad's floors and so we, you know, our families went to church together and then, you know, our lives crossed again. His wife and I happened to be in baby class together right after we had our children, or first children are four days apart. So, um, yeah, so we kind of crossed that way.

Speaker 3: 4:31

And then, you know, when I went to sell um, you know, when I went to work for Mohawk and sell floor covering, you know I kind of laugh and if you're not selling to cost and you're probably, you know you got, you got to sell a lot there.

Speaker 3: 4:42

So, or at least have a relationship there, if not you're in trouble.

Speaker 3: 4:44

So anyway, so you know I had done that and but I'd really kept my relationships with home builders because you know a lot of us are second and third generation builder children, as I call them.

Speaker 3: 4:58

You know I see a lot of kids that I used to see at home builders events when I was, you know, at the builder bash, probably doing things I shouldn't have been doing, but still there having a great time Right and um, but I still see them and um, so it's, you know, it's nice, it's still a very tight knit relationship when I still, when I go to builder events now, I see people that still ask me about my father, which is a huge compliment to me, um, because I just thought he was such a wonderful human. So, with that being said, as my flooring career kind of grew and um, I'll, I'll give myself credit and think I did pretty well and I, you know, gained more knowledge that way. Um, I think it was just a natural progression and it was a conversation that had been had a couple of times, and like oh, you should come work for me, that's right, that's right, that's right.

Speaker 3: 5:42

I mean I laughed and said come work for me, that's right, that's right, that's right. No way in hell, I mean. I laughed and said absolutely not. Um, I liked my sales rep position.

Speaker 3: 5:48

Uh, as I say right now, my yoga pants and my tennis shoes miss me, cause you know, you gotta have that you gotta have that office day as a sales rep and I was very fortunate in that way, cause my kids were younger, you know they needed, I needed the flexibility, um, and it just as crazy as it seems, it was just the timing was perfect. You know, I have one, only one, left at home. He's 15 and he's doing great, and I have two in college and they just didn't need me at home as much. But I really felt like that. I could really I like systems and I kind of like to make things better. A little bit of a disruptor, maybe, A little bit of that. I like systems and I kind of like to make things better.

Speaker 3: 6:25

A little bit of a disruptor a little bit. A little bit of that. But I also just wanted, I also just think that I couldn't have asked for a better, better place as far as starting somewhere that has a great reputation, right, and so the only thing I could do is make it better and and grow on that. You know, I the only thing I could really do is mess up, right, because I had a great place to start. Um, so I just, you know, I just thought we could grow with it. You know, and kind of like you guys know, in this business it is about relationships, right, good, bad or ugly, whether you love that part or hate that part. It is a relationship based business. And the thing that I'm most proud of in this business is my relationships, and I think they're based on reputation, and if I'm going to go work anywhere that has a good reputation, I mean constant flourishes, fit. So it was a win-win for both of us. I don't know that everybody would think that right now, but we're working towards it for sure.

Speaker 2: 7:19

Well, listen, I mean, every, every, every company has its challenges. You know, when I met you formally and I just think that you're just the cutest thing, and you say cushion in lieu of pad and I just think that is the most adorable thing. So now I sound all I don't know like industry, and I don't talk about pad, it just sounds so generic.

Speaker 3: 7:39

I mean this is a pad podcast. I mean I know who listens to it, but I hope I don't offend anybody. But it's a pad podcast, I don't know. I mean I know who listens to it, but I hope I don't offend anybody. But when I think of pad, I always think of, like, feminine hygiene products. I just can't talk like that.

Speaker 1: 7:51

Can't unsee that.

Speaker 3: 7:52

Right, I just can't do that, so right, that's why I do it.

Speaker 1: 7:56

What way would you like your cushion? That's right.

Speaker 3: 7:59

It depends on where you are in your life, what kind of absorbency would you like in your cushion Right.

Speaker 2: 8:04

So you know, and there's so many different kinds of of cushion.

Speaker 3: 8:08

You know whether, whether it be whatever kind, you might need, so Okay.

Speaker 1: 8:12

We're still talking about floor coverings, of course, okay.

Speaker 3: 8:14

There's, there's eight pound, there's six pound, there's, you know, ultra shield, pet protect, yes, yes, I mean even some rubber cushion. There you go, there you go, okay.

Speaker 2: 8:27

So you folks, I know, stop saying pad. I know, you just got to say cushion. You just got to say cushion to go with your soft covering, your soft surface, and so I decided, yeah, fuzzy side, fuzzy side up.

Speaker 3: 8:38

So yeah, so yeah. Well, yes, I'm glad I taught you something.

Speaker 2: 8:42

That'll be the takeaway of our relationship that I now say cushion, but so I'm here for it, I like it, I like it, I like it.

Speaker 1: 8:50

Well, that's good. So you came up in the business. Your father was a builder. Did he work with or for Tom McMahon?

Speaker 3: 8:56

He was Tom McMahon's business partner.

Speaker 1: 8:58

How awesome is that? Right, Because we're McMahon, I know the last name.

Speaker 3: 9:01

I like the last name. I like it. It's kind of meant to be.

Speaker 1: 9:04

Carolyn sold for Tom McMahon, sold cabinets and did that stuff. I did installs for Tom McMahon on his jobs, always had a ton of respect for the jobs that they did in the homes. So it's just funny how small this world is and how we all touched on that. All comes together.

Speaker 3: 9:20

And I still go eat lunch with Tom quite a bit. My dad passed away many years ago but Tom has definitely been a father role model figure to me and always a huge cheerleader and advocate. And he was one person that when, you know, I was thinking about making this job change, cause I, you know I'd like to have some stability and employment for a while. You know I I reached out to Tom and he was pretty adamant that I couldn't ask for a better situation or a better group of um, you know, as a salesperson you don't see the same people every day. Sure, I try to explain that to people.

Speaker 3: 9:51

Um, you know I was, I loved my customers so much and um, but you know, uh, good customers you see about once every 10 to 14 days. Um, you know, and not well, I shouldn't say that because I'm an old customer, but you know customers. You know there are customers you see every 10 to 14 days and then there's some customers you might only see once a quarter, right, and they are your family, but you don't see them every day and for me, koston gives me truly that floor covering family that I can see every day. Now they might not like seeing me every day. But but you know, but it's somebody that you know twice removed cousin.

Speaker 2: 10:25

Yes, they might not. They might not want that.

Speaker 3: 10:27

So you know, but it's been different for me. I've never gone to an office every day and the ongoing joke was when I was talking to Tripp and some people that I was going to work with and I said, so what time do I have to be at work in the morning? And they were like 8 am and I literally said, dressed Like seriously, like every day, like ooh, like yes, because I do wake up early. It's not that I'm not up, I mean I go to the gym every morning and I do things, but you know I do wake up early. It's not that I'm up, not up. I mean I go to the gym every morning and I do things, but there's a huge difference between being up and being fully dressed like makeup, hair, all the things.

Speaker 2: 11:09

So that has been the biggest difference in my uh in my life, for sure. Oh, my goodness. Well, you know, we all grow. Yes, yes, my, my morning routine has gotten a whole lot shorter, that's for sure. Wow, well, good for you. I'm glad Tripp got you dressed and hair and makeup. Let's go to work. All the things, excellent. All the things. So, brooke, in your business, what are you passionate about?

Speaker 3: 11:30

You know I'm just really passionate about our relationships and not only that, the knowledge that we can bring to the market. You know we are very fortunate that we have we have business. We always want more that's a salesperson in me but you know we just have the business that we can really help our customers understand their floor covering world. You know we're doing a lot of that with aging in place and things like that, and so we can give them a better understanding and kind of educate them. You know I said before I was a preschool teacher a little bit, so it kind of. You know, I laugh and say again, this job kind of gives me the ability to not that my salespeople are preschool students, not by any means but you know to kind of bring on my teaching part and do that so I can educate our customers and things like that upon how the market can best help them, because we can make their job easier for them if we're a resource.

Speaker 2: 12:22

But that's interesting what you said about the aging in place, because before I attended that seminar that you're cute as a button mother did we were so glad you could come. It's like flooring and aging in place. How do those even work together?

Speaker 1: 12:38

Well, it's even different than that, because how many builders doing 55 plus? So we've already got it figured out brooke of course we don't need an aging in place conference or to know any of this other stuff, and how wrong were we and you're gonna put your lvp floors and your 55 and older plus and not glue them down.

Speaker 3: 12:54

I mean, you can do that, but but if they're going to stay there forever, um, we probably should have a different conversation. And and it was really just about you know, carolyn, I think when I came in and met with you, you know, I really I've never been in this a role like this before and I and I kind of had to come up with a plan because I was nervous, you know, and I really was. I mean, I can talk about cushion and fiber and wood and all the things all day long, but when it comes to managing the operations and thinking how we can best take care of our customers because I have an unbelievable team at Acosta Enrollers, but it was really just asking you the three questions that I know that I asked them to you and I asked them to all of our customers and I think they're you know, what do we do well, what do we not do well and how can we really help you in your business? Because, let's, you know, we want to keep your business, you know, um, and we, if we can grow our business with you, it's a much easier to grow our business with the builders that we have and the customers that we have, cause we are a relationship based um company. You know most of our customers are repeat customers. We love new builders, love new customers, but we are very thankful that they continue to come back. Our builders continue to come back. But you know we can always be better, we can always learn.

Speaker 3: 14:08

And you know by about my second or third meeting, you know I was hearing these stories about people coming in and coming into a design center and meeting with and they were coming in and coming in in their rolling wheelchairs or um with their walkers.

Speaker 3: 14:23

And you know we want to keep it as easy as we can for you guys as as design specialists and builders or whatever, so we can, we can start the conversation for you.

Speaker 3: 14:32

So instead of having to call us and say you know what are we supposed to do, let's just already think about that, and not only that. So you're going to look smarter to your customer, the builder's going to look like they're looking out for their consumer, and it's a win-win for us because we look like we've thought about all of this before you guys ever have. So that's kind of how we went with it and it's just kind of morphed into this, to this whole plan for us, and we're just really thankful to be a part of it and to be part of the conversation. I don't expect everybody to to come to Cost and Floors and have the conversation with us, but, um, you know it's, it's starting other places and people are coming to us for a resource, so we're super proud of that and you, just um you, and forgive me, I know I'm going to screw this up.

Speaker 2: 15:16

Do you have your certificate? Do you have your like training? I do.

Speaker 3: 15:21

So I have my. I'm a certified. I'm a CAPS specialist, which is certified aging in place specialist, and it's not just about floor covering, you know, it's about a little bit of everything. You know, I was having to read floor plans that day and, josh, I don't know about you, but floor plans are not my thing, so I'm glad I leave that to people like you guys to read floor plans. Doing takeoffs is not for me. You know math. You know for me, in sales, it's either black or red. There's no numbers there.

Speaker 3: 15:44

It's either I'm either doing good or doing bad, there's no one so to do takeoffs or something like that is just not something that I'm used to.

Speaker 2: 15:51

But that's what you're meant to do. That's what you do. But the aging in place was interesting for me because you didn't primarily talk about floors. There were other things involved with that that had nothing to do with you. So I mean, like, who cares, builder, if you, you know you build with 36 inch wide. You know door openings, things you know you block for grab bars and things like that. Oh, wide, you know door openings, things you know you block for grab bars and things like that. Oh, it's all about the floors. It's really not yeah. But yeah, for you to be like a whole partner with us and in that journey, I think is interesting.

Speaker 3: 16:25

Well, thank you, cause that's my favorite word is being a partner, because without you know, it is a relationship, but it is about being a partner. I don't care if you're a builder, partner being, you know, whatever builder it might be, or or or a manufacturer partner, you know, we all have to have partners and it is about a relationship because this business is hard enough as it is. We do not need right and we do not need to be. We need to have those relationships and and have value in them. Um, so it was really just, and I'm really glad that you know it's really about the relationship and going back to being a partner, but it's really about just being the resource. I mean I will never say I'm half the resource that the majority of people at Cost and Floors have been there for 15 years. They can run circles around me when it comes to floor covering and I rely on them a whole bunch. So if this is my niche and this is my ability to be able to share with them what I've learned, then it is an amazing thing. But combined together we can, you know, really try to make a difference and make it just have.

Speaker 3: 17:26

The conversation is really what we started. You know we talk about different things. You know we can talk about whether it be the bathroom and having. You know, it's really trendy right now to have the big shower with the bathtub in the middle of the shower, which is great for aging in place and it's still aesthetically pleasing because nobody wants to think the conversation isn't started because nobody wants to think about getting old, right? Nobody wants to think about the aesthetically unpleasing grab bars, um, or the chairlift or anything that you might have to have. But if we're truly going to age in place, then we can make little changes right now, whether we make the doorways, you know, a little bit wider or we, you know, make the vanity so you could eventually have to roll up to them if you need to or not have the potty room, as I call them, because you can't have a caregiver stand next to you in a potty room, not just because you're going to get locked in there, but you know.

Speaker 3: 18:21

Or, and if you do have to have the shower, you can do the beach entry shower, which is the very sexy way of saying you know the zero entry.

Speaker 2: 18:29

Yes, the roll-in, the roll-in.

Speaker 3: 18:30

The roll-in. You can do the beach entry and you could, you know, eventually, if you have to, you can take that big, large bathtub out. Yeah, so you could get a caregiver in there with you. It really is just about making it so you can live at home and live your best life at home. You know, it is shown that people that live at home when they're older and stay at home do live better because they're comfortable and they're around family and friends and, you know, hopefully in a place that they love so much. And if they built that home is there forever home. They liked it then and I'm sure they love it even more.

Speaker 2: 19:10

Right, right, you know you go kicking and screaming into you know a care facility or things where it just may be just modifying your home to keep you there longer.

Speaker 3: 19:19

And aging in place doesn't just mean you know it. It, primarily for us, is the conversation about you know, aging in place, getting older, but it also can be the conversation of you know, if you build a home and just little things that you could do I don't care if you're 35, heaven forbid you have a family emergency. You know, if you do have that first floor half bath that you could turn into a full bath, or you do have, you know, zero steps into your garage, because that's really where you want to think about it, right? Yep, how do you get into your house?

Speaker 2: 19:44

Right, how do you get into your house?

Speaker 3: 19:46

house. Right, how do you get into your house? But, god forbid, you have a child that have, you know, a sports injury or having a car accident or something like that. Modifications that you hope are short term, but one less thing you'd have to worry about Wow and it and it just I mean it's so widening your, widening your stairwells, just a little bit, things like that, giving people independence, cause that really is what it's about.

Speaker 1: 20:08

Well, you know, I think people don't think about that when they're building a house or buying a house and it's because you're 35 years old, I mean, why do I care? I'm not getting older At 35, we're not getting older, right? That's how we think. But what about the ROI on the house when you go to sell it in five years or 10 years? Who are you selling? To Another 35-year, to another 35 year old, and that's it. What if it's a 55 year old with 65 year old? So if you start thinking about these other things and aging in place as you build it, as you design it, it's just makes that property worth that much more money. And homes is where most of us make our wealth.

Speaker 3: 20:40

That's right and, josh, you know as well as I do I mean how. How expensive does it cost when you're building to take a job? I mean a doorway from two eights to three feet.

Speaker 1: 20:49

Oh it's, it's very easy to make those modifications.

Speaker 3: 20:52

So somebody gave us a price of, about you know, 120 bucks. Okay, round figures.

Speaker 1: 20:57

Oh yeah.

Speaker 3: 20:58

Round figures Right, and if you were going to do that after you moved in, closed, it was framed, you know several thousand several thousand for each doorway.

Speaker 3: 21:07

Yeah, so I mean it is you know and no one's going to know. It is mostly about being aesthetically pleasing and nobody wants their friends to come and go. Oh, you have a beautiful home, are you aging in place here? I mean, no one wants to say that, but if you do things like extra blocking behind the wall, you know, extra doorways, no one is going to notice except you when you look pretty darn smart right, anybody has a 210 door.

Speaker 1: 21:31

People are going to say I love the wide doors, of course, versus a 26 or a 28, right or heck, a 20, where you feel like you almost have to go into a room sideways. Well, that's the 1970s. You have 20 doors. Yeah, that's big enough for a bedroom.

Speaker 3: 21:43

Yeah, right, exactly, that's right. So, yeah, I mean, just little things like that just make all the difference and it just makes you look really smart and for our builders, it makes us look like you're taking one more step to care about your customer and your consumer. And, let's face it, there's lots of competition in this world right now.

Speaker 1: 22:02

So if that's going to step you apart. Take it all. That's your edge. You need a differentiator. I like it. I think that's where Koston especially you, brooke, where you guys are really changing the course. Because, let's be honest, home Depot sells floor covering.

Speaker 3: 22:13

Oh, they do. Hey, there's lots of people that sell floor covering and they don't have the conversation and they also don't have the relationship and they don't have the knowledge. And it's not because they don't want to, because I like to think of the best of everyone. They just don't know. So maybe somebody is going to go in Home Depot and have this conversation and say Cost and Floors told them so and that's okay too. We'll still do a better job than them.

Speaker 2: 22:33

You could get an employee.

Speaker 3: 22:35

I was at Home Depot.

Speaker 2: 22:37

Right and look at me now, hey.

Speaker 3: 22:41

Look at me now. If you could go to Home Depot and find me some sales people that are like you, I will be so much better off.

Speaker 2: 22:46

I will be so much better off. See, they just need the path.

Speaker 3: 22:48

Everybody needs direction.

Speaker 1: 22:51

We all start somewhere.

Speaker 2: 22:53

That's right.

Speaker 3: 22:53

Exactly. We all have a past. That's right. That's right.

Speaker 1: 22:56

No kidding, you know my aging in place story was my grandparents who built a home. They had a builder build a home in the 90s, probably 1990s, somewhere in that time frame and at that time my grandfather still worked and everybody's able-bodied. They had a nice in-ground pool, everything you could possibly want, right, live in the American dream. Well, you fast forward 30 years Now. All of a sudden, this two-story home with these doors are too small. This doesn't work anymore. They can no longer live there. And oh, by the way, all of their kids left. One one son, lives nearby, but he's planning to leave and and move two hours away. Everybody else is gone. So what the heck do you do now?

Speaker 3: 23:35

Right. I mean, do you move them into your house? That you're you're not aging in place ready?

Speaker 3: 23:40

either or mentally in place either mentally or you know, and they really that's, that's what they've, that's what they know. Um, you know, and that's a hard thing too, and that's another thing. In taking the aging in place one step further, which I'm really, if I'm going to talk about it, I want to sound intelligent, want to talk about it because I haven't aged in place yet and I might soon you never know and I will tell you full disclosure. I live in probably the least aging in place ready place ever, or a three story townhouse. It works for me and my three boys right now. I love my house more than anything, but I cannot age in place there. So I'm going to take all these notes when I do it another time and and live, but you know when.

Speaker 3: 24:21

The thing that you, we do all these 55 and older communities, and you know my mom does a tremendous amount with marketing for the aging in place market and that's that's what her passion is and that's probably where I got a lot of this from, but and learning from her. But you know, one thing she she always wanted to note, I know she noted in the seminar was you know, we build all these 55 and older communities and and what we're really doing is we're separating. We separate them from the young children and we separate them from the young families. And let's be honest just in time how much can we learn from the older population? I would love my children to have relationships with older people because grandparents don't usually live here anymore. So when they do the 55 and older communities, you know in a lot of places in the country they still do them in.

Speaker 3: 25:09

You know more of a planned community where there's different segments of different people, so you all come together, whether it be at the park together whether you have walking trails and they can go to the playground or they can do the story time in the clubhouse or they can do all the things that they can do together and they learn from one another. Because, I mean, how many times do you go somewhere, and whether it be the grocery store or Target, and an elderly person will look at a young child and just have the biggest smile on their face? So it's all about the planning, the process. I mean, yeah, floor covering is a part of it, but it is such a little piece of the pie and so, yeah, it's good like that. That's interesting.

Speaker 1: 25:42

So it's really thinking about a master plan community where you've got 55 plus segments, you've got townhome segments, you've got townhome segments, you've got single family, you've got kind of a mixed bag of everything where people can co-mingle and and still get that value from the older generation.

Speaker 2: 25:55

I live in a house.

Speaker 1: 25:56

My mom will live in the 55 I see a lot of value in that but you can come together and you know it, just like with people.

Speaker 3: 26:04

some people have stuff to live together because things are so expensive, but you have a multi-generational home too. But the multi-generational home better be aging in place because you do have so many generations there and and you want to be able to stay there. So it's just something. It's. It's timeless, um, though, we're talking about, you know, aging it. Well, we're all timeless. I know we are, but, um, but you know we are, we are aging. There's only one thing for sure in this world, and we are getting older by the day. So, but if you do the aging in place and and just as part of the process, it, it, just, it just will make things a lot easier. So you do have something coming up.

Speaker 3: 26:38

We do with the aging in place. What's that we do? We had a huge success and I know you guys were there with a breakfast in June and we were just so happy with the attendance and how excited people were to learn about it. We've had multiple people ask us to do another one, so we're going to do it again. Heck yeah, except this time we're going to do a happy hour. Also, there'll be alcohol. There'll be alcohol involved. A little education, a little alcohol, a lot of food. But we're going to do that at the end of October. Okay, so we can, october 24th, from four to six, and we're going to do it at costume floors. We we have her lovely friend from Roanoke, who was the the contractor, coming and he's going to speak again.

Speaker 2: 27:16

Oh nice, I like him.

Speaker 3: 27:19

Unfortunately, my mother cannot attend this one, so it's going to be me. So we're going going to give me your notes and we're going to go from there. So make her proud. I'm going to try to. She definitely made me proud that day. So she, she, she is passionate about what she does and, um, I think she helped a lot of people that day.

Speaker 3: 27:36

So the contractor that comes he, he's actually the one who taught my class. He is such a great resource and we actually have him in Roanoke. He is a national teacher. I met him when I was there and I was like you can tell the story a whole lot better than I do. One, cause I talk too much and not specific enough, and two, just because I think he gives a great perspective. He gives a real life perspective. It's what he does every day. I mean, he really is formatting older homes to be aging in place. Um, and again, like we talked about earlier, it's easier to do it before than after. So, yeah, so we're excited to offer it again the end of October. We already have had a great support for it and we have a lot of people signed up, but we're hoping to fill up the showroom and um have to have another one we will definitely plan to be there.

Speaker 1: 28:19

Thank you, and I would highly suggest, because you you talk too much, you have a hard time standing your words, not mine Absolutely. I saw this new device you can get these pearl earrings where somebody can talk to you through the earrings and it was actually just used on a national stage, not long ago, oh, really.

Speaker 3: 28:35

Yes, the debate, and it worked very well. Let me guess, did you by chance get those for Carolyn? Because when y'all were talking before, you said she had a hard time staying on task, and so I figured I would take the light off her today and I would put it on myself for a little bit, so you can thank me later.

Speaker 2: 28:49

Yes, no, no, no pearl earrings for me.

Speaker 1: 28:51

We don't have the money for that. We don't have it in the budget this year. Maybe we can get cost and a sponsor of the show one time. Maybe that would help us.

Speaker 2: 28:59

Yeah, you never know, brought to you by God.

Speaker 3: 29:02

I mean, I'm pretty sure that you'd probably have some other fellow installers and stores and everything that would like the opportunity as well. So they wouldn't like that, but we're happy to do it. Oh my gosh, you're so funny.

Speaker 2: 29:14

Well, we, we, just we, we love what you're doing, you know, we, just we love your little, your fire and personality. So I think Trip is a Trip hit a home run. Oh well, thank you when he got you Well it's transformational and that's what we're really about.

Speaker 1: 29:29

Like Carolyn mentioned about being kind of a disruptor, and that's kind of what I think transformational is is that you disrupt the industry for the better Right. Some people get disrupted for the worse but when you're talking about something that's so positive and so forward thinking and it's outside the box and it really shouldn't be. It's really refreshing.

Speaker 3: 29:49

Well, thank you, I am very fortunate, you know. Yes, I think that I think we're a good team. I, you know we have some great other leadership there too and you know, with all of our multiple locations, for what we can do for as far as the builder community as a whole. You know, in retail too. But we are builder focused, or at least that's my focus. We have the opportunity to help and touch so many and we're just hoping that we can continue to do what they've done for 75 years and if I can have a little bit of, isn't that crazy? And how much knowledge they have. So I'm just going to grow on it a little bit and add to it and feel like I have a little place there and see what we can do. That is awesome.

Speaker 1: 30:26

And they're're genuine too, and we're two years into this podcast.

Speaker 2: 30:28

We only got 73 more years to catch up to the constant family so, oh goodness, no pressure, we'll be beyond the gray, you're gonna get those pearl earrings yeah yes, maybe it'll monetize by by then.

Speaker 3: 30:43

I doubt it well whether it monetizes or not. I think y'all are doing a good thing for the industry and, as somebody who values the industry so much and has grown up in it and thinks it's done good by her, I'm appreciative from this perspective.

Speaker 2: 30:56

Heck yeah. So we'll see you on the 24th. I hope so. You'll definitely see us Thanks again for having me and hope to have you back. Absolutely I'd love it.

Speaker 1: 31:03

Awesome, till next week.