We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Betty Lehman. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Betty below.

Betty, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Can you recount a story of an unexpected problem you’ve faced along the way?

When we are children, at some point during our school years, we are asked, “What do you want to do when you grow up?” I never knew my answer until I was 25 years old. For rather silly reasons, I decided I wanted to become a CPA and went back to college for an accounting degree. I started with a Big Eight CPA firm in 1980.

What I liked about corporate culture was what I consider corporate values: accountability, transparency, work ethic, customer commitment, work integrity, and getting the work done on time. What I didn’t like was the normalization of misogynistic behaviors in the workplace that was commonplace at that time. I learned a lot about myself and the world around me during that time.

At age 37, I decided to take time off to have a baby. I had no idea my baby would be severely disabled and my accounting career would end – but that is what happened.

And then, I had a new career, although for a long time my work was not paid employment. I discovered that because one of my son’s 36 diagnoses was autism, private insurance would deny every claim, he was not eligible for public benefits, including early intervention services, public health would not serve him, and he was kicked out of 5 elementary schools for being “too disabled to benefit from education services”.

My new career was as a successful advocate for my son. I not only got all those services in place, but I also spearheaded 14 Colorado disability statutes to get those services in place for all the other children and adults with chronic care support needs in our state.

For the next 20 years, I worked as an advocate for and the Executive Director of a non-profit organization. My financial background came in very handy; it wasn’t “for nothing” that I could read a financial statement and do financial forecasting.

I became a community leader, well-known in disability circles, and knew I had really made a difference. What I liked about working for a non-profit was getting paid to work as an advocate for my community. What I didn’t like about non-profits, in general, was what I perceived as a focus on outputs instead of outcomes. As a result of my expectations about outcomes, unexpectedly, at age 60, I changed my career.

I decided to be a Disability Advisor. I worked in many areas of disability benefits for 30 years. I love to plan. I like to think about the future; even the worrisome parts like getting old. Based on my learning about disability and forecasting, I developed a “special” Letter of Intent document for families with children with lifetime support needs: What will happen to our children when something happens to us? Here’s what others need to know…

I never anticipated that when I switched to working for my own for profit company, some of my valued nonprofit colleagues would consider me a sellout. I mean, they got paid to work. It shocked me that they would not refer clients to me because, as some said, “You are a for profit”.

Two of the many lessons I have learned are: I am my own best boss and I don’t want to be anyone else’s boss. I applied myself to reaching my market through my own resources and building my own referrals with the principles and values I learned in the corporate world. Funny how that seems to have come full circle for me.

The happy ending is I am as successful as I want to be. My son is pretty darn healthy and definitely very happy. Because of planning, he has a high quality and separate life as a 34 year old man, and I too have a high quality of life. My testimonials for my work from my clients on my website tell my current work story better than I can: http://lehmandp.com/testimonials/index.php.

Betty, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

Although my current practice, Lehman Disability Planning, is solving problems for Colorado families, my capacity and geographic reach are limited. I know that families nationwide struggle mightily to deal with the lifelong challenges of their children’s and adult children’s disabilities.

To ensure comprehensive lifetime advocacy, navigation, and planning is available to all, I became the Co-founder and Chief Content Office for an online marketplace network, ADAN, A Different Abilities Network, which will be formally launched in 2024: www.adan.net. ADAN provides problem-solving tools, not just information. Our focus is best possible outcomes, not outputs. This resource will be a game-changer for my community.

The CEO of ADAN (www.adan.net) is Emeric Wigand. Emeric has an entrepreneur’s passion for building successful businesses in dysfunctional and fragmented industries. And he wanted to combine that with his goal to build a new company with a strong social mission.

Emeric and I started exploring options for delivering comprehensive lifetime advocacy, navigation, and planning to parents through an internet market network. ADAN’s strategy continues to be shaped by network engagement and learning; continuous customer segment, industry expert and advisor team interaction and feedback.

Milestone revelations have occurred along the way and have informed the cornerstones of the ADAN platform today.
1. Information is not a sticky product. Problem solving is. Best Possible Outcomes is our focus, not outputs.
2. ADAN is a Market Network attracting both parents and Subject Matter Experts. Adan connects them through problem-solving tools and secure communities.
3. Data Collection occurs through engagement to produce unique User Profile Builds which identifies User Connections to personalized tools and Groups.

There is no other platform like ADAN. ADAN will change our current dynamic. People with disabilities and their families must control their own lives, just like everyone else. To be in control, they need succinct, problem solving information to make decisions in their own best interests – just like everyone else.

How’d you build such a strong reputation within your market?

My reputation is the basis for my business. Before I engage with a prospective client, I gather enough information from them so I know my services will benefit them and I am a fit for their needs. Often, I provide quite a bit of information, resources and referrals at no charge. It is likely I give away more than two-thirds of my time and expertise.

Even when a child or adult child is eligible for benefits, it can take many months to establish benefits. My work product is gathering specific information about their child and family to build a hard copy notebook, usually 150 or more pages, with only relevant, sectioned contents that the family can refer to on their benefits journey. We preview the contents together in a long session for a reasonable fee. Then, I follow up with them for at least a year – at no extra charge. I have clients who still contact me 10 years later for my advice.

The point of my work for me is that I too am a parent. I stand in their shoes. I know how they feel. I know how frustrating this journey can be. And I want to be a relief resource, a source of answers and perspective. It is of the highest importance to me that families feel they can trust me. My goal is to be a truth-teller and a trustworthy resource during an emotional, stressful and confusing time for families.

Success for me has never been about money, it’s about service. Because of that focus and the outcomes I help families achieve, I get enough referrals to make this work for me financially. Reputation is everything.

Any thoughts, advice, or strategies you can share for fostering brand loyalty?

I stay connected with clients typically by email. I prefer email because I can receive their questions in writing and can send relevant information in the body of a response email with attachments.

I then copy and paste all our communications into an Outlook Client Task folder. I am a one-person operation so although this method might seem primitive to larger businesses, it works well for me. It creates a file for me to review all their background information before I communicate with them. I enter a date for a once a month check in email from me to them to learn about their progress.

Initiating “checking in” emails to clients fosters great relationships. Often, clients tell me my timing is perfect. I want them to feel I am there for them – and they do feel that way.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.lehmandp.com
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/betty-lehman-218b681/

Image Credits
McNeill Photography