We recently connected with Dr. Brandy Archie and have shared our conversation below.
Dr. Brandy, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. One of the most important things small businesses can do, in our view, is to serve underserved communities that are ignored by giant corporations who often are just creating mass-market, one-size-fits-all solutions. Talk to us about how you serve an underserved community.
Absolutely, we definitely work with an underserved community, particularly focusing on what has been called in research the “Forgotten Middle.” These are older adults who don’t qualify for Medicaid but also can’t afford the high costs of private senior care or assisted living. They often find themselves in a tough spot, with just enough assets to disqualify them from aid but not enough to cover all their needs as they get older.
For example, think about a couple whose worked hard all their lives so they own a home and don’t qualify for the help Medicaid can provide. But they are still on a fixed retirement income and now are struggling to make their home safe for mobility issues. They don’t have the funds to move to assisted living which averages $5000/month, and Medicare and other insurers don’t pay for things like ramps and grab bars. Pretty much every patient I have worked with in my career is in this exact situation. We were tired of seeing this over and over. So we collaborated with some local agencies to create the AskSAMIE Community Project. We provide up to $1,500 of adaptive equipment, resources and occupational therapy services to help them live safely and independently at home. Our goal is not only to improve their quality of life but decrease fall risk and rehospitalizations. It’s been modeled after the CAPABLE program but with the twist of providing the services virtually to see if it can be just as effective as their research has shown, while cutting down on the cost of the program so more people can be served. It’s all about making a real difference in their daily lives and pushing the health care industry forward by (hopefully) proving that if we are creative with resources, we can be cost effective and still make big changes in peoples health and lives.
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
Sure! My name is Dr. Brandy Archie, and I’m an occupational therapist with over 16 years of experience, primarily focused on helping older adults live safely and independently in their homes. I started AskSAMIE because I saw firsthand how challenging it was for families to navigate the complex world of health care and aging services. Our platform consolidates all the necessary equipment like ramps and grab bars; services like fall alert buttons; and expert guidance from occupational therapists into one place. This makes it easier for families and caregivers to find what they need in a place where everything has been vetted by clinicians to ensure quality and effectiveness.
What sets us apart is our holistic approach – we don’t just sell products; we provide comprehensive support through our network of occupational therapists. This dual focus means we’re solving real problems for both older adults and their caregivers by making homes safer and more accessible. It’s incredibly rewarding to see how sometimes small, cost effective changes can drastically improve someone’s health, quality of life and peace of mind. Our mission is to create accessibility everywhere, ensuring everyone has the chance to age in place with dignity and comfort.
We’d love to hear about how you met your business partner.
Willie Apala Flaherty is our CTO and co-founder. I’ve known Willie for about 18 months now, all of which has been working together on AskSAMIE. As a non-technical founder with experience and an idea, I had to outsource the tech development to a local agency to build our MVP. But they didn’t complete the job and I was out of most of the grant funding I received to build it and still no working prototype. Through networking in the Kansas City Start-up ecosystem, I was able to get a referral to Willie as a purpose-driven engineer who may be able to finish the project for me. While working on the MVP he learned about our mission, the market and saw the opportunity we had to build something impactful and decided to come on as a co-founder. It’s a testament to the power of networking and putting your needs out there. For a few weeks, when people asked what I needed at the moment or how they could help, I told them I was looking for a developer. Eventually I was referred to Willie and it’s been a great fit!
What do you think helped you build your reputation within your market?
One thing people often say is that my reputation precedes me. Frankly, I feel completely honored to hear that anytime much less many times over. There’s only 2 things I’ve done consistently to make sure I had a good reputation: doing what I said I was going to do and freely being helpful to others. Doing right by people is good business practice. And it definitely comes back in a great way. I’ve built so many bridges that have connected me to things that I would have never expected…simply by doing those two things.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.asksamie.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/asksamie
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AskSAMIE
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/drbrandyarchie/
- Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/Ask_SAMIE
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC5kNJnPHL2vU1vv1jTksgJQ
