What a Realtor OT (trademark pending) is and how Gretchen brought occupational therapy and real estate services together to promote accessible communities
finding accessible homes during COVID
Advocating for accessible design in building codes
Learn more from Gretchen:
She is offering an upcoming course for occupational therapists who are interested in learning more about working in the real estate field and helping people find accessible homes in their communities. Registration is here: OT to RE webinar
What a Realtor OT (trademark pending) is and how Gretchen brought occupational therapy and real estate services together to promote accessible communities
finding accessible homes during COVID
Advocating for accessible design in building codes
Learn more from Gretchen:
She is offering an upcoming course for occupational therapists who are interested in learning more about working in the real estate field and helping people find accessible homes in their communities. Registration is here: OT to RE webinar
Anna Braunizer:
Hi folks! Welcome to the'Do What You Love' podcast. It's Anna here and I invite you to join Emily and I as we dive into doing what we love: having conversations with occupational therapists, scientists and individuals from around the world, connecting the dots between doing, belonging, becoming, and wellbeing. The thing is: in our world today, we don't all have access to doing what we love. Through our podcast, we will explore factors in our world, in ourselves and in our activities that affect participation and share ideas for actions that we can take to address barriers and seek solutions to increase opportunities and choices for doing and wellbeing. Although we are both occupational therapists and some of our guests are health and wellbeing professionals, this podcast is personal opinions of knowledge and it is intended to be used in an informational manner only. Under no circumstances should this podcast substitute for a call or a visit with a trusted health care professional that is, or can become, familiar with your lived experience. Enjoy!
Emily Polovick-Moulds:
We're so happy to have you with us and I know you just were telling us a little bit about you, but if you want to, briefly introduce yourself and your OT journey so far.
Gretchen Kingma:
Yeah, thanks so much for having me. And I think what you all are doing with the beyond COVID, podcast and Instagram pages are really, really awesome, so thanks for having me. I am an occupational therapist by trade that has turned into a real estate professional. My OT journey has looked like treating in the adult space for, um, six years. And then when going on maternity leave, I was working at a senior living community and was not super thrilled with the bureaucracy of billing, reimbursement, and knew that I could not go back and be an attorney. I wasn't going to go to school and be a physician. So thought, who else are these individuals meeting out in the community that can make a difference and advocate And so that led me to real estate professional. So I, I have kind of coined the term, the OT realtor, and I'm working actually towards a trademark and curriculum around that. Because if occupational therapists' goal are to keep people independent and thriving in their communities, then why are we not looking at the built environment of the home a little bit more closely. So that's how I've landed in real estate.
Anna Braunizer:
Totally. I think, especially now there's lots more coming up for aging in place. In Canada, I see lots of people and looking at how can we keep people at home so that's really great. I think it has lots of potential everywhere to grow. On the Do What You Love podcast, we love to share people's favorite occupations and learn more about what they bring to our lives. What is one of your favorite occupations to do and what does this occupation bring to your life?
Gretchen Kingma:
It's interesting you should ask. I have known always that I love the outdoors hiking, walking, running just being outdoors. Um, and this year, 2020, has really shown how important that is to my life. Um, my husband and I had just purchased a. Airbnb, a rental, in a rural area, on a river in Missouri, and that has given our family so much life. And it's as an occupational therapist, I'm almost ashamed to share that it was such an aha, like: oh, I've known always that I need to be outside and hiking yet, it has been so good for our mental health to be intentional about going out to our cabin and getting our kids outside and just hiking in the outdoors. So I would say that's the number one occupation that's kept us afloat. Um, amidst the global pandemic
Emily Polovick-Moulds:
So important to have this year, especially. Yes. We've all had our own like mini-aha moments there. So I think it's it's all that continual growth, right?
Gretchen Kingma:
Yes.
Emily Polovick-Moulds:
Um, so can you tell us a little bit more about kind of the process of how you went from, as you said, kind of being on maternity leave to then actually doing what you're doing now?
Gretchen Kingma:
Yeah. So as. As an occupational therapy graduate and current, uh, clinician, I had the idea that OTs can do anything and everything. And so I had this, um, just gumption that I was not going to go back to, the, the Medicare mandated role and, bought a book on getting your real estate license. I told my husband with a newborn in tow,"I think I want to become a realtor." And he was like,"but we have six digits of OT school debt. What do you mean?" And I was like, well, this, this and this and explained exactly what I explained to you. You know, there's such a large segment of the market that is either the baby boomers who want to stay. You know, AARP puts out a survey every year and every year, over 90% of people report that they want to stay in their community. And so I just see all these senior living communities popping up and three years ago, we didn't know that COVID was going to happen, um, but now nobody wants to move into to those communities. And I had seen firsthand while the care from the therapy department and the nursing department were really great at where, where I was. It just blew my mind that these people would pay the money that they were paying to have just kind of a subpar living experience that their, that their daily occupations were disrupted that, you know, social hours were. Kind of childish. It just wasn't, it wasn't a great situation for the amount of money that these people were paying. So I thought, who, how can I use my healthcare background to capitalize on a business opportunity while still making a huge impact? So having it be a true win-win for my family, but also for the clients that I serve. So. Um, I, I started out just with a very narrow mindset that I'm going to be a realtor, and I'm just going to help people who are making community transitions. And with, with my real estate services, I'm going to offer a functional assessment. So wherever they gov- if they're moving from their forever home into an independent living apartment, I will include a full functional assessment so that the people and their new place know what their level is, and they can nip anything in the bud. Instead of having someone move to a new environment, you know, maybe being a little bit confused, even if they don't have Dementia or Alzheimer's just being in a new place at 70, 80, even 90 years old can cause, you know, exacerbation of any minor symptoms. So I thought this is my narrow scope of practice. I'm going to help you sell your house. I'm going to give you an OT assessment and we're going to set you up for success wherever you go. That was extremely small. And I didn't realize that it would take off from there, but Empowered Homes LLC was created because I had contractors, reach out to me and say, I hear you're doing this. How can I help Mr. and Mrs. Smith make their house more accessible so they don't have to move. So it kind of evolved on its own. I got licensed in real estate. I started an accessibility consulting firm, working directly with builders, contractors, or families that wanted to do maybe a one-time$50-60,000 renovation to their home instead of moving into a place that cost that amount, you know, over one or two years. Um, and then that led to really going, I was doing that for two years while still working part-time and home health. And then the real estate side of things just took off. And so I, I no longer work in any clinically clinical occupational therapy role, but have taken my successes in real estate to advocate and lobby for change in building code, and educating people on universal design accessibility and why it is so important in our community. So that was a very long answer, but it's kind of a crazy journey if you will.
Emily Polovick-Moulds:
Yeah, there's a lot there, but it's an amazing process, so we're really glad that you're able to share that with us. And I know, um, at least for myself, I didn't really know all of this back story, but I started seeing your stuff pop up on social media. Knowing you from school and it's really cool to see, you know, doing something that is really needed, but isn't, a job that's posted on Indeed. it's not something that you just go out and find, but that you saw a need and you made it happen. So how have you found that social media, or have you not found that social media has also impacted your reach? Um, have you found that a certain site or a certain way of sharing content has really enhanced what you're doing.
Gretchen Kingma:
I am so embarrassed to share that. I identify with being an occupational therapist before a realtor. There are a million real estate professionals, and that's not knocking the profession, but we work really hard for our OT degrees and we have a passion to serve people. And I have not done a great job, in my opinion of, of putting myself out there as an OT realtor. And, and I've always have this, you know, mindset thing that's not real of like,'people will be so confused.' I'm not getting the message across yet from a social media perspective. When I decided to be intentional about having one day a week on my social media, which my go-to is Instagram I have a Facebook page, but I use Instagram primarily. And just start educating people and just show up every week consistently one day a week, and talk about accessibility universal design. My, my reach has grown tremendously after committing to that consistency so much so that I've had so many people reach out and ask for: 30 minute phone call here, a 30 minute phone call there just to see how they can be doing the same thing in their market, which has led me to creating a course on OT to RE My husband is much more crafty with the words, but last week we're sitting there and he was like, what about. Oh T or no, no, no, no. See, I don't even remember what he said. He said'Realty is real OT' that should be the name of your course. And I was like,'Oh, you're right.' Because I just like tell myself that it'll be dismissed or it's not, not really occupational therapy because it hasn't been in, you know, common practice, places... arenas. And so I just have kind of been fumbling my way through social media, but when I was consistent about sharing and educating my mission, my vision, my values, one day a week on Instagram, it's just taken off and I'm super excited to have my first, informational session on Zoom on, on January 20th. And I already have 48 people signed up. I had no idea. So exciting!
Anna Braunizer:
Congratulations!
Gretchen Kingma:
Thanks!
Anna Braunizer:
Yeah. shifting out of those more common areas, clinical areas of OT, what have been the most exciting and most challenging parts of being in an entrepreneurial role?
Gretchen Kingma:
Um, challenging part is just that, that nobody else has gone before me and done this. So there's no, you know, Google search for how to market, how to, you know, where do I find business? Um, so just the business aspect at large would be the most challenging part. I will say. Kudos to my brokerage. I work under the Keller Williams umbrella. So that's where I hold my real estate license. They have tremendous training from a real estate perspective. So I have just been creative in plugging in occupational therapy connections and networking into the Keller Williams system. And I would say that has allowed me to be successful. So that's the most challenging is just knowing how to run a business because we don't learn that. Well, I didn't learn that in OT school. I have heard of programs that now have that as, as a course, which is exciting. The most exciting parts. Um, and, and it's always so taboo to talk about money. Um, and especially in, in OT, I felt like my first few jobs, I couldn't even negotiate a salary. They tell you, this is what you're going to make. And you just say, okay. And my husband has an MBA and he's very business-minded. So learning that money for the good of what it can do for others is such an exciting thing. Um, so while, while I don't love, you know, sharing. I mean this past year, it is super exciting that by putting myself out there, I quadrupled the highest OT salary I ever had. And now I get to give that back, you know, a portion of that back into the community and really drive change in things that I'm passionate about. So, so the, the increased ceiling, if you will, and the increased income, because of just taking a risk has been the most exciting thing for my family.
Emily Polovick-Moulds:
That's really great to hear that there is, there is more possibilities out there because like you said, there's so many times that we're, as OT's, somewhat pigeonholed into one thing, um, and to have more people who have taken chances and are showing others that it is possible is very exciting. I think for all of us, Um, so as kinda mentioned before, this, this has been an extraordinary year, a little bit of a different year no one really planned for. So are... I'm sure there's ways that being in a pandemic has affected your work. So if you want to talk about that a little bit.
Gretchen Kingma:
Yeah. Um, adaptability. Right? So that's one of the number one things we learned in occupational therapy school is how to adapt either a skill set or an environment. And I would say that that has been the word of 2020, and going into 2021 is learning how to serve people at a high level while still keeping people safe. Because while not serving in a clinical role, we still have to go into a home to see if it's a fit for someone. I have a client currently who, who acquired an incomplete spinal cord injury and is a wheelchair user, a power wheelchair so pretty big bulky chair. And he's looking for his first home with his fiancé. So before COVID, it would have been much easier just to show up at all of these houses. Um, before, you know, before we in a global pandemic, check them out, know right away, if it was going to be a fit or not. However, because as you know, someone who is wheelchair user and doesn't have sensation in their lower body is much greater risk. Um, so we don't get him out into the community going in Willy nilly and all these homes. However, we have leaned into technology heavily. I go, I preview the home. I take a video, I give him an estimate of, for example, I'm looking out my window, there's three steps to enter. I send the measurements to my contractor. I say, here's what we're working with slope-wise how much is it going to cost to build a ramp or to increase the grade? So that there's zero entry. So I'm going before my client comes out and doing a lot of legwork, but utilizing technology to include him in the process. And that has been the biggest shift. Prior to COVID, we would just go together, viewed the homes, but now I hop on Zoom or FaceTime or just take a video and really lean heavily into that technology piece.
Emily Polovick-Moulds:
Yeah. It sounds like something that the entire industry has done in all of healthcare aid, whether it's your tele-health visits and kind of using that in the same way, but now in your new practice.
Gretchen Kingma:
Yeah.
Anna Braunizer:
Well, thank you so much for joining us today, Gretchen. Uh, we always finish off with this question: what is one last golden nugget that you would like to share with people interested in becoming a realtor as an OT or accessibility or technology and participation?
Gretchen Kingma:
That is a great question. And when I was thinking about it, um, as occupational therapist in general, Well, really for everyone, we all have such a great skillset. Yet one thing that I wish was impressed upon me more in OT school was really knowing our value. And so whether or not you're an OT or a really great mom, or an awesome engineer, whatever you have great, great value. And so I just like to encourage everyone to know your value and, go forth knowing your value, um, because that's when you're going to make the largest impact on the people around you. So that would be my, my gold nugget is just know how valuable you are and don't let those voices in your head. Keep you, keep you back from providing and giving that value to others.
Emily Polovick-Moulds:
That's a great piece of advice I'll have to think about that one for the next day here.
Anna Braunizer:
Thank you so much for joining us today, Gretchen, we hope you have a great rest of your weekend.
Gretchen Kingma:
Thank-you.
Amelia Fletcher:
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