And for those of you that don’t know, a doula is someone that supports a laboring and birthing family throughout the entire process. So I became their advocate, their guide their confidant, really helping them get through that entire process of going from pregnancy to new parenthood, and then going back into the workplace. So that’s really where my experience professionally began with working with working parents. Obviously, I was a working parent myself as a doula. Again, for those of you that don’t know, babies like to come at night, so I did a lot of overnights and three day long births. And it was very hard on my own family as I had my own young children. And so that unique experience, both personally and professionally spawned me to say, There’s got to be a better way for working parents, there’s got to be a way that we can support people more than just one on one. And even you know, one on one is very important. But there’s got to be a way that we can scale this in a very modern way. And so we started Arrow, and so Arrow in the beginning was really just a direct to consumer company. So we provided childbirth education and new parenting courses. And we also coined the term doula consultants, basically, and lactation consultants that were virtual and online. So that’s how we started the company that was in Mother’s Day 2019. With that, that was very fitting and on brand. And we did very well in the director, I will say we did well in the direct to consumer market, and we really loved it. But I as Rolando knows, I had, I had big dreams and a lot of passion around really changing the societal narrative and the cultural narrative around working parents and working parenthood and caregivers. And so I knew that I always wanted to take this business into the b2b space. So then comes along the pandemic, and that kind of ushered that to happen a little bit quicker than we probably anticipated. But as an entrepreneur and all those hacks we were we, we pivot and we move and iterate as fast as we can. And so with a pandemic, that really opened us up to start talking to other healthcare systems, they healthcare systems that at time could not provide lactation services to their clients, right. They are sorry to their patients. They could not provide in person childbirth education courses, so they were really struggling to find those virtual options. And we were really fortunate that we had always been a virtual company by design, right? And so we had all of that ready to go. So that really helped us to segue into the b2b market, which is where we really exist and are growing and scaling today. So currently, Arrow today is a leader within the fam tech space. We were talking about fam tech earlier.
Rolando Rosas 10:19
Tell us what that is.
Tara Campbell Lussier 10:21
Yeah, that’s, that’s I was gonna say, the best way that I tried to describe it, as most people have, especially in the startup and entrepreneur world have heard of, you know, Fin tech, or even fin tech. fantech is really that same thing, but it’s building tech, building solutions, technology solutions for families. So that’s, you know, that’s the fam and the tech. And so Arrow Arrows product, essentially, is exactly that we are providing a product that helps support working parents and help keep them thriving in the workforce. And for their employers, that really helps because there that’s a reduced turnover rate to reduce healthcare spending. It’s, you know, inclusivity, it’s creating a family friendly culture, all of those things. So that’s really what famtech is, is just technology solutions that are supporting parents today.
Rolando Rosas 11:06
Wonderful. And famtech does a lot of different it encompasses different services, from what what I understand, right, you, you’ve got birth to Oh, last first breath to last breath in that
Tara Campbell Lussier 11:18
so that yeah, so that is, that is the care economy. That’s the way the best way to describe the care economy and fam tech is absolutely within the care economy. So that’s absolutely appropriate too so.
So yeah, the care economy is how do we support our loved ones from the first breath to the last breath. And I just love that. I mean, I love the people who are even talking about that. Because, again, as a doula and loving and working with working parents for so long, it’s been about 15 years now for me, you know, people used to look at me like, Okay, that’s great, you kind of support parents, and that’s awesome. But like, you know, isn’t that what a doctor does? Or an OB or midwife or whatever. And so just the fact that we are having these conversations around, it gets me super excited. But yes, the care economy is from the first breath to the last breath, what are we spending our money on? And what resources are emerging within that care economy that are shaping it and making it the $650 billion care economy that we’re talking about right now? And famtech resides within?
Rolando Rosas 12:20
And you sent me that wonderful presentation that Melinda, Melinda French Gates had put together about the care economy, and I did not know that the care economy is bigger than pharm to the pharm economy, which makes it a very interesting industry. If you’re saying, Oh, this is much bigger than Pharma? Well, there’s, there’s room for investors and entrepreneurs to jump in, and make some money in that market, if that’s the case, because there’s room for a lot of companies to come in to just look different segments in that and that’s what I wanted to jump in with you right now. Are we do we have the quote to put up? I want to ask you about this. Okay, so 42% of employers have said that they’re planning to expand or add care benefits, like cash subsidies for childcare. So one of the reason I’m bringing this up with you is that, you know, in the last 18 months, the, the pandemic has caused people to really shift their point of view, from the employee perspective, from just I want to make the most money possible to maybe I want to make as much money as I can, I can without killing myself. And what kind of impact do these benefits have for employers, when employees values are starting to change, and they’re looking more holistically at the lives of the people around them and their families and how this plays into that?
Tara Campbell Lussier 13:51
I love this. And I love this question. There’s so much to unpack here. So I’m gonna I’m gonna back it up just a little bit. Sure. today’s workforce wants better benefits over higher salaries. That is just an absolute fact, there’s tons of stats out there on that anybody can Google that. So if you are out there in in the workforce, a job seeker, you want to work for a company that values their employees, that is what is coming out of especially even COVID, and all of these things. So if you are providing childcare services, or childcare subsidies to your employees, that’s obviously going to look a lot more attractive to you then another competitor or another, another employer that’s seeking you that that doesn’t do that. Right. The other thing that’s incredibly interesting about this is that 90% of the babies that are going to be born in the next decade, are with millennials and the Gen X right. So
Rolando Rosas 14:41
we see that again. 90% 90%
Tara Campbell Lussier 14:46
Yes. Why? Because people are waiting to have babies until they’re a little bit older. That’s been a steady trend in recent years is that families are waiting to get their career established and then have babies a little bit older. So millennials are still having a lot of babies, the Gen X right behind them are still having a lot of babies, and they will have 90% of the babies in the next decade. So all of that workforce is going to need some sort of childcare, working parents support. And that’s why this is part of the care economy is, is becoming so important and growing so rapidly. So for employers, I think it’s very simple. It’s, it’s a mindset shift, like you were saying of like, going from, like, I just need to, you know, check the boxes of benefits of like, you know, mental dental, vision 401 K, the traditional ones is what we call the benefits space right? Into the voluntary or the non traditional ones. And that mindset shift happens when they understand if you actually support your employees outside of the nine to five, they’re going to show up so much better at nine to five, right? Because I mean, Rolanda, you have a son, you know, any parents that are listening are here today? Like, how productive are you at work, when you’ve been up all night with with a baby that doesn’t want to sleep? How productive are you at work, or even in life, not even let a lot of work, you know, if you have a you know, you come home every day and you’re having toddler tantrums, or you come home and you or your partner are so stressed out about where childcare is going to come from tomorrow. And you both have meetings, right? So all of these things, it’s these all factor into what is really happening in that holistic employee experience. And so from this care economy, and from all of these shifts in the advocacy and the change that we’re seeing in this benefits industry, employers are waking up, and the ones that are leading it are the big employers, which is really, really great. And so everyone else is starting to follow suit. And they’re saying, like I was just saying earlier, like, all right. So if we take care of them, a they’re going to stay with us be they’re going to be more productive at work, we’re going to save on turnover, turnover cost people up to 230, excuse me, employers up to 213% of an employee’s salary and average salary. So that’s huge costs right there. Well, HR HR has seen enough in the last couple of years with COVID, and everything. And then just to deal with the turnover. And all of that, it’s it’s just too much. So putting these benefits in place is has a huge ROI for the employers and for the employees as well.
Dave Kelly 17:30
And I see such like a positive impact on how it it’s the company’s community, the company is has that opportunity to communicate the culture and the culture, there would be, hey, we respect you as parents, and we know that life is not just about the nine to five work. And there’s, you know, they’re saying families do matter. You know, people hear that from companies and bosses. But when they’re implementing new services like this, they’re demonstrating it themselves. They’re like, we’re investing money into your family outside of the nine to five. And I can see how that would really build a real positive culture.
Tara Campbell Lussier 18:08
Yeah, they’re walking the talk. And it’s amazing that they actually are, I just saw something the other day, it wasn’t it wasn’t with Arrow, but it was, I think it was on LinkedIn, actually. And there was a woman that wrote an email to her boss and just said, I’m taking a mental health day, and I just need to be with my family. And she had sent it to a larger team is what it looked like. And the CEO wrote back and said, I am so proud of you for actually saying that you needed a mental health day and to be home with your family. And like, that’s so admirable. And I wish more people would do that. And so the screenshot on on LinkedIn was of those two things. And so I hope that would have happened, you know, five years ago, three years ago, pre COVID. But I think that, definitely, what’s emerging as we navigate after COVID is conversations like that, right? Where CEOs are saying, oh, like I get it, families do matter, as you said, Dave, right, and taking mental health days do matter, just to be home with your family. So I’m seeing a huge shift and and it’s part of this care economy. It’s a part of fam tech advancing solutions. It’s part of entrepreneurs like myself, and there’s lots of other ones out there startups that are creating these tech solutions to make everyone’s lives easier within their working family and caregiver life, but also at work as well.
Rolando Rosas 19:26
You’re right. And I was I was trying to think about another company that just recently announced something similar what you said, believe it was Nike, that was giving all of their employees a week off. They were just they close the close the shop, to let the admins people are burning out. They’re working harder and working longer. It’s a total myth that people are sitting at home just consuming Netflix and goofing off because I can’t imagine what employer would allow work to not be done basically because if you’re watching Netflix all All day long, you, you are not taking care. That’s the one right there to destress. But yes, employee employees are actually working longer. I just saw another company was on CNBC, they were saying the same thing about productivity. But yes, Nike wants to destress their employees. And I think that the pandemic has had the effect of making things a little bit more equal, an equal equal misery opportunity for everybody, your CEO, or your you know, the entry level Junior intern that’s in the company, you’ve all are going through a lot, we’re all going through similar things like you were saying, child care, whether it’s, you know, maybe caring for our loved one being cooked up more than we want to, right, the inability to move around. So it’s, it’s made that that everyday life of maybe the average person more average, so people at the top that made those decisions.
Tara Campbell Lussier 20:58
It’s so much more transparent now. And that’s what has happened. And I love what Nike did. I actually didn’t know about that. I applaud that. I think that I think that the the employers are just starting to realize that, again, because of COVID. And because all of these, these articles, and people are speaking up, and there’s advocacy, and there’s money behind all of this, they’re understanding a lot clearer that when people go home, which obviously we all haven’t been able to, like leave the home for a long time that their work, especially caregivers is is their second shift, or their third shift is beginning. And so this burnout is inevitable. It’s absolutely inevitable. And so we have to put solutions in place that can help prevent that. And that ROI is in turn, as I mentioned earlier, going to help the employer because they’re going to retain that employee or they’re going to attract the next best top talent. So it all kind of goes hand in hand. But Rolando, you touched on something about equity. And I just want to speak to that. For one second. Yeah. And advancing dei goals is a huge thing within the corporate space right now. And for employers, and that is one thing that embracing fam tech and the care economy is going to help them with doing because we’re as as we were talking about a little bit ago, if you’re creating a family friendly, or caregiver friendly culture, that is for everybody. It’s not for the C suite. It’s not it like you were saying it’s also for the junior intern, we are creating an entire culture where we say, families matter, caregiving matter, your life outside of work matters, because we want you to show up as your best self at work. And so that is part of the ROI for employers is that they can advance these DEI goals that they have set for themselves, and create and foster this family friendly and caregiving culture within their organization, which is what today’s workforce is looking for.
Rolando Rosas 22:52
I agree 100%. And you know, from the greedy perspective, if you’re sitting at this in the C suite position, it’s good for the bottom line. Right now, the competition for top talent is hotter. We’ve had four or five guests, the last month, tell us the exact same thing you’re saying and saying, you know, it’s good for the bottom line having diversity, it’s good for folks to be able to be working at their best at their optimal at their healthiest levels. I mean, I compare that to
Tara Campbell Lussier 23:24
activity. Absolutely, ya know,
Rolando Rosas 23:26
if you’re, you’re an athlete in, you know, being on a team sport, like I played college sports, you don’t want guys that are playing 50%, that’s just bad, you’re not going to get, you’re not going to win. When a bunch of your players are playing at half speed. You want them to fully be at full speed. So they need to be able to recover. They need to be able to perform better. So in order to do that in the workplace, they need these new priorities need to be elevated, like you’re saying, you know, people need to have
families that are home now can employers do everything? You know, that happens in personal life? No, but if you can do like you said childcare and other parts of the care economy, like caring for a loved one working from home, I just saw something. Just I know, it’s right up your alley. So I had it on my smartphone. There was an article by the Atlantic and it talks about the remote work in the fertility connection. And how gosh, yes, I love that. I knew was right up your alley. And it basically says that mothers stand to gain in this situation are potential mothers because if they are able to work from home and it goes on to say a bunch of numbers that the US right now has about 70% of all job openings that are remote are within the US. So the US right now is the leader when it comes to remote work and how remote work is really a big plus for women. If they’re looking to either start a family or continue raising their family because it gives them more flexibility than before, or that they maybe didn’t have in the past.
Tara Campbell Lussier 25:07
And I would piggyback on that and say and reduces stress levels, right? They may or may, they’re not commuting as much, they’re going to have more time if they are actually going through fertility treatments to go to those appointments and make sure they’re taking their medications at the right time. And I mean, a lot of fertility, there’s, there’s a lot of there’s so much around fertility, that we can unpack that for a while, you know, this is totally one of my one of my soap boxes, but making sure that they’re taking care of themselves, right more time to cook nutritious meals and make sure that they’re de stressing and exercising and living a very healthy life. So they can help with their fertility journey, whether they’re struggling with it, or they’re just planning on starting a family. So absolutely. And I love seeing the rise in remote work. You know, at Arrow, we were always, as I mentioned earlier, and intentionally digital and virtual company. And that’s how we we just by design we always wanted to be. And so just seeing other startups and even the big companies to, you know, the enterprises to get behind work from home. It’s just, it makes people like me so happy because it’s what we’re seeing is a cultural shift, a huge cultural shift. And yeah, it’s great, because it’s gonna support people so so much.
Rolando Rosas 26:20
Indeed, indeed. Dave, you wanted to add something? Yeah. Yeah. So
Dave Kelly 26:24
Rolando was mentioning some previous guests that we’ve had one of the topics has been the great career migration, and I’m just so there’s, there’s a lot of working professionals out here that have new opportunities, post pandemic, people are thinking differently about what’s important to them. Is your industry poised to take advantage of professionals that are looking to join your industry? Like, is there any marketing is there, you know, what are you doing to kind of bring awareness to professionals that, hey, this might be an industry that you want to be a part of?
Tara Campbell Lussier 26:58
That’s a great question. I think that I’m speaking from it personally, I’m very involved in advancing the fam tech industry as a whole that that is something that I do. I’m the co founder of a fam tech collective, where we’ve banded together, you know, childcare offerings, and meditation offerings and a bunch of other fam tech startups, really, and ventures that are out there. So we can provide a one stop shop for employers to come and get all of the fam tech services in one place. So they’re not, you know, having several different vendors. But that’s a great, that’s a great question, Dave about this. The job seekers and the great migration, I think it’s it’s it comes down to awareness, and where their passions lie, and where their skill sets lie. If you are an engineer right now, and you are into tech, then there’s so much happening because we are building so much technology to achieve all of these famtech goals within the space. But also, if you are, if you know about the care economy, if you know about these startups and ventures that are growing, and you have a passion for supporting working caregivers and caregivers in general, then I think it’s just about awareness, knowing about it and seeking out to work with us because it’s growing. It’s not going anywhere. It’s only growing. So that’s a great question, though.
Rolando Rosas 28:16
Well, let’s talk to that growth, Ori do we have the numbers on that? All right, perfect.
Tara Campbell Lussier 28:25
No, wild to me, just this statement about it being bigger than the pharm industry is just so so wild, isn’t it? Take a moment that is so crazy, because the pharma industry is just that’s what people think of is like the biggest thing.
Rolando Rosas 28:40
Yes. And this is this is an amazing stat. And maybe then you can talk a little bit more about this is why Melinda Gates in her pivotal organization, her foundation, or her venture, I should say her venture company is getting behind it. And I’m sure she’s doing some things for charitable causes to bring that awareness that you’re talking about. So that not just the private enterprises. But also government can also play a role in this to make it easier for families to get some of these services. But talk to me a little bit on the on the enterprise side. Why Melinda Gates is putting some of her venture capital money behind this.
Tara Campbell Lussier 29:22
So I can’t speak exactly to why she is doing it. I can tell you why I think that why I think she’s doing it. I think that she I mean, I haven’t met her myself is what I’m saying. That’s
Rolando Rosas 29:32
her thoughts on that. I don’t know her personally, but yeah, better yet, guys.
Tara Campbell Lussier 29:37
I mean, I’m working on it. No, I think that it comes down to clear numbers, right. So the care economy is made up of aging in place, the workplace that we’ve been talking about for the majority of this episode and childcare benefits for the majority of this episode, and and household management, right. Those are the four core components of it and that’s where people are spending money. And there are industries specifically in childcare and in aging in place that are so ripe for intervention. And so excuse me for innovation. And so I think that Melinda Gates, and you know, VC funds such as pivotal like herself, I think that they are, they obviously see that this is a huge market opportunity and that things are changing. And so they are putting money behind it. I’ll couple that with, there’s also so much going on on the government side as well. Right. So there’s a $4 trillion Cares Act that’s been on Biden’s desk and is slowly inching forward at that, you know, right now, at the time of our airing, it’s taken a giant step forward, but we’re not quite there yet. And so that is also funding the local economies. And those local economies are funding startups that are in the care space to support their child like so. I just read an article just this morning about how Dave, I think it was a bayou somewhere in Boston, they took their $5 million county up in Massachusetts took their $5 million in the Cares Act. And they are investing a large part of that in a company called Wonder School, which is a backup childcare company, and so that those county workers can then you know, use that startup venture to provide for their things. So, so the government backing it is also affecting the private sector as as we’ve been talking about, as well. I love this slide.
Rolando Rosas 31:25
Yeah, yeah. So we got this did thanks to you, you helped point us in that direction, and bring highlight all the different pieces, that are the moving parts that are part of the care economy, aging in place, the workplace, government, childcare, and household management, they all have different niches within this care economy. And she sized up those sub subgroups, so sub industries within the care economy. So that was, kudos to Melinda Gates, Melinda French Gates, I think that’s how she’s she’s going by to bring this awareness. And I’m being told, I’m looking at something that I want to tie into, we actually have a video of her, and I want you to react. So let me set this up. So she was on an interview, he was on a TV show, and she was asked about family leave. And this is something that is part of that bill that you’re talking about, to make that a paid family leave. And you know, it is It boggles my mind. When today, this age, in 2021, you go to countries like Italy, France, Germany, the UK, any of the Nordic countries, even third world countries, and you bring up the topic of either vacation or family leave, the US is like at the near the bottom of the list of all of these measurements. And we should be if we’re number one, we should be a number one and all of these categories that also help employees. So go ahead or a roll that footage and we’ll get Tara to react on the other side.
Melinda French Gates 32:59
It’s administration is talking about long term action that’s needed in the policy space,
Guest Speaker 33:04
right? Because some of these problems are pretty deep rooted. They’re structural, it depends on industries that that women are typically a part of childhood care responsibilities. So what what are some more specific policies that get at those structural issues?
Melinda French Gates 33:19
Well, you know, we’re seeing that women are leaving the labor force in droves. And we know when a woman leaves, it takes a long time till she comes back. And we want women to be able to work. And so in building back and in this recovery, one of the things Congress is really going to need to look at is paid family medical leave. It is a long time coming in the United States, we are literally the only industrialized nation if you can believe it, that doesn’t have paid family medical leave. And because this caregiving crisis is right here in our faces, you know, women are sandwiched between taking care of young children and the older generation. I think we’re finally going to see some action there.
Rolando Rosas 34:02
Awesome. What do you think about that?
Tara Campbell Lussier 34:04
I love it. I love it. And that’s it’s a sentiment that we talk a lot about in the care economy and is is in Rolando, we you and I were talking about it the other day, just how much we really are in a crisis right now. And there are so many people that are not only taking care of their children, but they’re also sandwiched by taking care of their aging parents or their or their in-laws. And so that creates this massive amount of stress and you streamline to burnout and that’s what she’s talking about with this care crisis. And so as she mentioned, Congress is getting behind it we there’s funding that is coming in as we’ve discussed and again, I’m just so happy that we’re moving in this direction and that someone as some you know, with Melinda Gates’ notoriety is speaking about this and has not only gone out publicly to talk about it, but she’s actually put her money and her funds behind it so we can help advance this
Rolando Rosas 34:58
Oh, absolutely. I can’t agree. And it seems like all the things all the the elements of the universe are lining up. For all this to happen. The current I don’t think this cause would be advanced as fast as it’s advancing in this, the care economy would be emerging. If it weren’t for the pandemic. No, yeah, there’s a lot of heartache that has come from from the last 18 months. But I think there’s some some positives, and I think this is one of those positive things where people are reevaluating, and people are also on the investor side, like, Okay, where’s the money shifting to? And I think this is going to be the next big thing. You know, like you said, Now, the, the pharma industry is pretty big, this is bigger. So this is
Tara Campbell Lussier 35:48
only growing. I mean, it’s only growing right? So they were like, weren’t there in the, the deck that I believe you have? It’s $648 billion, and rapidly growing, right? We don’t know exactly how big it’s going to get. But we do know that it is here it is here to stay, we are navigating it very much. So because of of COVID has forced us to highlight these issues and these crises, and it’s not going anywhere. I just want to mention one thing about, excuse me, the sandwich generation and why she was saying we’re in that care crisis. It’s also because baby boomers are turning, there’s 10,000 Baby Boomers turning 65 or older, 65 years old, every single day in the United States right now. So they’re not only we’re not only having the oldest, the oldest parents right now, and the most oldest parents right now, we’re also starting to have all those babies as I was mentioning earlier, because the millennials and the younger generations are waiting to have babies. So that’s really compacting and accelerating this care crisis and for people to feel like they are sandwiched. And for if you’re in the middle of life, and then you’re also trying to couple that with working and having a career and self care, and it just becomes too much. And that’s why we need services. And we need more famtech solutions, excuse me. And that’s, that’s how we’re here. So it’s important to note that we have a very aging population as well. And that’s, that’s, that’s factoring into this.
Dave Kelly 37:13
So we’re a technology provider to tell us how technology is shaping and maybe bringing better experiences to to your industry. Things are changing so fast on the technology side, fastest internet possible cameras and headsets and microphones and different types of devices. But is technology playing a major part in kind of the expansion and growth in this industry?
Tara Campbell Lussier 37:39
Absolutely. Dave? Yes. I mean, fam tech tech is the you know, the part of it. And so I think that we’re seeing an explosive rate of apps, right? And the apps are having to be highly personalized. Now people nowadays don’t want just to get onto an app, they want it to be highly personalized, exactly where they are in the working parent or caregiver cycle. So they’re not getting on and you know, say you have a two year old you don’t want to get on to the app. And they say Hi, Dave, like, How’s it going with you preparing for college or with you know, with your son or daughter, right? It has to be highly personalized. And as you know, as a tech, a tech leader yourself that that takes a lot of tech on the back end to make all of those things happen, right? We’re seeing so many more apps that are that are opening every single day. Excuse me, we’re also seeing a lot of telehealth is emerging so much, which is something we haven’t even gotten into today, which is is something that Arrow is really proud of that we are developing. Yeah, well, telehealth is telehealth is also a huge emerging market, right. So we’re predicting that to be a $27 billion market by in the next five or six years. And so you’re seeing telehealth tech platforms open up all the time, right. So with the tech piece to that, what I can speak to about it is that, especially when we are going into employers, and we have private health information that is within our app, or within our platforms or products, we are having to make sure that it’s incredibly secure, right, and we want it to be incredibly secure, but to but to make sure that our clients understand
that it’s incredibly secure. There are many, many steps that we have to pursue within the tech space to make sure that we have the highest level of cybersecurity, stock two clearance, all of these different things that we’re pursuing as well. So telehealth is also very much here to say everyone is loving. I love this video here. It’s great, but it’s so it’s so good. It’s having a huge, huge moment right now. And that’s as I mentioned, not going anywhere. It’s going to help so many people in rural locations. It’s going to help so many people that are aging that are not able to get to their appointments. we’re even seeing it in the pregnancy space and in the perinatal space. Women are getting remote virtual pregnancy care now there’s really great startups in Arizona.
Rolando Rosas 39:50
How’s that? How’s that happening? What do you hear about that? And there’s like you said there’s a little bit a lot more millennials and Gen Zers. having babies and I’m sure that during the playback, you know this, this video is going to live on forever. When those folks get to the around to wanting to have kids, how is telehealth going to help them? What kind of role is that really going to play in their lives versus the traditional care where you had to go in person?
Tara Campbell Lussier 40:22
Well, I think it’s dependent on every person. So if you’re in a more urban environment, I think you’re just going to have choices, right, you’re going to have that choice to do telehealth, or instead of going into your office for every visit, maybe you decide or you elect to do one telehealth visit and then one in person visits, I think you’re going to have a lot of choices. I think in rural locations, it’s going to dramatically change because pregnant people in rural locations, A did not get a lot of prenatal care, which is a huge problem. And we know can lead to other other issues and other medical diagnoses that we are we want to stay away from like preterm babies and those sorts of things and preeclampsia. So in rural locations, it’s going to really dramatically change because if you can see a provider online and you have internet access, then you can get care now, which is huge. I mean, that’s huge. So telehealth is definitely something that is going to expand and really affect the the the entire fam tech space, but it’s specifically that perinatal experience, I just want to answer your I think, just to answer your question about what that looks like for actually a pregnant person is not only are you doing telehealth over the you know, like we’re speaking right now I’m at home, you guys are in different locations, and we’re speaking this way, they’ve developed Wi Fi enabled, scales that so the pregnant person can get on the scale, and then that information goes right back to their doctor, Wi Fi enabled blood pressure monitors glucose things. So all these things that women and pregnant people previously had to go into the hospital for their care providers, their doctors, their OBs, their midwives can now see all that information digitally. And so that’s really changing that perinatal experience for a lot of people.
Rolando Rosas 42:09
Wow, that’s terrific. Yeah, it’s really neat to have technology jumping in here to really change people’s people’s lives. And I would imagine you you said rural areas where there they have the greatest to gain. But I would imagine also impoverished in areas of the country where, you know, maybe access was an issue, I guess, if you have internet access now, which is becoming more and more ubiquitous. And that’s also part of the infrastructure, a plan that you talked about earlier, is making that more more and more available in more parts of the country where a both rural as well as lower income, folks that may not have been able to afford that. So now they could see a doctor or prenatal care. And that not be a barrier anymore for getting a world class service.
Tara Campbell Lussier 43:00
Absolutely. And it’s so great. It’s so great to watch. I just want to finish with one. One thought to answer Dave’s question just a little bit ago about what we’re seeing in tech is, we’re also seeing AI being developed quite a bit. So parents can go on and say, you know, my child is doing this, I’m totally making up this exists hypothetical example, my child is having temper tantrums every single night before free school the next day. And so you can go in and type this in. And then the artificial intelligence platforms are being able to say, well, 70% of other people that describe this keyword within your your description of what’s going through, this was their diagnosis. And this is where we can go to get your support. This is the specialist and or the provider that can help help you and help your family. And so that’s another big thing that I’m seeing a lot within the tech space and those tech solutions that are helping, specifically within the fam tech space, which is really exciting. Everybody’s over Googling, right? I mean, it’s almost like, like you were saying you big ubiquitous to say like, okay, like, you see a lot of websites, it’s like, if you’re done with Google, come check us out. And it’s so true, because everybody is so done with Google, and not done with Google don’t come after me Google. I mean, like, I mean, like, done with spending so much time researching what’s going on and where they can get childcare, where they can get the support they need for their, you know, that that hypothetical toddler I was just talking about, or working parent or caregiver support, it’s time for real solutions, and for them to be right in front of you, for them to have a great UX for them to be personalized and easy to use. And, you know, have a higher engagement rate.
Rolando Rosas 44:35
No, agreed. And, you know, Dave, and I saw a demo recently just talking about AI. How real and innovative AI can be. We were watching this demo where this thing was plugged into the Internet and it’s it was speaking to you like a human so imagine imagine me oh my gosh, me taught you you’re asking me all cut just To give one I have I have I have an infant, and it has a cold, what should I do? And it was like speaking like a human, like an avatar speaking like a human, and then coming back with an answer that sounded like, yeah, that’s what I’m looking for. And the additional thing that that that that this particular Avatar was doing, was it had emotions wrapped around it to you. You asked the questions. And it was coming back with more human like perspective within the interaction, and it was really freaky because you then yes, did you have feelings in this? Yes, I have feelings and then went on.
Tara Campbell Lussier 45:42
very compassionate avatar.
Rolando Rosas 45:43
Yes. It wasn’t just why I can find you. Medicine for Yeah, let me let me let me point to nearest pharmacy
Tara Campbell Lussier 45:52
sounds like it might be very difficult. And maybe,
Dave Kelly 45:55
yes. But what was cool about it was it wasn’t programmed to give you an answer. It was programmed to go on line, go through articles on Google and everywhere else, and then come back with information. So it could have been, it’s depending, it’s relying on what it can learn in a very short matter of time. It’s not programmed to give you an answer program to research and then come back.
Tara Campbell Lussier 46:25
So it does all your googling for you. Yes. And yes. That’s really cool.
Dave Kelly 46:30
It looks like it looks like you if you want it to be
Tara Campbell Lussier 46:33
Yeah. Wow. Yeah. I mean, it can look like anybody could look like anybody else. No, yeah. I saw something the other day about? I think it was Facebook. Don’t quote me on that. But I think it was Facebook is, is developing the AI glasses. Have you guys seen this? And so anything you look at so yeah, I thought that was really neat. Anything you look at, it’s going to tell you whatever you need to know about that particular thing or like whether it’s flowers, or a piece of technology or whatever. I thought that was super neat.
Dave Kelly 47:01
I immediately think of one of the first scenes in Terminator, Terminator. Arnold Schwarzenegger looks at somebody and it assesses who they are. Very cool.
Rolando Rosas 47:12
There’s something like that on your phone. If you have Google on Android phone, it’s called Google lens. You just point right at it right now. It’s an app. Google lens, you know, I use it a lot because I’m into flowers in in nature and that kind of stuff. And then oh, what flowers and then just open the app point. And it will bring back Oh, yeah, that’s it. It’s you know, the African Wasp bee or something. Or it’s venomous, stay away, you know, that kind of thing. So it’s there. Now they’re just bringing that onto your glasses, or you just walk around? Yeah, it’s just
Tara Campbell Lussier 47:45
amazing when my eyes got big when you said that because my 12 year old daughter just taught me about Google lens, like, like the other day, and I was like, This is amazing. I love interior design. And so I’m always like, like, where is that, you know, couch from and she was like, Oh, Mom, you just go like this. And then it’s like, Oh, it’s from the store. And it’s this much money or Yeah. Also, it also told you, like, if you like that style couch, obviously, I’m using couch as an example. Then it also told you here’s you know, eight other options for couches that look like that at different price points. It was very neat, very cool.
Rolando Rosas 48:17
That we are heading into the future rapidly. And
Tara Campbell Lussier 48:23
here we go. Future of Work, future of care future of caregiving. I love all of that.
Rolando Rosas 48:27
I know. Absolutely. And you know what I want to also as we’re, I know that we want to be mindful of your time, I want to ask you some rapid fire questions that we normally ask all of our guests that come on the show. These are no right or wrong answers. It’s your answers. So I want to start with what’s your favorite musician or musical group?
Tara Campbell Lussier 48:55
Caamp. Led Zeppelin came to mind at first I don’t know why that was like that was like in college but I love Ca Bon Iver. See, I’m not good at this. I like I like a lot of music. So that
Dave Kelly 49:03
seems to be one of the hardest questions.
Rolando Rosas 49:07
Because there’s so many genres and musicians.
Tara Campbell Lussier 49:10
I mean, my yoga music rom dot I mean, yeah. Rom das like, I don’t know. That’s a really That’s a tough one. But Caamp came to mind. I’ve been listening to Caamp all summer, and I love them. And it’s CAAMP.
Rolando Rosas 49:20
Okay, cool. Oh, plug for Caamp. Now. What is the favorite app on your phone?
Unknown Speaker 49:27
Mindful Mamas. What is Mindful Mamas? Mindful Mamas is my friend Tara, who’s also a founder. And in the fam tech space owns it and it is the best way I describe it as it’s like headspace or calm, but it’s specifically for mothers. And so it takes you on that very personalized journey. And so, I you know, we’re all busy, but I definitely feel that busyness myself and I tried to make sure that I get like five minutes of at least five minutes. Sometimes I just listen to it while I’m in the shower. I call it like my micro mindfulness. But if I on a good day or night I’m with Listening to Tara’s app, which is called Mindful Mamas and I’m just so proud of her because I know the backstory that how hard she’s worked to create created and what she’s doing with it. So Mindful Mamas it’s, it’s an incredible app and meditation and mindfulness is also very much here to stay.
Rolando Rosas 50:16
I love how you’re able to squeeze in the productivity during the shower. So that’s cool.
Tara Campbell Lussier 50:22
Well, I mean, we did talk while I was on a run the other day.
Rolando Rosas 50:25
You find a way to squeeze in the yeah, let’s get that meeting. And while I’m jogging, and you know what, I gotta take some cues from you because you’re able to talk and jog without running out of breath. You gotta teach me how to how to get that done.
Tara Campbell Lussier 50:39
The other day, I was talking to someone and they were like, nope, yep. I can’t hear you because you’re out of breath. And we we laughed about it. I was like, alright, I’ll slow down to to a walk. But yeah, I just love being outside. You guys know being a tech person. I’m behind my computer all day long. Yep. And so I have to get outside every day or I just don’t feel you know, whole and it’s just good for everybody to get outside. So I do I try to be outside a bunch and take calls and stuff while I’m outside walking or jogging and feel productive while you’re being outside in nature too. It’s like kill two birds with one stone.
Rolando Rosas 51:13
Absolutely Let me ask you another one. This one’s one of my near and dear, let me see what you say. What is your favorite food?
Dave Kelly 51:22
Scallops which have been ridiculously priced this year. I don’t know why. You know, we’d love to buy a
nice sea scallops. I like to just sear them. But they’ve been like $24 very expensive.
Tara Campbell Lussier 51:38
Yeah. Yeah, they are. Like but yeah, I think if i i like to ask that question on New Year’s Eve. If you had to choose one food to eat for the next year, the entire year? What would it be? And I get a lot of lobster steak or I always say scallops but lobster or steak or avocados? I get that answer a lot.
Rolando Rosas 52:02
I’m really into burritos right now.
Tara Campbell Lussier 52:06
Where do they have to be from or you make them
Rolando Rosas 52:09
Well you know what it’s like in Northern Virginia it’s hard to find good burrito places so I’ve learned how to really make good ones over the last two years here and in the lockdown modes that we’ve been in so I’m my my little guy loves when we make burritos so
Tara Campbell Lussier 52:23
another silver lining to COVID is like becoming like an incredible burrito making
Rolando Rosas 52:30
Dave suggested he said he suggested we do an episode on just cooking and tech and cooking. Yeah, Dave maybe we should do that. Yeah, we should. We should include tariffs so she can make some scallops. They’ll make a burrito and then your lobsters you
Tara Campbell Lussier 52:47
know I’m I’m not a good cook. I’m a good eater, but I I love food but yeah,
Dave Kelly 52:54
I am so distracted now I’m thinking about the 10 different ways that I like to prepare scallops I’m not even here anymore not even here anymore.
Tara Campbell Lussier 53:02
The little bit of like grass fed butter and like florida south and like pan sear it like just super quick we will we
Dave Kelly 53:09
will use a minister Ricci you sir. Vici Yeah, so good. So good.
Rolando Rosas 53:17
Well, I’m you’re making me hungry here talking about food. Let’s let’s hit this last one here. Okay, first method method of communication. Email, there’s a multiple choice, email, mobile SMS, phone call video call or instant messenger your saying text is your favorite method.
Tara Campbell Lussier 53:32
SMS is text. It’s, I mean, I text a lot. I have it on my computer. So for efficiency, and but I’m on video calls all day long. I mean, with my team, I try to make sure that we get on video calls because it’s important. I feel like it’s important to it as being a remote team to make sure that we’re connecting and seeing each other’s facial expressions and all that stuff. But I for efficiency again, I’m gonna sound like I’m like obsessed. I am a little obsessed with efficiency. I’m gonna be honest. It’s gotta be it’s text. It’s text. I can’t I don’t have I don’t have times for phone calls. I know when it’s bad when my mother is like, you haven’t called me in a few days. So I will make an exception. Have to come at your mom or you haven’t called yet. I’m like, Mom, I’m sorry. Like I’m on like back to back calls. I am your mother and so I make sure to call my mom but there’s a lot of texting going on. Otherwise
Rolando Rosas 54:25
Do you get your mom calling you in the middle of the workday like you’re right in the meeting or in your like, she
Tara Campbell Lussier 54:33
she just called me she just called me and I was getting ready to come on here. And she was like, I was like, Mom, I gotta go. I’m getting on this podcast. And to be honest, I was straightening my hair and she was couldn’t do the phone and the bat and she goes okay, well, I just want to talk about like Christmas plans. And I was like, like right now like, I’m much but like, yeah, like I’ll call you. I’ll call you later and like, maybe come over for dinner this weekend and we can come got to figure it out. So, yes, she calls me in the middle. She’s a realtor and always has been a realtor. So she has a very flexible schedule. And so she Yeah, she loves to call during the middle. I’m not alone. I gather, right?
Rolando Rosas 55:12
Oh, yeah, absolutely. I’m not surprised. I’m not getting the call right now.
Tara Campbell Lussier 55:16
Let me see. I haven’t gotten a text from her yet.
Dave Kelly 55:18
There is nothing more stressful in my life than family members wanting to talk about Christmas or holiday plans and what we’re doing that is the worst topic.
Tara Campbell Lussier 55:28
Yeah, well, and I was also just like, right this this second like, it’s, we’re still in August, like, okay, but and they’re always the same. It’s always the same thing. We go to your house, mom, so. Okay, we’re gonna do it again. Same day, every year. What are you bringing?
Rolando Rosas 55:46
Yeah, exactly. Totally. Well, Tara, you’ve been such a wonderful sport. And we got one more surprise for you. Because we got a pop into that trivia question, Dave, and see if Tara could figure that one out.
Dave Kelly 55:58
Alright, we’re gonna let we’re gonna let you answer this one. So we will read it again. What do we have here? So the question was, if you were, according to 2019 data from salary.com, if you’re a stay at home parent, and you’re paid for your services, you’d be looking at a median annual salary of a $60,000 b $90,000. C 120,000. or D $180,000. We’ll give it to you, Tara. What do you say?
Tara Campbell Lussier 56:31
C $120,000? Hmm. But what I’m really debating about the D.
Rolando Rosas 56:36
Oh, there you go. There it is. There gave it to you. It’s D, a stay at home parent may work upwards of 98 hours a week. Hey, you go.
Tara Campbell Lussier 56:50
Unless you’re sleeping. There’s always something to be done. Yeah,
Rolando Rosas 56:53
that equates to $178,000 According to salary.com. Boy, 98 hours a week. That’s a lot. That’s a lot of hours. I guess. You got to throw weekends if you’re if you’re doing stuff on the weekends.
Tara Campbell Lussier 57:07
Yeah, a lot of it isn’t. And we didn’t get into this in the show. And I know we’re wrapping up but a lot of is the invisible labor. And that’s also something that’s being talked about so much right now. So invisible labor, it kind of goes it wraps into that household management piece within the care economy. So invisible labor is the labor that people do that A they’re not paid for and typically not recognized. Historically, it’s typically been women that do invisible labor, and they’re things like doing the laundry, making sure that we have enough stuff in the house for lunches so we can pack the lunches for them tomorrow. Planning the birthday party making sure Oh, I just spent five hours on lab and soccer website trying to figure out how to sign all four of my kids up for soccer this spring. You ever done those platforms? You’re like, Oh my God, that’s invisible labor, right? And so those things have to get done, who does them and so you know, one of the things Arrow provides as you map out a plan right you have to talk with your partner about who’s going to do all of those little tiny tasks that make up your home and your family and your life
Rolando Rosas 58:08
Do you have a service for that
Tara Campbell Lussier 58:11
we do we have an invisible labor speaker and consultant and so clients can meet with her virtually and she she has mapped it all out yeah it’s it’s a big thing check out a book called Fair Play by Eve Rodsky really smart lady went to Harvard and she has a I believe it’s a New York Times bestseller book, it’s one of my favorites and it’s called Fair Play. And it’s just about breaking up the invisible labor within the household let’s talk about it because that can communicating about it and and then executing on it on those those plans that you communicated with, with the household members can circumnavigate a lot of difficulties and you know, fights and people feeling resentful for like, you didn’t take the trash out. Well, like you forgot to sign the kids up for, you know, basketball or whatever it was and so that invisible labor is definitely something that’s that’s a topic that is being discussed more often. And I’m so happy about that. So
Dave Kelly 59:04
well. I never I never heard a word put to that. I’ve never heard that definded
Tara Campbell Lussier 59:10
invisible labor. Yes. Look it up. You’ll see emotional labor. Some people call it emotional labor also, but invisible emotional labor. Absolutely. Well, we’ve got to do we got
Rolando Rosas 59:21
to bring you on. For part two. It sounds like I would, I would imagine that a lot more families. Because this is more of a family thing. And even couples would be running into this, especially if you’re both working from home or remote. Or you know, dealing with what we’ve got going on right now. Tara, always lovely talking to you. i It’s It’s a pleasure. We could do another hour just so easily talking to you, but I can’t believe it. Time’s up. I know you gotta run fine. I’d keep you for another hour but I know you got now you gotta. You gotta wear hat number five. Now Put that on. Yeah,
Tara Campbell Lussier 1:00:01
I do. And then some point to pick the kids up later later today or yeah, yes, so many hats. And you guys, seriously, this has been so much fun. I love talking about all of these topics. I love that you guys have such that you love tech, as well. And yeah, I’d love to come back. And just thank you so much for having me.
Rolando Rosas 1:00:20
Absolutely. No, thank you. Thank you for coming on. And we want to just let you know if you’ve been watching this through the live, and let us know if we’re on topic. If there’s another topic that you’d love to hear. We’d appreciate your support by liking and subscribing. And if you’re on YouTube, you can get notified so that you’re in on the know because we release other other tips through the week as we put some new content together. That’s outside of the podcast. So go ahead, like, subscribe, hit all the bells with those, hit all that good stuff. And will bring it straight to your inbox and right on your mobile phone. So and if you’ve been sticking around through the end, I want to thank you. Thank you for sticking all the way through the end. We’ve got some more helpful. Where am I pointing Ori? My pointing over here? Oh, right over here. Dave and I are going to be in these videos where we talk about community and tech as well as remote work life. So we will see you in those videos. So come on and join us.
Outro 1:01:26
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