About this episode
Te'ya Miles runs an NEMT company in Atlanta and is known online as That NEMT Girl, five years after a property management job she hated ended with her fired for researching the industry on the clock. She tells host Nirav Chheda that she bought a 15 passenger sprinter van when she needed a wheelchair caravan, papered metro Atlanta with flyers that produced almost nothing, and only learned to land contracts by trading knowledge with a local operator. She now runs a 2,000 member Facebook group and a paid startup package for new owners.
Key takeaways
- Miles bought a 15 passenger sprinter van as her first vehicle and says she should have bought a wheelchair caravan. Flyers posted around metro Atlanta senior centers produced almost no work.
- Nine months in she traded knowledge with an Atlanta operator of eight years. Miles showed her how to get funding, the operator showed Miles how to get contracts, and they parted after six months.
- Her paid package covers business setup, vehicle purchasing, marketing assets and broker approvals. She pairs broker volume with private pay because private pay takes longer than most new owners can wait.
- With the fifth generation Dodge caravan discontinued, Miles says add-on wheelchair equipment is hard to source, so she goes straight to manufacturers and a mobility dealer's regional director for inventory.
- A dementia rider called his insurance company to report that the driver was trying to kidnap him, because a multiload sent the van along a route he did not recognize.
Chapters
- 0:00 Introduction
- 6:20 Starting her NEMT business
- 11:00 Online social groups by "That NEMT Girl"
- 13:55 Consulting services by "That NEMT Girl"
- 15:50 When to get a consult
- 17:20 Te'ya's client stories
- 20:00 Te'ya's personal NEMT stories
- 24:45 Conclusion
