[0:23] Nirav Chheda: Taggart, the owner of B811 Transport.
[0:27] Nirav Chheda: We are rolling around in Fairfield, in one of her.
[0:34] Nirav Chheda: Actually, this is not just a wheelchair accessible van.
[0:37] Nirav Chheda: This is a big van. How many seats is this?
[0:39] Roslyn Taggart: So, this is a this is not a wheelchair van.
[0:42] Roslyn Taggart: This is a ambulatory only van.
[0:44] Roslyn Taggart: This is a seven passenger uh for transit.
[0:47] Roslyn Taggart: Um and so I have multiple accounts, multiple brokers.
[0:52] Roslyn Taggart: What I found with the transportation business is I have a lot of private pay clients.
[0:57] Roslyn Taggart: I also have um contracts with different brokers to kind of fill in like um when there's some downtime.
[1:05] Roslyn Taggart: And so with those transportation brokers um I want to say 95% of those clients are ambulatory.
[1:13] Roslyn Taggart: So that's why I have the two ambulatory vans.
[1:15] Roslyn Taggart: But for the private pay, I have the I would say 95% or 98% of my private pay are wheelchair clients and then the others are pretty much ambulatory.
[1:28] Roslyn Taggart: So this van and my other van are strictly for ambulatory clients.
[1:35] Nirav Chheda: I want to give a special shout out to Mr.
[1:37] Nirav Chheda: Howard Berkowitz for introducing me to Roslyn, who is one of Bambi's star customers.
[1:45] Nirav Chheda: Um, Roslyn, tell us about the founding of B811 Transport.
[1:50] Roslyn Taggart: Why'd you do My brother succumbed to his illness um 23rd of this year.
[1:57] Roslyn Taggart: But um I started the business in his name and in his honor.
[2:01] Roslyn Taggart: well, not in his name, but in his honor.
[2:04] Roslyn Taggart: Um to help those um such as himself who, you know, can't afford like medical transportation, non-emergency medical transportation.
[2:17] Roslyn Taggart: Um help those who can't afford it.
[2:19] Roslyn Taggart: Um you know, be able to, you know, get transportation need at a you know, low cost.
[2:27] Roslyn Taggart: Um, B81 is um partnered with Solano Transportation Authority and STA provides a subsidy.
[2:36] Roslyn Taggart: So, we're able to give lowincome um seniors or disabled individuals who are ADA certified.
[2:45] Roslyn Taggart: We're able to give them transportation at a subsidized rate um um through Solano Transportation Authority.
[2:55] Roslyn Taggart: And then also we also provide um rides to our recurring clients in honor of my brother.
[3:03] Roslyn Taggart: Um on a Sunday of their birthday, we provide a free ride to them right at no cost to any restaurant of their choice or any activity.
[3:14] Roslyn Taggart: Um we've given rides to the movies.
[3:17] Roslyn Taggart: We given rides to football games.
[3:19] Roslyn Taggart: We given rides to restaurants. Um and again these is at no cost.
[3:23] Roslyn Taggart: It's on a Sunday cuz we typically don't run on Sundays or operate on Sundays.
[3:27] Roslyn Taggart: So, we provide these clients at no cost um these trips.
[3:32] Roslyn Taggart: And what we found was um it changes their um it really lifts their spirit.
[3:45] Roslyn Taggart: Right? these people are, you know, all they see is doctors and nurses and they don't get to see.
[3:54] Roslyn Taggart: Um, this one lady said, "I want to go to my old stomping ground and I took her to a restaurant that she used to frequent all the time for her birthday." Um, this one lady, she wanted to go
[4:04] Roslyn Taggart: to the movies. She wanted to see um Tom Cru, was it Tom Cruise?
[4:08] Roslyn Taggart: Um, Mission Impossible. Mission Impossible. and just to see her face like light up because you know the things that we take for granted like a simple trip to the movies.
[4:19] Roslyn Taggart: Um these people haven't been outside of their bed or in years, months.
[4:25] Roslyn Taggart: And so um that's one of the things that we give back to the community.
[4:29] Roslyn Taggart: Uh we do like I said offer the subsidized rides and then we offer these free um rides to our clients um you know to any any place that they want to go to.
[4:40] Roslyn Taggart: And then what they do is they'll come back and say, "Hey, I want to go to the movies.
[4:45] Roslyn Taggart: Can we book a ride to the movies or whatever." Um, and we, you know, if it's something like that, we do charge, but we don't charge like a full, you know, a full rate because it's on a But,
[4:57] Roslyn Taggart: um, and then if I do that, typically my drivers instead of them um, getting paid their hourly rate, whatever.
[5:06] Roslyn Taggart: So what I do is if my drivers um whoever is transporting that particular client on that day, whatever the client pays, I just give the driver that.
[5:15] Roslyn Taggart: So we don't even the business doesn't even take that in.
[5:18] Roslyn Taggart: That goes straight to whoever's driving.
[5:20] Nirav Chheda: So yeah, that's awesome. I'm going to ask you something that is probably on the minds of a lot of people who have small NEMT companies or are just starting out.
[5:33] Nirav Chheda: Roslyn, you started your company this year and you started with one vehicle and now you're already up to running four vehicles a day.
[5:43] Roslyn Taggart: How are you scaling your business so Um I do a lot of um so one thing I learned that with as an um if you're comfortable um you're not in the right spot, right?
[6:02] Roslyn Taggart: in order to um in order to grow, you have to be uncomfortable.
[6:08] Roslyn Taggart: And for me, um I'm an introvert.
[6:12] Roslyn Taggart: And for me, getting out and talking to people and promoting the business and doing my elevator pitch to the right people, um that took me out of my comfort zone, but it allowed me to grow my business.
[6:26] Roslyn Taggart: I do a lot of um resource events in the community.
[6:30] Roslyn Taggart: Um, so if there's a health fair somewhere, um, I'm there with our with our, um, you know, our table and we passing out, you know, swag bags and it has all of our information in it.
[6:42] Roslyn Taggart: And what I found was a lot of people think that when you do those resource events, you're are you're attracting actual potential clients, but what I found was I was attracting uh business connections and networking connections, which is
[7:01] Roslyn Taggart: how I was able to get the contract with the transportation um you're talking to different um when you talk and meet with the people that um the decisions in your community.
[7:17] Roslyn Taggart: So, you're talking to council members, you're talking to mayors, you're talking to uh people who's over the department of aging.
[7:23] Roslyn Taggart: Um, so you're getting right to the root of the person that can help get your, you know, these contracts.
[7:31] Roslyn Taggart: Um, and letting them know, hey, there is a there's a need, you know, as far as um, as an example, insurance does not cover transportation for um, individuals, right?
[7:47] Roslyn Taggart: But as I mentioned before, although insurance doesn't cover leisure transport, right?
[7:53] Roslyn Taggart: that is a major part of um you know people's mental right so why why you have a growing number of our baby boomers who are aging in place right and they're living alone and there one major gap that
[8:12] Roslyn Taggart: I found was transportation right and so um I went and talked to um as an example uh the director of Department of Aging and I asked the question, hey, what are we doing to support, you know, our seniors
[8:28] Roslyn Taggart: who are aging in place to help them go grocery shopping, help them um go to, you know, get vaccinated to these vaccine appointments, things like that where these types of um means of transportation are not covered under the
[8:42] Roslyn Taggart: insurance. And, you know, the first question they say, you know, answer they said, you know, we haven't thought about that.
[8:48] Roslyn Taggart: You know, thank you for bringing it up.
[8:49] Roslyn Taggart: And so, there is a need.
[8:50] Roslyn Taggart: So when with with the transportation um industry specifically um as it relates to um there is definitely a gap.
[9:04] Roslyn Taggart: And so when I go out and talk to these people and I'm letting them know, hey, we're here to fill this gap, right?
[9:11] Roslyn Taggart: Um those are the contracts that I've been able to uh touch base with because now they put us in touch Uh centers, right?
[9:33] Roslyn Taggart: who need transportation for those that are aging to come to their centers or they'll put us in contact with memory care facilities who need transportation for you know those who are on dialysis that need to transport and they may
[9:48] Roslyn Taggart: have like Alzheimer's or they have those contacts and they can talk to the right person for you.
[9:54] Roslyn Taggart: Um so that's kind of how I did it.
[9:58] Roslyn Taggart: I didn't really go um I know a lot of transportation providers they do a lot of um boots to ground and they go and knock on doors but I went like um I went talked to our council members.
[10:15] Roslyn Taggart: I talked to, like I said, our mayors.
[10:17] Roslyn Taggart: I talked to uh I went to um different um events such as um what do you call it when they're running for office like u fundraising events, right?
[10:31] Roslyn Taggart: And talk to those individuals and let them know, hey, we're here.
[10:35] Roslyn Taggart: This is what we're doing and we're trying to fill this gap community.
[10:38] Roslyn Taggart: I know that you're running for office.
[10:40] Roslyn Taggart: What are you going to do to help this community of people?
[10:43] Roslyn Taggart: Right? And so by having those conversations, they put me in contact with the right people to make, you know, those things happen.
[10:51] Roslyn Taggart: And those were some of the larger contracts that I was able to obtain.
[10:55] Nirav Chheda: Okay, that is a really smart and efficient way of networking rather than banging on doors and you know, going all over the place.
[11:08] Roslyn Taggart: Straight to the straight official straight to the head.
[11:13] Nirav Chheda: Straight to the head. I like it.
[11:23] Nirav Chheda: more for now. So, you've done the right kind of networking, generating demand for your business, filling in the needs, social determinants of health.
[11:34] Nirav Chheda: You need to get your I don't know business essentials in place, right?
[11:40] Nirav Chheda: Like your insurance, your vehicles, your drivers, Tell us about how you're actually practically putting the pieces together to grow the business.
[11:51] Roslyn Taggart: So, my drivers I go through um one of the main things that I've done is I use the um Small Business Administration, SBA, as a resource as well.
[12:06] Roslyn Taggart: And um they were very helpful.
[12:10] Roslyn Taggart: I was able to um get a lot of my drivers through um the workforce development board.
[12:18] Roslyn Taggart: And so they um provide on the job training for um employees that you want to hire.
[12:26] Roslyn Taggart: Um specifically with B811, I'm I we're looking for I mean driving experience is a plus.
[12:35] Roslyn Taggart: But what I tell everyone who I've interviewed, what we're looking for is a individual that comes along with empathy.
[12:43] Roslyn Taggart: Like I can teach you how to drive.
[12:45] Roslyn Taggart: I can teach you, you can do all the training, but the one key um skill set that you can you can't teach an individual is empathy.
[12:54] Roslyn Taggart: And in order to be successful in this business, you have to have empathy of the people that you're transporting.
[13:01] Roslyn Taggart: Um and as I mentioned before, a lot of times um because these these individuals are veteran and you know, they're very limited to the people that they come in contact with.
[13:12] Roslyn Taggart: So, if I'm transporting you day in and day out, three days a week, you know, uh, four weeks, you know, out of the, you know, every week for the month or whatever, um, we know every last one of
[13:26] Roslyn Taggart: our clients by first name. We know their family history, where they come from, um, their background.
[13:35] Roslyn Taggart: Um, we we're in contact with their family members, their wives, their kids.
[13:41] Roslyn Taggart: Um um they call us, you know, if they need we had a client who was on oxygen and she we transport her all the time and she needed some um some distilled water because her oxygen tank was running
[13:58] Roslyn Taggart: out of water. She know she didn't have anybody else to call, right?
[14:01] Roslyn Taggart: And so she called us and said, you know, can you do you mind bringing some water because my oxygen is, you know, it needs water or whatever.
[14:10] Roslyn Taggart: Um, and that comes from us having that sense of empathy with our all of our clients.
[14:17] Roslyn Taggart: And so, um, we've partnered with workforce development board to provide the on job training for our drivers.
[14:25] Roslyn Taggart: Um, and what we do is when our drivers come on board, we have them go through all the series of the credentialing and then we do like a ride along with our current um, drivers and OJT or workforce
[14:39] Roslyn Taggart: development board provides that OJT um, funding and so we're able to scale as far as employees because we partner with them on that sense.
[14:50] Roslyn Taggart: Um, a lot of if we have drivers that come in with experience, then they would not qualify for that program.
[14:56] Roslyn Taggart: So, it's typically drivers or uh applicants who lack experience in that area.
[15:02] Roslyn Taggart: And again, we're not too much concerned about lack of experience because we can teach you how to drive.
[15:08] Roslyn Taggart: Just empathy aspect of it that we are most um we're most concerned with.
[15:14] Roslyn Taggart: Uh the insurance uh that was just kind of calling around.
[15:18] Roslyn Taggart: We attended the uh the NITA tag conference uh to this be our second year that we attended this year.
[15:26] Roslyn Taggart: So we made a lot of contacts then um and network did a lot of networking.
[15:33] Roslyn Taggart: So that's how we were able to find the right insurance agency to help us as far as getting the proper insurance on our vehicles.
[15:43] Roslyn Taggart: Um so yeah that was again it's just a matter of networking and and knowing who to talk to.
[15:52] Roslyn Taggart: Uh I have um I have business advisors who I seek out and talk to from time to time to get advice on you know different areas that I may lack knowledge of because this is all news to me
[16:09] Roslyn Taggart: right. So um I would say like you know there's an old saying if you're the smartest one in the room then you're in the wrong room.
[16:16] Roslyn Taggart: So I try to surround myself with individuals who are um have more knowledge in a certain area than I do so I can go to them and pick their brain about certain things.
[16:25] Roslyn Taggart: So um and that's helped out a lot as well.
[16:34] Nirav Chheda: going forward over the next year?
[16:38] Roslyn Taggart: Um, so we're looking to scale in other counties.
[16:42] Roslyn Taggart: We are in a process of bringing on two more vans, uh, possibly three, um, and looking to scale into other counties and other, um, other, uh, facilities.
[16:55] Roslyn Taggart: We do have a couple of larger contracts um, in the making.
[16:59] Roslyn Taggart: Um, we have a contract in the works for Southern California for um for a facility, a very large facility and uh right now we operate in Solano County, but we're looking to expand here within the next month or
[17:15] Roslyn Taggart: so to Contra Costa County and as well as um Alameda County.
[17:21] Roslyn Taggart: and so yeah, that's basically just scaling out to other counties with other um transportation authority um agencies um and like I said other facilities and um you know transporting um uh or being a primary transport provider for these
[17:42] Nirav Chheda: other uh adult daycare Let me ask you this.
[17:49] Nirav Chheda: So, you started out with one vehicle and now you've quickly ramped up to four over the course of a couple of months.
[17:58] Nirav Chheda: What was, if any, some mistakes you made or things that you wished you knew when you were just starting out that, you know, pitfalls that you would avoid when you're scaling so fast?
[18:12] Roslyn Taggart: I would do a thorough research on the vans.
[18:18] Roslyn Taggart: Um, my very first van was a Toyota Sienna and a lot of it um came from the fact that I wasn't really looking at it being my full-time business.
[18:34] Roslyn Taggart: It was like really like a side hustle.
[18:37] Roslyn Taggart: Um, and it scaled very very quickly because of um, who I was networking to and how I was conducting my networking with all of these individuals.
[18:48] Roslyn Taggart: So, it was able to scale quickly.
[18:50] Roslyn Taggart: If I knew then what I know now, I would have selected a different van.
[18:56] Roslyn Taggart: because um the van that the one van that we have, we only can transport one person at a one wheelchair individual at a time.
[19:07] Roslyn Taggart: Um so I would have selected a van that we can at least transport at least two individuals at a time.
[19:13] Roslyn Taggart: I would have selected a van that has a rear entries versus a side entry because a side entry kind of limits the size of the wheelchair that you can transport.
[19:23] Roslyn Taggart: Um, so I would have did a lot more research in that sense.
[19:27] Roslyn Taggart: Um, I probably would not have gotten um I probably would invested in more wheelchair vans and the ambulatory Okay.
[19:39] Roslyn Taggart: Um, I probably would have um more uh facilities instead of the brokers.
[20:00] Roslyn Taggart: Um, if I was to get contracts with the um, the the pay is a little more lucrative.
[20:08] Roslyn Taggart: and going with a broker, so it's just, you know, it's a learning curve.
[20:15] Roslyn Taggart: It's a lot of different things I would have done differently, but I mean, I'm not um I wouldn't change too much.
[20:26] Roslyn Taggart: Uh, we've been very uh blessed as far as where we've what we have thus far in the business.
[20:34] Roslyn Taggart: Um, so I would change the one of the one major thing I would change if any would be the type of van that I purchased at the beginning.
[20:41] Roslyn Taggart: Uh, I would have purchased like I said or bigger vans that can hold more wheelchairs than the smaller one.
[20:48] Nirav Chheda: But like would you try to get vans that can hold two wheelchairs at once?
[20:54] Roslyn Taggart: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Because now if we're if we have to pick up a client and uh let's say another client um is you know their appointment ended early or whatever the case may be.
[21:12] Roslyn Taggart: With one of our vans, we have the capacity to pick up two two individuals at one time.
[21:18] Roslyn Taggart: In Sienna, we have to go drop that person off and then come back to the exact same place we just left.
[21:25] Roslyn Taggart: So, it's not uh you know it's it's more costly as far as gas and time.
[21:32] Roslyn Taggart: Like the one thing that I've learned with this industry, time is of the essence.
[21:36] Roslyn Taggart: Like timing and time management is crucial.
[21:40] Roslyn Taggart: Like that is like the main thing.
[21:42] Roslyn Taggart: Um scheduling out your routes and making sure that you know everything is is timed correctly is key to the business.
[21:51] Nirav Chheda: So, speaking of scheduling and time management, um, got to do a quick plug for Bambi.
[22:01] Nirav Chheda: How has that helped you? Tremendous.
[22:04] Roslyn Taggart: So, when we first started, we were [clears throat] we were spreadsheets and um the calendar on the phone.
[22:13] Roslyn Taggart: Okay. And um that quick quickly very quickly became very difficult to manage.
[22:21] Roslyn Taggart: And so um um scheduling with Bambi is been amazing.
[22:28] Roslyn Taggart: Like so every so every Sunday we do our scheduling for the week.
[22:35] Roslyn Taggart: Um we assign the trips to the drivers and we assign the vehicles to the drivers.
[22:41] Roslyn Taggart: Um, and um, like I was saying earlier, I have the app on my phone, so I can make changes on the fly on the phone if necessary.
[22:53] Roslyn Taggart: Um, and what's what the one thing that I like about it, it's very similar to the apps that the broker uses for their drivers.
[23:02] Roslyn Taggart: The the driver app is very similar to the driver app for some of the brokers.
[23:07] Roslyn Taggart: um where and then I also like the feature where you have to do the vehicle inspection before each uh before your shift and at the end of your shift you have to do the inspection which helps out a
[23:21] Roslyn Taggart: lot. We had a couple of vehicles that we have to put in the shop and we were able to track all of that.
[23:26] Roslyn Taggart: So, we went to the shop and we were able to give the um uh the dealer a lot of information because on the phone, you know, we were able to pull up the report and give it to him.
[23:38] Roslyn Taggart: So, that kind of helped out too.
[23:39] Roslyn Taggart: So, but yeah, Bambi is like Bambi was a lifesaver.
[23:45] Roslyn Taggart: He was a lifesaver. Bambi is a lifesaver.
[23:53] Nirav Chheda: button? Do you use that? How how does it work for you?
[23:57] Roslyn Taggart: I do use it. Um, what I found, so if it's just like a lot of times if we have a lot going on on a day, I don't use it because I have to be strategic about um I
[24:12] Roslyn Taggart: have to be strategic about placing a client with a driver only because as I mentioned earlier, we deal with we our number one is empathy, right?
[24:26] Roslyn Taggart: And so I like to keep my drivers with certain clients because they're familiar with one another.
[24:32] Roslyn Taggart: They know, you know, the drivers know the client and the client know.
[24:35] Roslyn Taggart: So I like to keep it that way.
[24:38] Roslyn Taggart: So a lot of times when I do the Run Bambi Run, it doesn't um, you know, they don't know that this driver knows this client, you know what I mean?
[24:46] Roslyn Taggart: So I have to make some adjustments in that sense.
[24:49] Roslyn Taggart: However, what I typically do is I'll do the Run Bambi Run.
[24:53] Roslyn Taggart: I'll let it do its thing and then I'll go back and adjust it if necessary.
[24:58] Roslyn Taggart: Uh, I do it that way.
[25:00] Nirav Chheda: Okay. So, would you say most of the time you're doing Run Bambi Run and then you'll make some adjustments if you need 99% of the time I do 99% of the time you're doing Run Bambi Run. Yeah.
[25:14] Roslyn Taggart: I like the reporting. Um because of my contracts, um we do a lot of um uh reconciliation with reporting and so um Bambi helps as far as um the reporting and making sure our numbers match our contract uh
[25:34] Roslyn Taggart: our vendor's numbers. So I really like the I use that a lot.
[25:39] Roslyn Taggart: I use I do reporting every every week, once a week I do reporting.
[25:42] Roslyn Taggart: So I really like the reporting.
[25:44] Roslyn Taggart: I went from three rides in March to 60 rides in April.
[25:48] Roslyn Taggart: We are in November. I think I had 70 rides last week.
[25:54] Roslyn Taggart: So, it kind of ramped up from there.
[25:56] Roslyn Taggart: Um But um my son um he he has he lost his job.
[26:07] Roslyn Taggart: Like there's competitor transport company. different transportation provider companies that I've never even paid attention to.
[26:23] Roslyn Taggart: Yeah, same year, you know. Um, so my son had lost his job in March, March 1st, he lost his job.
[26:32] Roslyn Taggart: And so, um, I was like, "Yeah, you can't help me out, you know, driving until you find, you know, something else or whatever." And then as I mentioned, we went from small ridership in March to it like increased
[26:49] Roslyn Taggart: over a,000% in April. And at first it was just he and I um driving and um he quickly learned the business.
[27:02] Roslyn Taggart: Um he quickly learned um about like I was mentioning before that empathy aspect.
[27:11] Roslyn Taggart: Um a lot of our clients love they love Jared.
[27:18] Roslyn Taggart: Um if there's whatever reason I have to pick up a client that where's Jared or Jared usually drives this way or he usually pushes me this way.
[27:27] Roslyn Taggart: Um and so um and then he's also he's also trained other employees on how to deal with he's trained them on wheelchair securement because we when we did the training with Howard, Howard did train a trainer.
[27:43] Roslyn Taggart: So he trained us on how to train um uh incoming employees.
[27:50] Roslyn Taggart: So he's so my son has trained other employees on wheelchair securement and safety and things like that.
[27:56] Roslyn Taggart: he's also trained them on that, like I was saying, the empathy aspect, but literally um I don't know what um I don't know where this company would be if I didn't have him, you know, my son driving for
[28:11] Roslyn Taggart: me because there's no way I could have handled doing this with just me by myself.
[28:17] Roslyn Taggart: Uh and so he's kind of like taking the lead on all of this.
[28:24] Roslyn Taggart: now there have been times that I had to sit him down a couple of times because, you know, he did like a no call, no show a couple of times.
[28:35] Roslyn Taggart: And um, and I had to like, you know, like kind of like sit him down, let him know, hey, you know, if you're not going to be able to, you know, work this day because this is your job.
[28:49] Roslyn Taggart: if you're not if you can't work, you know, just call and let somebody know so we can schedule accordingly.
[28:54] Roslyn Taggart: And so that was a learning curve for him.
[28:58] Roslyn Taggart: But he has since like stepped up and he's been a lot more responsible and a lot more a a lot more reliable.
[29:06] Nirav Chheda: He is a huge He's probably one of your biggest advocates for Bambi.
[29:12] Roslyn Taggart: Oh yeah. Yeah. like sat like Sunday if he'll he'll you know call me uh cuz he know I did the scheduling Saturday or Sunday.
[29:23] Roslyn Taggart: Sunday about 5:00 uh he'll call me.
[29:27] Roslyn Taggart: So I'm not picking up so and so tomorrow.
[29:30] Roslyn Taggart: I I'm doing the scheduling right now.
[29:31] Roslyn Taggart: Give me a second. So he's always watching and licking and updating looking for updates on Bambi.
[29:38] Roslyn Taggart: Always like he is like one of the biggest fans of Bambi.
[29:42] Roslyn Taggart: Um he lives and breathes uh that Bambi driver app.
[29:48] Roslyn Taggart: Like that's like his go-to uh for everything.
[29:52] Roslyn Taggart: Uh and he'll even say, "Hey, um you know, so I don't have so and so on my schedule.
[30:00] Roslyn Taggart: Oh, I forgot to add him.
[30:01] Roslyn Taggart: I forgot to." Or if we um have like a uh like a on demand call or something.
[30:07] Roslyn Taggart: Yeah. And I'll say I'll call him and say, you know, can you pick so and so what from, you know, this location?
[30:14] Roslyn Taggart: Just put it on the app, right?
[30:16] Nirav Chheda: Cuz he's constantly Is there is there an indicator that tells them that somebody was added on the app?
[30:26] Nirav Chheda: Like uh if a trip was added to his So the drivers get a push notification once when their schedule gets changed.
[30:34] Roslyn Taggart: If someone gets added, like a trip gets because um he knows I don't know if he's always checking it or if there's a notification on there.
[30:47] Nirav Chheda: We put in that push notification update Yeah.
[30:51] Roslyn Taggart: So as soon as I add he'll call me and say so I'll pick it up you know so and so like I said he's always on that on that app.
[30:58] Roslyn Taggart: So we live and breathe he lives and breathes the uh the Bambi app.
[31:03] Roslyn Taggart: Um, so yeah, but if it wasn't for his support, like I don't know, um, you know, where we would be with it.
[31:16] Roslyn Taggart: And it's good that, um, I would say those who are fortunate enough to have adult children, um, include them in the business.
[31:28] Roslyn Taggart: can teach them even if it's just a learning as a learning um I have a I have an adult daughter as well who she doesn't drive as much she's more or less of a backup driver but she knows
[31:43] Roslyn Taggart: how to do scheduling she knows how to you know run Bambi Run she knows how to do the dispatch and how to assign team members to vehicles so she knows how to use the app um if I needed
[31:56] Roslyn Taggart: her to do so Right. Yeah.
[31:58] Roslyn Taggart: Um so if you have adult children um that can help you even though if they may not want to be a driver, it's a good skill set to for them to learn how to it's for how we look
[32:11] Roslyn Taggart: at it is more than just a transportation business, right?
[32:14] Roslyn Taggart: It's a business. Yeah. is more than just um transporting um miss you know miss so and so you know you're transporting your grandmother you're transporting your auntie and again you're teaching them different skill sets you're teaching them that
[32:32] Roslyn Taggart: empathy you're teaching them um time management you're teaching them um financing uh budgeting so it's not just this transportation business there's a whole lot of things that they can learn um in and in and working you know this
[32:50] Roslyn Taggart: business and not only that they may not want to be transportation providers but I found what this you know me having this business is planted a seed you know in them to be entrepreneurs and now they're coming up
[33:06] Roslyn Taggart: with the coffee shop you know like you how they came up with that uh they didn't come up with the idea but because They were familiar with how to run the transportation business and everything that came along with
[33:20] Roslyn Taggart: it. They are able to run the coffee shop without me.
[33:24] Roslyn Taggart: You know, I'm not always like I'm here and she's running a coffee shop.
[33:29] Roslyn Taggart: You know what I mean? So, but she learned that from, you know, you have to start somewhere.
[33:36] Roslyn Taggart: And so, and now that she's doing that, um, so Jared is looking to do like, um, do his own brokering.
[33:44] Roslyn Taggart: He's he's learning to do broker brokerage brokerage for like freight brokering.
[33:51] Roslyn Taggart: Um so again that seed is planted and it opens up doors for other things because they learning they're learning these skill sets.
[34:00] Roslyn Taggart: Um he's, you know, he interviews like he'll interview different um different um applicants that he's Um he's recruited applicants for other providers that we we've like he this person would be good.
[34:20] Roslyn Taggart: You know, I've seen him and you know, he's recruited for us and it's just good.
[34:26] Roslyn Taggart: It's it's good all the way around in so many different areas.
[34:29] Roslyn Taggart: It's a good thing to have the family business.
[34:37] Roslyn Taggart: the other thing I would add um like branding is key when you have your as a provider.
[34:48] Roslyn Taggart: Uh branding is everything and branding is not just your logo and a name and a slogan.
[34:54] Roslyn Taggart: Branding is how you present yourself.
[34:56] Roslyn Taggart: Like all of our drivers, they wear uniforms.
[35:01] Roslyn Taggart: Uh they have to be in uniform.
[35:04] Roslyn Taggart: Uh and how you handle the customers, how you handle, you know, when you go to these different facilities, how you're dealing with speaking with the different indiv individuals at these different facilities, like all of that is a part
[35:19] Roslyn Taggart: of branding. um when you're driving a vehicle, right?
[35:23] Roslyn Taggart: Even though you may not have a passenger in the car, um just how you're driving and um you're um just around town, right?
[35:45] Roslyn Taggart: Having road rage and things like that.
[35:47] Roslyn Taggart: That's all your branding cuz they see your logo on your car.
[35:51] Roslyn Taggart: You don't know who's watching. We've received so many clients just off of our um just off of our vans and they're seeing the logo and the number on the van.
[36:01] Roslyn Taggart: They'll call us, I see your driver.
[36:03] Roslyn Taggart: And he was so patient. We've we've had we've had other patients other clients that were at dialysis center and they were paying attention to how our drivers were so attentive to these clients.
[36:15] Roslyn Taggart: They reached out to us. me.
[36:17] Roslyn Taggart: What should it drive for us?
[36:18] Nirav Chheda: Right. And that's how you got new business from dialysis centers because of how your Yes.
[36:25] Roslyn Taggart: Yes. And all of that is your part of your brand.
[36:28] Roslyn Taggart: Right. All of that is branding.
[36:30] Roslyn Taggart: So people think, oh, branding is just your logo and the slogan.
[36:34] Roslyn Taggart: No, branding is your is how you represent and you present your your organization, your business, which is key, right?
[36:51] Nirav Chheda: been to the NTAC conference the last two years in a row, 2022 and 2023.
[36:59] Nirav Chheda: What are your thoughts on the conference as you know an NEMT business owner um and conference attendee?
[37:06] Nirav Chheda: Like what kind of value have you gotten from it?
[37:09] Nirav Chheda: What do you think of it?
[37:11] Roslyn Taggart: So the first year I went um I went because I was you know I was trying to seek out information about this this industry.
[37:22] Roslyn Taggart: I do like I said I knew nothing about the industry.
[37:25] Roslyn Taggart: Um and so I was just kind of there kind of feeling myself you know through and made a couple of connections.
[37:33] Roslyn Taggart: One of the main connections was with uh Howard.
[37:37] Roslyn Taggart: I was following um MJ Reliable Transportation, Monica and Jasmine, and I was surprised and happy to see them speak at the first conference and actually meet them.
[37:50] Roslyn Taggart: I felt like a groupy. I was like, "Oh my god, there they are." [laughter] Felt like a total groupy.
[37:56] Roslyn Taggart: But um just meeting those, you know, just kind of just seeing the different different things that are involved with the industry.
[38:06] Roslyn Taggart: All right. second time that I went because I was working in the industry.
[38:12] Roslyn Taggart: Um my focus was a little different like um when they were talking about um um what uh where the industry is going and things of that nature.
[38:29] Roslyn Taggart: I was paying more attention to that because I know now that has an effect on my business as a whole.
[38:36] Roslyn Taggart: um the future of uh NEMT and things like that.
[38:39] Roslyn Taggart: So like some of those larger um those larger se sessions.
[38:45] Roslyn Taggart: So the first year I didn't really go cuz I didn't know what they were talking about.
[38:48] Roslyn Taggart: I had no clue what they were talking about, right?
[38:50] Roslyn Taggart: I was more or less trying going to the smaller sessions to learn more specific details about the But the second time I went to some of the larger sessions and was learning more about where the industry is headed
[39:06] Roslyn Taggart: um and things of that nature because now I'm a little bit more involved and it makes now it makes sense now I know what they're talking about.
[39:15] Roslyn Taggart: Last year I didn't know I had no clue what they were talking about.
[39:18] Roslyn Taggart: Um, and I think each year and then I knew specifically with the different vendors who I needed to talk to to help with what I'm doing now.
[39:29] Roslyn Taggart: Last year I didn't know. I kind of went to everybody was getting a feel for everything.
[39:34] Roslyn Taggart: And um, like I said, just kind of feeling my way around.
[39:38] Roslyn Taggart: This year I knew I had a little bit more of a direct um focus on who I wanted to talk to, who I needed information from.
[39:48] Roslyn Taggart: And then now um this last time I was able to connect with other providers to kind of see what they're doing, like some that were more um that have been in the industry for a longer longer period of
[40:05] Roslyn Taggart: time. Um, I met a provider who operates in his company operates in Colorado and I think he lives in cuz he was on your panel.
[40:18] Nirav Chheda: Oh, Chris Diora. Chris, our buddy Chris, he's he his business operates in one state and he lives in a completely different state.
[40:30] Nirav Chheda: So, he's running his business remotely, Yeah.
[40:33] Roslyn Taggart: Uh that's huge. that's huge. And it's so talking and networking with those with those folks and this kind of learning from everyone else on, you know, um I learned from Chris, one of the things I learned from Chris
[40:51] Roslyn Taggart: was have a backup truck. I didn't think about that.
[40:56] Roslyn Taggart: You know, there's going to be times where your truck is going to break down.
[41:00] Roslyn Taggart: And my thought process, so this is a brand new truck is 20, you know, it's a one year or 23 brand new 2022 van.
[41:08] Roslyn Taggart: It's not going to break out.
[41:11] Roslyn Taggart: Guess what? It broke out. I mean, even if you have to take your van offline to get a car wash or to get it wrapped or to get a oil change or whatever the case may be, you need
[41:25] Roslyn Taggart: to have a backup van. I didn't think about that.
[41:27] Roslyn Taggart: And so when I talked with Chris, he was saying that he had x number of vans, but then he has like four or five backup vans just in case for whatever reason he has to take one of his
[41:36] Roslyn Taggart: vans offline. Um, so you so it's like the second year you like you go on a completely different you know, purpose than the first year.
[41:47] Roslyn Taggart: So I think each year you learn something different.
[41:50] Roslyn Taggart: It's just a matter of where you're at in the business, what you're going to get out of it.
[41:55] Roslyn Taggart: Um, but yeah, it was I think they're great.
[41:59] Roslyn Taggart: Um, I can't wait till they come on the West Oh, yeah.
[42:06] Nirav Chheda: I think next year is in Glendale, Arizona.
[42:08] Roslyn Taggart: Yeah. Yeah, I think that'll be great.
[42:10] Roslyn Taggart: It'll be hot. But yeah, that's the other thing.
[42:16] Roslyn Taggart: uh go to your um go to your transportation authority board meetings uh be a part of that to know what's happening in the transportation industry right um I made a lot of connections there um just attending those board
[42:35] Roslyn Taggart: meetings and listening to um the community when they come speak at these events or these meetings and sometimes they're monthly or bimonthly meetings and just hearing what their need is, right?
[42:49] Roslyn Taggart: And you say, "I can I can fill that gap, right?" And then you present that to the transportation authority and say, "Hey, we can fill that gap.
[42:58] Roslyn Taggart: We can fill that need." Um, yeah, cuz we're in transportation.
[43:05] Nirav Chheda: So you don't do trips most days, right?
[43:08] Nirav Chheda: Yourself or do you these days?
[43:12] Roslyn Taggart: Um, so in the beginning, so my whole thing was I didn't want to be an owner So when I designed it, I designed it whereas I was just handling office work because mind you, I was still working full-
[43:24] Roslyn Taggart: time, So I didn't have the ability to transport because I was still working full-time.
[43:31] Roslyn Taggart: And so I started off as a um, you know, as a nonoperator.
[43:38] Roslyn Taggart: And so I kind of wanted to keep it that way, but because we scale so quickly um I had no choice but to you know jump behind the wheel from time to time um to help out.
[43:54] Roslyn Taggart: So, and then now with the coffee shop running, I'm behind the wheel more often than not, um transporting and being a backup driver and things of that nature.
[44:08] Roslyn Taggart: But, um we're in the final stages of bringing on a new um employee.
[44:15] Roslyn Taggart: So, I'm hoping to have this gentleman up and running when all his credentialings completed sooner than later so he can um you know take on because by me driving uh it's hard for me to go out to get
[44:32] Roslyn Taggart: new contracts if I'm behind the wheel all the time, But got to make that s.
[44:38] Roslyn Taggart: But it's good to get out here and, you know, see what's going on because if you know the business from the ground up, you know what I mean?
[44:46] Roslyn Taggart: You know how to, you know, how to n, you know, you know how to to plan things accordingly.
[44:52] Roslyn Taggart: Versus someone that never, you know, never used a hat because they never drive were never a driver, right?
[45:02] Roslyn Taggart: they don't know how to do dispatch because they never driven the routes.
