Latest / Beyond the Wheel / Liquid Spring and Grouper

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Liquid Spring and Grouper · Beyond the Wheel

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out at atom batteries dot com, Welcome to
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the Beyond the wheel podcast. In today's episode,
1:05
we're gonna bring you the final day of
1:08
the Fm c convention. In beautiful
1:11
Tucson in 20 24.
1:13
In that's the episode, we have 2 incredible
1:16
interviews lined up for you. First, we'll be
1:18
talking to Wayne from Liquid spring, a company
1:21
that's revolution the Rv experience with their cutting
1:25
edge smart suspension system.
1:27
If you've ever dreamed of a smoother, more
1:29
comfortable ride in your Rv,
1:31
you won't wanna miss this.
1:33
Next, we'll be joined by Steve from Gru
1:36
an innovative startup in the health space.
1:39
Group is on a mission to help Medicare
1:42
eligible
1:43
individuals get out and socialize more,
1:46
improving their overall well being and quality of
1:48
life.
1:49
Mike's insights and passion for this cause really
1:52
come out in the interview, So sit back
1:54
relax and join us for these fascinating
1:57
conversations. Let's jump in.
2:00
Good morning, everybody, and welcome to day 4.
2:03
Of the Fm c convention out here in
2:05
beautiful Tucson, Arizona,
2:08
were joined by liquid spring, and we have
2:10
Wayne here, Wayne Wells from liquids spring. And,
2:13
Wayne, if you could, just kinda introduce yourself
2:16
and let us know what your role over
2:18
at liquid springs is.
2:20
Sure. Wayne Wells Liquid spring. I am the
2:23
Rv sales manager for
2:26
the liquid spring product on the Rv side
2:28
of things. So I do all of the
2:30
Oe and aftermarket sales for Rv.
2:34
Okay. And use that for the Rv side
2:35
of things. What else does? With spring... So
2:37
liquid spring, we have a... I'll give you
2:39
a quick overview of the company. If that's
2:41
okay. So we are a
2:44
compress liquid suspension. And we have suspensions for
2:47
the
2:48
ambulance,
2:49
emergency vehicle market, the adventure truck market,
2:53
transit bus,
2:55
motor home, Rv.
2:57
We're starting into some of the pick up
2:59
stuff. We also do
3:01
suspensions for big mining equipment, Like underground mining
3:04
equipment. We do... That's actually where the company
3:06
first started.
3:07
But that's just kind of a quick overview
3:09
of the company and what products we do
3:12
have currently.
3:13
We branch out into some other stuff that
3:15
specialty, but it's usually particular to a single
3:18
client at that point. Okay. And so how
3:21
would you best describe
3:24
what liquid springs does for the Rv?
3:28
So
3:29
What we have is a... Again, we have
3:31
a compress liquid suspension. So on most of
3:34
the Rv, we're removing a leaf spring suspension.
3:37
So in your standard leaf spring suspension,
3:41
it's kind of a rough ride and, you
3:43
know, what loads has to unload.
3:45
Our suspension we're using a silicone based fluid
3:48
in a closed loop hydraulic system basically, and
3:51
it absorbs the energy rather than passing it
3:53
back up into the motor home.
3:55
What you get is a very compliant ride.
3:57
So it's smooth and soft, but means it's
4:00
a liquid, we can very rapidly control how
4:02
much of that liquid the
4:04
suspension has available to can compress. So in
4:06
40 milliseconds, we can ramp the spring rate
4:09
up about 8 times.
4:11
And then back down to that compliant ride,
4:13
and it does it really fast. So when
4:15
you go around the corner,
4:17
a truck passes you augusta a wind hits
4:19
you,
4:20
it'll move once and stop. There's none of
4:22
this secondary
4:23
motion. I mean, the easiest way to describe
4:25
it is, like, when you go out of
4:27
a driveway win you're going at an angle,
4:29
and you get 4 or 5 os.
4:31
Our coach will go once and stop, and
4:34
you don't have all that secondary motion and
4:36
all the impacts in banging that's going up
4:39
into the coach, Your coach is gonna last
4:41
longer, you're gonna be more comfortable driving,
4:43
you'll be able to drive for longer distances.
4:46
I mean, if you currently, if you say,
4:48
hey, ar, driving distance is
4:50
200 miles a day, and we're gonna stop
4:52
because I'm tired. I'm beat, you could double
4:55
that without a problem. I mean, I will
4:56
drive until I have to put fuel in
4:59
the coach or have to use a restroom.
5:01
Oh okay. Yeah. I was lucky enough to
5:03
go for a test ride with with 1
5:05
of your... Class a motor homes that had
5:07
the liquid spring installed. And just like you
5:10
said you noticed the difference just coming out
5:12
of the driveway
5:13
of the parking lot, you know, currently, my
5:15
Rv beads, class A gas, and you have
5:18
that few times over rock back and forth,
5:20
but nothing like that with the liquid spring
5:22
it holds you steady. Yep. Switching lanes holds
5:25
you steady. Gust the wind was holding us
5:27
steady, but there was a also a really
5:29
nice feature that my wife and I enjoyed
5:31
that it I believe the 1 that we
5:33
test had 3 modes that we could change
5:35
it from a
5:36
sport comfort And normal. And normal. Could you
5:39
talk a little bit about.
5:41
So each 1 of those modes, the difference
5:43
between the modes is a speed at which
5:45
our suspension reacts. So comfort, it's gonna try
5:48
not to react as much.
5:50
So some of those impacts and whatnot, it's
5:52
just gonna let you kinda float over them,
5:54
it'll let the body roll a little more
5:56
as you start ramping it up. When you
5:58
get up into sport, it's very reactive. So
6:01
you'll feel the road a little more, but
6:03
you'll feel very little body role. I mean,
6:05
it's gonna
6:06
really fight. That that body role and all
6:09
those impacts.
6:10
But again,
6:12
everybody has a preferential place they like to
6:15
drive
6:17
What I tell people when they get our
6:19
suspension put on a vehicle,
6:20
drive it as
6:22
as as many times as you can in
6:24
all the different positions. Just play with it.
6:26
It's switch on the fly, so you just
6:28
push a button. It changes.
6:30
But it truly is a smart suspension. There's
6:33
very little driver intervention needed. To drive it.
6:36
Our suspension is doing all of that. And
6:38
it it is a dynamic change on a
6:41
motor home. I mean, I
6:43
to I tell people. It's hard for me
6:45
to over sell it because it really does
6:47
what we say it's gonna do. Yeah. Yeah.
6:49
It was really a a nice. Experience, I
6:51
also noticed. I don't know if you noticed
6:53
this as well, but I felt as if
6:54
when we came to a stop, we didn't
6:56
have that forward
6:59
lean in when stopping also. It they kept
7:01
us level even pulling up to us Yeah,
7:03
a red light. Yeah. It it absolutely. That's
7:06
Our suspension is sensing speeds during braking and
7:09
ride height, and that's what's telling you what
7:11
to do. So it's always trying to maintain
7:14
that level plane.
7:16
And, yeah, it won't dive. You don't get
7:17
a lot of brake dive. I would venture
7:19
a guess, And I mean, I've never really
7:20
tested it, but I'd venture to get in
7:22
a class a gas motor home. You're gonna
7:24
stop.
7:25
30 feet shorter for at 60 miles an
7:27
hour because you don't get that momentum pushing
7:30
you forward. Yeah. I would I would assume
7:32
the same. Yeah. And when you're getting this
7:35
installed, is it by Axle or you do
7:37
you have... You do all
7:39
all
7:40
axles
7:41
at once. So some vehicles we only have
7:44
rear.
7:45
Some vehicles we have front and rear, you...
7:48
With our suspension, you have to do a
7:49
rear.
7:50
We won't do a front without a rear.
7:53
Most customers
7:55
to this point, they're gonna wanna do 4...
7:57
I mean, they do 4 corners.
7:59
There are some manufacturers where they only offered
8:01
it as a rear suspension
8:04
out of the factory and most of those
8:06
customers or a lot of those customers have
8:07
come back to us and had a front
8:09
put on.
8:10
I mean, it's it is truly dynamic
8:13
what it does for a vehicle, and that's
8:15
why we try when we come to a
8:16
show to we try to bring a motor
8:19
home with us for people to test drive.
8:21
Like at this show, we have we have
8:22
a Win out there. We're doing test drives
8:25
and
8:26
we brought a super seat to this show,
8:28
we actually brought a renegade that we have
8:30
fitted that on Sunday, if... I mean, if
8:33
anybody's at the show watching this. I don't
8:34
know when you air.
8:35
We'll have it ready... We will take it
8:37
for rides after when the show closes just
8:39
because of where it is. But
8:41
again, if you're at the show and you
8:43
wanna do a test drive, We're in booth
8:45
03:01 here come see us and we will
8:47
absolutely love to take you for a ride.
8:49
And what about, like, tag axle motor homes?
8:52
How does it just get installed on 1
8:54
of those tag axles? To this point, we
8:56
haven't done any tag axle motor homes,
8:59
but it would be all... It would be
9:01
all all points. If we did a suspension
9:03
on a tag. We...
9:05
At this point, I'm trying to think if
9:07
we've done any tag axle
9:09
or 6 axle vehicles. I don't know that
9:12
we've done 1, but I know we do
9:13
all 6 corners if it had a tag.
9:16
Also back at at the hershey show when
9:17
I was speaking with you. You were telling
9:19
me about something called
9:21
true level? True Earth leveling. True earth leveling.
9:23
Could you explain so a little bit what
9:25
that is? So we're just releasing that right
9:27
now. It's really...
9:29
Will probably start shipping that product in the
9:33
middle to the end of April. But basically,
9:35
it allows you to level your coat with
9:38
our suspension, so the jacks don't even have
9:40
to go down. So if you're somewhere where
9:41
you can't use Jacks, it'll level. If you're
9:44
somewhere you don't wanna mess with the jacks
9:47
Mh. It'll... I mean, it and it will
9:49
stay right where you put it. Yeah. That's
9:51
nice. It's and, you know, I I have...
9:54
D is starting to offer a vehicle on
9:57
the Iso 5 with our suspension,
10:00
and they're calling at their extreme edition. They're
10:02
putting on
10:04
oversized tires and wheels and what... But they're
10:06
just... They're removing the standard
10:09
leveling system off the coach and using ours
10:11
is their leveling system. So somewhat like air
10:13
leveling on a diesel go or a air
10:15
ride coach. Okay. And what about,
10:18
just
10:19
installation. This is something that... Are are there
10:22
dealers around the country that can install this
10:24
or do they have to come directly to
10:25
you? No. We have dealers all over the
10:28
country. So if you're if you're somewhere around
10:30
the country, and you wanna know
10:32
what we have. If you go to our
10:34
website, it has a dealer locator or feel
10:36
free to call the... Call our facility, and
10:38
we will help you find a shop. But,
10:40
yeah. It's... We have lots of dealers around
10:42
the country that do a very good job
10:44
for us, just
10:45
everybody needs to bear in mind that if
10:47
you have a suspension put on a coach
10:49
that's already built, it's gonna be... If you
10:51
do front rates, it's gonna be about a
10:52
5 day event.
10:54
I mean, it'll take a while. It's it's
10:56
about 40 hours of install time. And it's
10:58
not a Diy type of thing. Yeah. We've
11:00
had... I've had a few people do that,
11:02
but it I try to give them that
11:04
warning upfront that you better you better be
11:07
prepared and you better have some real tools.
11:08
Okay. Yeah Yeah. I mean, it's it's it
11:10
well. I mean, if you've ever taken a
11:12
leaf spring pack out of a vehicle,
11:14
that's basically what you're doing 4 times.
11:18
And then you have the holes you out.
11:19
It's it's a job. I mean, it's
11:22
I would encourage you if you're gonna have
11:23
1 done to take it to a professional.
11:25
Other than lease springs being removed of the
11:28
Rv. Anything else that comes off the stock
11:30
suspension? So shock absorbers go away, leaf Springs
11:34
go away. Pretty much everything else will stay
11:37
in place,
11:39
you know, aftermarket products, if you've had if
11:41
you have aftermarket products on,
11:43
most of that will go away also.
11:46
If you have a steering stabilizer of some
11:48
sort, that that'll stay. But pretty much everything
11:51
else is gonna
11:53
be removed with our suspension. Okay. I would
11:55
think with a
11:57
a silicone
11:59
fluid in there,
12:01
and the pressures,
12:03
it's gotta be pretty solid so the weight
12:05
gotta be in
12:07
incredible.
12:08
The weight of our suspension. Yeah. Oh, it's...
12:10
Yeah. We... So like on an f 53
12:12
chassis, if you do both front and rear,
12:14
It's gonna add about 550
12:16
pounds to your coach. Add.
12:18
Oh, after you take everything off and put
12:20
ours on. You know, and most coaches,
12:22
not a problem at all. There are some
12:25
coaches that it's your
12:27
bouncing against that G w anyway. Right. Most
12:29
of them are have have plenty of capacity.
12:32
Okay.
12:33
We do the the full testing before we'll
12:35
put 1 on the road, and
12:38
it's it's not over I over designed, but
12:40
it's definitely not gonna not gonna have a
12:43
failure. I mean, we have vehicles out there
12:44
on the ambulance side that have
12:47
750000
12:49
miles on and now. Nice.
12:51
And you had said that some people do
12:53
wanna tackle this like, a as a Diy.
12:56
Project. But I know, you know, what there
12:57
is a computer component to it because you
12:59
do have the different modes. Is this something
13:01
that after it's installed needs to be programmed?
13:03
Is it the computer... Or our system when
13:06
you install it will calibrate itself.
13:09
You push a button and it will it
13:10
will actually calibrate the heights and everything on
13:13
it.
13:14
All the vehicles are built for that particular
13:17
vehicle. So we have a standard program that's
13:20
in that software when you get it.
13:23
So it'll do... I mean, you do have
13:24
to tap into the elect electrical system on
13:27
the vehicle to get some of the signals
13:29
now. On the motor homes, almost all the
13:31
motor homes have up fitter wires that are
13:33
run for that purpose. So you're not having
13:35
to cut into something you shouldn't be. I
13:38
mean, there's a blunt cut wire under the
13:40
dash for what we're doing. Okay. And then,
13:44
after it's installed...
13:46
What does the owner have to do as
13:48
far as
13:49
preventive maintenance or anything like that? There really
13:51
is no
13:52
preventing maintenance other than a visual inspect. And
13:55
check the fluid once in a while.
13:58
We do recommend after you... When you have
14:00
a suspension put on, after you've driven it
14:02
for 1500 miles, either have a re torque
14:04
or do a visual inspection of the torque
14:06
marks on it. Just to make sure, I
14:08
mean... And that's just standard suspension Yeah. Lingo.
14:11
But truly our suspension is relatively
14:14
bullet bulletproof. I mean, you know, it's mechanical.
14:16
There's things that... But for the most part,
14:18
on a motor home, the duty cycle so
14:21
low
14:22
compared to the other end industries we're in
14:24
that we don't have a lot of issues
14:26
with that kind of stuff. So no,
14:28
fluid changes, oil chain or anything...
14:30
Fluids lifetime, we we do have a filter
14:34
under there for it's basically a for moisture,
14:38
and it starts out. It's bright pink kind,
14:41
and it'll... If it gets to where it's
14:43
white,
14:44
change that filter. But again, on the motor
14:46
home side of stuff,
14:48
I doubt very seriously, very many motor homes
14:50
will ever have to change that. The ambulance
14:52
guys seem to go places that maybe they
14:55
should or, well. They have to, but Motor
14:57
homes aren't gonna go in those same types
14:59
of situations where they're driving through water, they
15:01
they really shouldn't be going through in that
15:03
type of thing. But we just wanna keep
15:05
fluid out of our system. How long has
15:07
liquid spring been around? Liquid springs been in
15:10
business for about 25 years. We've really been
15:13
on highway for about 12 years.
15:16
And that was the ambulance market started that,
15:19
and just a little background on that. So
15:21
they came into the ambulance market kind of
15:24
slow,
15:24
And that was the market they started in.
15:26
And within a year,
15:28
year and a half, they had about 98
15:30
percent of all ambulance market in the Us
15:33
and Canada. We're using our suspension they basically,
15:36
air suspension went away from that market
15:38
completely. I mean, it's... It is a very...
15:41
Like, you you took you took it for
15:43
a ride. It's a very dynamic product. It
15:45
does exactly what what we say it does.
15:48
Yeah. I would say that
15:49
it increases confidence behind the quote for store.
15:52
If you have somebody that were won't... If
15:54
you have somebody that won't drive, If you
15:55
have a partner that won't drive the coach,
15:57
put them in 1 of ours and they'll
15:58
drive it. Yeah. It was at Sabrina Drew
16:01
and she doesn't drive ours at all.
16:03
What about things like,
16:05
you know, there's a lot of Rv ears
16:07
now going to vans.
16:09
Van size vehicles.
16:11
Could you see a liquid spring suspension being
16:14
put on those? We are working that direction.
16:16
We're kinda downsizing right now. We're slowly going
16:19
into the pickup market, and after the pickup
16:22
market, I would guess we will probably go
16:24
to some of the band type stuff, the
16:25
transit and the prom masters.
16:28
We have some of that we're doing a
16:29
little bit on the ambulance side that we're
16:31
just starting. But
16:32
right now... So to give you on the
16:35
Rv side of things, we can do
16:38
all the e series stuff,
16:40
we can do the f 05:56
16:42
hundreds,
16:43
the
16:44
Ram 55 hundreds,
16:46
all the f 50 threes from 16 to
16:48
26000,
16:50
the
16:51
international M mv 06:07,
16:53
the Cv,
16:55
the
16:56
chevy 55 hundreds. We basically cover all of
16:59
that, and we're we're trying to get more
17:01
and more product. But again, we are
17:04
vehicle specific. So it's it's a little bit
17:07
more challenging. I mean, a design cycle on
17:10
a
17:11
suspension is gonna be
17:12
at least 6 months probably closer to a
17:14
year. So,
17:16
the next 1 we're kinda heading toward
17:19
is probably gonna be the freight liner
17:21
M2S2
17:22
Rv stuff because we seem to get a
17:24
lot of calls for those. Okay. And the...
17:27
You said easier. So Class C motor hung
17:29
Well, yeah. Yeah. That you you. Yeah. We
17:31
can do e 03:54
17:33
50.
17:34
We do some... We do... I mean, we
17:36
actually retrofit.
17:37
Pretty good number of those.
17:39
We really haven't gone after the
17:41
Oe market on those, just price point is
17:44
more of an issue on those. You're putting
17:46
it in, say an f 01:50?
17:48
Do do they... Does it alter their payload
17:50
in any way? The... Not no. We're we're
17:52
gonna match G w. We're never gonna... Say,
17:55
oh, you can carry more. That's what I
17:57
was. That's I mean, could you? Absolutely. But
18:00
we will never say that. Well do already
18:03
hand here. Yeah. They they do. But but
18:05
the liability factor of that 1 is...
18:09
Okay. Yes. So we do... We we we
18:12
do all the Fm shows.
18:14
We do Hershey and Tampa,
18:16
and then it's kinda hit and miss what
18:17
else we do. We we do those 4
18:19
shows pretty much when it... Wherever they're at.
18:22
Okay. We do some dealers or manufacturer
18:26
rallies just because they use our products, So
18:29
some of the manufacturers do use our product,
18:31
we will be at their rallies,
18:33
mainly Hershey Tampa and the 2 Fm shows.
18:35
Okay. That's it. Go ahead. Because I was
18:37
just say, I really feel like this is
18:39
a product that you don't appreciate until you
18:41
get behind the wheel and and actually experience
18:44
it for yourself. Yeah. And and then we
18:47
kinda try to get the coaches around the
18:49
country different dealerships and put out on... If
18:51
you watch our website, we try to put
18:53
out on our website, hey, we're gonna have
18:54
our coach at. Wherever in this city, and
18:57
it'll be there for... We try to do
18:59
that because you are correct. The way to
19:01
sell our product,
19:03
get behind the wheel or get in the
19:05
front seat of it. Yeah. It doesn't matter
19:07
which 1 you're in, you will know it
19:08
like that. Yep.
19:10
So I know you mentioned 1 platform that's
19:12
gonna
19:14
gonna start in installing at the factory.
19:17
There's other...
19:18
Manufacturers where you can get it as a
19:20
factory as a factory option. We have we
19:22
have a few different manufacturers, Rev offers our
19:25
product on all other
19:27
stuff as a factory option. Phoenix Cruiser offers.
19:30
It is a factory option,
19:33
Hoo your cruiser, which are both kinda small,
19:35
but they're e series base. They're both... They
19:38
both offered his factory option.
19:40
D,
19:42
Win is just kinda just starting to come
19:45
on.
19:46
We have some others. I won't I won't
19:48
throw those out Yet. But we have others
19:49
that are coming, just
19:51
truly check check with either us or your
19:54
manufacturer, if you... If that's something you really
19:56
want as a vehicle out of the factory
19:58
with it, There are more all all the
20:00
time coming board with us.
20:02
If if somebody were to have this installed
20:04
aftermarket,
20:05
what type of warranty are you looking at
20:07
with it? We've got a 5 year hundred
20:09
thousand mile warranty on the suspension, a 50004
20:14
year on the wearables, but
20:16
I will tell you on our suspension on
20:19
a motor home. I'm
20:21
I I don't I don't see anybody wearing
20:22
any of our stuff out. That's great. A
20:24
hundred thousand miles. Warranty.
20:26
Well,
20:27
and and that's basically written around the ambulance
20:30
side of stuff because they put lots of
20:32
miles, but
20:34
truly, I mean, we we do our best
20:37
to stand behind anything. I mean, if somebody's
20:39
having a problem, we will take care of
20:40
them. That is, 1 of the things that
20:42
our company is very good about. We're... We
20:44
want our customer satisfied.
20:46
Word to mouse sells more of our product
20:48
than anything.
20:49
In my younger days, I did drive an
20:51
ambulance for a while, and I I really
20:53
could've of probably appreciated
20:56
a product like that because there are some
20:58
times when you're going around corner that, you
21:00
know, you're worried. Because that box in the
21:02
back really starts to lean. Well, and, you
21:04
know, you have a Emt back they're trying
21:07
to put an Iv. And so, I mean,
21:08
there's
21:10
truly, the way they kinda went into the
21:11
ambulance market, it was a little bit before
21:13
I started there was with the neonatal stuff.
21:17
And then, apparently, there's a frequency
21:20
with a
21:21
premature baby that if they get outside of
21:23
a frequency range, it causes lots of problems,
21:26
Well, our... They
21:28
university of Texas or somebody did a study
21:31
and went through all this and they determined
21:34
our our system kept it with inside that
21:37
range.
21:38
So we started doing some neo... Or they
21:40
started doing some neonatal stuff, and from there,
21:43
they'd get into a house,
21:45
and
21:46
you drove an ambulance where you drove 1
21:48
with and 1 with that what we wanted
21:50
on this 1. And I mean, it just...
21:51
Kinda snowball and it rolled really fast. Yeah.
21:54
I've bet. I think that's all of our
21:55
questions for you, wayne. Unless there's something that
21:57
we miss, there's something that make... We should
21:59
have highlighted that we didn't ask you it.
22:01
No. I think you... I think we hit
22:02
the highlights.
22:04
Again, if anybody has any questions about our
22:07
product, to
22:08
wants to know more information, liquid spring dot
22:11
com
22:12
or contact me direct w wells at liquid
22:15
spring dot com,
22:17
and pretty much my phone number's all over
22:19
anyway,
22:20
my cell phone number, if you wanna call
22:22
it direct is 05:03 07:09 80 901.
22:25
Or reach out to the office, any way
22:28
you wanna do it. But if you want
22:29
more details, please reach out to somebody from
22:31
liquid spring, we will give you anything we
22:34
can Alright. Great. Alright. Great. Thank you so
22:36
much.
22:38
We wanna thank echo 1 adventures for sponsoring
22:40
our trip to the Fm c convention. Echo
22:43
1 adventures is a company that does electrical
22:46
installs in all types of Rv and rents
22:48
travel trailers fully outfitted for off grid living.
22:51
To learn more about them, go to echo
22:53
1 adventures dot com. Thanks again to echo
22:56
1 adventures for their support.
22:59
Welcome back everybody to day 4
23:02
episode 2 out here at the Fm c
23:04
convention and beautiful Tucson, Arizona.
23:07
Up next, we have a company called Gru,
23:09
and we have Steve Burke. Steve is with
23:11
Gru, and, Steve, if you could just kinda
23:14
introduce yourself and tell us what your role
23:16
at Gru is. Okay? Great. Thanks guys for
23:18
having me. I appreciate it.
23:20
So my name Steve Burke.
23:22
I
23:24
been in Corporate America a long time,
23:26
and, like, a lot of people in Corporate
23:28
America. You kinda... You do a lot of
23:29
jobs that don't necessarily have a lot of
23:31
benefits to society. Sometimes you feel like, Right
23:33
And you're kinda like, hey, what can I
23:35
do that has a little meaning?
23:36
I found this company group who is out
23:39
there trying to make people's lives better society
23:41
by helping them be more social, which is
23:44
a really big problem in our country right
23:46
now, with people socially isolating,
23:49
especially through Covid and things like that. So
23:51
it it's kinda of like it's 1 of
23:52
those things that you come across. You think,
23:54
wow, I could really make a difference to
23:56
in this. Right? Okay. Nice. And so how
23:58
would you best describe?
24:00
Group itself and how it works.
24:03
Sure. Yeah. So this this is a very
24:05
common question because we're so new. And a
24:07
benefit like this hasn't existed
24:10
before we just created it.
24:11
People know a lot about gym membership benefits
24:14
as part of health care plans,
24:16
but people have never,
24:17
experienced a social fitness benefit,
24:20
so to speak. And really all it is
24:21
is we try to meet people who that,
24:24
Right? So a lot of people don't wanna
24:26
go to the gym, but maybe they they
24:28
go meet their friends to play bridge or
24:30
they go play golf or pick. Go ball
24:32
or, you know, any number of things that
24:33
people are passionate about it. Right? People here
24:36
are really passionate about our being. Right? And
24:38
it's the same concept of we wanna do
24:40
is help people enjoy whatever passion they have
24:43
that keeps them social
24:45
because being social really important if people's health
24:47
as they age. And that's That's what it's
24:49
all about. Okay? And it's not so much
24:51
a a physical activity then it's a social
24:55
activity. I mean, just yeah just just them
24:57
getting together enjoying what they... Mh. Like to
25:00
do. Yeah. And and and that's where it
25:02
seems too good to be true Right now.
25:03
Like, really just hanging around, my friends is
25:05
good for my health. And and the answer
25:07
is yes, 100 percent
25:09
without question it's been proven through hundreds of
25:11
different experiments and and research projects that
25:15
people who are social, live longer, live happier
25:18
and live more healthy.
25:20
And and that's kinda what the basis is.
25:22
Yeah. Okay. Do you work
25:25
with health care,
25:27
plans programs and things like that? Yeah. And
25:29
if so, how does somebody find out if
25:32
their health care
25:34
accepts the group program. Am I saying that
25:36
right? You're saying exactly. You. He's brought me
25:39
back. Right? I probably should expect... Put that
25:41
in the explanation of a group. So group
25:44
as a social fitness benefit
25:46
falls within Medicare Advantage and Medicare supplement plans.
25:50
Which a lot of people would call plan
25:52
c
25:53
as as in Medicare, Medicare, a and b
25:55
is, like your standard Medicare, And then everything
25:58
else is, like, an add on. Right, if
25:59
you wanna add prescription drug, if you wanna
26:01
add on specialty services. Right? So it kinda
26:03
falls within plan C, which is... A lot
26:06
of specialty services and physical fitness benefits and
26:09
things like that. So it's
26:11
currently a benefit that is included with a
26:14
lot of Medicare Advantage and Medicare supplement plans.
26:17
And we work today with about 30 percent
26:19
of the overall market
26:21
hopefully, we'll we'll get to a hundred percent
26:23
1 day.
26:24
But we're just... You, we're startup up and,
26:25
and you know, we're out there, you know,
26:27
trying to make it happen. As a Medicare
26:29
benefit, you have to be 65. Right, to
26:32
to qualify for Medicare. So it's currently for
26:34
65 and older people. Really what they do
26:36
is they go to our site, and they
26:38
enroll with us, and then we we take
26:40
their their medical
26:42
information, whatever their company they work with, their
26:44
Id number, and we double check to make
26:46
sure that that's a, you know, an actual
26:49
plan. And then they're they're the actual member,
26:52
that that holds that that plan. And then
26:53
we tell them, hey, great news. You're eligible.
26:55
And
26:56
what what... How would you like to use
26:58
your benefit? Like, what's your passion? Right? And
27:00
if you happen to be a member of
27:01
fm,
27:02
what we'll do is we'll reimburse them for
27:04
their membership dues to Fm.
27:07
To try to encourage him to continue to
27:09
be a member and continue to be active
27:11
in in their passion. The person interested
27:14
actually works. Through group and not through their
27:18
Medicare Advantage.
27:19
Yep. Yeah. You're exactly right. Yeah. So we
27:22
offer this this benefit. And then we we
27:25
go to all the the health care plans
27:26
to say, hey, wouldn't this be a great
27:27
benefit offer your members. Right? And they say,
27:31
I we we'll include that, and we... We
27:33
make a deal with them that says, hey,
27:34
look, if we can get people to enroll,
27:36
and we can prove to you that they're
27:37
being active.
27:39
Right? You'll pay us a little bit, right?
27:41
To help reimburse us for all that effort
27:43
that that we put out. Right? In helping
27:45
people be more active.
27:46
And and can you talk a little bit?
27:48
That how do you prove that directive? How
27:50
do how do they let you know that,
27:51
hey, I did attend this Fm c? Do
27:53
you need photos? Or... No. No. No photos...
27:56
It's it's... It's... I would say it's it's
27:58
a little bit on the honor system.
28:00
Right? We we try to make it,
28:03
not so burdensome for people. Right? Because then
28:05
people won't do it.
28:07
So we make it pretty simple. We send
28:08
them a note once a month, and we
28:10
say, hey, You know, where you're active this
28:11
month, you know, about how many times did
28:13
you engage in your passion? And that's it.
28:15
Right? They let us know. And then we
28:17
have that kinda of document
28:18
trail of them saying, yes, we're I was
28:21
active. And is that just through email? We
28:23
we do We can do it through email.
28:25
We're working on doing it through text. Right?
28:27
So you could just apply wire. Right? As
28:29
simple as that. Oh, and then they could
28:31
always just go to our website, login and
28:33
and, report there. That's easy to do though.
28:35
Yeah. They're they're all for easy ways. And
28:37
is there, like, a minimum amount of times
28:39
that you have to be active in order
28:40
to qualify
28:42
socially active, I guess? Yeah. So, yeah. There
28:44
is a minimum It's it's with 1. 0,
28:46
great. So...
28:48
Okay. Pretty pretty simple. If if we do
28:50
have the ability for people to be virtual
28:52
as well because not everybody can can get
28:54
out and do things. We wanna
28:56
try to be
28:58
sensitive people who need some social interaction as
29:00
well, but maybe have to do it over
29:01
Zoom or or they have to play, you
29:03
know, some sort of online games or something.
29:05
Though what we do is we say you
29:06
have to play at least with another human
29:08
being on the other end. Right? You can't
29:10
play against the bot and count it as
29:11
social interaction. Right? We're not allowing Ai to
29:14
be social and okay. But if if you
29:17
do that, you have to do it a
29:18
little bit more times, I think it's 5
29:20
times a month if you're gonna be...
29:22
It's not in person. Right? If it's more
29:24
of a virtual activity. Okay. Okay. And I
29:27
know you said you are a young company.
29:28
Maybe you said just how long how long
29:30
has group been active? The name group has
29:32
only been around for 2 months. So that
29:35
that that's really new. We re rebranded ourselves.
29:38
We used to be known as Element 3
29:39
health. And that company went through some different
29:42
iterations of what it did.
29:44
We weren't always the company we are now.
29:46
But what we found is the element 3
29:48
Health was a... Tricky name when people saw
29:50
that they thought we were trying to sell
29:51
them help insurance, which were not. Right? Yeah.
29:54
We're we're trying to give them a great
29:56
social benefit,
29:57
someone else can sell them the insurance part
29:58
it. Right? We just try to be part
30:00
of different insurance parts.
30:02
Kenny just went on, like, a long 2
30:04
week caravan.
30:06
Mh Yeah
30:07
with the several people that were Medicare age,
30:09
I think. Yes. So, like, 2 weeks on
30:12
the road, so that would caravan with a
30:14
group of people or something like that would
30:16
count.
30:17
Absolutely. Yeah. So for us, it's all about
30:19
being in social. Right?
30:21
I think people are really stuck in, you
30:23
know, healthy is jogging or lifting weights or
30:26
something like that. And I think what we're
30:27
trying to change the narrative is like, that's
30:30
not what being healthy is only about. Right?
30:32
It's also really, really important for you to
30:34
have friends that look forward to seeing you.
30:37
Right? That can help you out when you're
30:38
having a bad day or notice maybe when
30:40
you're you know, you you don't look so
30:41
good or something like that. Right? Those those
30:43
little things are really, really important for people
30:46
not only, you know, debt to help you
30:48
when you need help, but for your mental
30:49
health?
30:50
To feel like you have people in your
30:52
life that care about you. Yeah. Right? It's
30:54
it's uplifting. And I think, you know I
30:56
mean, you guys probably I know you... Travel
30:58
around all these events, you probably meet tons
31:00
of people that, you know, you see, you
31:01
know, you're in year out that make you
31:03
smile. Right? I feel good. Right and
31:05
all of that's good for people. I think
31:07
that that the statistic I saw that that
31:10
really kind of, you know, put it put
31:12
a nail on it for me was,
31:14
being socially isolated
31:17
is 15 times more damaging to your health
31:21
than smoking 15 cigarettes a day. It's Wow.
31:24
Right? And and that were really kind of
31:26
I was like, what's an iowa right. Yeah.
31:28
Yeah. Absolutely. So... Yeah. That's that's what we're
31:31
trying in. Trying to kinda change the narrative
31:33
a little bit, make people realize that hey,
31:35
doing these things that go in caravan with
31:37
your friends is a healthy activity. Right? It's
31:39
really good for you. Helps you feel better?
31:42
Sean just mentioned that Caravan that I went
31:43
on and everybody in that caravan,
31:46
I think I was the only 1 not
31:47
on Medics. Care. Oh, I'm most likely my
31:49
wife and I. But you would be surprised
31:52
of...
31:53
And I don't mean this in ins insulting
31:54
in any way. Mh. Based on their age,
31:56
you would be surprised how scared fry, Mh
31:58
energetic.
31:59
They were that Sabrina and I were the
32:01
ones that were like, alright, guys. I think
32:03
it's... I think it's getting kinda latest time
32:05
to turning. These got We're ready to just,
32:07
like, party all night. I mean. And I
32:09
feel like it's
32:11
1 they were being social, but also just
32:13
being... Active. You know, they're still taking their
32:15
Rv out there in a big group. They're
32:16
having, you know, a great time seen something
32:18
new, and I felt like, this must be
32:21
the secret to act staying young is to
32:25
still stay active, still
32:26
interact with with 1 another and not just
32:29
sit home by yourself and maybe kinda watch
32:32
Tv. You you're you're absolutely right. That is
32:35
exactly what it's all about. The peep... The
32:37
people who are more active in in doing
32:39
their passions and spending time with friends. Are
32:41
just more healthy. It it's a proven fact
32:44
at this point that it's really good for
32:46
you. Yeah. Not, but physically as well. Absolutely.
32:49
Yeah. And you saw a lot of that
32:51
if you saw the blue zones, know, that
32:53
was really popular,
32:54
you know, documentary
32:55
recently. On that and that was the the
32:58
base theme of it. It was like, these
32:59
people who kinda have it something to go
33:01
do day and day out, and it keeps
33:02
them out in their community, keeps them active,
33:04
was kind of the key to their success.
33:06
Yeah
33:07
And so you're you're partnered with Fm mca.
33:10
Mh. How do how did that partnership come
33:12
about? Yeah. So we've been going around trying
33:14
to find every passion under the sun. Right?
33:18
And your name it. Right? And it's a
33:20
really interesting exercise because not everybody knows every
33:23
passion that everyone does. Right? You know, maybe
33:25
there are some things that you thought I
33:27
would never do that. That that doesn't look
33:28
good to me. But then you go and
33:30
hit spend some time with people who are
33:31
doing it and you're, like, wow. Right? Now
33:33
I know I everyone so, you know, likes
33:35
us so much. But we found Fm c
33:38
through a mutual friend and also works with,
33:41
the academy of model aero onyx.
33:44
Some the model airplanes. Yeah. Lucky enough that
33:46
we did, you know, some great work with
33:48
them. They're like, hey. You should go talk
33:50
to our friends over there at Mca, and
33:51
we call them up, and I gotta tell
33:53
you working with them has been,
33:55
fantastic. As an organization, and I think sometimes
33:58
the leadership really sets the tone for A
34:00
lot of these organizations, you can kinda tell
34:02
how well they operate by meeting the leaders.
34:04
And I'd tell you what was impressive to
34:07
me about Fm in particular was how much
34:10
they they kind of run that balance between
34:13
their commercial partners and their membership and being
34:16
really sensitive to both the needs of both.
34:19
And not overdo it 1 side or the
34:20
other. Right? So they're really super
34:23
engaged with both sides and they make sure
34:24
it's a good experience for both their partners
34:26
and their members,
34:27
which I think sometimes it gets lost a
34:29
little bit with other organizations, But they've been
34:32
great. I've really enjoyed working with them so
34:34
far. Yeah. And we've worked with Fm for
34:36
few years down, we feel exactly the same.
34:38
Like, every every person that we have interactions
34:40
with at Fm mca have been nothing mc
34:43
migration and and very... Or easy.
34:45
Just easy to work with.
34:47
Exactly. Yeah. Super friendly the people.
34:49
Entire our mission really well. Right?
34:51
Friendly and social. I think you're
34:54
your company is gonna grow a lot in
34:57
the next few years because I feel like
34:59
even, you know, I do medical research for
35:02
a a living and
35:04
there's a lot of studies going on now
35:07
and you're seeing results coming out now that
35:09
the social aspect,
35:11
especially in a in an elderly
35:14
population is so important. And
35:17
anything that all of us as a country
35:20
can do to help keep those people social
35:22
and active is is
35:25
beneficial to all of us. I think. Absolutely.
35:26
Yeah. Yeah. I think we've... We've all been
35:28
hearing about the boomers. For a lot of
35:30
years now. Right?
35:31
And they're they're pushing into that age bracket
35:34
now. And, yeah. We need to take care
35:36
of them. Right? We need to make sure
35:37
that for they feel just as much part
35:39
of of societies as they did before that
35:41
they're not being forgotten. Right? And Gosh, we
35:44
can learn a ton, right, from from all
35:47
those folks. Have a lot of experience there
35:49
to share with us.
35:50
But if they're sitting alone at home, right,
35:53
That's not gonna happen. And then as as
35:54
far as like, qualification goes,
35:57
if people have, like, preexisting the medical issues,
36:00
is is there any...
36:02
Qualification that people need to be aware of...
36:04
No. And not at all. It's it's a
36:05
benefit that comes with their Medicare Advantage and
36:08
Medicare supplement plans. So
36:10
know, it's it's covered by their premium. They
36:12
pay out nothing. They just... They just enroll
36:14
with us, and we find out what their
36:16
passion is and send them a check for
36:18
their dues. And then it's on us right
36:20
to to kinda collect their activity and and
36:22
so we take all the risk, right? For
36:24
their benefit at the end of the day.
36:27
And for people that are interested, I know
36:29
you have a booth here at the show,
36:31
but people that aren't at the show, how
36:32
do they find out more information about group?
36:35
The easiest way I would say is to
36:36
go to our website, which is hello group
36:39
dot com. Group spelled like the fish. Right?
36:41
GR0UPER.
36:44
Yeah Yeah. There's there's lots of information there.
36:46
We we are currently building a a directory
36:48
of all the different clubs and groups and
36:51
associations that we work with. So people can
36:53
go there just to find a local group,
36:55
for 1.
36:57
We have a lot of information there in
36:58
terms of, like, seminars and things like that
37:00
on healthy living and the eating and sometimes
37:03
it's a, you know, we have learn to
37:04
pickle play pickle ball stuff on there,
37:07
all kinds of things. Right? That that could
37:09
get you into AAA new passion or kinda
37:11
find a new group near you. Now. Okay.
37:13
Sounds good. I I think that's all of
37:15
our questions steve, but is there something that
37:16
maybe Sean and I might have missed that
37:18
we should have highlighted that we didn't ask
37:19
you.
37:20
Now, I think the 1 thing that I
37:22
always try to to
37:24
emphasize is that, a, we don't sell health
37:26
care. Right? It's it's... We don't charge anything.
37:29
Right? It's it's a covered benefit that's that's
37:31
already part of people's Medicare advantage and supplement
37:34
plans.
37:35
And we're just there to try to... Create
37:37
this new benefit for people that helps, you
37:39
know, encourage them to continue to be out
37:41
there active in their community, and be social,
37:45
I think today's episode was all about the
37:47
future and the future of Rv
37:49
and the community behind them.
37:52
As you heard in this episode, I had
37:53
the pleasure of test drive in a Class
37:55
a Ar that had the Liquid spring system
37:58
installed and with it came increased comfort, control
38:01
and handling. It truly transforms your ride experience
38:04
and gives you the confidence to go further.
38:07
And with Gru helping us stay active,
38:09
social and feel younger. Hopefully, we will see
38:12
more people enjoying the Rb lifestyle well into
38:15
their golden years. We wanna thank Fm c
38:17
for having us out at this year's convention,
38:20
and we'd like to thank all of our
38:21
great guests. I think it was a good
38:23
mix of service and products and just a
38:25
small taste of what you'd see at a
38:27
Fm c convention. If you haven't been out
38:30
to 1 yet, head over to Fm c
38:33
website to find out when and where their
38:35
next show will be.
38:36
Thanks again to Echo 1 adventures for sponsoring
38:38
our travels to the convention, and thank you,
38:41
Battle worn batteries and wholesale warranties for sponsoring
38:44
all of our episodes. 1 more thing before
38:46
you go, if you could take the time
38:47
to leave us the rating or review on
38:50
your favorite podcast platform, we would really appreciate
38:52
it. As these ratings help us reach a
38:55
larger audience.
38:56
Thank you and safe travels.
39:00
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39:01
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39:07
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39:37
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