April 25, 2024 • 50 mins
In this second episode of our series from the MDExpo in Las Vegas, NV, I enjoyed engaging conversations with various vendors and HTM professionals. I had the chance to interview 12 guests, bringing the total to 21 guests over both days at the MDExpo. I'm thankful to each of them for joining me. Looking forward to connecting with even more people in future episodes on HTM On The Line podcast.
Guest on this episode:
Kelly Thakkar, Walter Moyer, Kim Rowland, Adrianna England, Ryan Sanders, Lisa Gonzalez, Lesley Harrington, Maria Denson, Adriana Martinez, Karina Deniz, Tim Keohane, Rick Walston.
This podcast is sponsored by The College of Biomedical Equipment Technology. You can find out more information about this outstanding institution at CBET.EDU.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Bryant Hawkins (00:00):
All right, it's day two at Indy Expo.
I'm sitting here with arepresentative from Zopec
Medical.
Introduce yourself, please.
Karina Deniz (00:09):
Hi, I'm Karina Denez.
I'm a product engineer at ZopecMedical.
Bryant Hawkins (00:13):
So, Karina, thanks for sitting down with me.
What is Zopec Medical about?
Karina Deniz (00:18):
So Zopec Medical is really?
We are a battery company and sowe're based in Blaine,
minnesota.
Right now I have with me theUPS 90 Pure, which is one of our
featured products.
It's a hospital grade UPSbattery.
It's the smallest UPS batterythat uses technology such as
(00:39):
lithium ion battery, same asTesla.
Lithium ion battery Same asTesla.
It has no maintenance, lasts 8to 12 years and is FAA approved
and FDA approved, and it allowsto just back up and power
medical devices and is very,very reliable.
Bryant Hawkins (01:00):
Great man.
So just so I can understandingthis device can be used with
respiratory medical equipmentlike ventilators.
What type of equipment could beplugged into that at the same
time?
Karina Deniz (01:13):
Yeah.
So that's a really greatquestion because the thing is is
that this is a really greatjust backup battery in general.
So right now we have a reallygreat in with respiratory
therapists.
So right now we have a reallygreat in with respiratory
therapists, but really we wantto expand in so many different
departments because it can backup so many different medical
devices.
So we have an AirVo2 with ustoday, but we also back up the
(01:36):
MR850.
Along with the AirVo2, a lot ofpeople use aerogen so you can
plug that in as well at the sametime and just depending on the
speculations, this device canbase or this battery can just
basically back up any devicethat has a maximum draw output
of 500 watts and then anythingthat kind of falls within that
(01:59):
region.
You can just kind of just plugand go.
Bryant Hawkins (02:03):
Great, great.
Okay then, noam, you mentionedy'all had other products, just
like it varies in what size ofthe batteries, or different
products altogether.
Karina Deniz (02:13):
Oh right, right, right, yeah.
So different sizes of batteries.
So right now, like our UPS90Pure, it's five pounds and it's
the world's smallest UPS batterythat is medical grade.
And so basically, if you wantour battery to back up maybe,
let's say, a thousand watts, sowe would need like a bigger
(02:36):
battery for that, and that'swhat I mean by different
products.
So then you would have like abigger battery, still way less
than the 50 pound trip lightbatteries that you deal with.
And then, yeah, and then you goand basically support that
device with that said battery.
Bryant Hawkins (02:50):
Awesome, Great.
Now where is your officelocated?
Corporate office.
Karina Deniz (02:54):
Oh, we are located in the beautiful Blaine
Minnesota.
Bryant Hawkins (02:58):
Do y'all cover what United States?
What's y'all range?
Karina Deniz (03:03):
Right.
So we are a startup and I thinkthat gives us a lot of power
where we want to go.
So we have been reaching out toso many different states, so
many different hospitals acrossthe country, as well as being
implemented and looking atdistributors that are across the
country.
So the great thing I thinkthat's so amazing about our
(03:23):
company is that we have builtbatteries, but it's not just for
the US.
So the US has 120 volts thatyou usually plug and play, so
you usually go and see 240 voltsin other countries and then 100
volts in Japan.
We've made batteries for thosethings and we're currently
testing and trialing them out,um and and testing them with the
(03:45):
equipment known so Airvos, um,hamilton and stuff like that, um
, and so we really want to reachevery corner of the world,
because people will come to usfrom different countries and say
how much they need our product,how much they actually, um,
really like, would need thatsupport, and, honestly, we I
think I talked to someone fromIndia last week and then the
(04:05):
week before that I talked tosomeone in Ireland and the week
before that I talked to someonein the United Kingdom.
So there is a really greatoutreach with this product.
People need reliable backupsupport systems, especially when
it comes to transportingpatient care, transport
helicopters, planes, rigs,everything and they really do
(04:26):
need that support, because whatyou see with the other UPS
devices is that they will fail,and this battery does not.
Bryant Hawkins (04:33):
Awesome, so tell the HTM community how can we
get in contact with you guys?
Karina Deniz (04:38):
Oh my gosh.
Well, you will probably eithersee Strong in person, because he
is literally everywhere, or um.
We have a zopec medical page,so it's at zopecmedicalcom um
what z-o-p-e c?
Yeah, yes and um, and usuallyyou can reach out to me or to
(05:01):
will or to another productengineer, but most people go
through the cs at zopeccom email.
That's the customer service, sowe usually get outputs for that
, or there is also, I think,another email listed on there,
but usually we typically go tothe cs at zopeccom.
Bryant Hawkins (05:21):
Great, great.
Well, it was great talking toyou, karina.
I appreciate the time you spentwith me.
Wish you guys all the best.
Karina Deniz (05:27):
Oh, thank you, Thank you All right, it's day
two.
Bryant Hawkins (05:31):
We're at the MD Expo.
I'm sitting here with WaltMoyer from CM Parts Plus.
How are you doing today, walt?
Walter Moyer (05:37):
I'm doing all right, brian.
How are you doing man great, sowell, talk to me.
Cm Parts Plus.
What is that all about?
So we're an MRI depot repairfacility in Winston-Salem, north
(05:58):
Carolina.
We primarily repair MRIcomponents, the high voltage
stuff, rf amplifiers, gradientamplifiers.
We are.
What we are not is a partsvendor.
We don't sell parts, we don'tstock parts, we don't have an
inventory.
What we do is you send us adefective part and we repair it
(06:18):
and send it back to you so youhave it ready for the next time
you need it.
Bryant Hawkins (06:27):
What region do you cover in the United States?
Walter Moyer (06:31):
We cover the whole United States and we have
international customers.
Bryant Hawkins (06:34):
Oh great, Wow.
So how long has you been doingthis business here?
How long have you been inbusiness?
Walter Moyer (06:41):
It was an existing company.
We took over in June of 2020,right in the heart of COVID.
Yeah and yeah, we haven'tlooked back.
We're growing.
This year we expanded oursquare footage.
We went from we basicallydoubled our square footage.
(07:01):
We have 10,000 square feet.
We've purchased a SiemensAvanto test system.
We're in the process ofpurchasing a GE 450 test system,
so we can we test everything werepair.
These systems will allow us toput it into a system and test it
(07:25):
that way.
Bryant Hawkins (07:26):
But yeah, so that's awesome.
So if you could talk to the HTMindustry, tell them what would
make CM Parts Plus the go-tovendor for their needs.
What would you tell them?
Why would they want to come toyou?
Then your counterparts what?
Walter Moyer (07:43):
would you tell them why would they want to come
to you?
Then your counterparts, ifthey're, if they're with an
organization that is isindependent of the OEM, for one
thing Right and I think thiswhole MD Expo is is independent
folks.
If they're independent of theOEMs and they have some
(08:06):
inventory of parts, then wewould be the guys that they
would send their defective partsto to repair, so they have good
parts on the shelf for whenthey need it.
Generally what we do, though,is we do repairs for the parts
vendors.
When they sell a part onexchange, they get the defective
(08:28):
part back.
If it's something that's indemand, then they'll contact us
to repair it for them, so theycan put it back on the shelf for
the next sale.
Bryant Hawkins (08:38):
Right right Now.
How can they contact CM PartsPlus.
Walter Moyer (08:42):
So the absolute best way is on our website,
cmpartspluscom, and uh, it it's,uh.
You can go on there.
You can uh put in a request for, for a quote, let us know you
know what's going on, what youhave, what's going on with it,
and and we'll get back in touchwith you, probably the same day,
(09:05):
depending on when we get theemail.
And yeah, the other way is togive us a call and all of our
contact information is on ourwebsite.
Bryant Hawkins (09:17):
Right, right.
Well, thanks for your time,Walt.
I appreciate you stopping by.
I wish you nothing but success,sir.
Walter Moyer (09:22):
Thank you All right, Thank you Brian.
Bryant Hawkins (09:26):
Okay, we're back .
I have another special guestwith me.
It's my brother from anothermother.
I'm going to try to keep it asformal as I can.
I'm sitting here with BrianSanders.
How are you doing today, sir?
Ryan Sanders (09:38):
I'm doing amazing.
Bryant Hawkins (09:40):
Glad to be here.
I'm glad you're here too, man.
Ryan Sanders (09:45):
So what you been up to lately, ryan?
Well, md Expo.
Hey, we're excited.
We're having fun, doing quite abit of networking, doing quite
a bit of learning more about howour industry evolves, and then
back home in the mainstay andwe're just moving leaps and
bounds in Southeast Texas tomake for great, safe medical
(10:06):
equipment and a good program.
Is this your first MD Expo?
It's not my first MD Expo.
I've actually been to a numberof MD Expos.
I've had the pleasure of beinga guest speaker and presenter
and, of course, always enjoyseeing all my friends in the
industry.
Bryant Hawkins (10:24):
Yeah, it's like a little family reunion around
here at times.
Ryan Sanders (10:26):
That's right.
Bryant Hawkins (10:28):
Have you taken any classes since you've been
here or you've been stuck inmeetings?
Ryan Sanders (10:31):
A little of both, but I have taken some classes.
Some of the classes that I'vetaken have been things that are
just reminders.
Right, you know these things,but you see them on the board
and it reminds you.
But there were some other gemsout there as well.
I think Heidi Horn'spresentation was very meaningful
(10:52):
as well.
She had a really nice elementon the evolution of a hospital
department's control of what aCE program should look like, and
I just found that amazing ofwhat a CE program should look
like and I just found thatamazing.
Bryant Hawkins (11:07):
So, ryan, tell me a little about your journey
in the HTM industry.
You don't have to go into noplay-by-play.
Give me a quick summary,because we don't have five
minutes and 10 minutes here.
Ryan Sanders (11:17):
Well, I'll tell you, it all started when I was
born.
My mother, no, look.
I got into this business about20 plus years ago, 25 years ago
and it's been.
It's been amazing for me.
I know I've worked closely withyou, bryant, but you know, from
cutting my teeth as a biomedand field service, moving
through the ranks from aleadership perspective and now
(11:40):
being a vice president.
Being a vice president, it'sjust.
It's just been an amazingjourney and I love having
influence for the industry andalso receiving the influence of
others, including you.
Bryant Hawkins (11:53):
Oh, I appreciate that.
I like what you just said about.
Even though you've been in theindustry so long and you've
reached such a level, you stillhumble enough to say that you
are still learning.
Ryan Sanders (12:03):
Absolutely.
Bryant Hawkins (12:04):
Some people may get to a point where they feel
they don't have to learnanything new.
Do you have any certifications?
Ryan Sanders (12:08):
in the industry?
I do.
I have a certified health caretechnology manager, certified
biomed, and I'm also, a longtime ago, a certified
electronics technician on top ofit.
That's great.
Bryant Hawkins (12:19):
You cover all the bases, huh yeah.
So let me ask you what is oneof the most?
What is what you call your bestachievement in the industry so
far in your career?
Ryan Sanders (12:31):
If you had to say one thing, I would say
Improvement of quality withinthe facilities that I've had the
pleasure of going in andworking with and you know some
of the big ones, really you knowwe could talk about them.
(12:51):
I mean the major hospitalsystem that you and I were part
of in Florida, right, you know,to be able to go in and feel the
confidence that together we canall work together and make
something that maybe is in amedium state or maybe less than
medium state into somethingthat's really great.
That means a lot to me and itchanges not only that program
(13:14):
and the patient safety of theequipment, but it changes the
people's lives that work inthose departments too, and
that's a big deal to me.
Bryant Hawkins (13:21):
That's great.
So you're a person that'salways a student of this
industry.
Where do you see the HTMindustry going in your
perspective?
Because it's changing almostlook like monthly.
So what's your picture in thenext let's just say a year, not
five years.
Ryan Sanders (13:35):
Certainly Look.
I think in a year you're goingto see more and more of the
technology integration, more andmore of the technology
integration where your typicalold school great biomed will
also need to evolve with that.
I think the lines between ITand biomed are becoming more and
(13:56):
more blurred and I think, fromour perspective, where we're
going to be stellar is to bethat amazing hardware,
electronics technician, serviceengineer that we all are at our
core but combining in a realknack knowledge for the IT
(14:17):
industry, includingcybersecurity, of course, and
integration and everything itdoes with it.
Bryant Hawkins (14:23):
Well said.
Now, before we finish, I justwant to always ask the
interviewers if you could justshare some information with the
HTM industry.
What would you like to sharewith them?
A little advice.
If you had to give somethingthat any level can take to heart
and utilize, what would you say?
Ryan Sanders (14:43):
I would say that, no matter what position you're
in in this business, it'simportant to be self-reflective
and take a moment to pause,really, think about why do you
love what you do.
Because it will provide you aguiding light in those tough
(15:04):
moments where you can referenceback and say, well, today's not
the day that's been a great dayat work.
But the reason that I do thisis because I know what I love
about this business and about mycareer, and that's whatever
your career progression is.
Bryant Hawkins (15:22):
Well said.
Thank you, Brian.
As always, my brother, good tospend time with you.
Ryan Sanders (15:26):
Absolutely.
Bryant Hawkins (15:27):
Take care, brother.
Ryan Sanders (15:28):
Fantastic.
Bryant Hawkins (15:32):
Okay, I'm sitting here with another good
friend of mine, Miss MariaDenson.
How you doing, Maria?
Maria Denson (15:36):
Hello, hello, they're doing fabulous.
Thank you very much for havingme here.
How are you?
Bryant Hawkins (15:40):
Yeah, your friend want to join us.
Maria Denson (15:43):
Adriana, would you like to join?
Bryant Hawkins (15:45):
She comes down here and she's taking pictures.
We got another one.
There's two of them, so who areyou and what's your name?
Adriana Martinez (15:51):
My name is Adriana Martinez.
I work for Mobile MedicalTechnologies.
Bryant Hawkins (15:54):
Great, great, great so Maria.
Maria Denson (15:57):
Yes, sir, let's get to it.
How you been.
I've been great.
This was a really good turnout.
It's a very good show.
Yes, so tell me about yourselfand what you contribute to this
HTM industry.
So a little bit about myself.
I started in the industry about15 years ago.
I started doing officeadministration just invoices,
(16:18):
just regular admin stuff, workedmy way into part sales, project
management, and now I'mlearning engineering.
I've been doing an engineeringwork for about four years and my
ultimate goal is to say that Iam a full-blown engineer that
can troubleshoot systems andresolve errors.
I work with ScanningTechnologies.
(16:39):
Scanning Technologies is ownedby several partners that have
been in the industry for many,many years, even though Scanning
Technologies is just startingout.
We're one year old and we'vebeen hitting the ground running.
Bryant Hawkins (16:51):
I still can't forget that icon picture with
you standing on top of the MRIwith the steam coming out.
Oh, not steam, what was that?
Maria Denson (16:56):
Yeah, we were doing a helium pill.
Bryant Hawkins (16:59):
Yeah, that's amazing so it's liquid helium.
So, adriana, what aboutyourself there?
How long you've been in theindustry?
Adriana Martinez (17:06):
I've been in the industry for about four
years, I started a similar.
I have a similar backgroundwith her.
I started as a warehousemanager warehouse inventory.
From warehouse inventory movedup to warehouse manager.
So, as the cool thing aboutwarehouse manager, you learn the
parts as you go.
So I started like, okay, well,the engineer needs this, he also
might need this, and that's allfrom learning the parts itself,
(17:27):
which is really cool.
I'm more GE, maria is moreSiemens.
So after Finder, I moved up tosales for mobile medical
technologies and there we do thetrailer refurbs, trailer
service, the HVAC, trailergenerator, anything that has to
do with the trailers we do.
So we serve as a trailer, mariaserves as a system.
(17:48):
So that's a good way to worktogether absolutely so.
Bryant Hawkins (17:52):
This is not your first MD Expo, is it?
Maria Denson (17:55):
No, no.
I started MD Expo I would saysolid nine years ago.
Bryant Hawkins (17:59):
Oh wow, what about you, Adrienne?
Adriana Martinez (18:01):
I would say this is my third Expo.
Bryant Hawkins (18:03):
Oh okay, how do you think it's going so far?
Adriana Martinez (18:06):
This has been a great outcome.
Bryant Hawkins (18:08):
Yeah.
Adriana Martinez (18:08):
Yeah, I mean, yesterday was a lot of people,
today is a lot of people still.
Bryant Hawkins (18:11):
Yeah, great.
Where do y'all see MRI going?
Maria Denson (18:16):
MRI world hasn't at least from the last that I've
seen it hasn't really changedmuch.
There's a lot of industries, alot of companies that are still
strong in the industry gettingbought out, new ones coming in,
but for the most part it's thesame.
What I do see that's changed isthe social media and the
exposure that everybody'sreceiving.
(18:36):
For so many years it's been ahidden industry.
It was a hidden gem, so theowners would bring in their
friends, their family, theirkids.
Now we're growing.
The industry itself is growing.
We're getting more publicity,we're getting more exposure,
whether it's podcasts likeyourself and getting the name
out there, whether it'seducational courses, career days
and I love to see that and alot more women in the industry
(18:58):
too.
When I first started, the womenfor the most part were doing
just the trade shows.
It was like the token ladies tobring in the attention for the
trade shows.
And now there are so many thatare in leadership and
decision-making and they'reactually making the change
within the HTM and that's reallycool to watch and I kind of
want to add on to that.
Adriana Martinez (19:17):
It's all thanks to you, you know going
back to how she said exposure.
I appreciate what you do.
I was talking to Maria.
I was like I wish I would havemet someone like you back when I
was in high school, cause Iactually have a BA in criminal
justice.
But now that I'm in thisindustry I'm like I'm intrigued
here and I want to learn more.
I want more from here.
So my BA is on the side, notbeing used and I wish I knew
(19:41):
about this whole industry rightfirst out of high school.
Bryant Hawkins (19:44):
Hey, it's great so.
Adriana Martinez (19:45):
I really appreciate what you do because I
know you guys went to NewOrleans, so it was really cool.
Bryant Hawkins (19:49):
Well, you got to come next time.
Definitely, come next time,definitely, I mean it's that's
what, to me, that it's all about, and I believe in my heart of
heart, the more you give, themore you get, and this industry
has been great to me.
So my thing is, I want to giveback, and that's good.
You guys like that, because Inoticed on the internet you all
are very active with cmia.
(20:09):
So what do y'all do since,since we're talking about CMIA,
what's some of the joy y'all getfrom going to a CMIA meeting,
dealing with the kids there?
Maria Denson (20:21):
We recently joined , so we haven't yet been exposed
to a lot of the CMIA eventsOkay, okay.
But, just again, the exposurethat they bring.
So for the next generation, thecareer dance events that Byron
has put together and the socialmedia campaigns that they bring
so for the next generation.
The career dance events thatByron has put together and the
social media campaigns thatthey're talking about and
putting together is going to bein effect fairly soon.
So getting young kids involvedand interested in our industry,
(20:45):
getting them involved in thetechnical aspect of it, that it
doesn't just have to be.
You know, sales are fantastic,sales is personality and that's
always going to get you life.
But the technical expertisefrom my perspective is going to
provide that stability in acareer choice for many, many
years to come.
Bryant Hawkins (21:01):
Yeah, let me tell you this the drive y'all
have for it, how you feel howmuch you wish you would have
before, use that when you talkto the kids.
See, look, I have a BA and I'mnot even using it because this
is where my calling is.
I mean, we don't know.
That's why it's kind ofchallenging for the kids at 17
to say what you want to do, butyou can tell them.
(21:22):
You might not know what youwant to do, but just do this
until you figure it out.
And if they see how much youcare and like it, I guarantee
you, because they don't know.
You saw what was in the walls.
The kids was like, why not?
And that just shows that you'redoing something that's right.
So, and I'm here for youAnything you need, call me.
Adriana Martinez (21:40):
Thank you, thank you.
Bryant Hawkins (21:41):
I'll try to send out to you on my list so you
get my information.
She gets it so.
Adriana Martinez (21:45):
Yeah, I just.
I mean, I just met Maria inDecember.
Oh really, I've been told she'sbeen in the industry for many,
many years.
Yeah, we actually met at atrailer inspection.
Bryant Hawkins (21:55):
Come on.
Adriana Martinez (21:56):
And when I met her I was like dang, I think I
just met my new mentor.
Aw, yeah, Ever since then,unfortunately, my other job I
worked for I had a layoff, so Iwasn't working for a bit and
then Maria reached out.
I was like hey, I knowsomeone's looking for a sales
manager Are.
I reached out like hey, I knowsomeone's looking for a sales
manager, Are you interested?
And I was like heck, yeah, andthat means I'm staying in the
industry.
Of course, you know, Absolutely.
(22:17):
So, ever since then she's been,you know, helping me out.
Was it like under her wing,type of thing?
Bryant Hawkins (22:22):
Mm-hmm, because the deal about being a good
mentor mentee, it has to beinterchange.
Now she could be mentoring you,but at the same time you could
be mentoring her.
It's not a good relationship ifit's always a giving only.
So if she's mentoring you,hopefully you show her your
appreciation by the way you doyour job, the way you pick up on
(22:43):
things.
So that's what I always tellthe mentee Don't just take, take
, take.
Figure out ways to give back.
Maria Denson (22:49):
And it's a lot easier definitely to mentor and
help someone along the way who'sinterested and who's passionate
about learning.
And you can't teach that, youcan't tell somebody like, get
excited, and Adriana's excitedabout this industry, and that's
what I love the most, becauseall these years in I'm still
very much passionate about whatwe do.
Bryant Hawkins (23:08):
You have to evolve.
I'm 31 years and still likeI've been in two years.
You have to stay like thatbecause if not, you get stagnant
, and nobody wants to bestagnant to me.
Adriana Martinez (23:24):
Well, I appreciate you guys coming to
talk with me, Maria and.
Bryant Hawkins (23:26):
Andrea, I said your name Adriana.
Adriana, yes, I'm going to sayAndrea.
I keep wanting to put that N inthere.
It's no N, but I appreciate youguys and man.
I wish you the best.
If you need me, you know how tocontact me, I got you.
Walter Moyer (23:34):
Thank you very much how are you doing, sir,
doing?
Tim Keohane (23:37):
awesome.
Thanks for coming Sit downthere for a minute.
Thanks for having me.
I appreciate it.
Bryant Hawkins (23:40):
Let's tell the listeners who you are and who
you're working with.
Tim Keohane (23:43):
Sure, so my name is Tim Cohane, the vice have a
small niche product.
It's a gas indicator.
It tells you the anestheticconcentration coming out of
vaporizer to make sure thevaporizer is working properly.
The story of my companyactually starts with my
grandparents.
My grandfather is an extremelysmart man, inventor,
(24:07):
entrepreneur, really well knownin the anesthesia community.
He owned multiple patents ondifferent human vaporizers.
And my grandmother, she was thesales rep.
She had the gift to gab.
They were a dynamic duo.
My grandfather was a strong,silent type, my grandma, she
would just go out there and dothe selling.
And one day my grandfather waslooking at a magazine.
(24:28):
He saw an ad for a Reichen gasindicator manufactured in Tokyo,
japan.
He started writing letters tothe company.
50 years later we're stillselling them.
It's a classic American typedream story, right, entrepreneur
.
So we're located in Buffalo,new York.
We have eight employees, momand pop shop, third generation.
John Bickford, who was with mygrandparents, is my uncle, he's
(24:50):
the president.
And my mom, she does the booksand I'm learning the books right
now, doing payroll accounts,payable accounts, receivable.
It's great, it's fun.
Bryant Hawkins (25:03):
Man, I guess you're touching all bases.
Tim Keohane (25:05):
You're almost like a one-man show, but a one-family
show I am.
Yeah.
Well, it's a lot like this MDExpo.
I mean, we're a small,tight-knit community of family.
I think your son's involved too, right.
So it is kind of like a familytype business and it's just kind
of great to be here.
For a small company like me,this brings so much value.
Everybody at Tech Nation isgreat Jamie and her team.
They really bring value add tomy company because we don't have
(25:26):
the budgets of those big guys,right, so we have to really take
advantage of what we can.
Bryant Hawkins (25:31):
So I'm going to give you a minute.
You mentioned a history of it,what we can, so I'm going to
give you a minute.
You mentioned a history of it.
What would tell the ATNcommunity?
What will set you, your company, apart from your counterparts?
Gotcha yeah.
Tim Keohane (25:44):
So we are, we're small, right?
So when you, when you call AAMBickford, you're going to get
somebody on the phone right away.
You're going to get a liveperson.
You don't need an accountnumber, you don't have to type
in an extension, and you'regoing to get your answers
provided quickly.
You're going to either talk tome or my co-worker, jim Lamarty,
and we're going to help you outright away.
(26:05):
Now for my product, the ReichenGas Indicator.
It's a niche product.
The FIE 1000P is the newest oneand we calibrate them in our
shop.
They're calibrated within 24hours of us receiving them.
So it's going to hit UPS, it'sgoing to hit our warehouse, our
factory, and it's going to goright back out again to you.
So it's going to be a fastturnaround time.
(26:26):
So you're going to get customerservice, you're going to get
fast turnaround time and you canget your problem solved right
away.
So we value our customers andwe try to communicate that to
them.
Bryant Hawkins (26:38):
We try to provide it to them every single
day.
So how can the H&Mprofessionals contact you?
Tim Keohane (26:43):
Good question.
So you can go on our websiteambickfordcom.
You can click on the ReichenGas Indicator page.
All the information about thatone product is on there.
You can email us.
My email is timk atambickfordcom.
We'll get back to you rightaway and give us a call too.
We're there open Monday throughFriday, 8 to 430 Eastern
(27:03):
Standard Time, and again, we'rejust a small family company
against these bigger guys andwe're just looking for support
in business and we're here tohelp the community out.
As much as we can Appreciateyou coming on team, wish you
nothing, but you gotta haveb-hawk.
Do the heisman stance.
Desmond howard has nothing onhim, so I appreciate you having
(27:25):
me on here.
Walter Moyer (27:25):
I really appreciate thank you so much.
Bryant Hawkins (27:27):
Take care take care we're back here at md exp,
day two.
I'm sitting here with twoindividuals that are close and
dear to my heart.
Introduce yourselves, ladies,and who you're working with.
Lisa Gonzales (27:44):
Good afternoon.
It's great to see you, brian,and it's great to be with you
again.
I'm Lisa Gonzalez.
I'm the director of studentServices at the College of
Biomedical Equipment Technology.
Lesley Harrington (27:56):
Hi Bryant.
I'm Leslie Harrington.
I'm the Career ServicesSupervisor at the College of
Biomedical Equipment Technology.
Bryant Hawkins (28:04):
So you both mentioned you work for the
College of Biomedical EquipmentTechnology.
How have things been going onthe school front?
Lisa Gonzales (28:11):
Fantastic.
We're growing.
We have new program.
I know last time we were on, wespoke to you about the BMET
certificate and degree.
We have the HISM, which is theHealthcare Information System
Management degree andcertificate.
We have an RBLP course, whichis for resilience um leadership,
(28:41):
no, resilience buildingleadership program, um.
So yeah, we're going fromstrength to strength and doing
amazing things in the industryand building some uh fantastic
partnerships with um many, manycompanies out there and people
like yourself.
Bryant Hawkins (28:51):
So if you had to talk about this industry right
now, you guys come to a lot ofshows.
So if you had to talk aboutthis industry right now, you
guys come to a lot of shows.
Where do you see the H2Mindustry going with reference to
young people?
Lesley Harrington (29:00):
We see a lot of enthusiasm with our students.
We have a lot of young studentscoming in very entry level
right out of high school lookingto start their career, and then
we have a lot of studentsenrolling in the programs that
are, you know, seasonedtechnicians, but they, you know,
enroll in CBET to pursue theireducation and be able to get
that next step in their career.
So we see a lot of enthusiasm.
(29:22):
We love to connect our studentsto the different industry
partners.
We love to connect with Bearded, biomed and all of our
different partners here,intermed, and it's just, it's a
great network and we love theenthusiasm of our students.
Bryant Hawkins (29:38):
And you like working with HTM online.
Lisa Gonzales (29:42):
And HTM online, our favorite.
Bryant Hawkins (29:46):
Let me keep going Now.
I want to talk about one thingthat I think you guys have a
strong new love for.
It's the high school's careerday.
I saw where y'all just recentlywent to one and the response
you put on LinkedIn about howamazing it was.
Tell me about it more.
What was one of the things thatstood out the most to you?
Lisa Gonzales (30:06):
I think, just sharing the knowledge and you
know the amazing work thatBiomeds do.
You know there's so many timesyou have, you know, an operation
, you thank the doctors, uh, butyou don't realize that that
unsung hero is the biomed.
Without the biomed and a lot ofthat work you know the doctors
and nurses do, um, what you knowdoesn't happen.
(30:27):
So for us it's sharing them,with them that you know, you're
saving lives every day in adifferent way.
And we went to the high schoolrecently and we took with us a
patient monitor.
We took along Riegel's testequipment and Leslie and myself
and no technician and we had abit of trouble setting it up.
So we did some troubleshootingover the phone and the students
(30:51):
came over.
They loved hearing about it.
There's many students that tellus you know my dad on the car,
you know I've helped my dadrepair the lawnmower.
And even just the young girlsthere was four of them that said
yeah, I've heard of Biomed andit's great.
So sharing that word andhopefully trying to get that
(31:11):
next generation into theindustry is we love it.
We love what?
Lesley Harrington (31:18):
we do and it's great to see that spark in
their eyes when we explain whata biomed does, explain the HTM
industry, and they've neverheard of it.
And we tell them you know,you've got those skills.
As Lisa said, you like to workon your car, you like to help
your parents tinker with things,you like Legos.
One of the students' eyes litup when we said do you take
apart computers or gamingsystems?
(31:39):
And he was like I love to dothat.
So it's just great seeing thataha, light bulb moment in their
eyes when we describe biomedsand what they can do in the
profession.
Bryant Hawkins (31:49):
How many biomeds did y'all put out in a year?
Lisa Gonzales (31:52):
I think last year we had somewhere in the region
of about 300.
This year we're going to beatthat and we're going strength,
you know, from strength tostrength.
One of the courses that we haveat the college is the
professional career developmentcourse and that, to us, is
really not just become a program, it's become really part of the
(32:16):
whole process.
And you know life cycle of astudent because we do that mock
interview with them, we talk tothem about the importance of
that communication, having yourelevator pitch, leslie you know,
updating your resume, targetingit to the healthcare technology
management industry, hitting onthose keywords, troubleshooting
(32:38):
those technical skills thatstudents don't even realize
translate into HTM.
Bryant Hawkins (32:44):
Well, look guys, y'all got to come back on the
show.
You know it's been since 2022,right, it's been a while, Brian,
no January of 2023.
It was the early part, so it'stime for y'all to come back
because we can talk about anhour and a half.
You know, we're supposed to bea little quick moment here.
Lisa Gonzales (33:00):
We're so passionate about what we do.
Yes, exactly you have to kickus off.
Bryant Hawkins (33:04):
We need to get it together so we get back and
not slow down, but just fit sometime in.
I would love to talk becausey'all have changed so much since
the last time we spoke, so Ithink we need to update them and
, if anything I can do for youguys, to help anytime, because
you know I love and appreciatey'all to the to the sky, cause
y'all are my.
I brag and tell people all thetime Y'all are the real reason
(33:25):
for what I do.
Y'all have been supporting mesince my second episode when I
was so I love you guys and I'lldo anything for y'all.
We love you, brian.
Lesley Harrington (33:35):
We'd like to have you on our course and speak
to our students as a guestspeaker.
Bryant Hawkins (33:38):
Please, please, alright.
Lesley Harrington (33:39):
Thanks guys, Thank you so much.
Bryant Hawkins (33:42):
Okay, we're here at the Expo.
I have another guest, mr RickWalston, with Prunk Technologies
.
How you doing, rick Good?
Rick Walston (33:48):
I'm doing good, man, how are you?
Did I pronounce that name right?
Yes, you did.
Oh, okay, great.
So, rick, tell us about PrunkTechnologies, even though we all
know about it.
Okay, well, prunk manufacturessmall, compact, durable test
equipment for the biomed.
We have also software that runsit on an iPad or iPhone and you
(34:11):
can control the equipment andget data back to it.
Bryant Hawkins (34:14):
Great.
So where are you guys located?
Rick Walston (34:19):
Our factory is in Sun Valley, california, which is
near Burbank LA area.
Bryant Hawkins (34:26):
Now at the company I work for, reuse Prunk
a lot, so what could you tellthe HTM community that sets
Prunk apart from the rest, orwhy they should use Prunk
instead of everyone else?
Rick Walston (34:40):
Like I mentioned before, small, compact, durable
that's our key features.
But it's also easy to use,extremely accurate, and we
design everything with thebiomed in mind, and we design
everything with the biomed inmind, and any time a new product
comes out, we put it in thehands of biomed to actually use
it before it goes out on themarket.
(35:01):
A good example is our newpressure meter.
Bryant Hawkins (35:15):
We had that out six to eight months with biomed
all over the country using ittrying to break it, so we could
fix it and have a good productwhen it hits the market.
So I know now technology isadvanced.
Rick Walston (35:29):
Do y'all have any type of integration with the
equipment on the servers?
So what we have is an appcalled the Mobilize app that,
like I mentioned, controls theequipment.
You get data from the equipmentand then you can send reports
from that to your CMMS or youcan email them.
I've got small ISOs that usethem as their service report for
it, and we do offer someintegration with CMMS systems as
(35:53):
well.
The data goes right into thework order, so you don't have to
send it.
Bryant Hawkins (36:04):
Now let me ask you this question here.
I see the part about theintegration because I think
that's awesome.
That makes sure accuracy isthere.
Maintenance Do y'all have highmaintenance issues with your
equipment as far as repairs?
Rick Walston (36:18):
All of our equipment comes with a four-year
standard warranty.
So anything, parts, labor, allcovered for four years.
We have we've been in theindustry for 18 years and we
still have some of our originalequipment on the in the market
(36:40):
still in use.
Bryant Hawkins (36:41):
I appreciate you coming to sit down with me,
rick.
Maybe you got to do a fullepisode one day, man, just
getting snippets in gettingpeople in.
I'm going to be starting tocome down to Louisiana me, rick.
Maybe I do a full episode oneday, man.
Ok, sounds good, I'm justgetting snippets in getting
people in.
Rick Walston (36:48):
Ok man, I'm going to be starting to come down to
Louisiana, so I'll hit you up.
Bryant Hawkins (36:53):
Yes, sir, we'll get together.
Thank you for your time,brother.
All right, man, ok.
Day two here at MDX.
Well, I'm sitting here withsomeone who has energy to no end
.
Adrianna England (37:08):
His number one fan.
Bryant Hawkins (37:10):
There you go, see, I'm trying to be modest.
I'm with Miss Adriana, england.
How are you doing today?
Adrianna England (37:15):
I'm doing great, thank you.
Bryant Hawkins (37:16):
How's the show been going?
Adrianna England (37:17):
Amazing Day one was absolutely fun.
Today's a little slower, whichis okay because I get to spend
time with you.
Bryant Hawkins (37:25):
How was the action yesterday?
Was it busy it?
Adrianna England (37:27):
was busy.
It was busy from when we gothere till I went to bed last
night.
Oh, wow, yeah, it was busy.
A lot of interaction, a lot ofmingling with vendors and
customers.
Bryant Hawkins (37:38):
So what company are you affiliated with?
Adrianna England (37:40):
I'm with Advanced Ultrasound Systems, or
AUS.
Bryant Hawkins (37:43):
And where are y'all?
Adrianna England (37:45):
located.
Bryant Hawkins (37:49):
H or AUS, and where y'all located Tulsa,
oklahoma.
But I'm a Cali girl, so I'mgonna assume that you repair and
service ultrasound equipment,which y'all do, we do.
Adrianna England (37:53):
So when you think ultrasound, we definitely
would love to be that resource.
We are 100%, fully focused onthat.
So training, parts depot repair, customer service, tech support
service anything ultrasound myjob is to brand AUS as the
number one choice.
Bryant Hawkins (38:11):
What area y'all cover in the United.
Adrianna England (38:12):
States.
So we are focused in Tulsa,oklahoma.
However, I'm in California, sowe have California coverage, we
have coverage in Texas and weare constantly branching out.
So in those states there, whatwould you?
Bryant Hawkins (38:22):
tell the HTM professionals.
So in those states there, whatwould you tell the HTM
professionals?
Why would they want to use AUSinstead of the counterparts?
Adrianna England (38:32):
Well, me duh.
No, we definitely we're apowerhouse, so we only have 22
employees.
However, our director ofservice is a close friend of
mine, Jim Rickner, and he's beenin the industry for 20 plus
years and he teaches at a biomedlevel, so he definitely is
coming on site just spreadinghis knowledge and expertise.
(38:53):
So you can choose anybody inthis field, but when you have
somebody that's been doing itfor so long with passion, why
not give us an opportunityAwesome?
Bryant Hawkins (39:02):
Now we're going to switch lanes a little bit.
I want to talk about this womenin leadership group here.
What is that all about?
Adrianna England (39:12):
So we started in October and I partnered with
four women that just hadsomething more that we wanted to
offer the HTM community.
We're all in sales.
We're all in sales.
We're all in the healthcarenetwork.
However, we have a passion forleading and mentoring and
inspiring other women to getinto this profession.
(39:33):
So we grouped us four and todaywe have 130 plus members to
inspire other women to take on aleadership role and, if you're
not in a leadership role, tomentor with one of us that we
can help you to get to thatlevel.
Bryant Hawkins (39:53):
Okay, Now how can someone join this Women in
Leadership?
Adrianna England (39:56):
group.
So we are on LinkedIn so youcan find our group.
You can reach out to myself.
April Lebo, A lot of peopleknow Kim.
We have Amber from Midwest, sowe definitely we're branded on
LinkedIn and we can reach out toBrian, our favorite.
Bryant Hawkins (40:14):
How do someone get in contact with AUS?
Adrianna England (40:17):
So I am all over social media.
I'm a social butterfly, so youcan find me on LinkedIn.
You can also email me ataengland at
advancedultrasoundcom.
You can also email me ataengland at
advancedultrasoundcom.
You can Google we're a quickGoogle search Advanced
Ultrasound Systems and I ameasily available.
Bryant Hawkins (40:34):
Do you have a company website?
Adrianna England (40:38):
We do advancedultrasoundsystemscom.
Bryant Hawkins (40:39):
Well, it was great, adriana, talking with you
, as always.
Thank you, looking forward toseeing you again.
You got to come on my podcastone time, all right.
All right, thank you.
Adrianna England (40:45):
Looking forward to seeing you again.
You got to come on my podcastone time.
Bryant Hawkins (40:49):
All right, all right, thank you.
Thank you.
All right, we're back here atMD Expo.
I'm sitting here with a I'llsay okay friend of mine.
I mean, she's a good friend ofmine, kim Rowland.
How you doing today, kim Hi?
Karina Deniz (40:59):
B, thanks for having me on.
Bryant Hawkins (41:01):
How has the show been?
Kim Rowland (41:03):
You know it's been a really great show.
I think Vegas is a greatlocation and always a good time
to get to see you.
Bryant Hawkins (41:08):
I appreciate that.
So you've been seeing any oldfriends rekindling new friends,
making new friends.
How's it been going?
Kim Rowland (41:15):
You know the best thing about MD Expo it's almost
like a family reunion.
I think a big part of ourindustry is long, long timers
and getting to reconnect, notjust on the end users that are
going to be here, but also onthe vendor side.
You're always going to be ableto do business with that
coopetition level in theindustry.
So, yeah, it's been really good.
Bryant Hawkins (41:36):
Great, great.
So this is I know it's not yourfirst Indie Expo.
How long have you been comingto these shows?
Kim Rowland (41:41):
Oh my gosh, Are you trying to age me?
Bryant Hawkins (41:43):
You are Five plus years trying to age me, you
are five plus years.
Kim Rowland (41:52):
Five, yeah, no, literally I think it's been 20
plus years, I think I'm aroundyou started in high school,
exactly, you know it.
Bryant Hawkins (41:55):
We did just become best friends so you
technically can see the evolvingof this expo and the biomed
industry for that matterabsolutely the expansion um the
biomed and the connecting of thetwo departments.
Kim Rowland (42:08):
I think that there's a little bit more of a.
There was more of a definedline, a black side and a white
side, right when you have biomed, and then you have the imaging,
and I like that we've been ableto merge those a little bit
more, be a little bit morecollaborative and make it more
of a gray space.
Bryant Hawkins (42:22):
I think so, in your opinion, do you see, since
you mentioned coopetition, doyou see a lot of vendors OEMs
each other and work with eachother because ultimately it
comes down to patient care?
Kim Rowland (42:50):
You want to get the best price and the shortest
distance for that customer toget that part, they're going to
get the best price.
So, yes, you have to developthose relationships with the
quality parts providers andtraining companies.
Bryant Hawkins (43:03):
Okay, let's switch gears a little bit here.
I'm admiring your outfit there.
It's pretty blue, power blue,yeah.
So women in leadership?
Yes, I know what that's about,because I've had a few of your
counterparts on here already.
So where do you see women inleadership, or where do y'all?
What's the vision of women inleadership from your part, your
(43:24):
perspective?
Kim Rowland (43:24):
So I'll take a step back.
You said you've alreadyinterviewed them.
I'm just getting on here.
Where's our friendship placenow?
Well, you was signing autographsand taking pictures and I had
to go to the next ones, so Ithink, in a nutshell, what I
love about the women inleadership is being able to pay
it forward.
I think the whole membershipboard or the leadership board
(43:47):
has been in varying degrees ofstepping up in this industry
right, and we've got storiesthat have gotten us to where we
are and we can really relate to,like the foundational of what
builds quality employees,technicians, salespeople,
whatever.
We've got a wide variety ofexperience and I love that we
get to go out and meet thepeople and normalize women in
(44:10):
the space.
Specifically.
The whole women part about thisis we're not trying to make it
male-female.
What we're trying to do is makeit about the human thing.
This is a more male-dominatedspace.
It's gotten better.
We always need improving, butwe're not trying to just focus
on female.
We're just saying, hey guys,you know there's a place where
we have different conversations.
(44:31):
We want to level it out to be ahuman connection.
Let's look at it as what ourexpertise is.
Let's interview and be hiredbased on what our skill set is.
Are we ever going to get there?
100 percent, no.
But how do we empower people,change their mind?
We don't have to always findthe same obstacles.
How do we let them know.
(44:51):
You know the questions to askand the places to be and the
networking and the things that Idon't know.
Everybody knows, especially newinto the space to get involved
in and get connected with, to beable to really improve their
career and their connections inthis space.
Bryant Hawkins (45:05):
I mean anything I can do to support y'all.
Just keep me in the loop and Iappreciate you coming to sit
down here and talk with me.
Kim Rowland (45:11):
We appreciate you, we appreciate your support and
we want to get the message out.
You know we only know so manypeople around us and we want to
expand that.
We don't want it to feelexclusive to just the people
that we know in our circle.
So thank you for getting theword out and expanding out the
awareness.
Bryant Hawkins (45:26):
You got to come on my podcast and we can talk a
little longer.
Let's do that I know, this wentby very quickly.
Kim Rowland (45:31):
Thanks for making this even a lot more fun here at
the show today.
Bryant Hawkins (45:38):
Thank you, awesome.
All right, this is the lastinterview from MD Expo Las Vegas
and I'm closing it out with afriend of mine by the name of
Kelly Thacker.
How you doing, kelly?
Kelly Thakkar (45:47):
I'm good.
How are you?
Bryant Hawkins (45:48):
How's the show been going?
Kelly Thakkar (45:50):
Good, it's great turnout.
Bryant Hawkins (45:51):
So Kelly, who are you working with?
Kelly Thakkar (45:55):
I'm with J2S Medical.
Bryant Hawkins (45:56):
And what does J2S Medical do?
Kelly Thakkar (45:59):
We are a general biomedical parts and service
provider.
Our core competency is infusionequipment, so we primarily
provide service, replacementparts, rental equipment, all
under the infusion umbrella.
Bryant Hawkins (46:13):
And where are y'all based out of?
Kelly Thakkar (46:14):
Cincinnati, Ohio, baby.
Bryant Hawkins (46:16):
And y'all cover what parts of the country.
Kelly Thakkar (46:18):
Everywhere, anywhere, everywhere, okay yeah.
Bryant Hawkins (46:20):
That's great, and how can someone contact you
guys?
Kelly Thakkar (46:23):
They can reach out to us on our website,
j2smedicalcom.
They can give me a shout513-293-0613.
Bryant Hawkins (46:31):
Anytime you just shared your number like that I
don't mind.
Kelly Thakkar (46:34):
Okay, give us a call.
Bryant Hawkins (46:35):
We'd like to help.
That's amazing.
So how do you see the industrygoing in the next few years,
next year?
Kelly Thakkar (46:42):
I'm going to say a few years.
So I've been in HTM for aboutsix years and one thing I think
that's been there's been two bigshifts.
There's a lot more educationabout the field.
A lot of people are hearingabout it, more especially the
young folks out there, which isreally nice, and there's a lot
more women, and I really likeseeing that.
So those, I think, are the twothings I'm noticing.
There's always, you know,different things as far as
(47:09):
infusion pumps from the oem thatcan be challenging um, but I
think, more than anything,there's just a higher um view on
our industry that previouslywasn't let me ask you this
question.
Bryant Hawkins (47:18):
So, as far as giving back, do you guys do
anything with regards to givingback to communities and things
like that in the hdm industry?
Kelly Thakkar (47:27):
yeah, so sarah stem, who is one of the founders
of j2s, was really really bigon that, um.
So one of the things that j2sused to do every year around the
holidays is we had a whole daydedicated to volunteer service
in our community, which wasamazing, um the last.
So sar, as many people know,got sick in 2020, recently
passed away.
(47:48):
But the last in-personvolunteer organization that we
got involved with is a reallycool org that is focused around
providing diapers for childrenin impoverished areas, which
isn't necessarily related to HDM, but it was just really cool
because it was something thathas such a large reach to a lot
(48:09):
of people.
So it's a diaper bank,essentially.
And then we also partnered withMatthew 25 Ministry around us
Again, not necessarily relatedto HDM, but just something that
Sarah really believes in andstill wants us to carry on today
.
And then we get really we'reinvolved in some of the
community colleges around ourarea and actually have a lot of
interns that work with us, sotrying to get them exposure to
(48:30):
the real world, so that, as faras htm goes, we do that and also
, don't y'all get involved withbiomed associations oh yeah, um,
so I am actually on the boardof the kentucky association.
Um, yeah, I love it.
And so KME kind of like camefrom the ashes and really
started to grow and had a greatsymposium in 2019.
(48:54):
And then COVID kind of shut usdown for a while, but we're
growing again, so that's awesome.
I'm involved with the Ohio show, ohio org, indiana, chicago.
Since we're in Cincinnati it'swe kind of like branch out
through the tri-state area.
So, yeah, we love to be a partof that.
Bryant Hawkins (49:09):
I do career fairs in high schools and
whenever I do career fair Ireach out to the vendors to send
me swag and we give to the kidsevery time they do.
So if you guys ever haveanything you want to give back,
I'll shoot you an email.
You shoot me some stuff and thekids loves it, and back I'll
shoot you an email.
You shoot me some stuff and thekids loves it and it'd be like,
(49:29):
give them.
I'll give them like an expoexperience on a high school
level.
Kelly Thakkar (49:31):
Love that Absolutely, anytime you let us
know.
Bryant Hawkins (49:34):
I'm glad to have you on here.
I appreciate you taking sometime.
Kelly Thakkar (49:37):
Thank you for having me.
Bryant Hawkins (49:38):
Anytime you want to come, anything I can do to
help you.
I appreciate you because youare one of my most supportive
ones out there.
I finally got to put a facewith this person who kept
reposting my stuff.
Kim Rowland (49:48):
I said man, who is this?
Kelly Thakkar (49:49):
I appreciate her though.
Adriana Martinez (49:51):
Yeah.
Kelly Thakkar (49:51):
So it works out great, of course, anytime.
Thanks for everything you do.
Bryant Hawkins (49:54):
Thank you Getting the word out there and
how the twins.
Kelly Thakkar (49:57):
Man, there's something Two-year-old twins is
a night, it's a beautiful stormall the time.
Identical girls, man, they.
All right, it's day two at Indy Expo.
I'm sitting here with arepresentative from Zopec
Medical.
Introduce yourself, please.
Karina Deniz (00:09):
Hi, I'm Karina Denez.
I'm a product engineer at ZopecMedical.
Bryant Hawkins (00:13):
So, Karina, thanks for sitting down with me.
What is Zopec Medical about?
Karina Deniz (00:18):
So Zopec Medical is really?
We are a battery company and sowe're based in Blaine,
minnesota.
Right now I have with me theUPS 90 Pure, which is one of our
featured products.
It's a hospital grade UPSbattery.
It's the smallest UPS batterythat uses technology such as
(00:39):
lithium ion battery, same asTesla.
Lithium ion battery Same asTesla.
It has no maintenance, lasts 8to 12 years and is FAA approved
and FDA approved, and it allowsto just back up and power
medical devices and is very,very reliable.
Bryant Hawkins (01:00):
Great man.
So just so I can understandingthis device can be used with
respiratory medical equipmentlike ventilators.
What type of equipment could beplugged into that at the same
time?
Karina Deniz (01:13):
Yeah.
So that's a really greatquestion because the thing is is
that this is a really greatjust backup battery in general.
So right now we have a reallygreat in with respiratory
therapists.
So right now we have a reallygreat in with respiratory
therapists, but really we wantto expand in so many different
departments because it can backup so many different medical
devices.
So we have an AirVo2 with ustoday, but we also back up the
(01:36):
MR850.
Along with the AirVo2, a lot ofpeople use aerogen so you can
plug that in as well at the sametime and just depending on the
speculations, this device canbase or this battery can just
basically back up any devicethat has a maximum draw output
of 500 watts and then anythingthat kind of falls within that
(01:59):
region.
You can just kind of just plugand go.
Bryant Hawkins (02:03):
Great, great.
Okay then, noam, you mentionedy'all had other products, just
like it varies in what size ofthe batteries, or different
products altogether.
Karina Deniz (02:13):
Oh right, right, right, yeah.
So different sizes of batteries.
So right now, like our UPS90Pure, it's five pounds and it's
the world's smallest UPS batterythat is medical grade.
And so basically, if you wantour battery to back up maybe,
let's say, a thousand watts, sowe would need like a bigger
(02:36):
battery for that, and that'swhat I mean by different
products.
So then you would have like abigger battery, still way less
than the 50 pound trip lightbatteries that you deal with.
And then, yeah, and then you goand basically support that
device with that said battery.
Bryant Hawkins (02:50):
Awesome, Great.
Now where is your officelocated?
Corporate office.
Karina Deniz (02:54):
Oh, we are located in the beautiful Blaine
Minnesota.
Bryant Hawkins (02:58):
Do y'all cover what United States?
What's y'all range?
Karina Deniz (03:03):
Right.
So we are a startup and I thinkthat gives us a lot of power
where we want to go.
So we have been reaching out toso many different states, so
many different hospitals acrossthe country, as well as being
implemented and looking atdistributors that are across the
country.
So the great thing I thinkthat's so amazing about our
(03:23):
company is that we have builtbatteries, but it's not just for
the US.
So the US has 120 volts thatyou usually plug and play, so
you usually go and see 240 voltsin other countries and then 100
volts in Japan.
We've made batteries for thosethings and we're currently
testing and trialing them out,um and and testing them with the
(03:45):
equipment known so Airvos, um,hamilton and stuff like that, um
, and so we really want to reachevery corner of the world,
because people will come to usfrom different countries and say
how much they need our product,how much they actually, um,
really like, would need thatsupport, and, honestly, we I
think I talked to someone fromIndia last week and then the
(04:05):
week before that I talked tosomeone in Ireland and the week
before that I talked to someonein the United Kingdom.
So there is a really greatoutreach with this product.
People need reliable backupsupport systems, especially when
it comes to transportingpatient care, transport
helicopters, planes, rigs,everything and they really do
(04:26):
need that support, because whatyou see with the other UPS
devices is that they will fail,and this battery does not.
Bryant Hawkins (04:33):
Awesome, so tell the HTM community how can we
get in contact with you guys?
Karina Deniz (04:38):
Oh my gosh.
Well, you will probably eithersee Strong in person, because he
is literally everywhere, or um.
We have a zopec medical page,so it's at zopecmedicalcom um
what z-o-p-e c?
Yeah, yes and um, and usuallyyou can reach out to me or to
(05:01):
will or to another productengineer, but most people go
through the cs at zopeccom email.
That's the customer service, sowe usually get outputs for that
, or there is also, I think,another email listed on there,
but usually we typically go tothe cs at zopeccom.
Bryant Hawkins (05:21):
Great, great.
Well, it was great talking toyou, karina.
I appreciate the time you spentwith me.
Wish you guys all the best.
Karina Deniz (05:27):
Oh, thank you, Thank you All right, it's day
two.
Bryant Hawkins (05:31):
We're at the MD Expo.
I'm sitting here with WaltMoyer from CM Parts Plus.
How are you doing today, walt?
Walter Moyer (05:37):
I'm doing all right, brian.
How are you doing man great, sowell, talk to me.
Cm Parts Plus.
What is that all about?
So we're an MRI depot repairfacility in Winston-Salem, north
(05:58):
Carolina.
We primarily repair MRIcomponents, the high voltage
stuff, rf amplifiers, gradientamplifiers.
We are.
What we are not is a partsvendor.
We don't sell parts, we don'tstock parts, we don't have an
inventory.
What we do is you send us adefective part and we repair it
(06:18):
and send it back to you so youhave it ready for the next time
you need it.
Bryant Hawkins (06:27):
What region do you cover in the United States?
Walter Moyer (06:31):
We cover the whole United States and we have
international customers.
Bryant Hawkins (06:34):
Oh great, Wow.
So how long has you been doingthis business here?
How long have you been inbusiness?
Walter Moyer (06:41):
It was an existing company.
We took over in June of 2020,right in the heart of COVID.
Yeah and yeah, we haven'tlooked back.
We're growing.
This year we expanded oursquare footage.
We went from we basicallydoubled our square footage.
(07:01):
We have 10,000 square feet.
We've purchased a SiemensAvanto test system.
We're in the process ofpurchasing a GE 450 test system,
so we can we test everything werepair.
These systems will allow us toput it into a system and test it
(07:25):
that way.
Bryant Hawkins (07:26):
But yeah, so that's awesome.
So if you could talk to the HTMindustry, tell them what would
make CM Parts Plus the go-tovendor for their needs.
What would you tell them?
Why would they want to come toyou?
Then your counterparts what?
Walter Moyer (07:43):
would you tell them why would they want to come
to you?
Then your counterparts, ifthey're, if they're with an
organization that is isindependent of the OEM, for one
thing Right and I think thiswhole MD Expo is is independent
folks.
If they're independent of theOEMs and they have some
(08:06):
inventory of parts, then wewould be the guys that they
would send their defective partsto to repair, so they have good
parts on the shelf for whenthey need it.
Generally what we do, though,is we do repairs for the parts
vendors.
When they sell a part onexchange, they get the defective
(08:28):
part back.
If it's something that's indemand, then they'll contact us
to repair it for them, so theycan put it back on the shelf for
the next sale.
Bryant Hawkins (08:38):
Right right Now.
How can they contact CM PartsPlus.
Walter Moyer (08:42):
So the absolute best way is on our website,
cmpartspluscom, and uh, it it's,uh.
You can go on there.
You can uh put in a request for, for a quote, let us know you
know what's going on, what youhave, what's going on with it,
and and we'll get back in touchwith you, probably the same day,
(09:05):
depending on when we get theemail.
And yeah, the other way is togive us a call and all of our
contact information is on ourwebsite.
Bryant Hawkins (09:17):
Right, right.
Well, thanks for your time,Walt.
I appreciate you stopping by.
I wish you nothing but success,sir.
Walter Moyer (09:22):
Thank you All right, Thank you Brian.
Bryant Hawkins (09:26):
Okay, we're back .
I have another special guestwith me.
It's my brother from anothermother.
I'm going to try to keep it asformal as I can.
I'm sitting here with BrianSanders.
How are you doing today, sir?
Ryan Sanders (09:38):
I'm doing amazing.
Bryant Hawkins (09:40):
Glad to be here.
I'm glad you're here too, man.
Ryan Sanders (09:45):
So what you been up to lately, ryan?
Well, md Expo.
Hey, we're excited.
We're having fun, doing quite abit of networking, doing quite
a bit of learning more about howour industry evolves, and then
back home in the mainstay andwe're just moving leaps and
bounds in Southeast Texas tomake for great, safe medical
(10:06):
equipment and a good program.
Is this your first MD Expo?
It's not my first MD Expo.
I've actually been to a numberof MD Expos.
I've had the pleasure of beinga guest speaker and presenter
and, of course, always enjoyseeing all my friends in the
industry.
Bryant Hawkins (10:24):
Yeah, it's like a little family reunion around
here at times.
Ryan Sanders (10:26):
That's right.
Bryant Hawkins (10:28):
Have you taken any classes since you've been
here or you've been stuck inmeetings?
Ryan Sanders (10:31):
A little of both, but I have taken some classes.
Some of the classes that I'vetaken have been things that are
just reminders.
Right, you know these things,but you see them on the board
and it reminds you.
But there were some other gemsout there as well.
I think Heidi Horn'spresentation was very meaningful
(10:52):
as well.
She had a really nice elementon the evolution of a hospital
department's control of what aCE program should look like, and
I just found that amazing ofwhat a CE program should look
like and I just found thatamazing.
Bryant Hawkins (11:07):
So, ryan, tell me a little about your journey
in the HTM industry.
You don't have to go into noplay-by-play.
Give me a quick summary,because we don't have five
minutes and 10 minutes here.
Ryan Sanders (11:17):
Well, I'll tell you, it all started when I was
born.
My mother, no, look.
I got into this business about20 plus years ago, 25 years ago
and it's been.
It's been amazing for me.
I know I've worked closely withyou, bryant, but you know, from
cutting my teeth as a biomedand field service, moving
through the ranks from aleadership perspective and now
(11:40):
being a vice president.
Being a vice president, it'sjust.
It's just been an amazingjourney and I love having
influence for the industry andalso receiving the influence of
others, including you.
Bryant Hawkins (11:53):
Oh, I appreciate that.
I like what you just said about.
Even though you've been in theindustry so long and you've
reached such a level, you stillhumble enough to say that you
are still learning.
Ryan Sanders (12:03):
Absolutely.
Bryant Hawkins (12:04):
Some people may get to a point where they feel
they don't have to learnanything new.
Do you have any certifications?
Ryan Sanders (12:08):
in the industry?
I do.
I have a certified health caretechnology manager, certified
biomed, and I'm also, a longtime ago, a certified
electronics technician on top ofit.
That's great.
Bryant Hawkins (12:19):
You cover all the bases, huh yeah.
So let me ask you what is oneof the most?
What is what you call your bestachievement in the industry so
far in your career?
Ryan Sanders (12:31):
If you had to say one thing, I would say
Improvement of quality withinthe facilities that I've had the
pleasure of going in andworking with and you know some
of the big ones, really you knowwe could talk about them.
(12:51):
I mean the major hospitalsystem that you and I were part
of in Florida, right, you know,to be able to go in and feel the
confidence that together we canall work together and make
something that maybe is in amedium state or maybe less than
medium state into somethingthat's really great.
That means a lot to me and itchanges not only that program
(13:14):
and the patient safety of theequipment, but it changes the
people's lives that work inthose departments too, and
that's a big deal to me.
Bryant Hawkins (13:21):
That's great.
So you're a person that'salways a student of this
industry.
Where do you see the HTMindustry going in your
perspective?
Because it's changing almostlook like monthly.
So what's your picture in thenext let's just say a year, not
five years.
Ryan Sanders (13:35):
Certainly Look.
I think in a year you're goingto see more and more of the
technology integration, more andmore of the technology
integration where your typicalold school great biomed will
also need to evolve with that.
I think the lines between ITand biomed are becoming more and
(13:56):
more blurred and I think, fromour perspective, where we're
going to be stellar is to bethat amazing hardware,
electronics technician, serviceengineer that we all are at our
core but combining in a realknack knowledge for the IT
(14:17):
industry, includingcybersecurity, of course, and
integration and everything itdoes with it.
Bryant Hawkins (14:23):
Well said.
Now, before we finish, I justwant to always ask the
interviewers if you could justshare some information with the
HTM industry.
What would you like to sharewith them?
A little advice.
If you had to give somethingthat any level can take to heart
and utilize, what would you say?
Ryan Sanders (14:43):
I would say that, no matter what position you're
in in this business, it'simportant to be self-reflective
and take a moment to pause,really, think about why do you
love what you do.
Because it will provide you aguiding light in those tough
(15:04):
moments where you can referenceback and say, well, today's not
the day that's been a great dayat work.
But the reason that I do thisis because I know what I love
about this business and about mycareer, and that's whatever
your career progression is.
Bryant Hawkins (15:22):
Well said.
Thank you, Brian.
As always, my brother, good tospend time with you.
Ryan Sanders (15:26):
Absolutely.
Bryant Hawkins (15:27):
Take care, brother.
Ryan Sanders (15:28):
Fantastic.
Bryant Hawkins (15:32):
Okay, I'm sitting here with another good
friend of mine, Miss MariaDenson.
How you doing, Maria?
Maria Denson (15:36):
Hello, hello, they're doing fabulous.
Thank you very much for havingme here.
How are you?
Bryant Hawkins (15:40):
Yeah, your friend want to join us.
Maria Denson (15:43):
Adriana, would you like to join?
Bryant Hawkins (15:45):
She comes down here and she's taking pictures.
We got another one.
There's two of them, so who areyou and what's your name?
Adriana Martinez (15:51):
My name is Adriana Martinez.
I work for Mobile MedicalTechnologies.
Bryant Hawkins (15:54):
Great, great, great so Maria.
Maria Denson (15:57):
Yes, sir, let's get to it.
How you been.
I've been great.
This was a really good turnout.
It's a very good show.
Yes, so tell me about yourselfand what you contribute to this
HTM industry.
So a little bit about myself.
I started in the industry about15 years ago.
I started doing officeadministration just invoices,
(16:18):
just regular admin stuff, workedmy way into part sales, project
management, and now I'mlearning engineering.
I've been doing an engineeringwork for about four years and my
ultimate goal is to say that Iam a full-blown engineer that
can troubleshoot systems andresolve errors.
I work with ScanningTechnologies.
(16:39):
Scanning Technologies is ownedby several partners that have
been in the industry for many,many years, even though Scanning
Technologies is just startingout.
We're one year old and we'vebeen hitting the ground running.
Bryant Hawkins (16:51):
I still can't forget that icon picture with
you standing on top of the MRIwith the steam coming out.
Oh, not steam, what was that?
Maria Denson (16:56):
Yeah, we were doing a helium pill.
Bryant Hawkins (16:59):
Yeah, that's amazing so it's liquid helium.
So, adriana, what aboutyourself there?
How long you've been in theindustry?
Adriana Martinez (17:06):
I've been in the industry for about four
years, I started a similar.
I have a similar backgroundwith her.
I started as a warehousemanager warehouse inventory.
From warehouse inventory movedup to warehouse manager.
So, as the cool thing aboutwarehouse manager, you learn the
parts as you go.
So I started like, okay, well,the engineer needs this, he also
might need this, and that's allfrom learning the parts itself,
(17:27):
which is really cool.
I'm more GE, maria is moreSiemens.
So after Finder, I moved up tosales for mobile medical
technologies and there we do thetrailer refurbs, trailer
service, the HVAC, trailergenerator, anything that has to
do with the trailers we do.
So we serve as a trailer, mariaserves as a system.
(17:48):
So that's a good way to worktogether absolutely so.
Bryant Hawkins (17:52):
This is not your first MD Expo, is it?
Maria Denson (17:55):
No, no.
I started MD Expo I would saysolid nine years ago.
Bryant Hawkins (17:59):
Oh wow, what about you, Adrienne?
Adriana Martinez (18:01):
I would say this is my third Expo.
Bryant Hawkins (18:03):
Oh okay, how do you think it's going so far?
Adriana Martinez (18:06):
This has been a great outcome.
Bryant Hawkins (18:08):
Yeah.
Adriana Martinez (18:08):
Yeah, I mean, yesterday was a lot of people,
today is a lot of people still.
Bryant Hawkins (18:11):
Yeah, great.
Where do y'all see MRI going?
Maria Denson (18:16):
MRI world hasn't at least from the last that I've
seen it hasn't really changedmuch.
There's a lot of industries, alot of companies that are still
strong in the industry gettingbought out, new ones coming in,
but for the most part it's thesame.
What I do see that's changed isthe social media and the
exposure that everybody'sreceiving.
(18:36):
For so many years it's been ahidden industry.
It was a hidden gem, so theowners would bring in their
friends, their family, theirkids.
Now we're growing.
The industry itself is growing.
We're getting more publicity,we're getting more exposure,
whether it's podcasts likeyourself and getting the name
out there, whether it'seducational courses, career days
and I love to see that and alot more women in the industry
(18:58):
too.
When I first started, the womenfor the most part were doing
just the trade shows.
It was like the token ladies tobring in the attention for the
trade shows.
And now there are so many thatare in leadership and
decision-making and they'reactually making the change
within the HTM and that's reallycool to watch and I kind of
want to add on to that.
Adriana Martinez (19:17):
It's all thanks to you, you know going
back to how she said exposure.
I appreciate what you do.
I was talking to Maria.
I was like I wish I would havemet someone like you back when I
was in high school, cause Iactually have a BA in criminal
justice.
But now that I'm in thisindustry I'm like I'm intrigued
here and I want to learn more.
I want more from here.
So my BA is on the side, notbeing used and I wish I knew
(19:41):
about this whole industry rightfirst out of high school.
Bryant Hawkins (19:44):
Hey, it's great so.
Adriana Martinez (19:45):
I really appreciate what you do because I
know you guys went to NewOrleans, so it was really cool.
Bryant Hawkins (19:49):
Well, you got to come next time.
Definitely, come next time,definitely, I mean it's that's
what, to me, that it's all about, and I believe in my heart of
heart, the more you give, themore you get, and this industry
has been great to me.
So my thing is, I want to giveback, and that's good.
You guys like that, because Inoticed on the internet you all
are very active with cmia.
(20:09):
So what do y'all do since,since we're talking about CMIA,
what's some of the joy y'all getfrom going to a CMIA meeting,
dealing with the kids there?
Maria Denson (20:21):
We recently joined , so we haven't yet been exposed
to a lot of the CMIA eventsOkay, okay.
But, just again, the exposurethat they bring.
So for the next generation, thecareer dance events that Byron
has put together and the socialmedia campaigns that they bring
so for the next generation.
The career dance events thatByron has put together and the
social media campaigns thatthey're talking about and
putting together is going to bein effect fairly soon.
So getting young kids involvedand interested in our industry,
(20:45):
getting them involved in thetechnical aspect of it, that it
doesn't just have to be.
You know, sales are fantastic,sales is personality and that's
always going to get you life.
But the technical expertisefrom my perspective is going to
provide that stability in acareer choice for many, many
years to come.
Bryant Hawkins (21:01):
Yeah, let me tell you this the drive y'all
have for it, how you feel howmuch you wish you would have
before, use that when you talkto the kids.
See, look, I have a BA and I'mnot even using it because this
is where my calling is.
I mean, we don't know.
That's why it's kind ofchallenging for the kids at 17
to say what you want to do, butyou can tell them.
(21:22):
You might not know what youwant to do, but just do this
until you figure it out.
And if they see how much youcare and like it, I guarantee
you, because they don't know.
You saw what was in the walls.
The kids was like, why not?
And that just shows that you'redoing something that's right.
So, and I'm here for youAnything you need, call me.
Adriana Martinez (21:40):
Thank you, thank you.
Bryant Hawkins (21:41):
I'll try to send out to you on my list so you
get my information.
She gets it so.
Adriana Martinez (21:45):
Yeah, I just.
I mean, I just met Maria inDecember.
Oh really, I've been told she'sbeen in the industry for many,
many years.
Yeah, we actually met at atrailer inspection.
Bryant Hawkins (21:55):
Come on.
Adriana Martinez (21:56):
And when I met her I was like dang, I think I
just met my new mentor.
Aw, yeah, Ever since then,unfortunately, my other job I
worked for I had a layoff, so Iwasn't working for a bit and
then Maria reached out.
I was like hey, I knowsomeone's looking for a sales
manager Are.
I reached out like hey, I knowsomeone's looking for a sales
manager, Are you interested?
And I was like heck, yeah, andthat means I'm staying in the
industry.
Of course, you know, Absolutely.
(22:17):
So, ever since then she's been,you know, helping me out.
Was it like under her wing,type of thing?
Bryant Hawkins (22:22):
Mm-hmm, because the deal about being a good
mentor mentee, it has to beinterchange.
Now she could be mentoring you,but at the same time you could
be mentoring her.
It's not a good relationship ifit's always a giving only.
So if she's mentoring you,hopefully you show her your
appreciation by the way you doyour job, the way you pick up on
(22:43):
things.
So that's what I always tellthe mentee Don't just take, take
, take.
Figure out ways to give back.
Maria Denson (22:49):
And it's a lot easier definitely to mentor and
help someone along the way who'sinterested and who's passionate
about learning.
And you can't teach that, youcan't tell somebody like, get
excited, and Adriana's excitedabout this industry, and that's
what I love the most, becauseall these years in I'm still
very much passionate about whatwe do.
Bryant Hawkins (23:08):
You have to evolve.
I'm 31 years and still likeI've been in two years.
You have to stay like thatbecause if not, you get stagnant
, and nobody wants to bestagnant to me.
Adriana Martinez (23:24):
Well, I appreciate you guys coming to
talk with me, Maria and.
Bryant Hawkins (23:26):
Andrea, I said your name Adriana.
Adriana, yes, I'm going to sayAndrea.
I keep wanting to put that N inthere.
It's no N, but I appreciate youguys and man.
I wish you the best.
If you need me, you know how tocontact me, I got you.
Walter Moyer (23:34):
Thank you very much how are you doing, sir,
doing?
Tim Keohane (23:37):
awesome.
Thanks for coming Sit downthere for a minute.
Thanks for having me.
I appreciate it.
Bryant Hawkins (23:40):
Let's tell the listeners who you are and who
you're working with.
Tim Keohane (23:43):
Sure, so my name is Tim Cohane, the vice have a
small niche product.
It's a gas indicator.
It tells you the anestheticconcentration coming out of
vaporizer to make sure thevaporizer is working properly.
The story of my companyactually starts with my
grandparents.
My grandfather is an extremelysmart man, inventor,
(24:07):
entrepreneur, really well knownin the anesthesia community.
He owned multiple patents ondifferent human vaporizers.
And my grandmother, she was thesales rep.
She had the gift to gab.
They were a dynamic duo.
My grandfather was a strong,silent type, my grandma, she
would just go out there and dothe selling.
And one day my grandfather waslooking at a magazine.
(24:28):
He saw an ad for a Reichen gasindicator manufactured in Tokyo,
japan.
He started writing letters tothe company.
50 years later we're stillselling them.
It's a classic American typedream story, right, entrepreneur
.
So we're located in Buffalo,new York.
We have eight employees, momand pop shop, third generation.
John Bickford, who was with mygrandparents, is my uncle, he's
(24:50):
the president.
And my mom, she does the booksand I'm learning the books right
now, doing payroll accounts,payable accounts, receivable.
It's great, it's fun.
Bryant Hawkins (25:03):
Man, I guess you're touching all bases.
Tim Keohane (25:05):
You're almost like a one-man show, but a one-family
show I am.
Yeah.
Well, it's a lot like this MDExpo.
I mean, we're a small,tight-knit community of family.
I think your son's involved too, right.
So it is kind of like a familytype business and it's just kind
of great to be here.
For a small company like me,this brings so much value.
Everybody at Tech Nation isgreat Jamie and her team.
They really bring value add tomy company because we don't have
(25:26):
the budgets of those big guys,right, so we have to really take
advantage of what we can.
Bryant Hawkins (25:31):
So I'm going to give you a minute.
You mentioned a history of it,what we can, so I'm going to
give you a minute.
You mentioned a history of it.
What would tell the ATNcommunity?
What will set you, your company, apart from your counterparts?
Gotcha yeah.
Tim Keohane (25:44):
So we are, we're small, right?
So when you, when you call AAMBickford, you're going to get
somebody on the phone right away.
You're going to get a liveperson.
You don't need an accountnumber, you don't have to type
in an extension, and you'regoing to get your answers
provided quickly.
You're going to either talk tome or my co-worker, jim Lamarty,
and we're going to help you outright away.
(26:05):
Now for my product, the ReichenGas Indicator.
It's a niche product.
The FIE 1000P is the newest oneand we calibrate them in our
shop.
They're calibrated within 24hours of us receiving them.
So it's going to hit UPS, it'sgoing to hit our warehouse, our
factory, and it's going to goright back out again to you.
So it's going to be a fastturnaround time.
(26:26):
So you're going to get customerservice, you're going to get
fast turnaround time and you canget your problem solved right
away.
So we value our customers andwe try to communicate that to
them.
Bryant Hawkins (26:38):
We try to provide it to them every single
day.
So how can the H&Mprofessionals contact you?
Tim Keohane (26:43):
Good question.
So you can go on our websiteambickfordcom.
You can click on the ReichenGas Indicator page.
All the information about thatone product is on there.
You can email us.
My email is timk atambickfordcom.
We'll get back to you rightaway and give us a call too.
We're there open Monday throughFriday, 8 to 430 Eastern
(27:03):
Standard Time, and again, we'rejust a small family company
against these bigger guys andwe're just looking for support
in business and we're here tohelp the community out.
As much as we can Appreciateyou coming on team, wish you
nothing, but you gotta haveb-hawk.
Do the heisman stance.
Desmond howard has nothing onhim, so I appreciate you having
(27:25):
me on here.
Walter Moyer (27:25):
I really appreciate thank you so much.
Bryant Hawkins (27:27):
Take care take care we're back here at md exp,
day two.
I'm sitting here with twoindividuals that are close and
dear to my heart.
Introduce yourselves, ladies,and who you're working with.
Lisa Gonzales (27:44):
Good afternoon.
It's great to see you, brian,and it's great to be with you
again.
I'm Lisa Gonzalez.
I'm the director of studentServices at the College of
Biomedical Equipment Technology.
Lesley Harrington (27:56):
Hi Bryant.
I'm Leslie Harrington.
I'm the Career ServicesSupervisor at the College of
Biomedical Equipment Technology.
Bryant Hawkins (28:04):
So you both mentioned you work for the
College of Biomedical EquipmentTechnology.
How have things been going onthe school front?
Lisa Gonzales (28:11):
Fantastic.
We're growing.
We have new program.
I know last time we were on, wespoke to you about the BMET
certificate and degree.
We have the HISM, which is theHealthcare Information System
Management degree andcertificate.
We have an RBLP course, whichis for resilience um leadership,
(28:41):
no, resilience buildingleadership program, um.
So yeah, we're going fromstrength to strength and doing
amazing things in the industryand building some uh fantastic
partnerships with um many, manycompanies out there and people
like yourself.
Bryant Hawkins (28:51):
So if you had to talk about this industry right
now, you guys come to a lot ofshows.
So if you had to talk aboutthis industry right now, you
guys come to a lot of shows.
Where do you see the H2Mindustry going with reference to
young people?
Lesley Harrington (29:00):
We see a lot of enthusiasm with our students.
We have a lot of young studentscoming in very entry level
right out of high school lookingto start their career, and then
we have a lot of studentsenrolling in the programs that
are, you know, seasonedtechnicians, but they, you know,
enroll in CBET to pursue theireducation and be able to get
that next step in their career.
So we see a lot of enthusiasm.
(29:22):
We love to connect our studentsto the different industry
partners.
We love to connect with Bearded, biomed and all of our
different partners here,intermed, and it's just, it's a
great network and we love theenthusiasm of our students.
Bryant Hawkins (29:38):
And you like working with HTM online.
Lisa Gonzales (29:42):
And HTM online, our favorite.
Bryant Hawkins (29:46):
Let me keep going Now.
I want to talk about one thingthat I think you guys have a
strong new love for.
It's the high school's careerday.
I saw where y'all just recentlywent to one and the response
you put on LinkedIn about howamazing it was.
Tell me about it more.
What was one of the things thatstood out the most to you?
Lisa Gonzales (30:06):
I think, just sharing the knowledge and you
know the amazing work thatBiomeds do.
You know there's so many timesyou have, you know, an operation
, you thank the doctors, uh, butyou don't realize that that
unsung hero is the biomed.
Without the biomed and a lot ofthat work you know the doctors
and nurses do, um, what you knowdoesn't happen.
(30:27):
So for us it's sharing them,with them that you know, you're
saving lives every day in adifferent way.
And we went to the high schoolrecently and we took with us a
patient monitor.
We took along Riegel's testequipment and Leslie and myself
and no technician and we had abit of trouble setting it up.
So we did some troubleshootingover the phone and the students
(30:51):
came over.
They loved hearing about it.
There's many students that tellus you know my dad on the car,
you know I've helped my dadrepair the lawnmower.
And even just the young girlsthere was four of them that said
yeah, I've heard of Biomed andit's great.
So sharing that word andhopefully trying to get that
(31:11):
next generation into theindustry is we love it.
We love what?
Lesley Harrington (31:18):
we do and it's great to see that spark in
their eyes when we explain whata biomed does, explain the HTM
industry, and they've neverheard of it.
And we tell them you know,you've got those skills.
As Lisa said, you like to workon your car, you like to help
your parents tinker with things,you like Legos.
One of the students' eyes litup when we said do you take
apart computers or gamingsystems?
(31:39):
And he was like I love to dothat.
So it's just great seeing thataha, light bulb moment in their
eyes when we describe biomedsand what they can do in the
profession.
Bryant Hawkins (31:49):
How many biomeds did y'all put out in a year?
Lisa Gonzales (31:52):
I think last year we had somewhere in the region
of about 300.
This year we're going to beatthat and we're going strength,
you know, from strength tostrength.
One of the courses that we haveat the college is the
professional career developmentcourse and that, to us, is
really not just become a program, it's become really part of the
(32:16):
whole process.
And you know life cycle of astudent because we do that mock
interview with them, we talk tothem about the importance of
that communication, having yourelevator pitch, leslie you know,
updating your resume, targetingit to the healthcare technology
management industry, hitting onthose keywords, troubleshooting
(32:38):
those technical skills thatstudents don't even realize
translate into HTM.
Bryant Hawkins (32:44):
Well, look guys, y'all got to come back on the
show.
You know it's been since 2022,right, it's been a while, Brian,
no January of 2023.
It was the early part, so it'stime for y'all to come back
because we can talk about anhour and a half.
You know, we're supposed to bea little quick moment here.
Lisa Gonzales (33:00):
We're so passionate about what we do.
Yes, exactly you have to kickus off.
Bryant Hawkins (33:04):
We need to get it together so we get back and
not slow down, but just fit sometime in.
I would love to talk becausey'all have changed so much since
the last time we spoke, so Ithink we need to update them and
, if anything I can do for youguys, to help anytime, because
you know I love and appreciatey'all to the to the sky, cause
y'all are my.
I brag and tell people all thetime Y'all are the real reason
(33:25):
for what I do.
Y'all have been supporting mesince my second episode when I
was so I love you guys and I'lldo anything for y'all.
We love you, brian.
Lesley Harrington (33:35):
We'd like to have you on our course and speak
to our students as a guestspeaker.
Bryant Hawkins (33:38):
Please, please, alright.
Lesley Harrington (33:39):
Thanks guys, Thank you so much.
Bryant Hawkins (33:42):
Okay, we're here at the Expo.
I have another guest, mr RickWalston, with Prunk Technologies
.
How you doing, rick Good?
Rick Walston (33:48):
I'm doing good, man, how are you?
Did I pronounce that name right?
Yes, you did.
Oh, okay, great.
So, rick, tell us about PrunkTechnologies, even though we all
know about it.
Okay, well, prunk manufacturessmall, compact, durable test
equipment for the biomed.
We have also software that runsit on an iPad or iPhone and you
(34:11):
can control the equipment andget data back to it.
Bryant Hawkins (34:14):
Great.
So where are you guys located?
Rick Walston (34:19):
Our factory is in Sun Valley, california, which is
near Burbank LA area.
Bryant Hawkins (34:26):
Now at the company I work for, reuse Prunk
a lot, so what could you tellthe HTM community that sets
Prunk apart from the rest, orwhy they should use Prunk
instead of everyone else?
Rick Walston (34:40):
Like I mentioned before, small, compact, durable
that's our key features.
But it's also easy to use,extremely accurate, and we
design everything with thebiomed in mind, and we design
everything with the biomed inmind, and any time a new product
comes out, we put it in thehands of biomed to actually use
it before it goes out on themarket.
(35:01):
A good example is our newpressure meter.
Bryant Hawkins (35:15):
We had that out six to eight months with biomed
all over the country using ittrying to break it, so we could
fix it and have a good productwhen it hits the market.
So I know now technology isadvanced.
Rick Walston (35:29):
Do y'all have any type of integration with the
equipment on the servers?
So what we have is an appcalled the Mobilize app that,
like I mentioned, controls theequipment.
You get data from the equipmentand then you can send reports
from that to your CMMS or youcan email them.
I've got small ISOs that usethem as their service report for
it, and we do offer someintegration with CMMS systems as
(35:53):
well.
The data goes right into thework order, so you don't have to
send it.
Bryant Hawkins (36:04):
Now let me ask you this question here.
I see the part about theintegration because I think
that's awesome.
That makes sure accuracy isthere.
Maintenance Do y'all have highmaintenance issues with your
equipment as far as repairs?
Rick Walston (36:18):
All of our equipment comes with a four-year
standard warranty.
So anything, parts, labor, allcovered for four years.
We have we've been in theindustry for 18 years and we
still have some of our originalequipment on the in the market
(36:40):
still in use.
Bryant Hawkins (36:41):
I appreciate you coming to sit down with me,
rick.
Maybe you got to do a fullepisode one day, man, just
getting snippets in gettingpeople in.
I'm going to be starting tocome down to Louisiana me, rick.
Maybe I do a full episode oneday, man.
Ok, sounds good, I'm justgetting snippets in getting
people in.
Rick Walston (36:48):
Ok man, I'm going to be starting to come down to
Louisiana, so I'll hit you up.
Bryant Hawkins (36:53):
Yes, sir, we'll get together.
Thank you for your time,brother.
All right, man, ok.
Day two here at MDX.
Well, I'm sitting here withsomeone who has energy to no end
.
Adrianna England (37:08):
His number one fan.
Bryant Hawkins (37:10):
There you go, see, I'm trying to be modest.
I'm with Miss Adriana, england.
How are you doing today?
Adrianna England (37:15):
I'm doing great, thank you.
Bryant Hawkins (37:16):
How's the show been going?
Adrianna England (37:17):
Amazing Day one was absolutely fun.
Today's a little slower, whichis okay because I get to spend
time with you.
Bryant Hawkins (37:25):
How was the action yesterday?
Was it busy it?
Adrianna England (37:27):
was busy.
It was busy from when we gothere till I went to bed last
night.
Oh, wow, yeah, it was busy.
A lot of interaction, a lot ofmingling with vendors and
customers.
Bryant Hawkins (37:38):
So what company are you affiliated with?
Adrianna England (37:40):
I'm with Advanced Ultrasound Systems, or
AUS.
Bryant Hawkins (37:43):
And where are y'all?
Adrianna England (37:45):
located.
Bryant Hawkins (37:49):
H or AUS, and where y'all located Tulsa,
oklahoma.
But I'm a Cali girl, so I'mgonna assume that you repair and
service ultrasound equipment,which y'all do, we do.
Adrianna England (37:53):
So when you think ultrasound, we definitely
would love to be that resource.
We are 100%, fully focused onthat.
So training, parts depot repair, customer service, tech support
service anything ultrasound myjob is to brand AUS as the
number one choice.
Bryant Hawkins (38:11):
What area y'all cover in the United.
Adrianna England (38:12):
States.
So we are focused in Tulsa,oklahoma.
However, I'm in California, sowe have California coverage, we
have coverage in Texas and weare constantly branching out.
So in those states there, whatwould you?
Bryant Hawkins (38:22):
tell the HTM professionals.
So in those states there, whatwould you tell the HTM
professionals?
Why would they want to use AUSinstead of the counterparts?
Adrianna England (38:32):
Well, me duh.
No, we definitely we're apowerhouse, so we only have 22
employees.
However, our director ofservice is a close friend of
mine, Jim Rickner, and he's beenin the industry for 20 plus
years and he teaches at a biomedlevel, so he definitely is
coming on site just spreadinghis knowledge and expertise.
(38:53):
So you can choose anybody inthis field, but when you have
somebody that's been doing itfor so long with passion, why
not give us an opportunityAwesome?
Bryant Hawkins (39:02):
Now we're going to switch lanes a little bit.
I want to talk about this womenin leadership group here.
What is that all about?
Adrianna England (39:12):
So we started in October and I partnered with
four women that just hadsomething more that we wanted to
offer the HTM community.
We're all in sales.
We're all in sales.
We're all in the healthcarenetwork.
However, we have a passion forleading and mentoring and
inspiring other women to getinto this profession.
(39:33):
So we grouped us four and todaywe have 130 plus members to
inspire other women to take on aleadership role and, if you're
not in a leadership role, tomentor with one of us that we
can help you to get to thatlevel.
Bryant Hawkins (39:53):
Okay, Now how can someone join this Women in
Leadership?
Adrianna England (39:56):
group.
So we are on LinkedIn so youcan find our group.
You can reach out to myself.
April Lebo, A lot of peopleknow Kim.
We have Amber from Midwest, sowe definitely we're branded on
LinkedIn and we can reach out toBrian, our favorite.
Bryant Hawkins (40:14):
How do someone get in contact with AUS?
Adrianna England (40:17):
So I am all over social media.
I'm a social butterfly, so youcan find me on LinkedIn.
You can also email me ataengland at
advancedultrasoundcom.
You can also email me ataengland at
advancedultrasoundcom.
You can Google we're a quickGoogle search Advanced
Ultrasound Systems and I ameasily available.
Bryant Hawkins (40:34):
Do you have a company website?
Adrianna England (40:38):
We do advancedultrasoundsystemscom.
Bryant Hawkins (40:39):
Well, it was great, adriana, talking with you
, as always.
Thank you, looking forward toseeing you again.
You got to come on my podcastone time, all right.
All right, thank you.
Adrianna England (40:45):
Looking forward to seeing you again.
You got to come on my podcastone time.
Bryant Hawkins (40:49):
All right, all right, thank you.
Thank you.
All right, we're back here atMD Expo.
I'm sitting here with a I'llsay okay friend of mine.
I mean, she's a good friend ofmine, kim Rowland.
How you doing today, kim Hi?
Karina Deniz (40:59):
B, thanks for having me on.
Bryant Hawkins (41:01):
How has the show been?
Kim Rowland (41:03):
You know it's been a really great show.
I think Vegas is a greatlocation and always a good time
to get to see you.
Bryant Hawkins (41:08):
I appreciate that.
So you've been seeing any oldfriends rekindling new friends,
making new friends.
How's it been going?
Kim Rowland (41:15):
You know the best thing about MD Expo it's almost
like a family reunion.
I think a big part of ourindustry is long, long timers
and getting to reconnect, notjust on the end users that are
going to be here, but also onthe vendor side.
You're always going to be ableto do business with that
coopetition level in theindustry.
So, yeah, it's been really good.
Bryant Hawkins (41:36):
Great, great.
So this is I know it's not yourfirst Indie Expo.
How long have you been comingto these shows?
Kim Rowland (41:41):
Oh my gosh, Are you trying to age me?
Bryant Hawkins (41:43):
You are Five plus years trying to age me, you
are five plus years.
Kim Rowland (41:52):
Five, yeah, no, literally I think it's been 20
plus years, I think I'm aroundyou started in high school,
exactly, you know it.
Bryant Hawkins (41:55):
We did just become best friends so you
technically can see the evolvingof this expo and the biomed
industry for that matterabsolutely the expansion um the
biomed and the connecting of thetwo departments.
Kim Rowland (42:08):
I think that there's a little bit more of a.
There was more of a definedline, a black side and a white
side, right when you have biomed, and then you have the imaging,
and I like that we've been ableto merge those a little bit
more, be a little bit morecollaborative and make it more
of a gray space.
Bryant Hawkins (42:22):
I think so, in your opinion, do you see, since
you mentioned coopetition, doyou see a lot of vendors OEMs
each other and work with eachother because ultimately it
comes down to patient care?
Kim Rowland (42:50):
You want to get the best price and the shortest
distance for that customer toget that part, they're going to
get the best price.
So, yes, you have to developthose relationships with the
quality parts providers andtraining companies.
Bryant Hawkins (43:03):
Okay, let's switch gears a little bit here.
I'm admiring your outfit there.
It's pretty blue, power blue,yeah.
So women in leadership?
Yes, I know what that's about,because I've had a few of your
counterparts on here already.
So where do you see women inleadership, or where do y'all?
What's the vision of women inleadership from your part, your
(43:24):
perspective?
Kim Rowland (43:24):
So I'll take a step back.
You said you've alreadyinterviewed them.
I'm just getting on here.
Where's our friendship placenow?
Well, you was signing autographsand taking pictures and I had
to go to the next ones, so Ithink, in a nutshell, what I
love about the women inleadership is being able to pay
it forward.
I think the whole membershipboard or the leadership board
(43:47):
has been in varying degrees ofstepping up in this industry
right, and we've got storiesthat have gotten us to where we
are and we can really relate to,like the foundational of what
builds quality employees,technicians, salespeople,
whatever.
We've got a wide variety ofexperience and I love that we
get to go out and meet thepeople and normalize women in
(44:10):
the space.
Specifically.
The whole women part about thisis we're not trying to make it
male-female.
What we're trying to do is makeit about the human thing.
This is a more male-dominatedspace.
It's gotten better.
We always need improving, butwe're not trying to just focus
on female.
We're just saying, hey guys,you know there's a place where
we have different conversations.
(44:31):
We want to level it out to be ahuman connection.
Let's look at it as what ourexpertise is.
Let's interview and be hiredbased on what our skill set is.
Are we ever going to get there?
100 percent, no.
But how do we empower people,change their mind?
We don't have to always findthe same obstacles.
How do we let them know.
(44:51):
You know the questions to askand the places to be and the
networking and the things that Idon't know.
Everybody knows, especially newinto the space to get involved
in and get connected with, to beable to really improve their
career and their connections inthis space.
Bryant Hawkins (45:05):
I mean anything I can do to support y'all.
Just keep me in the loop and Iappreciate you coming to sit
down here and talk with me.
Kim Rowland (45:11):
We appreciate you, we appreciate your support and
we want to get the message out.
You know we only know so manypeople around us and we want to
expand that.
We don't want it to feelexclusive to just the people
that we know in our circle.
So thank you for getting theword out and expanding out the
awareness.
Bryant Hawkins (45:26):
You got to come on my podcast and we can talk a
little longer.
Let's do that I know, this wentby very quickly.
Kim Rowland (45:31):
Thanks for making this even a lot more fun here at
the show today.
Bryant Hawkins (45:38):
Thank you, awesome.
All right, this is the lastinterview from MD Expo Las Vegas
and I'm closing it out with afriend of mine by the name of
Kelly Thacker.
How you doing, kelly?
Kelly Thakkar (45:47):
I'm good.
How are you?
Bryant Hawkins (45:48):
How's the show been going?
Kelly Thakkar (45:50):
Good, it's great turnout.
Bryant Hawkins (45:51):
So Kelly, who are you working with?
Kelly Thakkar (45:55):
I'm with J2S Medical.
Bryant Hawkins (45:56):
And what does J2S Medical do?
Kelly Thakkar (45:59):
We are a general biomedical parts and service
provider.
Our core competency is infusionequipment, so we primarily
provide service, replacementparts, rental equipment, all
under the infusion umbrella.
Bryant Hawkins (46:13):
And where are y'all based out of?
Kelly Thakkar (46:14):
Cincinnati, Ohio, baby.
Bryant Hawkins (46:16):
And y'all cover what parts of the country.
Kelly Thakkar (46:18):
Everywhere, anywhere, everywhere, okay yeah.
Bryant Hawkins (46:20):
That's great, and how can someone contact you
guys?
Kelly Thakkar (46:23):
They can reach out to us on our website,
j2smedicalcom.
They can give me a shout513-293-0613.
Bryant Hawkins (46:31):
Anytime you just shared your number like that I
don't mind.
Kelly Thakkar (46:34):
Okay, give us a call.
Bryant Hawkins (46:35):
We'd like to help.
That's amazing.
So how do you see the industrygoing in the next few years,
next year?
Kelly Thakkar (46:42):
I'm going to say a few years.
So I've been in HTM for aboutsix years and one thing I think
that's been there's been two bigshifts.
There's a lot more educationabout the field.
A lot of people are hearingabout it, more especially the
young folks out there, which isreally nice, and there's a lot
more women, and I really likeseeing that.
So those, I think, are the twothings I'm noticing.
There's always, you know,different things as far as
(47:09):
infusion pumps from the oem thatcan be challenging um, but I
think, more than anything,there's just a higher um view on
our industry that previouslywasn't let me ask you this
question.
Bryant Hawkins (47:18):
So, as far as giving back, do you guys do
anything with regards to givingback to communities and things
like that in the hdm industry?
Kelly Thakkar (47:27):
yeah, so sarah stem, who is one of the founders
of j2s, was really really bigon that, um.
So one of the things that j2sused to do every year around the
holidays is we had a whole daydedicated to volunteer service
in our community, which wasamazing, um the last.
So sar, as many people know,got sick in 2020, recently
passed away.
(47:48):
But the last in-personvolunteer organization that we
got involved with is a reallycool org that is focused around
providing diapers for childrenin impoverished areas, which
isn't necessarily related to HDM, but it was just really cool
because it was something thathas such a large reach to a lot
(48:09):
of people.
So it's a diaper bank,essentially.
And then we also partnered withMatthew 25 Ministry around us
Again, not necessarily relatedto HDM, but just something that
Sarah really believes in andstill wants us to carry on today
.
And then we get really we'reinvolved in some of the
community colleges around ourarea and actually have a lot of
interns that work with us, sotrying to get them exposure to
(48:30):
the real world, so that, as faras htm goes, we do that and also
, don't y'all get involved withbiomed associations oh yeah, um,
so I am actually on the boardof the kentucky association.
Um, yeah, I love it.
And so KME kind of like camefrom the ashes and really
started to grow and had a greatsymposium in 2019.
(48:54):
And then COVID kind of shut usdown for a while, but we're
growing again, so that's awesome.
I'm involved with the Ohio show, ohio org, indiana, chicago.
Since we're in Cincinnati it'swe kind of like branch out
through the tri-state area.
So, yeah, we love to be a partof that.
Bryant Hawkins (49:09):
I do career fairs in high schools and
whenever I do career fair Ireach out to the vendors to send
me swag and we give to the kidsevery time they do.
So if you guys ever haveanything you want to give back,
I'll shoot you an email.
You shoot me some stuff and thekids loves it, and back I'll
shoot you an email.
You shoot me some stuff and thekids loves it and it'd be like,
(49:29):
give them.
I'll give them like an expoexperience on a high school
level.
Kelly Thakkar (49:31):
Love that Absolutely, anytime you let us
know.
Bryant Hawkins (49:34):
I'm glad to have you on here.
I appreciate you taking sometime.
Kelly Thakkar (49:37):
Thank you for having me.
Bryant Hawkins (49:38):
Anytime you want to come, anything I can do to
help you.
I appreciate you because youare one of my most supportive
ones out there.
I finally got to put a facewith this person who kept
reposting my stuff.
Kim Rowland (49:48):
I said man, who is this?
Kelly Thakkar (49:49):
I appreciate her though.
Adriana Martinez (49:51):
Yeah.
Kelly Thakkar (49:51):
So it works out great, of course, anytime.
Thanks for everything you do.
Bryant Hawkins (49:54):
Thank you Getting the word out there and
how the twins.
Kelly Thakkar (49:57):
Man, there's something Two-year-old twins is
a night, it's a beautiful stormall the time.
Identical girls, man, they.
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