The ImpacTech podcast features Rose Morris, founder and CEO of Abrams Nation, a company that revolutionized the landscape of autism care by manufacturing an FDA-registered autism bed. Rose's inspiring journey showcases the power of innovation and compassion, as she created a life-changing product to keep her son Abram safe and secure. Through personal stories and insights into the challenges of entrepreneurship, this episode highlights the profound impact Abrams Nation has had on families needing specialized solutions for their children with special needs.
Host: Dr. Mary Goldberg, Co-Director of the IMPACT Center at the University of Pittsburgh
Guest: Rose Morris, Founder of Abram's Nation
IMPACT Center | Website, Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter
Transcript | PDF
Timestamps:
1:45 Rose Morris and Abram's Nation Introduction
2:05 Motivation to start Abram's Nation
6:57 Challenges of Learning About FDA Registration and Insurance Requirements
11:56 Memorable Success Stories
18:50 Expansion into International Markets and SBA Exporter of the Year
27:25 Future Plans
SPEAKERS
Nancy Augustine, Michelle Zorrilla, Mary Goldberg, Rose Morris
Zorrilla, Michelle 00:03
The IMPACT Center at the University of Pittsburgh, supported by the National Institute of Disability, Independent Living, and Rehabilitation Research proudly presents ImpacTech. Welcome to season four of the ImpacTech podcast. On today's episode "Costs Over Corporate: Unique Solutions for Special Needs," we have the privilege of delving into a groundbreaking intersection of innovation and compassion. Our guest Rose Morris, founder and CEO of Abrams Nation, LLC, has not only revolutionized the landscape of autism care, but has done so by establishing her own manufacturing, right here in Pittsburgh. Rose's journey is one of determination vision, as she saw a need for an FDA registered autism bed and decided to take matters into her own hands. Today we explore the incredible story behind Abrams Nation, the challenges and triumphs of setting up manufacturing and the profound impact these specialized products have had on families. Join us as we uncover the ingenuity, heart and resilience behind this remarkable endeavor, shedding light on what it truly takes to innovate in the healthcare space. Without further ado, let's welcome Rose Morris to the ImpacTech podcast. As a side note, you may notice some new voices today. Stepping in as guest host for Mary Goldberg, is the IMPACT Center's very own Nancy Augustine. Nancy has known our guest Rose Morris from Abrams Nation for several years, making her the perfect person to lead this interview. We're excited to dive into Rose's journey and the impactful work she's doing at Abrams Nation. Let's get started.
Rose Morris01:45
Good afternoon, Rose. Thanks for joining us. Thank you, Nancy. I appreciate the opportunity. You know I love always talking about our autism community, our special needs community, this bed, it's a really as a passion. What motivated you to start Abrams Nation and focus? The motivation was self self preservation. It was self need, you know, I had an I had an issue myself, I needed something different. I didn't know where to look for it. We created it ourselves. We had something that was working in the home. But I realized that wasn't going to work for our whole life. You don't live your whole life just in your home. And I needed to keep Abram safe. And I needed to be able to have the ability to travel. So we came up with the solution ourself, the safety sleeper, it's an enclosed bed system. It's where that crib, and the intersection of safety when you get bigger, they come together. So when Abram was little he was in a crib, he started getting out of the crib really early, before he had any awareness of safety. And he just never really had that cognitive ability to understand why he needed to stay in bed or in his room. And there was just the potential of all of the options that can be dangerous, when you don't have a child that is sleeping. And then you as a parent, become sleep deprived, all sorts of, you know, things can be dangerous in the home or outside the home. So I like I said I had something that was working for us in the home, but we couldn't travel and then quickly, the product that we had in the home wasn't going to work either as he gotten bigger. And as he got smarter and was conniving ways to get out of the first option. So we created the safety sleeper, just having a moment where I do believe that I had a just a divine moment, maybe it was exhaustion, maybe it was prayers and but I feel like I had a moment where I was just told you had a friend that helped you with the one product now you need to be that friend to everyone else. So I wasn't trying to create a business. I was just trying self to have self preservation. We have something for myself. But I was overwhelmed in the beginning just leaps and bounds that there could be people out there that needed this product, like I did or exponentially more than I did, which was overwhelming to think that but that's what I've discovered over the years of doing this is that most people needed this more than even what I did. And I can't imagine how they lived life without this because I couldn't have lived life without this. When did you start the company? It's a little gray in my brain, my foggy brain. And you have to remember that I had, you know, we had Abram who was newly diagnosed with autism. We had a newborn may see I had a teenager and my husband at the time was military and working another job and was deployed and so it's a little fuzzy at that point in life, but 2009 is our official on paper start and then 2010 We really we're kicking it off more Can you walk us through the process that you've chosen to design and start to manufacture an FDA registered product? Right. So in the beginning, I wasn't worried about it being FDA registered. Again, I was just worried about being able to sleep and know that Abram was secure. So in the beginning, we had it manufactured by a friend of ours, who was a manufacturer of boats and fences, just kind of a general he could make anything. He made my first one, and he made a few of our first products. But once we realized that this was needed, and this, this happened, this progression happened slowly. You know, I think my first I was overwhelmed when I got my first three orders in a timeframe where I have enough time to get in and do the QuickBooks over and over. So it didn't happen instantly. And that gave me the ability to grow and learn. But eventually, we took it on here, we realized we had enough families out there that didn't need us. And the research showed that there were a huge number of families around the world that needed something like this. So we needed to bring it here so that we could have control of it and have quality. As soon as we did that. And we put it out there. We instantly had families that needed it but couldn't afford it or wanted to know if insurance could cover it. As soon as we started trying to work on insurance covering it in 2012. Ish. We realized that we needed insurance to do that and insurance started saying, you know, is an FDA registered? I don't know, what do we need to do to make it FDA registered? So we just started learning and digging and growing. And so what are what are some of the challenges that you encountered as part of that learning and digging and growing? If you can remember, sometimes small business owners will try and put those out of their minds, but I'm sure there might be a couple that you can recall during that start out growth. Yeah, I, for me, my, you know, my sweet spot is not education. There's not learning is not that i. So for me, it's hard to figure out where do I find the information? How do I know that information is correct. My strong point is getting out and talking to families and being creative and fixing a problem. The research is not my strong area. But I have a an employee Beth, back in the day, and she was good at that. So together we worked through that, where do we find that information? And how do we go about it, what the requirements were for the FDA, Medicaid in the States, and we just compiled that information. And then as you grow, you meet other businesses that are doing similar and you compare notes, we were blessed to be able to start slow and do it quality. And we realized that what we were doing met all the expectations to begin with. So it was it was an easier transition than what some people might have. Did you find, that you were you applying for grants to support the development of these products? Or was this all self funded? Or funded through other mechanisms? Right. So it, no, it was all self funded. I was at the same time running a nonprofit. And we were applying for grants on the nonprofit side, I had applied for grants back when I was a teacher, I know that there is no such thing as free money, you're going to work for it. And you're going to have to support it afterwards. I didn't have the time and the energy to do everything. So to me, it wasn't really worth applying for grants. I just I had enough money that we got it started, we put any money that we'd made off of selling products back into the business to grow the business more, and then we eventually just paid ourselves back. That is wonderful. And truly a small business success story in and of itself. Have you expanded your product line over the years? Or do you still focus on the Abrams bed is Does that still represent the largest share of your sales? Right so I do say the flagship of this company is the safety sleeper and it is what even today is 99% of our sales. But yes, I did also expand and see other areas of need. And then also I have other areas of opportunity I have I have fabric from petting the bed, we had large scraps we thought what can we do with these scraps? Let's come up with a creative use for these. So we did create other products. We've had other manufacturers come to us here locally and ask if we could make products for them or with them. We've done we've worked with other other businesses that have asked if we could do a part of it for them. Could we cut for them or could we so for them over the years we've tried a lot of different things. At this place where we are now the safety sleeper has grown so much and it's so sought after and requested that we have such a long wait list for it that we have not spent any time with any of the other products currently because we just are focused on the safety sleeper If I had to tell other manufacturer or other businesses that I could no longer really manufacture for them, I just don't have the space the time or the people to spread myself that thin.
10:11
Well, you know, we can't be all things to all people in a business and you have found that test other products, but what is still your sweet spot? Is the bed bottom? How do you balance that innovation, with with keeping these products accessible to families, from pricing, from distribution from promotion? You know, how do you make sure that that this product well known among families who need it?
Rose Morris10:39
So I think I just kind of started with a golden rule concept. I think I read somewhere that it was McDonald's, I think that said, if you take care of the customer, the customer will take care of you. And I like that, and I'm a customer I want to be taken care of and, and this product. These families, they're not my customers, they're my families, we say welcome to the Abrams Nation family. I get to know these people, I have these people as friends, I've had these people stay in my home, I've stayed in their homes. So it is different. It's not a typical business, platform or structure. I also know that every bed that goes out has my name on it. And I guarantee that I would use that bed, I know what you needed. Or I know what you need, because I needed it. And, and my name is on there. And if I send it out, and it's not a quality product that speaks against my integrity, and that's just not going to do it. It has to be a solid product. You know, you mentioned that Abrams Nation truly is more than just customers they become family. Can you share a memorable success story or two that stand out in your mind war and your company's ability to really make an impact on a family's life? I've got I've got a couple. So one, this is a more recent one. There's a group Smith McGinnis syndrome. I got to know them early on. They're very near and dear to me. They have a very challenging life ahead of them with a with that diagnosis. They had their national convention here in Pittsburgh one year and I had said if you ever have it in Pittsburgh, let me know I'll help you. So I did I stored stuff for them. I helped in any way I could. And I put it out to the to the families coming. Do you have a safety sleeper or if you don't, if you'd like to see where we created, our building is open. I'd love to have you here. I had one family reach out to me and take us up on the request and said sure we scheduled time they came to see where the bed was made. They have a safety sleeper they had just fundraised for, and they came in their little guys named William, I think they have four kids, they brought all the kids, the person who sewed the bed, got to meet William, a lot of our sewers can see a bed and tell who sewed it. It's like a signature that I can't tell. But they can tell. So Jamie knew that she had zoned Williams bed, she got to meet Williams, she got to hug William, we have a picture of that. We became friends with this family. We kept up we were always in contact a year or two later, I put it out there that I was hiring a customer service representative. And for me, that's not just you know, a typical customer service, you really have to you have to know this product and love these families and you are there. You're their advisor, you're their connector. And I asked her if she would post that for me because it could be virtual. And she said Would you mind if I applied? Oh, I would love that. But you have a job. And so she, we she had to go through the interview process. But we've hired her and she's she's one of our customer service team. She goes above and beyond all the time. Can you imagine if you called to speak with somebody about a product like this? And you want to know well, how strong is it? Well, how this well what that and the customer service rep takes you with a FaceTime inside the bed and shows you this is what the bed looks like. Here this is this is where the zippers are. I mean, that's above and beyond. So that's one story. I got Luke, I think back in the very, very beginning. I tell this story a lot. I forget the mom's name. The son's name was Luke. At that time. He was an early teenager. That mom was divorced three kids, two daughters and Luke. They had moved into a new house. They had just finished painting the house. She recalls being woken up and thinking Oh, got some sleep. Oh, that's sweet. He's laughing and then she realized, Wait, he's laughing. Why is he not in his room? And he was outside her door laughing because he had taken all of the paint and poured it over his head and was having just a sensory time with all this paint. And then when she went to stop and he got mad and started slinging paint, all over the hardwood and the carpet and the floor are in everywhere. And that's just paint. Another time, she was woken up by somebody yelling, you know, hello, hello. At the front door, she got up to see what's happening. Oh, this is always at like two in the morning, it seems like she got up to see what was going on. And there was a man at her front door and her son Luke in his underwear. That's it. And imagine what goes through your head. All of the possibilities. He's like, whoa, whoa, he wasn't trying to take Luke, he was bringing Luke back. The child had gotten out of the house and walked around their neighborhood had found this house and gotten into this person's house gone upstairs and crawled into bed with this other family. The family recognized him as being a child that they had seen in the neighborhood, and they knew he had special needs. Luckily, I mean, all the good things happen. Luckily, they were able to recognize that they were able to get a child to walk them back to his house, because they didn't know where he lived. It was close enough, they could walk, and she was able to get him back in the house, he then got a safety sleeper. And she told me for years, she's like, we are so thankful, so thankful, I know he's safe, he can go to his dad's house with the bed, he can stay here with the bed, I think we ended up getting them to one for each house. To just don't think about things like that, that's just not. Those are not typical issues that you you have to deal with.
Nancy Augustine16:27
It's a parent's worst nightmare, too. And one of the I've seen your product, and it's beautifully handcrafted, and an amazing piece of work. But you were talking about in home use but I know, I remember seeing that it folds white compactly into a suitcase so that you've got good or carried on I don't know the dimension. Tell us a little bit about that did did that happen at the same time you built the in home bed, or was that kind of a product line expansion for you.
Rose Morris17:02
So in the beginning, I didn't want just an in home bed, I wanted to be able to travel, I need to go, I didn't want to feel like a prisoner in my own home. And that's what I felt like. And I would have to be a prisoner here if I couldn't go. So in the beginning, it was always meant to travel, it just used to travel, we made a bag for it, you put it in this big bag and you carry it over your shoulder. It was actually a class at Pitt, the Swanson School of Engineering I worked with in some of theirs, it was one of their things that we needed to figure out how could we get this to be into a case, a case that could travel and roll. And so between the pitch students and one of our our managers here, who works very closely with them, and my husband, just trying to think you know, nobody's an engineer, but everybody has an engineering mind here. So with that timeframe, where we came up with if we cut it differently and and modified the frame into different pieces, we could get it into a suitcase. And the suitcase is a 30 inch suitcase. So you do have to check it. It's not carry on. But it does come in a hardshell suitcase, and you can travel with it. And so that was a really great change that happened. We just modify and adjust at every section.
Nancy Augustine18:16
And that's part of pivoting in a small business, isn't it you you find? You listen to your customers, and you determine what else they need and how else you can address those unmet needs. And you have the personal experience of that. Absolutely. Let's take this a little broader. And I want to acknowledge that you are the SBA Exporter of the Year. So that means that you're not just providing this these products nationally, you've moved into the international marketplace. Tell us a little bit about that. First of all, congratulations.
Rose Morris18:48
Thank you. And there's a huge, huge, huge award that I really was shocked. I had no clue I had won it until Kelly hunt from the SBA here in Pennsylvania called was with tears in her in her eyes and the quibble in her voice. She was just overwhelmed because it's positive for for RSPA as well. You're in Pennsylvania and I was the first Pennsylvania resident to ever win that national award every year. They have somebody from each state. But I was the first national one. So it was a huge, a huge deal. And I was really honored and overwhelming. It's just a great story. If it wasn't mine, I would still say that's a great story. The award we quickly went international because the special needs community is not limited to race or socioeconomic or any location. It's everywhere. And as soon as we got off the ground, you know as soon as we had that thing called the you know, the worldwide web. Somebody in another country found us and asked Can you can you send this to England and my answer was always yes. I have no idea how, let me go on the back end and figure that out. But for families, my answer is almost always yes. And now let's figure out how to make it happen. So we started off in England, I sold direct customers, and then just like here in the US as we evolved to have more insurance coverage, and sales, and we then found distributors in our foreign countries to help get the NHS just to cover or whichever, you know, acronym is their, their national health in different countries, no matter how many countries so that's funny, you should say that I just I have a bed on the shelf right now ready to go to Poland? And I was like, what, kind of one going to Poland? So I asked to go check that? Because I think that's a new country. But I'm not sure. And she came back that no, we had sold a bed to Poland in 2019. So it's not a new country. But I do believe that we're at 21 or 22 countries right now. And so you're primarily methods of marketing your company, both nationally and internationally. Do you have a dedicated sales force do trade shows obviously, website? Yes. So we have a lot of a lot of sales people. And that I use the SEO is my strongest sales person, even though it's not in person, word of mouth. All those people are great salespeople, because our product stands the test of time. It's a quality made product. And mom's talking to moms. That's your best salesperson right there. But I do go to conferences, I always connected with the family first. That's how I started. And that's how I that's just kind of where I go in my mind. So I connect to the autism community. I don't do as many autism shows anymore, because it is so large and so widespread. It's hard to get just one that works. But Angelman Smith, McGinnis, cerebral palsy, so many different diagnoses, we do go and support their family conferences. And then we do more of the business side conferences, we go to the here in the US our durable medical companies, we go to their conferences, their sales conferences, so we support them, we meet them, they have any questions. And then internationally, I do the same thing there. I sometimes go to the family conferences International. And we sometimes go to the larger international conventions. And also then my distributors, go to the family conferences and their own business conferences. So that's just that's how we've done that.
Nancy Augustine22:43
And that's really that relationship building component that is very certain. In this. This isn't just a product.
Rose Morris22:51
It's the Golden Rule Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. If you just treat people the way you want to be treated. There can I mean, that's just, I don't know, I can't say it any better. It's the golden rule. Stick with it. That works. So are you a member of any professional organizations, as an entrepreneur that you would recommend other entrepreneurs? Consider? I know you, you, I'm sure you're involved in your industry sector organizations, but are there other general professional organizations that I should probably be more involved, but honestly, I My head's down here, just trying to keep keep going. We are so busy right now, I have really stopped networking or getting out. But I would say for anybody, I always recommend in the beginning, you have so many different questions then as you're three years into it, or five years into it. So in the beginning, for me, I always recommend score is an SBA group. They help entrepreneurs they help if you're new to business, with experience CEOs. So score is always my my first one that I was involved with the SBA, I'm involved with, to some degree, not not as much anymore, but there's always something to learn. They're always hosting different classes or sessions. Locally, I joined a manufacturing an NBA manufacturing business association, I'm gonna get information there. There's a lot, there's always changes, you know, the Department of Labor has just recently put a change out there, I've got to be up on that. That side of it that I'm not, that's not really as much fun as getting out there and making a product. But those are things I need to stay up on. So those would be the ones that I'm involved in.
Nancy Augustine24:35
And SCORE is the Service Corps of Retired Executives. So you may not be familiar with the acronym it is affiliated with the SBA. You mentioned about keeping your head down and staying in the business. I've heard from small business owners that it is a challenge in a small business because you wear many hats. So can you tell me about your favorite hat? You wear and your least favorite hat that you wear many, many, many
Rose Morris25:07
Least favorite hat. All the HR rules and laws and all the yucky stuff that you know the, if you have to discipline or if you have to write up all, nobody likes that no parent likes that when you have to discipline your child and no employer likes it when you have to, you know, have a meeting with an employee. That's just No, that's no fun. I don't like it. It's not enjoyable. My favorite hat. I love meeting new families. When you meet a family that needs your product, that they they instantly love you because you are offering them a lifeline you're offering them the life preserver when they're in the middle of the ocean. And sharks are circling and you're throwing of that. I mean, they just it's all over their face that can't be can't be paid enough money for that, that that is just not the sweet spot for me. So science would you get for entrepreneurs, startups who are looking to enter this medical device or health care products manufacturing sector? I don't know if what I know now, if I would have gone into it in the beginning, because it's scary. It's, it's scary. I need to make sure that you know the insurance that we've got the precautions that we take. It's all a lot. So I would say that you need to really open your eyes and make sure you look at all of your your possibilities. First I but then again, I say there's no way of course I would have done this. I have to because families need it like I did or more than I did. So that's just the turmoil inside. I think that's just the stress that comes with being an entrepreneur and being a business owner. You carry you carry all of the hats. You may not wear them all at the same time. But they're all on your shoulders. Exactly. Right. Yes. Good, good, strong advice. I would say get a good accountant, get a good lawyer, get somebody who understands you and protects you. Because you can't you can't know at all or do at all. Excellent advice. Excellent advice. So what are your future plans? Can you share anything that you have on the drawing board or anything upcoming that you're excited about? So we are growing here I'm we have been in a season of growth, since we started. It's just the percentage of growth is bigger the bigger you get. So you know, we I am excited. I have somebody retiring from my company, not quitting not moving because they want something different or in a different state, but she's retiring. And that's amazing to me. She's given me the opportunity to know about it in advance and we're working on getting the right person in so I I'm really excited about the opportunity to to advance our hours. Our staff here to help us grow into that next level with small businesses such a huge realm. Right? You can be two employees are what up to 499? I think that's a huge difference, right? But there's little, there's little segments along the way. And we've just passed we're at 22 I think employees right now. And so you know, we've we've just passed a little milestone. So we're in this next level where I'm a small ish, almost medium company. And so we need somebody to help us grow into that next segment we've taken on NetSuite recently, and we are using it in multiple areas that that's huge. an ERP system. We are this small business, but we are we are a very small, big business. We do international, we do inventory management, manufacturing, sales, shipping, CE marked FDA registered, you know we do a lot. It's just we're a small business tucked up here in the hills north of Pittsburgh.
Nancy Augustine29:07
For those who may not be familiar, can you describe a little bit about NetSuite and ERP?
Rose Morris29:12
Right, so Salesforce, some, you know something, I keep calling NetSuite, Salesforce. It's very well known now it does a system management so you can manage your customer service and your emails and your correspondence and all that Salesforce had the option of bringing in these other areas that would manage different parts of business. We could have gone with that but we chose an ERP and I don't know what it stands for every time I look it up. I can't seem to remember it but it basically is an all encompassing system that does our accounting, our inventory management, our customer service, our sales. So it goes from pick up the email or the phone and talk to somebody all the way through making a sale doing this Sales Order getting the work orders sending that to the production team, production team doing it, it pulling out all of the inventory to make that product, doing the accounting, all of it.
Nancy Augustine30:12
It's incredible to have that all in one organized, accessible package to make. And you as an owner could go in and take a look at a glance where things stand in terms of production, accounts receivable, accounts payable, what your sales look like, compared to your forecasts. It's really fascinating to see these maybe started at large business, but have been able to be adapted for the small business marketplace that really help because you are a small but growing staff and you need those tools to support beyond that. Absolutely. That that is super exciting. And testimony to you and your company to have a person retire. Longevity and comfort is rare these days. And so to have someone who sounds like she was with you almost from the beginning, and has watched and worked with you side by side as you've grown is really a testimony to that person but also to your company. And so I can I congratulate you on that with turnover as it is among companies today. That's very special. So yes, I'm sure she'll have big shoes to fill.
Rose Morris31:23
Bittersweet. You don't want anybody to leave. But you also you recognize it is a it is a milestone.
Nancy Augustine31:32
Rose, can you tell us again, your name and your company?
Rose Morris31:36
Sure, so I'm Rose Morris. The company has Abrams Nation where the maker of the Safety Sleeper and other products for special needs children are located right here in Pittsburgh. Manufacturing and selling safely sleepers all over the world.
Nancy Augustine31:51
Thank you, and I'm Nancy Augustine. I'm project manager with the IMPACT Center at the University of Pittsburgh. Join us next time for more inspiring stories of impactful entrepreneurship . Thanks, Ross.
Rose Morris32:04
Thank you so much, Nancy. I appreciate it.
Michelle Zorrilla 32:08
As we conclude our conversation with Rose Morris, her dedication to improving the lives of individuals with autism through innovation and compassion shines brightly. We hope you enjoyed the Insight she shared and found them as inspiring as we did. A big thank you to our guest host Nancy Augustine for stepping in and leading such a wonderful discussion. Don't forget to subscribe and leave us a review. Join us next time for more inspiring stories of impactful entrepreneurship on the ImpacTech podcast. This is Dr. Michelle Zorrilla, and we'll see you next time.
Mary Goldberg32:43
If you'd like ImpacTech Please review us on Apple podcasts or wherever you listen to podcasts. Thank you again for tuning in and continue to make an impact in whatever you do. A quick note from our sponsors. impact initiatives are being developed under a grant from the National Institute on Disability Independent Living and Rehabilitation Research. NIDILRR is a center within the Administration for Community Living, Department of Health and Human Services. IMPACT initiatives do not necessarily represent the policy of NIDILRR, ACL or HHS, and you should not assume endorsement by the federal government and the same goes for the University of Pittsburgh. We would like to thank our ImpacTech guests and our production team led by Dr. Michelle Zorrilla at the University of Pittsburgh Department of Rehabilitation Science and Technology.