Pitch Please

00:15.84
mike_flywheel
Welcome back everybody to the pitch please podcast. It's Mike and today I'm joined by Julia Slenina from treehouse welcome to the show. Julia.

00:23.29
Julia Slanina
Thank you so much Mike place to see you.

00:27.19
mike_flywheel
Um, maybe yeah, let's learn a little bit about you. Maybe you could start with a background on you know your role at treehouse and a little bit about your career journey up until now.

00:35.68
Julia Slanina
Yeah, absolutely so as you know and everyone who's listening today. My name is juliaa I'm the Ceo and founder of treehouse I started treehouse really in kind of a bittersweet situation in my life I was started medical school. I had a 1 year old at home. So a lot going on. That's a really exhausting time of of my life and my focus was always to focus on pediatric care family care focus on helping and supporting um women and families and children. Um, that's what I loved to to study in medicine and and I still have that passion. Um, and I realized very quickly. Um in that first year when I stayed home as a parent but then when I started school um that I was. Privileged to have medical knowledge I was privileged to be educated I was privileged to be able to have access to care because I lived in an urban environment but I grew up in Alberta I grew up in Alberta in a rural area where we saw rural medicine very common in my family and what I realized very quickly was that um. Were many people that were falling through the cracks and so that was really my commitment ah in in medicine was to help and support those individuals that were falling through our health care system. Um, and how can we make that better so that was the reason why you know I wanted to be a doctor and that was the focus of my my clinical care.

02:06.73
Julia Slanina
Um, unfortunately, after my first year of medical school I had a very terrible family circumstance happen and I needed to stop my medical degree and that was a huge blow to you know the the future of my career because I had a almost two year old at that time. And then suddenly I needed to halt medicine to take care and be a full-time caregiver to my parent who got diagnosed with very aggressive form of cancer and that's when my whole life changed and I realized that I wanted to really focus on a hobby. And what was that hobby project and that was something called treehouse and it didn't have a name at the time and it was just really something to get my mind off of all the stress that I had to deal with with my parent um with my mother particularly um, you know dealing with a new life that she was going to have to deal with. Um, being a stayat home mom and what would I would do essentially so I built some sketches on what I wanted treehouse to kind of look like and how to help and support healthcare space and then that evolved into a business and kind of the rest is history.

03:19.81
mike_flywheel
That's amazing. So are anyone else in your family entrepreneurs. You obviously were going into medical school. Did you ever imagine. You would be a founder and Ceo if you were to go talk to yourself ten or fifteen years ago

03:21.36
Julia Slanina
Yeah.

03:33.76
Julia Slanina
Absolutely not I thought I would just be a family doctor in a rural community helping people just be kind of a country bumpkin quite frankly helping and supporting the rural community of Canada um, that's what I thought that I was going to do. Um, and then just be ah a mom right? that I love being a parent and I just love taking care of of my son and you know growing my family? Um, but that didn't happen right? Things happen for a reason in life and um, I'm an a type person that always likes to be successful and make an impact in what it is that I'm doing. And so the fact that my journey took me this way. Um I had to embrace it I had to adapt very quickly and um, I'm very happy. Ah where my life took me. It's had some very tragic moments in it and um I think it's about. Who is around you to help you get through those moments and then help shape the next part of your life.

04:29.76
mike_flywheel
For sure. Are there Some of those people that you think like really helped shape this journey for you.

04:35.40
Julia Slanina
Yes, and so I think what was really critical was that I had a network of individuals family and friends when I was going through this large transition in my life from going from. You know, just being. Student um and going into entrepreneurship. Um, there were some individuals who I spoke to who were entrepreneurs and had reassured me that you know this was ah an area that could be very um, just impactful. And so I'm very grateful for those people because they helped me throughout my journey. Um and it helped me really evolved what I wanted to to do at treehouse. My sketches is not what treehouse is today right? It's not it's not that business model. It's very different because a lot of ideas can happen. Doesn't mean that those ideas will actually generate revenue and make it into a profitable business. Um, so we've evolved that and you know treehouse now is technology that helps and supports allied healthcare practitioners to stay connected to their clients and enhance their client experience. Um, but that took a long time to get there and um I think it's it's very very clear for me to say that it wasn't by myself. Um, you can't do anything by yourself. You need a community of people to do that and that's kind of what our technology does too. So.

05:57.94
mike_flywheel
But that's amazing. Can you tell us a little bit about those initial sketches because I think like even just the evolution of where people started to where they are today is sometimes it's like.

06:02.67
Julia Slanina
Yeah, so those initial sketches.

06:12.30
mike_flywheel
3 or 4 pivots later but it's so cool to hear like the initial napkin sketch idea.

06:16.21
Julia Slanina
Yeah,, that's precisely what it was right? It was an initial napkin sketch in a sketchbook even and what it really was was um, something that would allow end users or patients or clients to stay connected to their health team to stay connected to their care Circle. You don't just have a family doctor. You don't just have an obbgyn when you get pregnant or maybe you do and that's okay too but oftentimes individuals will have a mental health professional. They'll have somebody to help and support them in those early days like lactation support. They might have somebody like a nutritionist helping and supporting. Mum or dad or helping the child. Maybe they'll have other types of practitioners and so those sketches were really focused on how do we build a care circle that is not in person because when I started sketching. There was no such thing really as telemedicine people. Actually thought that it would be completely a violation of privacy if I had told them that you can speak to your doctor on your cell phone. Um, and so a lot of it was how do we make it tech friendly and tech enabled So. That's what we what? I What I showed um a lot of you and my friends and my neighbors and when I was sketching this. Um, out and they thought well that's really cool because you know we do everything on our mobile phones and then you know Covid happened and we did everything on our mobile phones. So um, it's really cool to look at those sketches now and and see the journey that it's allowed me to to come to.

07:49.22
mike_flywheel
That's amazing when when were those sketches just so we have sort of like a time frame of time because I think that's the other piece right? So many people write these sketches Some people shelf them. Never do anything with them. Sometimes it's about pulling them off the shelf or sometimes just sticking with it for a longer time than most people might. Think when when did those sketches start.

08:07.70
Julia Slanina
Yeah, they started between 2017 and 2018. That's really when I I had stopped school and I had become a full-time caregiver and stay at home ah stay at home Mom and you know those were what kind of got me through. All that because it was a very stressful um and difficult time a very dark time I'm going to be honest and it allowed me to just kind of get my mind off of everything and just draw it out and kind of see where it would go.

08:39.68
mike_flywheel
That's amazing. What do you love most about what you're doing now.

08:43.39
Julia Slanina
Um, seeing that it really makes an impact in health care. Um, every single doctor that I speak to or every so single healthcare practitioner that I speak to at the end of the day what they want is they want to be able to provide good care to their client or their patient. It's not about them. It's about the person they're helping and them having technology that allows them to do it better is what makes them come to work every single day so seeing that is is great. You know we have clients across Canada. A lot of them are in rural communities and that's incredibly important to me because there are so many underserved populations that we have so many individuals that don't have access to healthcare. They need to drive 2 hours to a hospital but them having the ability to have technology. Um, that allows them to stay connected virtually to their healthcare provider their mental health provider. We have an individual in Northern Bc um it's a small rural community. Um, most of the women there um, are there because their partners are working on the rigs. And so when your partner is working on the rigs and you have a two month old at home and you're alone in the middle of nowhere. It's really nice to be able to stay connected to a mental health provider so that you can feel like yourself again. Um, and that's what our technology does and so I'm proud of that and I'm proud that.

10:10.16
Julia Slanina
Slowly but surely how we're making an impact um in Canada.

10:14.37
mike_flywheel
That's amazing. Well I'm excited to learn more about treehouse. Maybe what we'll jump into first then is the part we do on every show. Um, which is Julia your pitch. Please.

10:16.20
Julia Slanina
Me here.

10:26.53
Julia Slanina
So Treehouse is a technology for Healthcare practitioners from fertility to early childhood to stay connected to their clients and enhance their client experience. It enables them to manage their practice needs and then really provide a solution and. Experience that is critical for for their practice and their clients.

10:52.28
mike_flywheel
I'm going to start with the most important next question. How did you arrive at the name treehouse I had to I would honestly when I when I got introduced to grow with treehouse I was like is this like a marketing agency.

10:57.69
Julia Slanina
Yeah, not many people ask me that question actually so ah.

11:06.82
Julia Slanina
Um, yeah, yeah.

11:09.84
mike_flywheel
Is this a company like that does events and it totally not So I'm very curious how you got to treehouse.

11:15.30
Julia Slanina
We have 3 house. Great Question. So as a child. Um I grew up in I Really loved nature. Okay, and I still do to this day I'm always outside um and what I loved the most was a place. To have kind of like every child has like a little nut whether you make a fort in your living room or you do it in your backyard or you have the privilege of having a treehouse that's pretty cool. It's always a place where kids love to just hang out and you know eat popcorn or do whatever they want to do and so. It's a place where people feel connected where they feel like it's a trusted space and so that's why I called it treehouse because I want everyone to feel connected and trusted and you know get the care that they need essentially but at the end of the day. It's where you feel safe and yeah, yeah, yeah.

12:05.39
mike_flywheel
That's Amazing. It's funny because there's like such a wide variety of how people arrive on the name of their business. Some people struggle Some people have to outsource it and some people have a natural story that ties right into it. So It's cool to hear yours and how. You know something that shaped your experiences younger in your childhood so naturally fit into something you wanted to go do and you were able to kind of carry that for it. So Super super cool.

12:27.20
Julia Slanina
Yeah, and and kind of that domain name if you will you know our website grow with Treehouse ca. It's really about you growing. It's about you growing your family whether you're starting at that journey and you're thinking about getting pregnant what that even means about starting. Ah, that pregnancy journey or that fertility journey rather and then moving that through your family so it's about growing with you and growing within our within archery house.

12:55.80
mike_flywheel
That's Amazing. So help us understand a little bit about who specifically uses treehouse or even as part of that who your primary customer is because it sounds like there's. Ah B to C component maybe and a B Two B component. So Maybe maybe let's start there.

13:11.94
Julia Slanina
Yeah, yeah, so it is. It's very much a B to B to C if you really want to be very technical about it. But it is predominantly focused right now on Healthcare practitioners that are not medical doctors so they're allied Healthcare practitioners. That's the term that they refer to themselves as. So those are fertility coaches those are doulas those are lactation consultants those are midwives those are speech language pathologists. These are individuals that help and support you in your care Circle. They're mental health providers right? So they're therapists their counselors who help you through Postpartum depression. Or through whatever struggles that you're going through as a family and those are individuals that need a technology to manage their day-to-day needs to stay connected to their practice and then stay connected to their clients. So That's our predominant focus. Yes, the end user their client, their patient. However, they refer to them as also has. Obviously access to treehouse and that's great because then they can pay for their services through treehouse they can meet other practitioners and then grow their care Circle. So That's the ultimate kind of goal. But um, our predominant focus at the moment is really speaking to those health Care providers.

14:24.80
mike_flywheel
That's awesome and so do do medical professionals as well use treehouse or just the allied professionals that are sort of encircling the the patient's needs.

14:38.36
Julia Slanina
Yeah, so at the moment it's predominantly those individuals that are not medical doctors right? So these are the fee for service providers. Um, so you pay all of these individuals to seek their services whereas in Canada right? We have a public health system. So we don't pay. Per se to see our doctors and so we target those folks that are really running their private practice and and need to stay connected to their clients.

15:03.46
mike_flywheel
Got it So all the types of services that you would be accessing through treehouse or the people that you know a patient's seeing are things that they would be paying out of pocket any way that is sort of my next question. Got it amazing and so when um.

15:13.56
Julia Slanina
Quote. Yes, yes.

15:20.18
mike_flywheel
I Guess the the C part of this is generally um, you were saying women's health is it generally mothers or is there like a wider spectrum of who uses these type of services.

15:29.86
Julia Slanina
Um, yeah, yeah, So what we're seeing of course is um, yes, we do see predominantly women accessing care and that could be just for their Needs. Um in the prenatal or Postpartum period. However, we have many men and fathers as well and even grandparents any type of Caregiver Um Guardian Legal Guardian that needs help and Support. You might be at those early days of your fertility journey and you need to speak to someone. Um, and it might not be um, a woman's issue might be a man a man's issue in that particular regard and um, they need some help and support and so those individuals within come to treehouse try to find access to any sort of service provider within their geographical area within you know,? whatever Province they are in. And then they would get connected to that Healthcare practitioner and then they would essentially access their services through our platform pay for their services and and get the care that they need.

16:30.31
mike_flywheel
And would generally the and user of the the service be the one who seeks out treehouses or are they often referred to treehouses from their practitioners or Allied Health partner.

16:45.00
Julia Slanina
Yeah, so at the moment we predominantly do it through the provider right? So the provider uses treehouse for their business needs for their clinic needs and then they get access to that community for free right? and then that just kind of opens everything up.

16:49.13
mike_flywheel
Okay.

17:01.60
Julia Slanina
Ah, for them and then they can access nutritionists or whatever else that they're looking for so at the moment it is going from the provider. That's it worth.

17:07.50
mike_flywheel
Got it. But once once I'm a user of a service with a provider then I'm actually more likely to use treehouse to see what other options I could be bringing into my circle of of care and. Trust.

17:15.70
Julia Slanina
Um, yeah, yeah, exactly exactly.

17:24.13
mike_flywheel
So the one really influences the many and in the same way. All those different allied Healthcare providers are really cross-referring as well in a more organic way than they may have previously amazing So to teach me a little bit about how.

17:30.31
Julia Slanina
Um, yeah, yeah, exactly.

17:41.30
mike_flywheel
The solution actually works is it an emr is it web-based app-based or what does it look like.

17:46.81
Julia Slanina
Yeah, yeah, so it is a web-based solution. Um, at the moment we're actually working on a mobile version of it as well to help enable providers to just have that on the go right now it is enabled so that they can use it on any sort of tablet. For example, if they're. Um, you know, moving around and traveling but it is predominantly used um as a solution on their computer systems in their practice right? So they can do video conferencing. They can chart. We are hipaa and hipaa compliant. Um our our charting capabilities. Ah, permit and Followhlseven compliance compliance regulations anybody in that industry will know what that means predominantly so it allows them to chart on roles based. So for example, if you are a midwife you're going to have very different view than a mental health provider will. Ah, there's different workflows associated to that so that's pretty cool that our technology does that and you can schedule all your appointments. You can see your day sheet essentially and be able to then have a community where you can educate your clients as well. So you can host support groups so you don't need to use social media platforms to do that. Um, you can educate individuals with educational materials and send it directly to their account so that you don't again have to use emails or text messages or Whatsapp or anything like that.

19:15.25
Julia Slanina
Um, that might be compromising their personal health information. So It allows you to run all your invoicing It allows you to do your kind of business operations. Your practice manager. But then it gives you the ability to really stay connected to your existing clients and build support groups for them. Um, and really be able to to be there and support them.

19:34.11
mike_flywheel
Caught it and then in this space are there emrs or for anyone that's not familiar with the term electronic medical records like there's usually emr systems for different practices If you're a dentist if you're a doctor they can all never seemingly be on the same system and there's lots of people innovating in that space.

19:48.50
Julia Slanina
Um, yeah, ah, who.

19:54.30
mike_flywheel
Is treehouse like an yeah emr does it work with Emrss Maybe the people in the space. Don't use. Yeah Ems help me understand that piece.

20:01.93
Julia Slanina
Yeah, absolutely so emr. Yes, that is a common term electronic medical record. There's another term that people use in this space which is practice management solution. Um, okay, and so treehouse allows you to do those types of motions like those systems. But it also builds a community for you right? So That's what's really critical here is that a lot of times. It'll just be a back-office solution and that's it. That's all it focuses on the needs of the practitioner and that's all whereas treehouse really is built for the client at the end of the day. It's there. Focused on providing client centriced or patient centric care so that yeah, that individual can stay connected to their entire care circle and then we just kind of give the icing on the cake which is that practice management solution. So that those providers have what they need to give that better care as well.

20:52.64
mike_flywheel
Got it and when you think about the the value in treehouse is there more value for one group than the other like is it the practice management for the practitioners.

21:01.48
Julia Slanina
Didn't it.

21:08.96
mike_flywheel
Or is it for the client or is there a different value story for each like how does that? How do you think about that in terms of your your positioning as as ah as a company.

21:17.81
Julia Slanina
Yeah, absolutely. Um so the way that we really see it is how can your care enhance the entire system in a better way right? And how can clients be better supported. Ah, how can your care actually extend itself not from just your actual brick and mortar locations and serving maybe ah, an area in an urban environment. How can you provide better access to care in rural areas in remote areas if you live and work in Toronto and you see predominantly families in Toronto that's great, but. You should also be able to support people in Thunder Bay right or in the northern areas of Ontario I'm just using that as an example and so the way that we really see it is that it allows you to not only build that for yourself as a practitioner and that's the value that we provide you but we give you the tools to do that. And then in in the end it really trickles down to those end users and then that really makes and and shapes the way that we deal with healthcare especially right now since we're slowly coming out of this covid bubble individuals have been. Really suffering over the last several years and and access to care has been challenging and we continually see fractures in our healthcare system. So how can we make it better and how can we alleviate the burdens that we're seeing in yeah ers.

22:38.36
Julia Slanina
Can we alleviate the stresses that we see on Hospital Networks well it means focusing on experts that can help you and and we try to help them get that care with the technology that we have.

22:49.43
mike_flywheel
Got it and that totally makes sense of what where you circled back to the piece you were talking about about rural communities right? I'm almost like I have to take my like in the city hat off for a second where I'm like oh like I would go to the provider. But.

22:58.60
Julia Slanina
Um, youth.

23:04.40
mike_flywheel
Could that could individuals use treehouse as a tool to discover and find resources that they may not even know of exist in their community or don't exist in their community is is treehouse also a discovery tool for those people to find practitioners who could be anywhere across Canada I guess.

23:19.51
Julia Slanina
Yes, and we definitely want to enhance that part because we want to be able to communicate to those individuals who don't know that there is support out there for them. Maybe when they're breastfeeding or when they're going through something difficult in their life. They don't know it because they don't see it and they don't their network is just not big enough and so it is ability for you to kind of have access to a platform where if you're going through something you can try to find that and that will give you what you need in that time. Um. You come from ah an urban environment where you are privileged to have friends who have maybe gone through something similar so they can give you referrals or recommendations but not everyone has that right? if you are living in an area in Canada where you don't have as many providers within their licensing bodies. Some people can. Um, can deliver care outside of their provincial jurisdictions. Some cannot but just being able to know that those people exist out. There is is really really valuable and incredibly powerful.

24:26.85
mike_flywheel
Yeah, it makes so much sense that you can really be an empowerment tool for people to discover those practitioners as well as and then obviously offer the practice management capabilities in there at the same time now. How.

24:40.76
Julia Slanina
Yeah.

24:45.17
mike_flywheel
How do how do you make money.

24:46.00
Julia Slanina
Yeah, so the way treehouse works is that practitioners will pay a subscription to use treehouse for their practice and so that is a B Two B sale. Essentially it's a saas subscription if you will and they pay on a monthly basis. Um, for the use of their practice depending on how large that practice is or or how small further to that any sort of transaction that goes through our system treehouse will also take a transaction fee associated to that.

25:18.85
mike_flywheel
Got it So off the usual kind of billing fee for service type scenario and then there's sort of paying for the practice management capabilities if you will on a monthly basis directly. So there's no no cost. No incremental cost essentially for the end user or.

25:23.50
Julia Slanina
Exactly let's write you know? No no, it's it's.

25:36.59
mike_flywheel
Patients that are are accessing the providers through treehouse that's amazing. Are there competitors in this space like as you're talking I'm getting like book Jane vibes. But that's more for.

25:41.32
Julia Slanina
There's no cost for them.

25:53.22
mike_flywheel
Visio Cairo massage generally I'm getting little bit of Maple vibes but it does seem very different still. So I like I'm curious like I use complimentary competitive. Do you get the question a lot.

26:06.53
Julia Slanina
Yeah, no no I do yeah um and and you're precisely right? So we do see competitors in the practice management space right? So these are folks who have built technologies like you mentioned that do help and support back office needs. For Cairo's vizio what have you and so yes, that is one angle of it are they a direct competitor. You know, ah others would argue. No others would say yes so I'll kind of leave it to whoever's listening to judge on that one but we're what we're buildings. Precisely is really an integrated and comprehensive solution and so whether or not that integrates with other systems. We we have a roadmap associated to what that means and and how we will do that at the moment. Really our focus is to deliver a solution that delivers for that healthcare provider. And then helps and supports their end user and their clients specifically so competitors in this space are predominantly in that practice management area but not I wouldn't say that that is the only space as well.

27:16.24
mike_flywheel
Yeah, and it almost seems like if I think about it the the types of allied Healthcare providers that you target generally I haven't heard of or seen them in those spaces often like.

27:30.10
Julia Slanina
Um, mean.

27:35.31
mike_flywheel
Um I have a friend who was a lactation consultant like it's not like she was using book Jane um, there's there's not that's not a common place and even when when I think about the types of services people generally go to like ah ah, get maple for again like.

27:43.31
Julia Slanina
Um, that's right.

27:53.75
mike_flywheel
Not yours is very specifically a set of services that surround a patient in a very specific area that oftentimes are missed by these other platforms.

28:00.30
Julia Slanina
Yeah, and that's precisely why we're seeing issues in this space in healthcare right? because a lot of these practitioners like you mentioned a lactation consultant. They'll be kind of piecing together solutions that might work for them might not work might be too expensive for their needs. And so this technology is really built for individuals to really streamline their care. We saw some great successes in streamlining healthcare in different stages of life over the last ten to fifteen years that was predominantly in geriatric care in care for the elderly. Technology started coming out to help and support them and they continue to do that and they do incredible support systems and they provide exceptional care. But I never really saw care focused on fertility to early childhood that sp's maternal care family care. Infant care women's health in that space was neglected and that is impacting the way that health care is also seeing women's health and so that's where I thought well this is an area that I'm deeply passionate about as ah as a parent as a mother but also. Um, someone who just loves that space in house care and I thought well we need to focus on fixing that unfortunately canada and the United States have 1 of the poorest track records in helping and supporting maternal care. The United States is you know far worse than Canada is.

29:32.62
Julia Slanina
But we need to start focusing on that area because it just has so many impacts into our economic benefits later down the road that um, that's why I decided to focus on it.

29:42.10
mike_flywheel
Yeah, and and I think even the piece that you were just saying where there's like this stitching together if somebody in this value chain is stitching together solutions where that breaks down is for the actual user or patient who is seeking service because then they're using like. Some clunk together 1 or 2 things for 1 person. They're providing getting help from. They're not able to discover the others in the same place and then they are probably getting hooked into 2 or 3 or 4 or 5 or 6 different systems so to your point like it's super inefficient. Um.

30:13.12
Julia Slanina
Um, yeah, and is it really is it really helping. You is my question right? is it I'd like you know and and some of the individuals that we have some of our early customers say to us? No, what isn't That's why I'm here. That's why I'm using trees right.

30:18.78
mike_flywheel
And and it makes.

30:23.40
mike_flywheel
Fifth.

30:32.93
Julia Slanina
Um, because of the the gaps there.

30:34.11
mike_flywheel
Got it so where are you at Let's let's dive into that for a moment where are you at in terms of user adoption availability in different markets like is this available canadawide today. And and sort of how many users how big of is your team today.

30:53.94
Julia Slanina
Yeah, so um, the solution is available to all healthcare providers in this space in Canada predominantly. So we focus on the canadian market. Um, we do not focus on the us market not yet. But something that that is on our roadmap. So anyone that is in the canadiandyian space and looking for a solution in this area I welcome them to kind of get in contact with us and our team pardon of me very is I just choke on your podcast. Um.

31:24.97
mike_flywheel
Don't do that? Yeah, it.

31:26.80
Julia Slanina
Yeah, clearly you have that effect. Um, so um, ah we are based in Ontario based out of Ottawa. We are a team of 10 individuals. Um, and we are growing um over the course of the year we've grown quite a bit as well and continue to do that. We have. Um, users and clients across provinces and predominantly focused on Ontario we see just a larger pole in Ontario but we do have clients in Atlantic Canada and then Alberta across the prairies a little bit as well and into the and into bc.

32:01.83
mike_flywheel
Got it and how many how many employees are you guys 10 got it? Okay, small but mighty team growing quickly. Ah.

32:02.69
Julia Slanina
10 yeah you yeah we're we're small by mighty team.

32:12.34
mike_flywheel
That it's It's honestly the nimbleness and speed at which startups move always fascinates me working at a larger company myself obviously things go much slower sometimes than I would love to see them. It makes sense. There's.

32:25.40
Julia Slanina
Um, that if.

32:29.69
mike_flywheel
Pros and guns to it. But it's it's always amazing to see the the progress that startups are making in such short periods of of time when you think about sort of your your next 6 to twelve months what does that sort of look like for you are there any like.

32:40.54
Julia Slanina
News one.

32:44.99
mike_flywheel
Big Milestones ahead that you're looking forward to or looking for support on from a broader side of the community.

32:52.32
Julia Slanina
Yeah, so we're looking to really grow our team that's predominantly what our focus is that will enable further features functionalities associated to the technical Roadmapps ah that our cto and I work on very closely. Um, that will also allow for again, greater adoption on the client side will allow for greater use of the client side of the technology that's critical just making that streamlined easy to use with multiple other functionalities is is critical. Not only for the provider to have a great client experience but just also for the use of the platform and and where the the technology is going so um, the next six months six to twelve months is just really focused on keeping our heads down. Um, growing our brand awareness. We're growing our legitimacy becoming more? Um, ah I guess obvious within the canadian market as a solution that is um, you know, very useful to to practice managers and um.

34:00.20
Julia Slanina
Just really keeping our heads down and focusing on delivering a great product.

34:03.96
mike_flywheel
That's amazing now does this integrate with different public health initiatives or could it support those because I think sometimes there's different public health initiatives that will drive people back into some of those. Allied Health Professionals is that something that that's on your roadmap or that's already happening.

34:17.78
Julia Slanina
Hey it's on old map. Yeah yeah, great question Mike but it's on our roadmap for 2023 we're not um, you know, saying anything live yet, but it is something that is definitely in the works.

34:31.16
mike_flywheel
That's amazing um of your journey so far from napkin to where you are today. Would you say has been like your most favorite part or memorable part of that journey.

34:38.91
Julia Slanina
Um.

34:44.38
Julia Slanina
Yeah I think it's hands Down. It's been growing the team. It's about starting super lean and we're still lean right? We're startup I'm gonna be very frank about that. Um, but it's about growing a team that really believes. What it is that we're building the impact it can make and how we work together. It's not always easy. Um, but it's about finding people who really understand that and that's been amazing to see how even some folks they come and they just grow.

35:03.34
mike_flywheel
So overboard. Oh.

35:17.59
Julia Slanina
Internally and just how they grow how their confidence grows how their professional development grows and then that really translates to the way that the tech is built but then also how they even talk to a customer. So I'm very proud of our team I wouldn't be here without them and um.

35:20.90
mike_flywheel
Or.

35:35.27
Julia Slanina
That is a critical component to I think a successful business and a successful solution.

35:39.94
mike_flywheel
Yeah, that that's a special part and it sounds like you're looking to grow that that team are there already jobs you are hiring for would would us. Posting a link to a careers page or something be be helpful at this time and what types of roles are you looking to fill in the next sort of 6 to twelve months

35:57.73
Julia Slanina
Yeah, so definitely more on the engineering team. So we're definitely gonna start looking at that probably in the middle of Q two. So we're gonna grow that engineering team. We're gonna just also continue to grow customer success sales and marketing folks.

36:12.19
mike_flywheel
Makes sense Now we talked about the good parts. The memorable parts. It's always not peachy I'm sure as a founder. What's sort of been the hardest part for you on this journey so far.

36:28.69
Julia Slanina
Um, I think probably the hardest part and and many entrepreneurs or founders would detest to this as well is you know the amount of how much you get drained in fundraising fundraising is a journey. Um, accessing non-dillutive funding is I wouldn't even say it's not it's not a battle in itself. It's not it's work and it is um you know being committed to to doing that um getting access to grants and bootstrapping and. You know doing a friends and family around like that has its own has its own challenges. Um but fundraising um with actual investors and institutional investors that is a completely different um specimen or beast in itself and so um. What I can say is you know that has been a grueling part especially when you're hitting a market that is as frozen as as it can be right? You're really going into a real um ah challenge there but being able to show those investors as well. How we've been able to. Be sustainable throughout this time and how we've been able to adapt and actually be efficient during a time where it is very cold and people are not making the investments that they did in in you know, ah other years past is also.

38:02.14
Julia Slanina
Um, actually really exciting to show them? Um, but it is been a challenge and it is I think um, something that's putting a lot of gray hairs in my head.

38:09.66
mike_flywheel
Is there any tips of things that you find are are working better for you or that you've seen or gotten as like advice recently.

38:20.36
Julia Slanina
Yeah I think finding the people who um, really believe in you and you can trust is a critical component to your success in that in that space. There are individuals that just don't See. Don't have that passion or the purpose that you do, but there are people who do and those are the people who will be there to kind of push you up and advocate for you and just be your cheerleader and having those people around you are the people that I think is just so so critical because they're going to be there when. You need to talk about very hard decisions and um and hard topics and um, those are people that I like to to spend my time with.

39:01.47
mike_flywheel
Totally makes sense. Well the work you and the team are doing is is amazing and it sounds like you're filling a very large gap in underservice needs for people and anything we can do to bring. More unification and better experiences to our healthcare system is critical. It's it's an evolving journey. Thankfully there's been higher adoption of technology lately and so hopefully that will help accelerate your journey in in the near time and your story is is an amazing one from. Napkin to here. You are all in changing people's lives on on a regular basis across Canada in urban centers. But also in rural communities. So thank you so much Julia any any other things that you would want to. Direct people to or guide people to if they're interested to learn more if they're interested to help. Maybe someone just wants to write you a giant check and make your life really easy now that they've heard your story.

39:55.79
Julia Slanina
Um, yeah I don't think it's that easy. Always um, no absolutely if you want to stay in touch or or learn more about how our technology is working and how it can help you or anyone in your. Ah, community visit our website grow with treehouse ca you can book a demo with our team. You can book some time with with our team or with myself to chat more about that. Um, follow us on Instagram we're very involved on our social media as well. So our handles are at grow with treehouse and if you are an end user or an individual that is looking to access care just feel free to head to our website and and create an account and and you get started right away.

40:45.21
mike_flywheel
That's amazing Julia thank you so much for taking the time today I learned a ton I was super inspired by the work that you're doing I hope you had fun. Thanks for for making the time I know it's busy I know you're actually in the middle of fundraising right now. So. Wishing you the best of luck in the months ahead and thanks everybody for tuning in. Hope you enjoyed the episode.

41:06.54
Julia Slanina
Thanks so much Mike talk to you soon.