Sarah Hoit, Connected Living

CHIEF TALK

CEOS TELL HOW TECHNOLOGY is TRANSFORMING THEIR BUSINESSES

INTERVIEWS BY LEE LUSARDI CONNOR

Hoit with a resident at a Boston Housing Authority facility

SARAH HOIT, CONNECTED LIVING:

TECH IN THE SERVICE OF SENIORS

As people age, studies have shown, one of the greatest challenges for health— both mental and physical—is social isolation. Enter Connected Living, Inc., a cloud-based platform for use by residents and administrators of senior living centers, cofounded in 2007 by Sarah Hoit, a serial social entrepreneur, and the late Chris McWade. The Quincy, Massachusetts–based company provides seniors easy-to-use technology that enables them to connect with family, friends, and the larger community. Now in senior living centers in 32 states, the platform has connected more than 35,000 seniors. The Inc. 5000–ranked company has had a three-year growth rate of 248 percent and 2013 revenue of $4 million—but has only just begun to grow, Hoit says.

Sell the Benefits

We are addressing a very large need— connectivity for seniors—that has never been successfully addressed, so whenever you have a business model like that, you have challenges. But the question we asked seniors was not, “Would you like a computer?” It was, “Would you like to be closer to your children, and more in touch with the community?” That’s a different question.

For managers of senior living properties, this has totally changed the ways they can program. Why can’t a senior be on a virtual tour of the Louvre instead of at the same Bingo game every afternoon? Why not involve veterans in one of our “Seniors to Soldiers” programs, where they get to connect remotely with men and women who are currently serving?

Further, right now having Connected Living is a differentiator. It’s seen as a huge plus by seniors’ families—the adult children, who are, of course, connected themselves, and who often have a big say in the decision of where seniors will move.

Support Breeds Success

We pride ourselves on our cutting-edge technology, but that alone is not enough.

We have invested heavily in support, both remote and in-person, for seniors and for administrators of senior living properties. If clients need to get their buildings wired up to support this technology, we help them; we do tech audits for them. Our consultants have acted as change agents from the time we started this company.

We serve every type of facility from high-end, independent, almost golfcourse-oriented properties to 100 percent memory-care facilities where

Why can’t a senior be on a virtual tour of the Louvre instead of at the same Bingo game every afternoon?

—SARAH HOIT