EPISODE 1: Welcome to Risky Business
[00:00:21] KK: Hello, and welcome to Risky Business with the Coverage Queens. My name is Kathy Kaehler. And I'm with –
[00:00:28] BL: Bliss Landon.
[00:00:29] KK: So happy you're here.
[00:00:32] BL: I am too.
[00:00:32] KK: I’m so happy you're all here. Anyway, this is episode one of our very first show.
[00:00:37] BL: I know. It’s so exciting.
[00:00:40] KK: Of Risky Business. So I think we should read kind of our mission statement about what we are about.
[00:00:46] KK: Absolutely.
[00:00:46] BL: That gives some clarity to our goals. But essentially, Risky Business, is to inform K through 12, industry technology leaders and administrators about the risks inherent within one-to-one learning environments through a solutions-based approach.
[00:01:06] BL: Yes. And we will be discussing best practices, current events and hot topics with rising stars from school districts and vendors across the United States.
[00:01:17] KK: This is so exciting.
[00:01:18] BL: It really is, isn't it?
[00:01:19] KK: This is something that I think – Well, you've been in the business forever. And we're going to share a little bit about who I am and who you are. But this is such an incredible topic right now, with so many kids at home working on their schoolwork and using devices that we really haven't thought about what this next layer is. And that's what I'm excited to get into and learn. But I think our viewers want to know who we are.
[00:01:52] BL: That'd be a good start.
[00:01:53] KK: So like I said, I'm Kathy Kaehler, and I've been in the fitness and wellness space for many decades. And Bliss has been in the industry of insurance. So why don't you share a little bit about your story and just how you started your business?
[00:02:11] BL: Okay. Well, I am president of U-PIC Insurance. And also president of School Device Coverage insurance, which is what we're mostly going to talk about is the K through 12 at-home learning space, and what all that entails. I've been doing U-PIC Insurance, that's package insurance, discounted package insurance. All of the carriers out there, UPS, FedEx, the post office, they all have insurance, but it's very expensive. So we insure volume shippers at a discount. Okay, so that's what I started doing 31 years ago.
[00:02:45] KK: And who knew?
[00:02:46] BL: I know, I know. And ish— business, and it's been an ever-changing business with technology as well. When I got started, when you would ship a package, you'd keep a hand log of the tracking number and the declared value of the package, and you would send those hand logs to me for insurance. And now there are so many different ways to track packages through technology. So many different softwares and systems that are out there. And so that has ever been changing over 31 years. Yeah. Yeah.
And then about a few years, we had the opportunity to ensure a district and their learning devices that they sent home with their kids, and that they used also at school. I mean, at that time, they were also coming to school. And we had the opportunity to ensure those devices. They had a warranty for the devices, but there were many things that were not covered in the warranty. So we provide a full comprehensive insurance product for those learning devices. And that has just really taken off. And then the pandemic hits.
[00:03:59] KK: Now every kid is at home with something.
[00:04:02] BL: Exactly. So everybody – all of the kids have been at home, learning from home, and the devices have gone home. And what does that meant? What does that mean? Who takes responsibility for the coverage for the device? And many things can happen to that device. Many different claims situation, spilled milk, spilled cereal ball. They drop it and the screen cracks. That's probably the number one thing that happens. But anyway, we've developed a program that's really great for school districts to ensure the devices at a low cost. And for the parents as well, is we're just providing a service that's really been needed. And now we're transitioning, going back to school. And so the devices are going to be traveling again from home to school, and many things can happen during that time.
But anyway, aside from the insurance, there're so many topics that play into the at-home learning experience for the kids. And then just learning on devices period, I mean, books are becoming obsolete. They're doing everything with an electronic device of some kind to read a book. It's online, or it's on their tablet, or whatever they're using to learn. And so this space, there' just so many, so many different things to talk about and so many different things to learn, and so many different pieces and people and products that play into this whole side of business that we thought there was just so much to talk about and so much to learn that developing a podcast around us would be a really great idea and very informative to anybody who has a child or who is in the ed-tech space. And so this is how this is all developed.
And then I of course brought you in, because you're my longtime friend, and you have the social media background, and I kind of needed you to hold my hand a little bit and walk me through this process so I could get comfortable and share the experiences that we're having in the ed-tech space and in the education world and just what's happening. There're just so many things happening and changing and transitioning. So anyway, tell us about your expertise and your background, Kath.
[00:06:30] KK: I think my interest, and I remember when you started doing the school device insurance, and I thought that was so intriguing, because it was just – I just never thought about it. But then when the pandemic hit, and you realize that so many of our young kids and young adults have probably tripled the amount of time that they are on a device, whether it be a computer, a laptop, a tablet, a phone, that's where my light goes off in question of what is that doing to our kids’ bodies? What is it doing to their eyesight? What is it doing – Like you were saying, that the social aspect with their head down in a screen for so many hours at a time?
So for me being in a healthy, wellness, and fitness, and food, that's been my career. Some of you may have seen me on The Today’s Show for years where I did sit-ups and push-ups with Katie Couric. I wrote for Self Magazine for a while. Have a handful of books that might be on your shelves, investing for life.
[00:07:49] BL: And maybe some video.
[00:07:50] KK: And videos that I was think today all about – They’re VHS. I was like, “What even just VHS mean today?”
[00:07:59] BL: Exactly.
[00:08:00] KK: Historic. Anyway, but did workout videos.
[00:08:03] BL: We’re not that old.
[00:08:04] KK: Right. We're not. We aren’t. So I've always been very interested in the quality of life and what we are doing in our lives that can enhance that quality. And this topic is something where I'm seeing a risk, a risk of losing some of that quality of life. And that means also from the parent. And let's even go to the grandparents, the grandparents, to parents, to kids. And I think that's what's going to be so helpful, is to bring experts into risky business, so that we can hear what some of the current studies are. What health professionals are dealing with as well? What they're seeing? Psychologists, what are they seeing in the changes of social behavior? In the changes of physical behavior?
We were talking just very casually about the fact that simple things that we now do and kind of don't even think twice about has diminished some of our physical activity. So, shopping online. We're not walking from a parking lot into a store. We're not walking around a mall. Those are all steps. Kids walking in between classes are missing out on that physical activity. So long-term, what does that do? Is it looking at weight gain? Is it looking at just lack of physical strength and cardiovascular health? And then long term, is it looking at massive increase in diabetes, obesity? So I think like we're starting at coverage for a tablet. But it really goes to, “Wow!” It's like life.
[00:10:04] BL: Exactly, exactly. There're just so many topics. But getting back to the devices themselves, there're so many topics around the devices too.
[00:10:14] KK: And devices, explain what kinds of devices mostly.
[00:10:19] BL: So I would say the most popular learning device out there for school-aged kids is a Chromebook Okay? So all of the big manufacturers have Chromebooks. And so I can't say that there's one manufacturer that is dominating the space. But Chromebooks seem to be the leader. Yeah. Because they're not too terribly expensive. So a Chromebook can run anywhere from $250 to $350, depending on if it's a touchscreen or not. The touchscreen is going to be more expensive. So it's not a terribly a high-expense for the districts to purchase that. But we do see districts buying Mac Airs for $1200. Yeah. So it ranges.
And they may have multiple devices at one school or one district because they're doing different things with those devices, different learning tools on each device and what have you. But one of the shows that we're going to be doing coming up is we're going to be interviewing a case company. So they develop cases for the devices to keep them safer.
[00:11:28] KK: Like a phone case.
[00:11:29] BL: Yeah. I mean, how many times have you gotten upset with your kids that they don't have a case on their phone? They drop it. It shatters. Yes. And if they had a case on it, it wouldn't shatter. So same goes for learning devices, same thing. And we actually can provide a less expensive option for insurance when they do you have a case.
So anyway, cases are a hot topic on should the district purchase a case? Not a case? It's a good idea to get a case. But we have a customer that we're – Or a partnership that we have that we're going to be discussing that issue with. And then I think I mentioned in the beginning that a lot of the devices are sold with warranties, and extended warranties. And we're going to do a show on exploring insurance versus warranty. And what's better?
[00:12:19] KK: Where many people may think, and myself included, that that means the same thing.
[00:12:26] BL: Exactly. And they really don’t.
[00:12:27] KK: And they really don’t.
[00:12:28] BL: Yeah, and for device that you buy your cell phone, anything. So we're going to be discussing that and just trying to educate our listeners on what a better option is, and what to look for. And what holes in coverage should you be aware of that could be really important to you? And the highest risk to the device, and what that is, and would that be covered with a warranty? Would it be covered with an extended warranty? So we're going to explore warranty versus insurance.
[00:13:01] KK: And I would think to too that another part of it is when one device does break and is not able to be used, what happens?
[00:13:13] BL: So are insurance transferable? So devices are always covered. But that's a very big issue. What should schools do when they come into that situation? Should they buy extra devices? How did they get them repaired? We're going to be talking to a repair facility on one of our shows and discuss how that all works.
[00:13:36] KK: And probably how long it takes.
[00:13:38] BL: How long it takes? All the mechanics in that. How long it takes? What the process is? How many processes there are? What the turnaround time expectancy is?
[00:13:48] KK: So interesting.
[00:13:49] BL: Yeah, so just all those topics. So as you can see, there're many things to discuss around learning devices, and it's not just K through 12. It can also go into colleges or specialty training, educational schools, adult learning schools. I don't know exactly what you call those. But anyway, there're so many topics and so many different types of learning programs out there.
[00:14:22] KK: And I think our world has changed as well that not a lot of the programs that were in-person per se are going back so that there's more time of needing a device at home or –
[00:14:35] BL: Exactly, exactly. And then there's a topic of Internet, and connectivity, and what happens if it goes down? And hotspots? There are so many topics.
[00:14:46] KK: Right. And areas that don't have it. That's another whole population, if you will, of not been able to have something that becomes so just – You don't even think about it with your ability to connect to the internet.
It's funny, I have to say, because we're talking about tech, and we're talking about Internet, and I am going to date myself. And I'm okay with that. But I was on The Today Show with Katie Couric and Bryant Gumbel when the internet actually came to beat. It's not that long ago. I started doing my segments on The Today Show in the early 90s, like maybe ’92, ‘93. And I had been on for a bit. And I'm sure I can look up the actual date of that show. But it was so funny, because Bryant introduced the Internet. And she said, “Oh, is it called The Internet?” And he said, “No. It's The Internet.” So you kind of think about this world, like, I know, I spent many years of my life without a device. Now there are so many children who don't even know life without a device.
[00:16:02] BL: Exactly. Well, it's become like an appendage. Like it's part of who you are. If I leave my phone at home, I feel like I'm missing something big, like an arm or something. Yeah, it’s terrible.
[00:16:14] KK: Right. And another – This is another part to that I'm fascinated about, and it could be a show. But where the phone is in the 24 hours? Near your body. Where is it? Is it in the back pocket? Is it in a breast pocket? Is it under your pillow? There're so many things that we're not paying attention to that can be causing detrimental health problems. So I'm very fascinated.
[00:16:45] BL: Well, we'll explore that topic too. I'm sure we will. We'll cover them all eventually.
[00:16:50] KK: Because we are the Coverage Queens.
[00:16:53] BL: But let's talk about something fun now, Kathy, that you and I do okay on a regular basis, especially when you're in town. On Saturday mornings, we go to estate sales.
[00:17:05] KK: We do.
[00:17:06] BL: And it's something that I never thought I would be really interested in. But I love it. It is so much fun. So now Kathy has a booth at the Antique Mart, at Mixt, in Agoura Hills, California. And so she's always looking for rare finds. And so I just kind of walked behind her and these sales.
[00:17:30] KK: But you find good stuff too. You really do.
[00:17:32] BL: I do. I have found some good stuff. But I'm always interested to see what you're going to find and for how much and then what you're going to sell it at. And so this last weekend, we went to a couple, two or three. And you found this ashtray that was pretty cool. It had a deer head on it, black deer head, and it was white, and it was a porcelain and with a gold trim on it. And it was really beautiful. I'm like, “Wow! That is a cool ashtray.” And you bought it for $1, right? And then you looked it up to see what the value is of it online. And it was 29.95 I couldn't believe it.
[00:18:07] KK: And the irony there was that it was the logo for Hartford Insurance.
[00:18:14] BL: Oh yeah! I knew I'd seen that before.
[00:18:14] KK: Which I member was like maybe a sponsor on one of those wilderness shows that I was only allowed to watch when I was a kid. But that was back then how a lot of companies advertised is through their ashtrays. But they're very collectible. Yeah. And I just saw it and I was like, “Ooh! I really like that.”
[00:18:39] BL: So, see? That's what's really fun for me, is to see what you find these rare finds that actually have significant value. Not just something that you think you want to have because it's cool or it looks pretty. But actually it has value out in the marketplace.
[00:18:56] KK: Yeah, a collectible.
[00:18:57] BL: It's a collectible. And people do collect stuff, a lot of stuff.
[00:19:02] KK: Absolutely. Absolutely.
[00:19:04] BL: So it’s just so fun.
[00:19:05] KK: Also, too, I think the part that I love as well is just embracing the past. And also looking at how things were made. Things were made differently back then and lasted all these decades. You think about that was probably in the seventies. That's a lot of time that it didn't break, that it was taken care of.
[00:19:32] BL: Yeah, that's true.
[00:19:33] KK: So there're lessons there about – And this kind of threads into school devices.
[00:19:38] BL: I'll tell you. Remember when my husband said, “Will you find me a battery-operated radio? I just want to have that on hand for emergency reasons.”
[00:19:48] KK: And we did. You were on a hunt.
[00:19:47] BL: So we went to a sale. And they had so many battery-operated radios, but they had one that had a television in it. And I had to have that. And it's just shown us how much technology or how far we've come with technology, which really plays into, of course, what we're doing this for. But anyway, I had to share that, because that's something really fun that we like to do. And we'd like to share with you if there's something really fun, or interesting, or exotic, or rare that we find in our outings
[00:20:22] KK: Right. And I love that, one, it's a radio/TV. The other thing that we see a lot of are typewriters.
[00:20:30] BL: Yeah. And telephones.
[00:20:31] KK: And telephone.
[00:20:32] BL: Like with the dial that our children probably wouldn't even know what that was.
[00:20:37] KK: Have no idea. And that, again, is another place of showing – Just to share, this is how things were. This is how things worked. This is what we did. I didn't have a phone in my bed. I didn't have anything that was where you could just speak into a computer and it would write out my words. I mean, it’s like amazing to see the advances of technology. But I think for here at Risky Business, like we were saying in our mission statement, is to really shed light on these different aspects of technology. Obviously, focusing on school devices, because that is just such a hot topic, and here to stay truly.
[00:21:23] BL: Oh, yeah, it's not going anywhere. Absolutely not.
[00:21:27] KK: So we are going to be speaking, I think, in our next show, with someone who's very well-versed on this topic. And I love that we're going to have guests, because I think that helps me learn this space even better and how it relates to health. But for you, it also is a great way to really just dive into these topics.
[00:21:55] BL: Absolutely. Yeah. And just get other’s opinions and how they see things and learn about what they're doing. Like you, I love to learn new things, and especially about the space that we're in right now and what's happening. So it’s all really relevant.
[00:22:09] KK: Yeah. Amazing.
[00:22:11] BL: Yeah. Well, thank you, Kathy. This is going to be fun, isn't it?
[00:22:15] KK: It’s going to be exciting.
[00:22:15] BL: It’s going to be really very fun.
[00:22:16] KK: Very fun. Well, I think this is a great start. We hope you guys have enjoyed just learning a little bit about what Risky Business is going to be. What we're going to cover. And just kind of our back and forth of what we do on Saturday mornings.
[00:22:32] BL: When we do it.
[00:22:33] KK: Yes. And as always, if there is – Obviously this is the beginning. But we want to hear from you. We want to hear maybe some of your stories. We want to hear some of your questions.
[00:22:45] BL: Yeah. We're definitely going to do some question and answer shows. So we're very interested to see if there's any hot topics related to what we're doing here and what we can find and answer any questions that people have.
[00:22:57] KK: Absolutely. Well, as I say, I believe we are close to having this be a wrap for Risky Business.
[00:23:04] BL: And the Coverage Queens.
[00:23:06] KK: We'll see you next time.
[00:23:07] BL: We'll see you next time.
[END]