Ash Said It Daily Podcast: Joshua Norris Talks Silverts

Ash: What it is? What it do? it’s your girl, the one, the only Ash Said It. Ashsaidit.com – ashsaidit.com. Welcome to the Ash Said It Daily podcast show. I appreciate you guys for all of your love and support over 1700 episodes and half a million streams worldwide. None of this would be possible without you guys. So, thank you so very, very much. And yes, we are well into the summer months, darling. Yes, the summer months.

So I know some of you guys that have been under quarantine, you’re getting out to go visit your loved ones, your grandma, maybe your pop pop. And so today I’ve got with me from Silverts, Joshua Norris. Hey Joshua.

Joshua: Hey Ash. Thank you for having me.

Ash: Oh, thank you so much for joining us. So Joshua, what is Silverts?

Joshua: So Silverts is an adaptive clothing company that provides simplified dressing solutions that help empower the people who wear our clothing and those who help dress them.

Ash: I find this company very fascinating. So what is the backstory? How did this company start?

Joshua: Interestingly enough, we were a department store, a single standalone department store, in the early 1930s in small town, Ontario, Canada, that specialized in really serving its customers well.

Eventually it grew into a chain and as our clientele started to age, we started driving the clothing up to them to continue that high level of service, you know, as those customers continue to age and start to have some problems with mobility and even small things like raising their arms to put on their top, we would visit them and their family.

They actually noticed that problem and one day simply cut the back up of a dress, wrapping around the customer and tied it up. And the customer for the first time in a long time was able to dress pain-free in this creative open back dress and it was really our “aha” moment. And we knew, we knew we had something. So from there we kind of work worked our way into the long-term care world and skilled nursing, a world where we would load up cube vans and bring our adapted clothing to each resident there and eventually, created a full e-commerce company to service as many people and helping many people as we could.

Ash: Good. Good. So you guys are helping grandma and grandpa, you know, stay hip and all that good stuff, but helping them with their mobility. I love it. So, yes. What would you say Joshua is the biggest challenge for Silverts?

Joshua: I think the challenge actually is category awareness, right? Most people don’t know that the products and solutions we offer at Silverts exist. So instead of using Silverts adaptive apparel, a customer will look for like an oversized sweatshirt at Walmart, right? So say my grandmother can’t raise her hands to put on a top properly. So let’s get her like a three XL sweatshirt.

That way we’ll be able to throw it over her. You know that doesn’t work. When we see our aging loved ones, we want to see them as we remember them. And they also want to feel that, that fashion, that style and comfort that they’ve always kind of worn throughout their lives. So that’s really the beauty and the magic behind Silverts.

Ash: I love that. Now a little birdie told me that you guys have a Black Friday Sale going on. Tell us a little bit about that dashboard.

Joshua: Yeah so, Black Friday in July is not something that we invented, but what we love to do is pass on some deals to our customers. As we kind of discussed, we want to make our clothing accessible to anyone who might benefit from the wonderful things that wearing adaptive clothing can offer. What I like to say about Silverts adaptive apparel is that it makes a difference every day in the lives of the wearer.

And just by not, kind of pushing yourself up in your wheelchair to pull your pants on, we’re avoiding that daily strain multiple times a day. We can help improve outcomes, completely abrogate that strain, it has a really powerful effect.

Ash: I would agree with that. I definitely agree. Now, are there any charities that you guys are affiliated with or that you supporting?

Joshua: Yeah, we partnered with the Alzheimers society, the Arthritis society. But when COVID came up and started in March of last year, we obviously saw the effects ripple through nursing homes and and long-term care. And these are our longstanding partners. So what, what we were able to do at that time was get adaptive apparel into the hands of these nursing homes, especially if they went into outbreak, we watched it closely.

And what was one of the beautiful things that the open back designs that Silverts offers is that you’re dressing the individual from the rear, from behind. So there’s a lower viral load. We can help make dressing quicker, easier, and safer, in long-term care and skilled nursing homes. And we saw the way COVID was ripping through nursing homes and we got to get it in there. So that’s something we’re incredibly proud of. The contributions we made to our nursing home partners and hospital partners, donating shoes, like our anti-slip or non-slip footwear, to help make sure we were keeping residents and patients safe.

Ash: Good, good, good. So, if people want to go and check out some of the items and they want to get some of the stuff for their loved ones, or maybe they want to help out a local charity or a local fund, where do they need to go Joshua?

Joshua: Okay. So the website is silverts.com. We have nursing home partners who sign up on our website, but we are a direct to consumer brand where we try to make shopping easy for the solutions that are needed, to really make sure that we can address it with a full assortment of products, head to toe, to really maximize the benefits that dressing with adaptive apparel can offer.

Ash: And are you guys on social media? How can people follow you.

Joshua: Of course so on Facebook, we’re at facebook.com and under Silverts adaptive on Twitter and you’ll find us on Instagram. We really try to highlight function, the lighter side of caregiving, really speak and engage with our audience and those who are looking for a little help in the space. See if we can help with the expertise we have when it comes to dressing.

Ash: Josh, thank you so much for joining us today. We appreciate you.

Joshua: Thank you for having me. It’s a pleasure.

Ash: Not a problem. I appreciate each and every one of you guys. Thank you so much for all of your love and support. Keeping in mind, anyone to tell you that you can’t do what you want to do. You look them square in the face. You tell him don’t believe me, just watch. What would I do? And once we go on and make history, I appreciate you guys so much. Thank you so much.

Listen to another episode of Ash Said It Daily here.