Connecting Radiography Graduates with Employers with Joel Horsford of radEmploy

Episode Overview

Episode Topic: In this episode of Skeleton Crew – The Rad Tech Show, host Jen Callahan welcomes Joel Horsford, the founder and CEO of RadEmploy, a cutting-edge platform designed to revolutionize radiology staffing. Joel shares his journey from working in advertising to becoming a technologist and eventually launching his own company. The conversation dives deep into the challenges and opportunities within the radiology staffing industry, exploring how RadEmploy is bridging the gap between medical imaging professionals and healthcare employers. Joel’s passion for innovation, transparency, and community shines through as he discusses the platform’s unique approach to connecting job seekers with employers directly, offering a streamlined and efficient solution to staffing shortages in radiology.

Lessons You’ll Learn:Listeners will gain valuable insights into the radiology staffing industry and the critical need for innovative solutions like RadEmploy. Joel Horsford shares his personal experiences and lessons learned from transitioning between careers, emphasizing the importance of adaptability and continuous learning. The episode highlights the benefits of transparent communication between job seekers and employers, and how technology can facilitate better matches in the job market. Additionally, Joel provides practical advice for new graduates and professionals in the medical imaging field, stressing the importance of exploring various roles, understanding personal strengths, and negotiating effectively for career advancement.

About Our Guests: Joel Horsford is a seasoned professional in the medical imaging field with over a decade of experience. After starting his career in advertising, Joel transitioned to healthcare, driven by a passion for patient care and inspired by his family’s involvement in the medical field. He has worked as a technologist and held managerial roles in prominent healthcare institutions, gaining extensive knowledge and experience. Joel’s entrepreneurial spirit led him to the startup world, where he worked with Ezra, a company focused on full-body cancer screening using artificial intelligence. This experience paved the way for creating RadEmploy, where Joel now leads efforts to innovate and improve radiology staffing through a unique marketplace platform.

Topics Covered: This episode covers a wide range of topics related to radiology staffing and career development in the medical imaging field. Joel Horsford discusses his career transition from advertising to healthcare, the impact of the 2008 mortgage crisis on his career path, and his journey to becoming a technologist. The conversation digs into the challenges healthcare employers face in finding qualified medical imaging professionals and how RadEmploy addresses these issues by connecting job seekers directly with employers. Other topics include the importance of pricing transparency in healthcare, the benefits of community and education in professional development, and the role of innovation in shaping the future of radiology staffing. Joel also shares his vision for RadEmploy’s expansion and the platform’s potential to transform the industry.

Our Guest: From Advertising to Healthcare Innovator: Joel Horsford’s Journey with RadEmploy

Episode Transcript

Jen Callahan: Hey, everybody, welcome back to another episode of The Skeleton Crew. I’m your host, Jen Callahan, and tonight I have a guest with me. His name is Joel Horsford, and he’s here to talk to me tonight about the company that he started called RadEmploy. It’s a new platform out there for radiology staffing. We’re going to talk to him about, you know, where he’s been in his past. What led him to want to start up his own company?  and maybe where it’s going to be moving in the future.  Joel, thanks for being with me tonight.

Joel Horsford: Jen, thank you so much. I’m looking forward to joining the Skeleton Crew and having this chat. I’m very excited.

Jen Callahan: First let’s start talking about you a little bit. Let’s talk about, you know, where you were and how you kind of ended up here. Joel and I, before we started talking, kind of figured out that we have a common thread with each other that we both started in a different field before we entered into the rude tech field.  We both have bachelors of arts minds in criminology, I believe. Joel, yours is in communications. Yep.

Joel Horsford : Minus communication.

Jen Callahan: Right. then I’ll let you take the story over from there.

Joel Horsford: Thank you. Jen. Like I mentioned, I’m very excited to be on this call. I heard I’ve listened to a lot of your episodes, so it’s good to finally be the person on the other side here. I used to, you know, I’ve been a tech for ten years now.  prior to being a technologist, like a licensed technologist, I worked in advertising. I worked in advertising for two years, and 2008 transitioned out when the mortgage crisis hit. I think I mentioned this to you before, but the mortgage crisis hit, and our whole department was laid off, and I was like, what’s the new thing for me? What am I passionate about? And,  I’ve always been about patient care, always loved health care. I have a sister who’s a gynecologist, and I went into radiology, went right back to school and figured it out from there. And it’s been ten years since that time. Time really does fly.  but now, you know, I’m in a great place as the CEO and founder of rad employed.  there’s a lot in between that. And I can always touch on all the things in between as we, as we have this conversation.

Jen Callahan: You graduated from X-ray school. And just to get a little background of you, you were working were you in a hospital based system or outpatient?  were you traveling staff technologist, like a lot of people are doing now.

Joel Horsford: That is a big thing now. Well, when I graduated, I worked two jobs. I worked overnights at a hospital, the hospital I worked at as Kings County Hospital in Brooklyn, New York. I was actually born in that same hospital, too. It was really interesting coming full circle. And at the same time, I was working at,  at Lenox Hill Radiology in, in New York City as well in Manhattan. I was doing two jobs at that time, which a lot of techs do. You try to figure out what works best for you, which I tell a lot of students when you graduate, learn all the different, all the different aspects and find out what works for you, because that’s what I did.  and I ended up becoming a manager like a year later at Lenox Hill Radiology and really helped them with their largest location in New York City.

Jen Callahan:  It is Lenox Hill, a big hospital.

Joel Horsford: Lenox Hill, the big outpatient center,  they have about 40 centers all throughout New York City. Now, when I first started, it was less. But the company grows extremely quickly. but they had the largest imaging center company in New York City.

Jen Callahan: You’re going from a working technologist.  and then you kind of took a big transition and you started working with a startup company, right?

Joel Horsford: I did it, I built a really good relationship with the CEO of a startup company called Ezra. And I worked there for two years as the head of operations. We did really well, helped a lot of people,  as well as a full body cancer screening company. We used artificial intelligence and we did a lot of great work there. And really that’s where I earned a lot of my chops. You know, going into the startup world, you don’t know what to expect and you learn a lot.  But the great thing about it is when you have a background as a tech and you know enough to apply it to another aspect of your career, you have an edge,  which is a beautiful thing to have in a working environment that’s extremely competitive. Right. Having some form of edge.

Jen Callahan: Could you acknowledge I mean, although you are you’re not. Excuse me? You’re not certified in MRI. Right. You’re an art with art. Yep. So I mean, even though you don’t have that clinical training in that portion, the knowledge that you have from working with imaging is, like you said, it gives you an edge.  your mind works a little bit differently than say, you know, a computer programmer, you know, who is trying to develop this software, this, you know, AI technology.  I was really interested in the company that you moved to from then,  in between Ezra and radEmploy.  memo.  I just really love the underlying theme of them about how they were trying to help, like, uninsured or underinsured patients, you know, try to be able to obtain the proper testing and imaging without completely, like, robbing them of their bank account.

Joel Horsford : That’s incredible. That mission was really a great one. The team there is awesome as well. Still have great relationships there. Essentially the goal in that company was to allow patients to get access to care without breaking the bank. Right.

Joel Horsford: Oftentimes patients don’t really know where to go. They only go where they’re familiar with. Sometimes that’s not actually the place you should go. You should actually go another mile out to another center or hospital that has the pricing or the rates that you need. That’s the whole pricing transparency thing that everybody talks about now as well. I think that memo had a great mission. It has a great mission because so many people were able to save money working through med mo and getting the right location to get their scan done, depending on what they need and done, whether it was an MRI, CT, X-ray or many others underneath that.

Jen Callahan: It’s crazy how that. Places. I mean, not to say they necessarily have the same equipment, because some places have newer equipment than others.  but essentially, let’s say like you’re getting the same scan done, you know, here or across the street and over here, it’s $500 more than the place across the street.  and then even though you might have insurance, like, like you had said, underinsured, like you might have insurance, but it’s not covering much. It’s the discrepancy. I feel like of what’s there with insurance and patients is just it’s it’s kind of heartbreaking, to be honest, that people put off getting tests done because they can’t afford, with the possible copays going to be and then down the down the line they end up, you know, with a big health issue because they couldn’t do the proper testing or

Joel Horsford: There’s too much of a gray area for sure. And that just causes people to have anxiety, stress. And, and essentially they’re fearful of even getting the exam because they don’t want to go broke trying to take care of themselves. Right. But they just avoid it all together. And that’s just what we don’t want people to do.

Jen Callahan: From there, what led you into, you know, wanting to branch out onto your own?

Joel Horsford: That’s a great question. I’m so excited to really talk about this. I initially started doing what we call and we still do now is a virtual fireside chat for medical imaging professionals. About a year ago and with so many incredible people in the field, we literally had people from almost every state joining these calls, and a few people from other countries joining these monthly calls. While doing these calls, I learned that the biggest concern was the need for medical imaging professionals of all sorts to fill roles and doctor’s offices, hospitals, imaging centers. Many people were unaware of the opportunities that were out there when we were having these calls.  but also health systems were breaking their backs trying to find strong candidates. I was having these virtual fireside chats. I said, a lot of people are here and the employers don’t know who they are. There has to be a way to bridge this gap. I built an employee to really solve this staffing crisis, especially in radiology, specifically radiology, really to bridge the gap between medical imaging professionals and the careers that are available to us.  There was so much to offer once we can bridge that gap.

Jen Callahan: Would you say that you’re technically you wouldn’t you’re, it’s not a staffing agency. It’s kind of  not to compare you to another platform, but you know, how you might go into, indeed,  Dicom to look to see what current jobs are out there. Is it something similar to that?

Joel Horsford: It’s similar.

Jen Callahan: On a bigger scale or, you know, a more direct scale, I guess.

Joel Horsford : It’s similar in certain ways.  but it’s different in this way.  rademploy are essentially what we call a marketplace. Right. And instead of it being like a job board or, or a place where you can find jobs, it’s literally,  what that means is that we don’t place individuals for jobs. We don’t place people. You know, it gives them the autonomy to select the role they see on the platform and connect directly with the employer. So we’re cutting the fat, connecting both sides of the industry and allowing both sides to make informed decisions. We’re helping the candidates quickly and effectively,  you know, reach their goals, but also where a community, because there’s education involved, there’s information involved that helps, similar to the virtual fireside chat. So like historically, recruiters would place candidates and take a fee. That’s not what we do.  That model still exists, but we’re in a time in history where I believe innovation, transparency and community will lead, will lead our profession.

Jen Callahan: So do you basically like countrywide or are you based,  since you’re kind of starting up, you know, solely in the New York area or maybe East Coast area?

Joel Horsford:  we’re heavily focused right now on the East Coast. Over the next couple of months, we’ll be transitioning and expanding into more states. We’re very focused on addressing inner city rural areas. We’re looking at all different, all different areas of the country so that everybody’s really represented and everybody has the access, has the ability to get access. The platform is free to employees and students. So really it’s really on them to say, hey, I’m going to create my profile, I can update my profile, I can put in information that makes me more marketable. And I can also connect directly with the employers who have their side of the business as a platform,  having direct communication on the marketplace itself.

Jen Callahan: Would all two of us go the other way where employers who are teaming up with you, you know, are able to access kind of almost anything it calls potential employees like a database. But can they, you know, go through the, the,  techs that have made a profile and maybe type in like certain like criteria that, that they’re looking for and maybe it comes up with, you know, a bunch of different names that they might be able to reach out to to see if they’re interested in the position.

Joel Horsford : 1,000%, 1,000%, both sides, especially to your point, the employer side, they get the ability to to search based on everything from geography to skill sets to, who’s multi-modality who may just have an MRI, also down to,  I just want a weekend job. Who wants a weekend job? That’s what that person wants. Great. So now all the questions that normally you ask an employer, but also the questions the employer asks us,  when we get into the interview have already been answered on the employer platform or you’re now saying, are you ready to work? That was the conversation.

Jen Callahan: Is that basically it was all the way down to, you know, what the potential rate might be of what they’re making?

Joel Horsford: Yes. In every employer. The platform has to put in a range and a realistic range so that it’s not,  you know, manipulated a realistic range for those to see some of those like us to see exactly what that range will be and whether we’re happy with even having the conversation.  because in many ways, I look at the way employment is going in the US, especially in radiology, as people are considering themselves like free agents. Yes, we work for a company, but we also see ourselves as valuable enough to negotiate ourselves, our own rate. We have families. We don’t want to feel like we’re just working without having the ability to make decisions. Rademploy gives you that ability to actually see what’s ahead of you, to make an informed decision.

Jen Callahan: This episode is brought to you by X-ray Tech. Org, the Rad Tech Career Resource. If you’re considering a career in radiology, check out X-ray Tech. Org to get honest information on schools degree options, career paths and salaries. After being attacked for probably close to nine years. I feel like when I finally felt like I got the gall in me to,  actually,  negotiate with an employer,  I definitely come out as, like a first year technologist or like a new grad. I was kind of like,  you want to hire me? Okay, great. You know.

Joel Horsford: Like, exactly.

Jen Callahan: I was just happy to get a job.

Joel Horsford: Yeah.

Jen Callahan: I mean, but I guess back when I’m not sure what year you graduated. I graduated in 2012.

Joel Horsford: Me too.

Jen Callahan: That you were kind of. I feel like the field was kind of like there wasn’t a whole lot out there.

Joel Horsford: That’s true.

Jen Callahan: At least not in the Pennsylvania Philadelphia region. Or if there was, maybe I just didn’t come across it.  but I was able to land a pretty good job, and I was happy with what I was making preterm wise. I thought I was like, well, this is great.  especially if I was working close to 40 hours. I was like,  like a jackpot.

Joel Horsford: But I told my parents right away when I got, I graduated 2012 as well, and I got my first job. I called them like, look how much money I’m making. I was so excited. Just about the check, you know?    Totally agree.

Jen Callahan: But then you have that flip side when I finally was offered. Full time employment with the same employer.  and because there are benefits and vacation, you know, like your range drops, unfortunately.  and it’s funny now that I guess, I mean, it’s 12, 13 years later that now at least the employer that I work at now I feel like it’s almost the opposite. Based on your experience or our experience at this point, it doesn’t even make sense to work per day.  I mean, except for the flexibility aspect of it.  because I feel like based on my experience and like what my employer will pay for it, I actually make more than what a predalien would.

Joel Horsford: Yeah.  

Jen Callahan: I don’t Know if it’s that, if that’s the same, you know, in other health systems or you know places of employment. But that’s kind of where I found um. But to your point, negotiation, you know, kind of get there as well with that.

Joel Horsford:  That’s really one thing that when you really think about it throughout all of ours at least I’ll speak for myself throughout my journey through education, you were never taught to negotiate. You never taught to, like, figure out your worth and then bring that directly to the employer. And let’s come to a conclusion that works, and we can make it happen to make, you know, patients happy and make the business run successfully. Right.

Jen Callahan: Talking about like, new grads,  and, you know, first year technologists, do you feel like you have a good amount of them that, you know, have come out and created profiles and, you know, or, you know, using your platform to help find their new position. I mean, I feel like there’s so many positions out there right now, like people are dying for technologists to come work.

Joel Horsford: We have so many positions right now available around employment, but we also have a lot of students. What’s so interesting is that what we decided to do as a business is, students who are currently in school. Although they’re not licensed, they still can create their profile, because what that does is allows them to see the jobs that are available to them when they get ready to, to graduate. And it builds that FOMO, like, okay, I’m in school, I know these opportunities. What are they? And most parents, I mean, most parents or teachers are saying there’s tons of opportunities for you. And we know that’s true. But as if you can see it and save it on the platform and then come back to it after you graduate, which is what we do for the students. They can then apply for those same jobs they were holding in their head for so long. Like I couldn’t wait to apply for this position. We have hundreds of students currently on the platform, especially on the East Coast, and eventually we’re going to move to the West Coast too and try to help,  all the tech coming out of school as well then.

Jen Callahan: I mean, there’s jobs out there waiting for them, honestly. Do you see kind of like a trend of the jobs that are on your platform right now, like are they more hospital based or are they, you know, a good amount of outpatients? Are there anything are staffing agencies able to post on there like they’re looking for traveling technologists?

Joel Horsford: Staffing agencies are staffing agencies and also have access to post as well. We have a special section for staffing agencies to work with us, or we can help them with the goals that they’re trying to meet. Most of the jobs, to your first question, are heavily imaging center based,  outpatient centers that are looking to hire,  we do have hospital positions as well, across everything from cardiac to MRI to CT x ray. But,  it’s about 7030 imaging center hospitals. 

Jen Callahan: Okay.

Joel Horsford: Competitive environment on that side of the business these days. Very competitive. Right?

Jen Callahan: I don’t know why. I would have thought that hospital would have had a greater need just because. The different shifts that are there, you know, first shift, second shift, third shift.  Sometimes there’s a weekend component in there. So I find, at least where I work, that feeling all those different shifts is I have seen, you know, kind of problematic as time has gone on that, I guess. And maybe it’s because the field is so competitive now that technologists are like, I don’t have to work that shift. I don’t have to work a weekend shift. Like, I can go find a job and just work Monday through Friday.

Joel Horsford: Right.

Joel Horsford: That’s true. You know, I do know, too, that there are a handful of hospitals that have reached out that are getting ready to, to be on a platform. So we might talk in two weeks and it might be at 5050 at that point.  every day changes. It’s not the stock market, but it feels like it,  the way this industry moves so quickly and there’s so much innovation in it now. Right. So right. Employee joining this ecosystem of technology while affecting radiology  and radiography itself is really important.

Jen Callahan: That brings me to you saying, you know, that you have a few hospitals that will be coming on. How do you find the employers that you know that are posting on the platform? Do you reach out to them, or is it kind of like a word of mouth situation?

Joel Horsford:  We’ve been in a lucky, a very lucky space.  Because demand is so high for these positions that everybody is looking to hire for, we haven’t had to reach out,  and do any kind of sales for employers to join,  hospitals to join. We’ve been getting imbalanced from the day we launch. We literally launched seven months ago. Sorry. Seven weeks ago.

Jen Callahan: No way.

Joel Horsford: 11 weeks.  And,  but I lost all my hair already, so I’m not that. Um.  We launched, about seven weeks ago, and we had and still do have a waiting list of employers throughout the country that are joining the platform to identify strong candidates. I would, I would really recommend anybody that’s listening to this with us to join because there’s opportunities there. .

Jen Callahan: Is there a certain criteria that potential employers need to meet to be on the platform?

Joel Horsford : Yes. So everything from ACR accreditation, we look at that.  We also look at what we make sure they are,  putting in the salaries. They have to put salaries in as well on the platform.  and full descriptions must be put in as well. So the goal for us is to give the employee as much clarity about what the role is above any other type of site out there.  so that we have that edge of being the, the place of truth about what you can get in this field. 

Jen Callahan: That even down to liking the specific shifts that they might be working.

Joel Horsford: Yes. Even down to the specific shifts. They could attach a job description if they like, but they have an area to put the description. They can choose whether to look up a full time part time weekend’s travel.  What days specifically?  Whether you need to be basic life support certified,  all those things that you need your technologist to have,  are really important. So we pride ourselves on that for sure.

Jen Callahan: So that’s awesome.

Jen Callahan: So you,  the waiting list that you say is that it is just, yourself and, you know, people that are, you know, on your team just going through the different employers and improving them to be added on?

Joel Horsford: We walked through each one of the employers. We do a demo with each one and show them how to use the platform so they effectively are using it the right way. Then we give them their own, their own username and passwords. The great thing is if an employer is located in Philadelphia. Right. And, let’s say somebody from Philly is, is,  on the platform, that person will come up as a suggested candidate if they match. So they don’t have to go through looking for 20,000 people. They literally will see the top ten based on qualifications, based on their location and based on what that person is looking for. And you guys can have the conversation. The greatest thing about it all is that the efficiency around it all is that the employer and employee can actually communicate directly on the platform, because we have direct chat. They have a personal conversation and then set up a zoom call or whatever type of call they’re looking to make, and then hire the employee, then.

Jen Callahan: That’s awesome.

Jen Callahan: Because again, I mean, sometimes, like applying for a job is like such a crapshoot. I hate to even use that word. So excuse me, but, you know, like it’s sometimes like when you’re looking for a new position. He can feel like you’re throwing spaghetti out of the wall and you’re trying to see which one’s going to stick, you know? And then you apply to something you’re like,  you really hope that it’s going to pan out. Like you’re going to get an interview and like, you never hear back or you finally hear back two months later and it’s just like you weren’t chosen for this position and you’re like, great. So that there’s a direct chat between, you know, potential employees and potential employers,  to open up that line of communication. Because definitely, I mean, I have felt that frustration on my end applying for different positions. So that’s that’s nice.

Joel Horsford: Absolutely. When you really think about it, there are so many other necessities in the world that we use,  effective communication to get other things done right, that we do everything from ordering a package to everything you can think of. It’s now you press buttons to get it done. But one of the most essential fields in healthcare and essentially in the world, really, when you think about industry,  we all know what happened during Covid. People need chest x rays. It was insane. We needed them. Radiology professionals have become so essential and that we need to ensure that we keep ourselves at the front line in order to do that and make it effective. A platform like this is always needed. If it wasn’t me, it would have been created. But. But I’m happy that we were able to build this,  with our blood, sweat and tears, to be honest.

Jen Callahan: You were saying when we first started talking about the platform that it’s not just jobs, but then you’re also incorporating education into it?

Joel Horsford: We all incorporate  things like articles that can fill people in on what’s going on in industry. Everything from conventions, events,  speaking arrangements, things that are occurring to reading material that can just give them insight about what’s happening or what they need to learn about specific things in CT or artificial intelligence and how it impacts you,  your career. All those types of things are also there to help students, but also those who are already in the field. we’re going to expand on that.  we’re still young, but we plan on doing a lot with that.

Jen Callahan: Is that something that, like, you might be contacting like Asot or like the ACR, you know, looking for literature for you to be able to share with people? Is that something that you’re exploring?

Joel Horsford: Absolutely.

Joel Horsford: I love what both organizations are doing, and there are a couple of others that I think are doing great things. I absolutely see a world where we can work together to uplift the industry as a whole. They’re doing a great job without us. But,  we’re always here to help,  you know,  strong ties lift all boats, right? So why not?

Jen Callahan: Information is very valuable. What’s the key saying from the 80s, the more you know.

Joel Horsford: Exactly.

Jen Callahan: Star.

Joel Horsford: For sure. I remember that vividly, too.

Jen Callahan: I think we’re cut from the same year probably.

Joel Horsford :  We both graduated in 2012 too.

Jen Callahan: Right. Candidates that are out there like looking. Do you feel like there’s specific things that you know, in your opinion that they should be looking for to hone in on, like what type of position that they want, like specific factors? Hours, things like that. Or, you know, is it are they able to enter in like search criteria for themselves to pull up different employers?

Joel Horsford: They’re able to get as deep into the information about the employer as the employer is on the employee. they can look up the employer based on everything from where the employer is located. I mean, the locations they have,  who the hiring manager is just getting a better understanding of.   how many roles they’re looking to fill. we ran into a situation. I’ll give you a scenario that occurred just two weeks ago. there were two different employees applying for no one employee actually applying for one role at a hospital on the platform. And they applied for a role. And once they applied for it and connected with the employer, they saw that the employee also saw that there were two other positions available in the same department. They had a friend. That friend was looking for a job. She shared the job with a friend who then applied as well. Both of them were working together at the same facility today.

Jen Callahan: Well, for some.

Joel Horsford: That was all done just by doing those simple steps, right? Almost like a referral. But all hey, we’re good friends. We work well together. I’m gonna forward you this job that I think would be great. I’m gonna start working there next week. That type of thing.

Jen Callahan:  I mean employers love referrals like that. I mean, generally it’s someone who’s been working there for a little bit, you know, and like, I have a friend who would be great for this position, but, hey, I mean, if two people can get hired at once, who doesn’t love working with a friend, right? Right.

Joel Horsford: Exactly. Yep.

Jen Callahan:  Transition into a new situation a little bit easier.

Joel Horsford: Exactly.  Totally agree.

Jen Callahan: I know that, you know, you’re new and you’re fresh. You know, starting out, you said seven weeks ago, but this is obviously, I’m sure, been in development for much longer than that.  what are your goals for the year for your first year, I guess, you know, obviously you’ve launched and you seem to be doing pretty well, but do you have a certain goal that you’re trying to reach or you just kind of like playing out the first year to see how it goes?

Joel Horsford: As you and I get to know each other, you start to see that I never play anything out. I always have goals set. I’d rather know that I didn’t meet a specific goal,  and pivot, but, um.  to answer your question, I think our plans are really to expand into new states. We’re looking to impact as many people as possible and lift the industry as much as we can.  and as we started in New York and New Jersey and surrounding areas, we look to take the business across the country,  and get more people involved. So essentially, for the first year, the goal is expansion and growth as a business. Just having a solid business that people can rely on.

Jen Callahan: I think that’s good to be able to expand into, you know, I feel like even if you conquered all of the East Coast first, you know, and then expanded it westward, you know, that would be a huge feat. So if you hit almost every state on the East Coast in your first year, that’s a huge feat. You know, there’s a lot there’s a lot of stakes and a lot of big states at that. You know, like Pennsylvania is very big, and York is very big. Florida. Huge. You know what I mean?

Jen Callahan: So those big markets there for sure.

Joel Horsford: Absolutely.

Jen Callahan: I wanted to ask you though, and you had mentioned it briefly, you know, about how this like, kind of all started about the fireside chats. Did you develop that or did someone else develop that?

Joel Horsford: I developed that as well. I did that on a whim. To be honest, I know when I came out of school, I was looking for an understanding of the industry outside of what I experienced, what I was about to experience. I couldn’t find people in other states. I just didn’t know how to do it. Like, how do I meet other people, other states, if I know what’s going on there? And as I was in industry for a couple of years, I said, you know what? I’m gonna try to do something that I wish I had.  so I just built the fireside chat, and people started to join and we just started having a lot of great conversations. I met some of the most interesting, intelligent people I’ve met in life through the fireside chat, and I still contact them today, and I know a lot of them still talk today as well. And we have one every month. We have another one next month.

Jen Callahan: Is it almost like an AOL chat room if you want to go old school or like how do you conduct the chat?

Joel Horsford: It’s actually so I create an agenda,  a specific topic, create a flier as well. Right. We promote it on different social media platforms and we just do a zoom call and the wall has a number of people on it from all over the country. We’ve had some people from India, a 2 or 3,  gentleman from Ghana, Africa,  UK. And then we talk about states like Pennsylvania, California, New York all over it, Georgia.  and we just talk about these topics and really understand what’s going on in the industry. According to state lines, you learn about a lot of things happening in different states on that call.

Jen Callahan: I’m going to go even deeper and ask you, did you name it after FDR’s fireside chats?

Joel Horsford: You know, I did not, but I but I,  I was told that, you know, I, I was asked that a couple times. A couple people.

Jen Callahan: I have to say, that’s one of the history lessons that I learned, like, in grade school, that have stuck in my mind for, like, the longest time. Because the teacher told me that FDR was extremely passionate about FDR and not to go and rant about FDR. But when I saw that today and I was like, fireside chats, oh my God, FDR, I wondered if he needed FDR.

Joel Horsford: I definitely found out after the fact. My history is not as great as it should be.

Jen Callahan: No, my current events aren’t great. There we are, you probably have me jumped on that.

Jen Callahan: The people that are working with you on rad employee are are they? I mean, I’m sure you have computer software people working with you.  but to help develop the site and, like, where you want it to go into, do you have other technologists that are working with you or people who have worked in the health care, like, you know, radiology field?

Joel Horsford: We have everything from advisors that are in the field currently. Who, who, you know, tell me when I’m wrong. Right. They tell me, hey, that’s probably not the best thing to do. Whatever.  they’re in the field.  we’re actually soon going to be hiring a couple of people who, um. That’ll get posted soon. The new people we’re looking to hire as far as the roles. but I’m partial towards technologists and people who have been in the field. So more than likely, the people who I’ll hire will be people who will have like that, that edge, that thought that that patient care. Always about patient care,  type of angle. But,   we do have a couple people on the team that are licensed technologists, and have been in the field.

Jen Callahan: I’m sure, It helps, you know, for like you said, you have a lot of new students who are graduating.  I don’t know if you offer a type of support where, you know, they can call and talk somewhere, anything like that, but, I mean, sometimes it’s so helpful for new grads to be able to talk to seasoned technologists. You know, someone who has been working at least for like two years plus. You mean because those first two years I was a technologist? I mean, me, maybe I might be in a boat on my own with this, but you know it. I was definitely a deer caught in headlights in some moments.  you know, I remember my first job working with someone, and, I mean, she was a tech for a really, like 20 years, but, like, I felt like when I was working with her, like, I kind of like buddied up next to her, you know, like she was okay with it. She took me under her wing. And I don’t really think it was never like a, like a sad thing where, like, I’m like, I’m gonna come with you. And she’s like, okay, come along, sidekick, you know?

Joel Horsford: It works like that.

Joel Horsford: That’s how it goes, for sure. And that’s kind of why I think the fireside chats work, because although we’re not working together in the field, there’s knowledge that is being imparted on each other and students can learn from it.  but  I totally agree with the community aspect of just how a field, regardless of whether it’s in the right or the EHR or outpatient center or whether it was uncalled for, we both know that we have the background. And I’m trying to learn from you. Trying to learn from me. I think it’s totally important.

Jen Callahan: I mean, even in this past year, I’ve learned a lot from talking to different people like yourself, on these different,  interviews or meetings or chats, whatever we want to call them. Really.  I’ve learned a lot, you know, just in general, you know, talking to different people from different fields of radiology.  and even those that I was sharing with Joel earlier,  two different gentlemen that I spoke to recently that are using x-ray, but not even particularly for, you know, health care purposes that I learned a lot from them as well. You can always be out there learning and picking people’s brains and getting new knowledge, you know, which keeps us sharp, you know, and gives us an edge, like you said.

Joel Horsford: Absolutely.

Joel Horsford: Yep. You have to keep that edge and stay sharp. Absolutely.

Jen Callahan: Well, I think we’re going to wrap up here. Joel, thanks for being with me tonight. I do really appreciate it and appreciate our conversation.

Joel Horsford: Thank you. This has been great. It’s everything I thought it would be too. So I really appreciate you.

Jen Callahan: Good. Everybody, this is Joel Horsford,  sharing with us tonight about his new company that just started seven weeks ago but is already booming.  rad employee. Rad employee. If you’re out there looking for a position in radiology, check it out.  I was on the site earlier, and it’s super friendly. Good amount of information on there.  I did not set up a profile because I’m not currently looking for employment.  but I think I might do it just to check out the whole thing in general.  and then those who are listening and you’re looking for potential employees going there and check it out as well. Get on the waiting list.  and let Joel and his company help you guys out.   All right, we’ll be back next week. Everybody, have a good night.

Joel Horsford:  Thank you.

Jen Callahan: All right. See ya.

Jen Callahan: You’ve been watching the skeleton Crew, brought to you by X-ray Score.org. In the next episode, join us to explore the present and the future of the Rad Tech career and the field of radiology.