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S3E2 Who?! Securing the Journey: Adam Winder on Transparent Escrow for Surrogacy & Egg Donation
54 Plays7 days ago
Summary
In this insightful episode, Adam Winder discusses how SeedTrust provides specialized escrow services designed to support surrogacy and egg donation journeys. Adam explains the importance of trust, transparency, and meticulous oversight in managing sensitive financial transactions. He highlights the founding principles behind SeedTrust, detailing the internal controls, audits, and security measures in place to safeguard clients’ funds. The conversation emphasizes the emotional nature of building families through surrogacy and egg donation and how a neutral, reliable escrow partner enables intended parents, surrogates, and egg donors move forward confidently. With a passionate commitment to innovation, accountability, and collaboration, Adam and his team at SeedTrust help ensure that the financial side of family-building remains secure, clear, and stress-free.
Takeaways
-SeedTrust is a tech-enabled escrow provider focused on surrogacy and egg donation.
-Trust is a critical factor in third-party journeys like surrogacy and egg donation.
-Escrow services must be independent to avoid conflicts of interest.
-Checks and balances are essential to prevent fraud in escrow management.
-SeedTrust has a $50 million bond for client protection.
-Specialization in escrow services is crucial due to the complexity of transactions.
-Audits provide transparency and accountability in financial management.
-The leadership team at SeedTrust has extensive financial and legal expertise.
-Client protection is paramount in the escrow industry.
-SeedTrust aims to set a standard for security in escrow services.
-Trust and transparency are essential in surrogacy and egg donation.
-Escrow serves as a critical utility in the surrogacy and egg donation process.
-SeedTrust aims to create secure solutions for clients.
-The emotional aspect of egg donation and surrogacy requires a neutral party.
-Innovations in escrow services enhance security and efficiency.
-The role of attorneys is crucial in drafting contracts.
-Managing payments through escrow reduces stress for all parties.
-SeedTrust is committed to raising industry standards.
-Collaboration with agencies is vital for successful egg donation and surrogacy journeys.
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Transcript
Introduction to Seed Trust and its Mission
00:00:00
Speaker
Hi, everyone. Welcome to this episode of Me, You, and Who. Today, we're joined by Adam Winder, president of Seed Trust, for an insightful conversation about the essential role of escrow services in surrogacy and egg donation. Adam dives into the founding story of Seed Trust and shares how their specialized services are designed to provide trust, security, and transparency in managing complex financial transactions. Together, we discuss the critical need for independent escrow services the rigorous checks and balances that protect clients' funds, and the importance of audits and oversight to ensure accountability. Beyond the financial side, Adam and I explore the emotional aspects of surrogacy and egg donation and the vital role of a neutral party plays in managing transactions. This allows attendant parents, surrogates, and egg donors to focus on what matters most, building families,
00:00:55
Speaker
So if you're curious about some of the behind the scenes of third party reproduction or want to learn more about how specialized services support this journey, you won't want to miss this
Whitney Hall's Perspective and Podcast Purpose
00:01:05
Speaker
episode. Enjoy. Me, you, and who?
00:01:09
Speaker
Who knew it would take more than two people to have a baby? In a world where infertility is no longer a taboo topic, this podcast will take you through all of the different aspects of surrogacy and egg donation through the lens of many who walk this journey in different ways. My name is Whitney Hall and I am a two-time Surrogate, now turned Surrogacy Coordinator for Egg Donor and Surrogate Solutions.
00:01:35
Speaker
the very agency I used when I chose to carry for two amazing families. With this podcast, it is our goal to help guide and support you as you learn about what it takes to grow a family in an alternative way, as well as hear inspiring and beautiful stories of how this path has changed lives
Differentiation of Seed Trust from Traditional Escrow Services
00:01:55
Speaker
forever. We can't wait for you to hear about just one more way happy families are created every day.
00:02:05
Speaker
Okay. Hi Adam. I'm so glad you're here. Hey Wendy. Thanks for having us on today. Absolutely. Absolutely. So Adam, you are the CEO of a company called Seatrust. It's an escrow company. Um, for anyone who doesn't know, what is Seatrust? Yeah, no, absolutely. So Seatrust is the leading escrow provider.
00:02:31
Speaker
and in our industry serving surrogacy and egg donation cases. Escrow and like its traditional sense is almost confused. Yeah. What we do, because what we do is very different than like a title company, for say, that's managing escrow for a house. Because the journeys we manage, especially the surrogacy journeys, can go can be a couple years and have a lot of transactions and a lot of complexity.
00:02:57
Speaker
And when we started in the industry, of what we saw was Escrow was actually operating more like a title company nine years ago when we entered the space and you had no technology. It was the good old checks in the mail monthly state monthly statement.
00:03:15
Speaker
And what we saw was we saw that really there was an opportunity to provide a value add service that really protected everybody. And we tech enabled it and we actually took the responsibility to check the contracts. And we brought in electronic payments and and and more and more bells and whistles to actually make it a core utility within the journey that actually protects the parents, the surrogates and all parties involved.
00:03:39
Speaker
Yeah, for sure. So for layman's terms, escrow is what is holding the funds that are needed for a journey and are then dispersed for various items eventually, you know, either based off of a compensation sheet, eventually, of course, based off of a um contract and things like that.
00:04:00
Speaker
What? So nine years ago, you're, you know, you were looking at escrow. How, how did this even come into your world? What is that financial background for you? And when did you decide like, Oh yeah, I'm going to basically like bring this dinosaur to the technological age. Yeah. You know, we, we're, the founding store of our company is almost like a bad joke.
00:04:27
Speaker
A lot of people have heard that the joke, a banker, a CPA, and an attorney walking through a window. Sure, sure. A fun group, right? But no, my business partner, our founder Edward Brockschmidt, and my other business partner Roland, the three of us came together to do it.
Risks in Escrow Services and Mitigation Practices
00:04:45
Speaker
Brock founded the industry and the concept when he was actually working with a tax client of his, and he stole how He's like, Hey, this escrow problem, this escrow situation is putting you in a lot of risk. And they're not actually, they're actually adding more tension and stress and concern because the payments aren't on time. They're not accurate. They're actually, you're, they're not checking the receipts and contracts and there's no visibility into the money. So what if something goes wrong or how do people know what's going on in the journey? sure And then that, the answer was, well, that's a true, but there's no good solution.
00:05:21
Speaker
This is how it's done. And so ah Edward Brockschmidt, we call him Brock, he felt he said, well, look, ah he had his own CPA firm. and He said, look, i'm gonna I'm going to use the same principles I did in my accounting firm and tech enable it and bring that to service and see if we can make that work. you know Fast forward a very short period of time, Roland, who's our attorney and also a partner, and then myself, I was running strategy, a strategy manager for the commercial division of ah of a large bank.
00:05:51
Speaker
And so we all, enroll and Roland had his own law firm, and then the three of us all decided to completely shut down our existing careers and and really focus on escrow. was We're all very passionate about helping people build family families and creating a secure solution people can really trust.
00:06:08
Speaker
Yeah, for sure, for sure. And I think you you hit on something that's so super important because this is, while very much anytime you're going on a third party journey,
00:06:21
Speaker
whether it's a donation or surrogacy, trust is a huge factor. um But there can be extra safety nets and security in place. So what would you say security wise and really just in general, what would you say sets C Trust apart from other escrow companies? Yeah, no, and when you look at an escrow company and and the mistake a lot of parents make and a lot of surrogates make, is there's so, the surrogacy and ideation journeys are beautiful. And there's really critical decisions to be made, but there's a lot of them, right? Which agency am I gonna work with? You know, which attorney? Which doctor? You know, which insurance company? And what we found in the past is escrow is often an after at something they don't think of because they have such bigger decisions to make.
00:07:20
Speaker
and And so, and over the years since we've been here, unfortunately, there's been a lot of issues in escrow in our industry and it's really unfortunate. And there's been attorney held issues, there's been agency escrow held issues, which is illegal in most states. um And then this year we've had his issues with also with an escrow company.
00:07:39
Speaker
So it can be the risk is extremely high. So the the catastrophic risk is the escrow company the money's not there, right? So there's a fraud. um Sure.
00:07:51
Speaker
And that's terrible and we'll talk about how that's not possible at seat trust and what we have in place. So and the the other risk is if you have an escrow provider that is not qualified, they will make the process harder because we're managing sometimes upward of 100 payments managing to a very specific contract.
00:08:11
Speaker
ah So you need the expertise to make sure they can manage the process effectively to where the the escrow company doesn't create unnecessary financial stress for the parents or the surrogate or anybody else involved because this process is involved. There's a lot of moving parts and if the service is not getting paid on time,
00:08:30
Speaker
or things aren't getting released when they should be, it can be problematic and create undue financial stress. And also the escrow company plays a very critical role of sitting between the parents, the servants, and sometimes the agency and even the attorneys to be an independent view of here's what the contract says and this is why the money needs to go out or why it shouldn't go out or why we need documentation. And we take a lot of pride in helping being that neutral,
00:08:56
Speaker
party that can keep the financial conversations away from the parents and surrogates so they can focus and donors so they can focus on what they're doing, which is building a family and having a baby and not, not a detailed calculation of lost wages or bedrest or, or things like that. So, you know, picking, picking an escrow company is an absolutely critical decision. We think you know, by far we're different than the other ones. And the categories I like to tell people to think about is make sure the team is qualified and experienced, right? That's a leadership team and staff. Why does that matter? We're looking at contracts, we're managing people's money. Big picture, the company needs to be set up like a professional financial company and run like one, right? You also, in my opinion, need CPAs and attorneys.
00:09:47
Speaker
that have the expertise on how to structure a financial company and look at these contracts and make these decisions when we have to make a judgment call. I think really defined structure processes and systems matter. If anybody had business or accounting classes, they would hear the old term checks and balances. sir Which I'm going to get boring here for a minute and I'll try to bring it back. But ultimately ultimately checks and balances really matter because you need to make sure that not one or two or three people that that could be a bad actor could take the money or misappropriate the money. sure So what does that mean? So like at C-Trust, for example, every approval goes through our five step process. And for any escrow money to be stolen or moved, it would take four teammates colluding.
00:10:42
Speaker
that work in different departments reporting to different managers to the to move money illegally, including me, right? So it would take four teammates colluding. And let's just say somehow in different divisions and different departments, four teammates did collude. Then they would get caught but within a couple of days within our internal audit. And if for any reason they got missed in our internal audit, it would get caught in our external audit. But having those checks and balances in place and ensure that if a teammate or somebody on our team, which I don't think would ever happen, would ever choose or have a personal issue or get addicted to something to try to do that, they would get caught and wouldn't be able to hurt people or hurt take people's money. So I feel very confident there that that's not possible giving our five step approval process in our audits.
Importance of Independence in Escrow Services
00:11:33
Speaker
The other thing, you can have those five steps
00:11:36
Speaker
of approval, but if you don't have the proper systems and processes to control it to make sure they're not bypassed, then they don't matter. Sure. So at Ctruss, we built a custom escrow system over the last seven years that controls everything we do. So every step of that process goes through our system and nobody can bypass the process in the system.
00:12:00
Speaker
And that that goes from start where it's requested, usually by a surrogate or a case manager at an agency, all the way through legal approval, payment approval, bank approval, and then the, then the multi-step verification of the bank level as well. So, and then the audit. So that system controls it and nobody can bypass it. So for example, if my legal operations team approves something, it goes to our payment team and they see something wrong, they can't change it. They have to send it back.
00:12:30
Speaker
So just very thoughtful checks checks and balances and systems. And we have that around every aspect of every part of our business. When a new vendor is added, it takes multiple people to approve it. So just very thoughtful processes to ensure. It's a good old trust, but verify, right? So yeah we have C Trust, we have over 50 teammates committed to escrow, three attorneys, two CPAs, too many MBAs.
00:12:57
Speaker
All of that, but we still want to make sure our processes are secure so not one or two or three or four bad actors could hurt our clients because we've been given a great responsibility. The other thing that really matters in escrow is being independent. Meaning that we have no greater allegiance to the parent or the surrogate or the donor. Our job is very simple. We handle the money between the parties and we administer that money in accordance to the underlying agreement.
00:13:26
Speaker
yeah anything outside of that agreement, we need to get approval on. So if we have a greater allegiance by way of legal representation of the parents, it creates a major conflict of interest, and so we can't be unbiased and fair to the surrogate in that situation. So if we think that conflict of interest is too large to be waivable, and it puts actually the agency and the surrogate at risk when the attorneys hold escrow and they represent one party, right? so um
00:13:57
Speaker
Naturally, an attorney has to officially defend their client's interests and that could put everybody at risk. so it's just and and Generally speaking, most of them aren't set up as financial companies to do it really well and efficiently. here But if they are if they are and they are going to hold escrow, then they should just hold escrow for cases where they don't legally represent one party.
00:14:17
Speaker
Sure, sure. And we've seen it, we see it a lot where it causes issues. The other thing is specialized. We often see or pick up problem cases where they tried to use a non-specialized escrow company. Meaning like a, Hey, we hold escrow for a house and, but as a favor to you, we'll do this. Yeah. They know their title company really well. They try to do it. And then that title of company,
00:14:47
Speaker
doesn't know what they're getting into. sure um my Again, because the specialization matters because what we do is complex and we're calculating lost wages. We're looking at bedgrass. We're scheduling the payments throughout the journey that are due to the surrogate based on specific dates. So I think those are the three things that really matter. So in terms of picking an escrow company to make sure you don't have an issue.
Security Measures and Protection Against Fraud
00:15:10
Speaker
Now, as as a protection in the event that that fails, you also want to make sure that there are other safeguards in place. So I think an escrow company should be bonded and insured, meaning that there's adequate insurance aid to make sure the company could survive an issue, a cyber attack or something along that lines. And then also that the client's funds are protected.
00:15:40
Speaker
So, you know, SeaTrust has a $50 million bond and that's underwritten by eight insurance companies. So we have eight insurance companies who their specialty, their whole existence is making money on evaluating risk. And those eight insurance companies underwrite SeaTrust and take a $50 million dollars risk that the $50 million dollars was ever to be taken or stolen by any of our employees, including the owners,
00:16:08
Speaker
that those insurance companies would have to write that check. Meaning that if money was stolen, they would write that check back into C Trust. And so an intended account will never be missing the money. Absolutely. Quote, missing the money. Absolutely. So if there ever was a theft or a successful theft, up to that $50 million, dollars that and those insurance companies would need to put that money back. After due process of confirming theft,
00:16:38
Speaker
the legal process. sure search sure ah but So the bonding, so in escrow companies, you'll often go to an escrow company's website and they'll say FDIC insurance, or they'll say, are there general liability policy? that doesn't in that It's nice to have, but what really matters is their bond. Bonding, can be in this in this case, it can be a bond or it can be an employee criminal policy.
00:17:02
Speaker
that what you're looking for is a policy that protects escrow funds in the event of a theft, right? So, and you know, my opinion is that the absolute minimum anybody should choose to work with an escrow company is 10 million. And I'll explain why. At 5 million, the underwriting becomes more involved with an insurance company. So if an insurance company is gonna say, we're gonna take a million dollar risk Sometimes they will just place it and they're doing a lot of them, right? But when you when you move up to five, 10, 20, 30, 40, 50 million, the underwriting is quite involved. They're doing background checks. They're underwriting processes. They're underwriting systems. They're looking at their verifying bank accounts because ultimately their company's taking that risk. If there's an event, they have to pay it out. So I like to say a minimum for an escrow company in our space should be at least 10 million. The more, the better, naturally.
00:17:57
Speaker
yeah And that gets to my next point, which is oversight. So, um, again, trust with verify, right? So, you know, and you know, within, within an escrow company, having professionals that have their license on the line, like CPAs and attorneys that have a fiduciary responsibility to manage client funds effectively matters. yeah Well, look, the risk to them is they're going to lose their license if they do something wrong. And the benefits of the client is if there ever is an issue, and they they can make a complaint against that attorney or that CPA or all of them, and they're that company is going to work really hard to fix it because their licenses are on the line. So that's a function, that fiduciary responsibility is a function of oversight. What we talked about with the bonds of having insurance companies underwrite the company and say, hey, theyre this these big
00:18:51
Speaker
Financial companies are good taking a $10 million dollars risk or $5 million dollars risk or $50 million risk. It means they've looked at it and they said everything's there and it's pretty securely run because they're willing to take that risk. And lastly, and most importantly is audits. Um, so
Advantages of Escrow in Financial Transactions
00:19:09
Speaker
in, in, in light of some of the issues we've had in the industry, see trust even did a mid-year audit this year with a top 25
00:19:21
Speaker
CPA firm just to give people peace of mind. And audit is a very involved process where a team of CPAs crawl through every aspect of our accounts and books and even contact clients to verify for four months. Oh, wow. And really, really analyze. And ultimately, that CPA firm is putting their insurance and their brand on the line because if their audit report's not correct,
00:19:49
Speaker
their insurance comes into play. But you can't hide anything in the audit. So C-Trust just issued a letter from an auditor that says every escrow dollar is that we had at mid-year that we represent that we had is held and held correctly. So that's something and that's from a big company. So just having this extra oversight to make sure things are as presented and that there's not an issue is really important.
00:20:15
Speaker
So those are like, those are the big areas and then the rest of it's really nice to have, right? So like, think about the experience working with the company. What's their customer service? What's their experience in terms of technology and transparency? You know, those kinds of things matter as well because ultimately we're in a very, we're in a business of helping people build families and we all need to have a great heart and soul and really care about the clients we're working with.
00:20:42
Speaker
So I think having a good partner where if things don't go as planned, they're there and actually care to guide you and support you and protect everybody really matters as well. So those are my big dorky escrow reasons that, and you know, in the past we were nicer about not being so aggressive about saying you need to have this to be in the business to hold people's money because there were smaller operators doing it and they had been doing it for a long time.
00:21:11
Speaker
but Many of them this year have gone out of business, stolen the money. So my you know our position as an organization now is it doesn't matter who you are, what part of the country you're in, her what degree you have. If you're holding clients money, you need to have the stuff in place because people need to be protected.
00:21:35
Speaker
So, yeah, absolutely. I mean, it's already an emotional process, let alone there is the huge financial aspect of it. And so it is so important to have that trust to have that transparency.
00:21:46
Speaker
and to have the knowledge and know how. I mean, you i'm I'm a coordinator. I've looked at contracts for forever. I am by no means an attorney and you know interpretation is is up there. And so to have those im you know professionals in place to be a neutral party and to make sure and have all of those processes and steps and extra security.
00:22:12
Speaker
Um, and when there is that fail say, or you have the fail safe of the insurance, the bonds, the auditing, just all of that. I mean, checks and balances is huge. You are you continue to allude to, you know, there has been issues in the past within the industry of, you know, where people's money has been taken. um And in the midst of that, you had a lot of people not try or have great fear when it did come to you escrow. Why is, I mean, and I know you've touched on it, but
00:22:50
Speaker
just to really focus on it, why is it so important to have that escrow company, that third party, versus, oh, I'll just Venmo you, or oh, I'll just sell you, or write you a check, or give you cash? Yeah, great question. I mean, we view escrow as as a core utility in the process. um and Absolutely critical. um And yeah, we get, look, we took on,
00:23:19
Speaker
almost a thousand pro bono cases this year from troubled situations. yeah And we've worked with those parents and those surrogates and the people impacted. It's terrifying. And we totally understand the reaction that some folks are having saying, I don't know if we should trust. Absolutely. Trust escrow, right? I guess so.
00:23:44
Speaker
First of all, I want to say this is why we got in the business was to create a secure solution that this industry deserves. And this industry and our clients who are going through this beautiful process who often been through so much to get here deserve a secure solution. Not using escrow is not the answer. Using the right escrow company that's qualified and secure and set up ethically is the right answer.
00:24:08
Speaker
And you can look both to the structure and the processes in place that we've talked about and also look to the people running it and what their broader impact is and their backgrounds and and on the industry. Now, the reasons to answer your question directly, um the reasons escrow is critical is because there's a lot of pain. It's a lot of money involved. And in a surrogacy journey in particular, there's a lot of payments.
00:24:35
Speaker
And this these contracts are complex and you don't want the intended parent or the surrogate in a position where they're constantly having to talk about money and calculations. And where's my payment? The parents need to be thinking about their future family and building a relationship of their surrogate. And the surrogate needs to focus on caring for the baby that she's that she's carrying and not the money piece.
00:25:03
Speaker
and they're kind if And if there's not an escrow place, if there's not an escrow company in place, the contract's not really enforceable because there's a contract that outlines what has to be paid when, what's included and what's not. And if that money is not in escrow, the risk is entirely too high for the surrogate that she won't get paid.
00:25:26
Speaker
or that there'll be a delay or the money's not there on the parent side. And similarly for the intended parent to go through that complexity of trying to figure out when all these payments are due and what the calculation is and how to schedule the compensation. It is very involved in what, in not having an escrow company really puts everybody at risk, including all the professionals who are working for this. And look, we,
00:25:52
Speaker
We managed, we've managed 20,000 escrow cases successfully. It's a number we're really proud of. um And it's not the majority of them. It's a minority of cases, but there are cases where it gets contested. There are disputes chart and escrow is critical in a dispute situation. And sometimes the disputes are not merited.
00:26:17
Speaker
The example I like to give is we had an intended parent who didn't want to pay base comp because the surrogate unfriended them on Facebook. Oh, no. And unfortunately, there was no clause in the contract that they had to be friends on Facebook. The money had to be paid. But in the event in that situation to where there wasn't an escrow company, they would have held payment, which isn't ideal.
00:26:41
Speaker
There are situations where the surrogate is submitting things that should not be paid or that would need additional approvals because because she doesn't that' says she thought it was included, but it wasn't, or she did the calculation wrong. And that's not necessarily the intended parent's expertise either to make sure that everything's calculated and correct and the right receipts are in place.
00:27:05
Speaker
So, you know, we we fix a lot of issues that never have to go to that out for approval and basically make sure that money's managed in the strict coordinates of those contracts. And if some things come across that are not in the contract, we have the expertise to say, this is not in the contract. If we want to pay this, we need approval. So we're protecting everybody. And we've seen cases that actually have started with escrow that come to us and say, please take this.
00:27:34
Speaker
Because the stress the stress on the family and the surrogates too much. And the risk is extremely high for everybody. The surrogate, the parent, the donor, the agency, everybody involved. Because as soon as somebody is not getting paid on time or not getting paid in accordance with the contract, you have a major issue that impacts everybody and puts everything at risk, which should not be the focus point in these beautiful journeys. No, for sure. Absolutely. And again, just reinforces that.
00:28:05
Speaker
you know, you guys are that neutral party that deals in facts within a very beautiful situation and can still offer empathy um and care and love, but also trust and knowledge and hey, this is how it is. um And that is so wonderful to have, especially in a high emotional situation for sure and beautiful, so beautiful journey. um
Adam's Passion and Ethical Involvement in Surrogacy
00:28:34
Speaker
Absolutely. What would you say, you know, what impact do you hope that C-Trust has on surrogacy and egg donation long-term?
00:28:47
Speaker
Yeah, before I answer that, I also want to say we in no way take the place of the attorneys. Um, the attorneys that draft the contracts that represent the clients to survey that donor and the intended parents who should be separately are absolutely critical. And if we have an interpretation question or there is a dispute that's formalized, that's when they come into the process to say, here's what the contracts said and we get them to agree. Or if there isn't a dispute that is merited, then we're going to bring in the attorneys.
00:29:16
Speaker
And they're going to make that, they're going to have that discussion and they and advise their clients. You know, our role is to guide, at that at that point, our role is to guide that process. But again, that's one or 2%, if probably less, it's actually less than 1% of total requests that we deal with to actually get to that, because we can actually guide through that. So I do want to make sure I compliment the attorneys. Their role in this is critical. The contract in the between the parties is absolutely critical. Their role and the event there is issues is absolutely critical.
00:29:46
Speaker
And then our role in managing it to where there's less issues, right? Or less mutual spending is also important. Yeah, when we look to the industry as a whole, you know, we we are a service company with a true north of making surrogacy and egg donation more secure.
00:30:05
Speaker
and more transparent and easier for people going through services. When we see these events of losses and thefts and issues with escrow, albeit process or notorious with with a bad actor, it's heartbreaking. And we take a lot of pride from moving escrow in its traditional sense from the stone age where there was really no protection sure for anybody. It was really just an illusion of protection.
00:30:33
Speaker
I mean, again, the prior escrow companies sent checks once a month. The agencies had to take on full responsibility to check the contract and the receipts and submit everything once a month. The escrow companies didn't take any liability to get the payment correct. They only took the liability to send the payment. There was no such thing as a scheduled payment calendars. yeah where Everything was scheduled, so it went out on time and had full transparency. There was no such thing as a system that people could access 24-7 and be translated into different languages, there was no such thing as a big bond that actually protected client funds when we started on this journey. So we we as the market leader take a lot of pride in kind of setting the next stage of what is escrow and how what an escrow company should do to protect people and constantly innovate. So when we looked at what what makes us proud is we keep innovating and keep evolving for the better for this industry and for our clients, even though we're way far ahead of anybody else in the space.
00:31:31
Speaker
And it's just, it's back to making it more secure, easier, and better for people so they can focus on building their family. You know, the journey we're on is working with C Trust is like no different than working with your bank. You wouldn't put your money at a financial institution that would that wasn't secure. You wouldn't put your money at a bank that wasn't secure. I come from running or being in the leadership of a large bank. yeah So, you know, what we what we strive for is that same piece of mind that when you go to your bank and make a deposit,
00:32:02
Speaker
That's similar to C Trust and and we we're we're basically there now. So we're constantly working on that kind of true north to make it more secure and better and then bringing new fun features like we list but this recently launched our credit cards that allow for surrogate's insurance to go on the credit card. That removed a huge pain point of insurance payments getting missed.
00:32:25
Speaker
The last couple months we released our lost wages calculator, which actually makes it extremely easy for everybody to calculate lost wages and see it right in the portal, which avoids that stress later in the process. Oh, for sure. So yeah, we're just constantly innovating, making escrow more secure. You know, there's, we also feel like it's our responsibility to push the industry forward to make everybody raise the bar in escrow. You know, there was others.
00:32:52
Speaker
There's always been and there is and others holding escrow right now who are not qualified, who do not have the right bonds in place, do who do not have the right checks and balances. And we take some responsibility to help them get there or get out of the industry. So we've brought solutions for other escrow providers to use our technology. We've introduced others to our bonding agents.
00:33:15
Speaker
You know, our true north is we just want people to be, people to be able to go through this process securely. Um, and not to make headlines with not, not for anybody to make headlines of people's money getting taken. Absolutely. Absolutely. What would you say is your favorite part about what you do? Yeah. You know, I, I think I've honestly just extremely humbled to be able to leverage kind of my passion, experience, and work ethic into an industry that's so beautiful and that has such a beautiful kind of broader purpose of helping people have families. I work alongside of just amazing professionals, agencies, attorneys, doctors, insurance companies that just
00:34:08
Speaker
their their their heart and soul in this industry is to help people build families. And most of us work around the clock to make that dream for folks come true. And it's just beautiful to have that instant connection to help folks. And albeit, you know, we're a provider and and we're in the money piece of it in terms of making sure that's managed through. We think that's really important that we can make that easier for everybody involved and protect everybody that's really important.
00:34:38
Speaker
You know, and I've, I've taken a broader role in the industry of serving as the president of the ethics organization in the industry. And now on the board, I know Katie yes is on a board and love working with her directly, but you know, just trying to steer, help guide the overall industry to get it and ah as, as the industry evolves and as the client needs evolved as technologies evolve, we need to keep evolving as, as professionals and making it safer. So that's.
00:35:07
Speaker
you know That's what keeps me going. It all started with me you know being blessed to have my daughter and saying, gosh, now it kind of clicked. Everybody should have the right to have this experience that had this beauty of of building a family. so Super proud of what we're doing. You know, I think any business you're you have the beauty of solving a meaningful problem in our business.
Community Engagement and Podcast Closing Remarks
00:35:30
Speaker
It's making sure that surrogacy and I donation escrow can be managed effectively transparently in a transparent way and securely. And then also building an awesome team and and we have we have a really awesome team of professionals.
00:35:44
Speaker
I think in the and the escrow company, it's like I said, it's oh it's over 50. I think we're at 57 now. People who just wake up every day passionate about helping people and protecting people. And it's just it's just really awesome. So just it's a lot it's a lot of fun. and and beautiful. Yeah, I think what what did you say the ah kind of like nerd out aspect of it? I mean, it is you at the end of the day, you know, you really are. You're helping people and you're offering a peace of mind. um So that
00:36:17
Speaker
everyone part of that process can focus on the beautiful journey that is happening and not worrying about is it net versus gross or you know, whatever it may be. um And so i I can personally say I have loved working with SeaTrust as a coordinator, um as a surrogate. um I am so grateful and appreciative of everything you do for this industry and how you continue to want to move the industry forward and um you know, just again, continue to improve and bring a standard um that is required so that there is
00:36:55
Speaker
that protection and peace of mind. So I appreciate everything that UNC dress does for sure. My final question to you, and it's a fun one, um for anyone who knows me, they know that I have a very codependent relationship on coffee. Coffee and I are such good friends. um I would say family at this point, but um I always like to ask what filled your cup today?
00:37:23
Speaker
literally or figuratively, what was the thing that filled your cup? You know, I have to be honest and admit that I also have a very close affiliation with my coffee. <unk> maybe but Too much. ah but It's two o'clock in the afternoon. and I'm still having coffee, but absolutely. i can relate and ah Look, I've enjoyed our discussion today. It's been so fun and you know it's good to kind of reflect on the the business and the industry and and what we do as well. and can i may i May I have one request? Yeah. If you work with Seed Trust, please send us the baby photos. Oh, yes. We get baby photos all day and it just makes our day. What we do is hard. you know Our team works extremely hard. Yeah.
00:38:13
Speaker
to deliver on getting the baby photos. so It's Oh, it's the best part. It's the best part. Oh, for sure. For sure. OK. For anybody out there who has C Trust, send send them your baby photos. It's so worth it. And as a coordinator, I totally hear you. It's like, oh, there it is. There's that little bundle. Absolutely. Absolutely. Well, thanks for having me. all We love working with you all. You know, the agency.
00:38:41
Speaker
in this process is the true heroes that brings everybody together and takes the the major role of guiding everybody through the process, including managing the providers and keeping us all on track at God.
00:38:56
Speaker
And when anything goes wrong, no matter what, it's typically blamed on the agency. I'm not saying it's always fair. But the agencies have such a critical and important role. They are really the heroes that makes that brings us all together and makes us possible for families. um so And you guys do an amazing job. We love working with you.
00:39:17
Speaker
We run a really professional organization and the process and we just see how how well you care for your clients. So thanks for having me on and we appreciate being able to work together on cases. Yes, absolutely. Well, thank you. We, we so appreciate everything that you do for short. Thank you, Adam. Thank you, Whitney. Have a great day. Thanks for having me on.
00:39:38
Speaker
Thank you so much for joining us on this episode of Me, You and Who. We appreciate your time and hope you enjoyed our discussion today. As we wrap, we would like to remind you of some of the ways that you can stay connected with us and be part of the me, you, and who podcast community. Firstly, if you haven't already, make sure to subscribe to our podcast on your favorite platform. Hit that subscribe button so you never miss an episode and can stay up to date with our latest content. But that's not all. We also have an exciting YouTube channel where we share some bonus content behind the scenes, glimpses, and video versions of our episodes.
00:40:17
Speaker
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00:40:40
Speaker
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