Today we’d like to introduce you to Beth Thompson
Hi Beth, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
In 2019 my husband and I asked my parents if they would like to live with us so we could take care of them as they got older. My parents were living in an assisted living facility but were living on the independent living floor. They were mostly independent but we’re starting to need more help with things. They were paying more than $5000 a month to live in this facility and we were going to see and help them multiple times a week. That is when my husband and I decided it would be better for them to live with us. This way we could help them as much as they needed because they would be close and surrounded by their family. I wanted them to be surrounded by people that loved them as they grew old. This would also save them so much money. So we all looked for a house that we could turn into a multigenerational home that worked for all of us. We found a home in Ortonville Michigan that had an unfinished walkout basement that would be perfect for extra living space. So we finished the basement ourselves and designed it to be a handicap accessible space where my parents could grow old and be safe in an environment that was made just for their needs. Unfortunately my dad passed away 2 months before we finished the walkout basement space for him. My dad never got to live in the space we created for him…he would have loved living here. My dad was a disabled Vietnam veteran and was exposed to Agent Orange while he was in Vietnam. This exposure gave him many health problems throughout his life and he died at the young age of 71.
My mom was the only one that moved into the new finished basement space but at least she was with the rest of her family. My husband and 13 year old daughter Pearl and I now live with my mom in this beautiful country home. My mom loves the space we created for her and she has as much privacy as she wants. We all see each other every day and have many meals together. I usually take my morning coffee downstairs and drink it with my mom. We are all thrilled with this living situation.
We started a YouTube channel so we could share our new living situation with family and friends. Everyone was curious what grandmas basement was like and they imagined the worst because it was a basement. This was during COVID so friends and family could not come visit so we made videos to share with them. We called our channel Grandma Lives In The Basement! After a while more than just family and friends started viewing our videos on YouTube and the viewers were leaving us heart warming comments about how they wish they could live with their family like we were doing. We had many comments from grandparents that were very lonely and they told us our videos made them so happy to see a wholesome family living like this…they told us how they really looked forward to our next videos. This is when I realized how much good we could possibly do with our little YouTube channel. We could be a positive part of someone’s day and we could also increase awareness about multigenerational homes. That is how our channel was born.
Now we have almost 90,000 subscribers that follow our channel and are part of our journey. We share our daily lives and what it is like in our multigenerational home. We share the good and bad and try to entertain our viewers while we do it. Our channel has brought us many opportunities to hear people’s stories from all over the world. The overwhelming comments we get from our viewers is that they wish multigenerational homes were a bigger part of Americans culture. We will keep sharing our story and hope to inspire others to give this a try.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
One of the struggles we had during this process was figuring out how to afford to finish the basement. We got quotes from builders that were way out of our price range. So my husband researched how to do each step of the process and my father-in-law helped also. My husband is an engineer by trade and my father-in-law once had a cabinet/ kitchen remodeling business. Between the two they did a magnificent job and saved us tons of money by doing the work ourselves. While they were building I was helping to take care of my dad who was not doing well at the time…as he was dying of congestive heart failure.
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
I have always been a creative person as long as I could remember. I have a love of interior design and I have designed and decorated 10 of our houses over the years. My husband and I got married when I was 27 years old and we immediately moved to South Korea for my husband’s career in automotive. We lived in South Korea for about 4 years and we loved it. I did not have a visa that would allow me to work in South Korea so I focused on creative projects. I designed the interiors for two villas that we lived in while in South Korea and I also learned the art of Korean Hanji paper art. When we moved back to the states we had our daughter and I designed the many homes that we lived in. We have moved a lot for my husbands career and we both really enjoyed moving to different places. In each home we lived in we did multiple renovation projects and we really enjoyed watching the transformation in each home. In the current house we are in I have designed renovation projects and my husband makes my designs a reality. We share many of our projects on the channel. I currently homeschool our daughter ,take care of my mother, and run our YouTube channel as well as our other socials. Life is very fulfilling for me right now. I am getting to do what I love with the people I love.
Do you have any advice for those just starting out?
I wish I would have started a YouTube channel years ago. It has changed my life for the better in so many ways. I am able to connect with people all over the world and be a positive influence on social media. We need more positivity in the media that we consume each day and I am happy to contribute to that. Starting a channel at 42 years old was intimidating because I knew nothing about technology and social media. I watched other YouTube videos to learn everything about the process and the world of Youtube. I am still learning everyday! I would tell others to just go for it and do not be intimidated. Every one of us has something special to offer the world. There are millions of YouTube viewers out there that are just wanting to connect and be inspired…invite them into your little corner of the world and watch what magical things it brings you and them.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/grandmalivesinthebasement
- Youtube: https://youtube.com/@grandmalivesinthebasement
- Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@grandma.lives.in
