Jonesboro, AR – (JonesboroRightNow.com) – Nov. 11, 2024 – A retired U.S. Air Force captain has found a renewed sense of purpose by helping others through difficult changes in their lives with Caring Transitions of Jonesboro.
Mark Piatt, of Paragould, graduated from Ohio State University’s ROTC program in 1986, receiving his commission as a second lieutenant. He first served as a nuclear missile launch officer in Minot, ND. Later in his career, he served as flight commander on the Looking Glass, an aircraft command post that flew 24 hours a day, seven days a week during the Cold War.
Eventually, Piatt served as a command-and-control expert for the 354th Fighter Squadron, an A-10 Thunderbolt II squadron out of Myrtle Beach, FL. While there, Piatt worked with military personnel to develop mission plans.
In 1996, Piatt began looking for a career transition. He knew his next deployment would be in South Korea on a company tour, which would have taken him away from his family for another two years, so he decided it was time to retire.
“Having a new baby coming, I didn’t want to lose that first year. So, it was time to say I’m done,” Piatt said.
He began working for Emerson Electric, which led him to Paragould in 1999. After falling in love with the plant and the people, Piatt worked there as the plant manager for many more years. Piatt continued to work for Emerson until 2018, even after Nidec bought the plant and transferred most of the manufacturing to Mexico. This change caused him to have to frequently travel, both domestically and internationally.
“I spent a good amount of time in China, and I had apartment over in Tennessee, but was living here and my youngest was going through his senior year,” Piatt said. “It was just right back to where I was in the military. Time to change.”
Piatt first heard about Caring Transitions when his stepfather fell ill in 2019. Since he lived in Cincinnati, Piatt and his family had frequently had to travel there to help his mother.
While there, Piatt would frequently visit an auction house. However, because the COVID-19 pandemic had just begun, the auction house had to shift its services online. While looking for it, Piatt came across another auction site, Caring Transitions Bids.
“This thing called CT (Caring Transitions) Bids kept popping up and it was a really neat auction site,” he said.
After his stepfather died, Piatt recalled how he and his brother-in-law had to go through a garage full of his things.
“It was in the way. (My mother’s) mobility was starting to go down, so we didn’t want any trip hazards. So, we spent four or five days cleaning out the garage. We filled two dumpsters. I remember we got it all organized where she was comfortable, and she didn’t have to worry about it. I mean, she was already overwhelmed with the loss of a spouse.”
Piatt recalled how difficult the process was on everyone.
“It was tough. We would have liked to spend more time with my mom rather than having to deal with all the junk,” he said. However, he happened to get on the auction website again and noticed it did more than just auctions.
“They were doing kind of what we were doing, the cleanouts. When we came home and I did a little more research, I thought this Caring Transitions was kind of neat. It definitely filled a lot of boxes of the things I like.”
With that, Piatt said he found his new passion, helping others through difficult times. In 2021, Caring Transitions of Jonesboro opened. While it is located in Paragould, the service covers all of northeast Arkansas, including Jonesboro. It is located at 5 Candlewood Cove.
“I’ve always enjoyed the antique side of it and the collectibles. It is kind of like treasure hunting,” he laughed. “But I think the other piece of it that I love is just being impactful on people’s lives. I’ve always looked for roles that were more a profession than a job, that when you come home and you finish something, you feel like you’ve done good for somebody or something. It’s a very rewarding job.”
Services include:
- relocation services, including senior relocation, senior moving assistance, packing services, and senior resettling services
- downsizing and decluttering services including downsizing help, senior decluttering services, and space planning
- estate sales and online auctions, including estate sales, online estate auctions on CT Bids, and charity estate auctions
- home clean-outs, including sorting and organizing everything, and then selling, donating, recycling, or hauling it away.
“We consider ourselves a concierge service. We provide a whole smorgasbord, and you just pick what you need,” he said. Piatt’s team sorts items into four different categories:
- Trash, such as personal hygiene items, magazines and newspapers, expired food and anything that they cannot legally sell. These items will be removed and disposed of properly.
- Low-value items, such as t-shirts, used towels, used bedding, etc. This also includes broken items, unless it’s something of substantial value. These items will be donated to places such as Goodwill, Abilities Unlimited, local churches, shelters, animal shelters or charities of the client’s choice.
- Personal items, such as tax documents, family photos, etc. If families don’t want to keep these items, they can choose whether or not to professionally shred the documents.
- Sell items, which are further separated into two categories: nationally valued and locally valued items. Nationally valued items, such antiques and collectables, will be sold in an online auction on their proprietary CT Bids website, while the locally valued items, such as some furniture, farm equipment and tools, will be sold locally at one of their tag sales.
Online items are professionally appraised and photographed. Although Piatt is a certified appraiser, he works with a team with their own specialties, as well as appraisers and experts in over 350 offices across the nation.
Caring Transitions sets its rates by the job, charging an hourly rate for cleanup and setup, and then a percentage of the gross sales based on the value of the estate.
“There’s a lot of thought that goes into it,” he explained. “We’re a premium service. We understand the stress involved and our goal is to take the stress off the family and take stress off the person that we’re working with, our client, and that’s what makes us different and that is the reason I fell in love with it. It’s really not about money. Our focus is in making them comfortable as they transition to life and allow families to focus on the things that are important instead of worried about stuff like how they’re going to take time off of work, get down there and clean the house out. We take care of all that so they can focus on their loved one.”
For more information or to set up a free consultation, call Piatt at 870-476-4749 or click here.