A Career in Universal Design
Executive Certificate in Home Modifications Graduate Nancy Makay on Launching Her Own Business

By Athan Bezaitis

“I’m the only universal design consultant in my area,” Makay says.  “The majority of contractors that I work with have never even heard of the concept.”

Nancy Makay is a universal design consultant.  Her customers are people who require home modifications in order to accommodate special living needs. 

Based in Erie, Pennsylvania, she started her company, Live with Ease: Universal Design Consulting, shortly after completing the online Executive Certificate program from the University of Southern California Andrus Gerontology Center in 2003.

The following year, her first clients were a husband and wife in Texas who contacted her after reading an article she published in the magazine Real Living with Multiple Sclerosis.  The wife was suffering from MS, and their bathroom needed to be modified in order to give her more space.  Ms. Makay suggested a walk-in shower replacing the Jacuzzi bathtub.  She also advised a higher toilet to make it easier for the wife to sit and stand.  She performed the entire job remotely, sending specifications via email and communicating with the husband over the telephone. 

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