#34 People don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care. Jane Francis, EVP of Business Development at Senior1Care in Indiana, is newer to home care, but she brings deep experience in nursing, sales, leadership development, and scaling businesses. She took over a newly acquired, underperforming Medicaid office and transformed it into a 75% private pay operation, achieving 100% year-over-year growth. Along the way, she rebuilt the culture, redesigned processes with people at the center, and is now applying these strategies across six offices. Jane shares her process, the people who inspired her, and the decisions behind Senior1Care’s cultural turnaround, despite being an established successful company.
Chapters:
00:00 Introduction to Jane Francis and Senior One Care
01:51 Lessons Learned from a Diverse Career
12:53 Joining Senior One Care: A New Chapter
13:47 First 90 Days: Building Relationships and Trust
18:32 Shifting the Business Model: From Medicaid to Private Pay
22:49 Leadership and Culture: The Secret Sauce
29:44 Operational Improvements: Structuring the Intake Call
35:18 Re-structuring Office Roles and Responsibilities
40:57 Re-building a Strong Leadership Structure
45:34 Focusing on People for Profits
52:25 Creating a Growth Mindset Culture
56:43 Navigating Change in Established Companies
01:00:59 Innovating Home Care for Longevity
01:03:20 Future Trends: Holistic Aging
Episode brought to you by:
SmartAutomations.Care smartautomations.care
Helper Heroes helperheroes.com
#33 Becky Reel is the former CEO of North America’s #1 home care agency and in this episode we unpack six of the most common growth challenges home care owners face—and how to overcome them. We talk through the pushing through revenue plateaus, the caregiver exodus, the burned-out founder, the corporate competition crisis, the success trap of growing too fast, and the work-life collision that happens when your agency becomes your identity. Becky shares real stories from her first hand-experience and practical systems she’s used to help owners regain time, rebuild culture, and grow sustainably.
Chapters:
00:00 Introduction
01:37 Becky's Journey in Home Care
04:04 The Startup Phase of Home Care Agencies
08:03 Addressing the Caregiver Exodus
29:38 Overcoming Revenue Plateaus
37:28 Balancing Quantitative and Qualitative KPIs
40:36 Navigating Corporate Competition in Home Care
52:36 The Success Trap: Growing Too Fast
01:02:18 Work-Life Collision: Finding Your Identity Beyond the Agency
Episode brought to you by SmartAutomations.Care (www.smartautomations.care)
It's a seamless software that captures everything from phone calls to in-person visits and logs it directly into your scheduling software. No extra steps. No missed details.
#32 Eric Reinarman, VP of Government Relations at HCAOA, covers the most pressing policies being talked about on Capitol Hill. From immigration reform and workforce shortages to affordability of care and the controversial 80/20 Medicaid rule, he breaks down what’s happening in Washington and how it could reshape the industry. We also talk about the power of advocacy, why storytelling moves policy forward, and how every provider—big or small—can make their voice heard. Plus, he covers a major win with the Elizabeth Dole Home Care Act and shares practical ways to stay informed and involved at the state and federal level.
Chapters:
00:00 Introduction to Home Care Advocacy
03:04 The Immigration Challenge in Home Care
06:10 Advocacy and Legislative Efforts
08:58 The Importance of Storytelling in Immigration
11:58 The Affordability of Home Care
17:03 Innovative Solutions for Affordability
23:43 Current Legislative Landscape on Non-Competes
29:41 Understanding Non-Compete Agreements in Home Care
34:11 The Controversy of the 80-20 Rule
39:39 Preparing for Potential Changes in Medicaid Regulations
50:53 The Impact of the Elizabeth Dole Home Care Act
01:00:07 The Value of Advocacy and Association Membership
This episode is brought to you by 24/7 Solutions (www.247solutions.co)
What do they do:
#31 Running a home care agency can feel like running a marathon—at a 7-minute mile pace, on a treadmill, underwater. Most owners are stuck because they fall into one of two traps: the “set it and forget it” manager who assumes vision is enough, or the “I’ll just do it myself” manager who can’t let go of control. Emily Isbell, CEO of 24/7 Solutions breaks down why both fail and what it takes to build a management culture that actually sustains growth. She explains how to apply the TTOE framework—Teach, Train, Observe, Evaluate—and implement real training, grounded processes, and meaningful KPIs. If you’re half leading and half managing, this conversation is especially for you.
This episode is brought to you by 24/7 Solutions (www.247solutions.co)
What do they do:
#30 Being an entrepreneur is full of unknowns and leadership can be lonely, challenging, and push you to your limits. The CEOs of AxisCare, Nevvon, and Caribou—three leading home care tech companies—share how they started their businesses, the frameworks they use to make tough decisions, the skills they’ve had to master, and how they’ve built moats around themselves in a competitive market. They also offer candid advice for home care leaders navigating their own entrepreneurial journey.
Chapters:
00:00 Introduction to Home Care Entrepreneurs
02:08 Motivations Behind Starting a Business
08:51 Embracing Pain and Discomfort in Entrepreneurship
17:08 Navigating Change: Push Through vs. Pivot
24:44 People Management: The Heart of Business
34:35 Hiring for Culture vs. Skill
39:39 Developing Hard Skills for Success
40:33 Curiosity and Pattern Recognition in Business
41:32 The Importance of Forecasting and Growth
44:12 Navigating Financials and Corporate Governance
48:31 Understanding the Moat Framework for Business Success
55:26 Operational Excellence and Customer Retention
01:00:16 Balancing Current Needs with Future Opportunities
01:09:58 Entrepreneurial Advice for Home Care Leaders
This episode is brought to you by 24/7 Solutions https://www.247solutions.co
What do they do:
#29 Jen Kulig, Director of Market Operations at Tribute Home Care, shares how a $32M agency hires and retains only the top 1% of caregiver applicants. She walks through their 7–10 day hiring process, driven by situational interviews that surface grit, empathy, and motivation, and explains why referrals make up 40% of new hires. Jen also highlights the Caregiver Excellence Department’s 90-day support program, quarterly awards, annual happiness surveys and the Everyone Out program. She also breaks down their Salary Program, Tribute Secure, that guarantees caregivers 30 or 40 hours per week.
Chapters:
00:00 Introduction to Tribute Home Care
00:55 Jen Kulig's Journey in Home Care
07:12 Overview of Tribute Home Care's Operations
09:36 Caregiver-First Mentality at Scale
10:05 Hiring Process and Recruitment Strategies
18:17 Retention Strategies and Caregiver Excellence
44:32 Innovative Retention Programs
01:11:06 Future of Home Care and Workforce Challenges
This episode is brought to you by The Home Care CPAs.
Are you managing your bank account, or is it managing you? The Home Care CPAs specialize in helping home care agencies—from startups to $40 million businesses—optimize cash flow, streamline billing and payroll, and build scalable financial strategies. Whether you need full-service bookkeeping or expert coaching, their team ensures your finances are working for you, not against you.
#28 After two decades in the home care industry, Bob Roth found himself at a crossroads. Bob shares why he had to completely reimagine Cypress Home Care, from rebuilding operations post-Honor Care Network to transforming caregiver recruitment using machine learning and automation. He shares his candid take on today’s workforce challenges, the generational shifts shaping senior care, and why “home care is hard” but worth doing right. He opens up about the power of community partnerships, rewriting the narrative on aging, and the importance of self-care from his own lived experiences.
This episode is brought to you by AxisCare.
Running a home care business is challenging enough—your software shouldn’t be part of the struggle. That’s why top-performing home care leaders and enterprise agencies choose AxisCare, rated the #1 home care operating system for the past two years. With powerful, scalable tools, best-in-class customer support, and a team that truly understands home care, AxisCare helps agencies streamline operations and scale with confidence.
#27 If you’re waiting hours (or worse, days) to follow up with caregiver applicants, you’re already losing the best talent. Louie Frank of Activated Insights breaks down why “24 minutes is the new 24 hours” when it comes to caregiver recruiting—and how agencies can fix mid-funnel drop-off before it costs them hires. You’ll learn how to audit your own application process, speed up first contact, and use culture as a conversion tool, not just a retention play. You’ll take away practical, data-backed steps to improve applicant-to-hire ratios and keep your pipeline moving.
This episode is brought to you by 52 Weeks Marketing.
80% of home care revenue is driven by referral marketing. Yet, less than 50% of home care businesses have a dedicated sales person focused on building relationships with referral partners. That’s where 52 Weeks Marketing comes in, providing a complete referral marketing system designed by Debbie Miller, who built a $10 million home care business in just 10 years. With done-for-you marketing tools, a healthcare referrer database, and a CRM to track results, 52 Weeks helps you build a scalable marketing engine that drives real, long-term growth.
#26 AI is transforming how home care agencies operate. Matt Ericksen, VP of Sales and Operations at Griswold, breaks down the exact AI tools, workflows, and formulas he’s using to reclaim hours, improve recruiting, and scale franchise operations. You’ll hear how he built a job ad grader that boosts hiring results, layered Microsoft Copilot across internal systems to save 17 hours a week, and created a compliance companion tool in under 30 minutes. Matt also shares the “Overall Productivity Index” formula for calculating AI ROI and the six-step anatomy of a winning prompt. If you’ve been tinkering with AI but aren’t sure how to make it stick, this episode is your blueprint for adoption and measurable results in home care.
Matt’s AI preferred tools:
The Anatomy of a Prompt:
AI Overall Productivity Index (OPI):
Overall Productivity Index = (Hours Reclaimed × Avg. Hourly Cost) − Weekly AI Tool Cost
This episode is brought to you by The Home Care CPAs.
Are you managing your bank account, or is it managing you? The Home Care CPAs specialize in helping home care agencies—from startups to $40 million businesses—optimize cash flow, streamline billing and payroll, and build scalable financial strategies. Whether you need full-service bookkeeping or expert coaching, their team ensures your finances are working for you, not against you.
#25 What if you could replace dozens of scattered hourly shifts with one scalable model inside an independent living community? In this episode, Rob Rister of HomeWell Care Services shares how he built his “Support On Site” program—turning caregiver shortages into retention wins, driving 45% margins, and embedding his agency in 10 communities across three states. He breaks down the numbers, the operations, and the technology (hello CINCH) that made it possible. Whether you’re frustrated with the limits of hourly care or curious about expanding into new markets, this is a blueprint for cracking the community care model.
This episode is brought to you by Caribou.
Do you want to build a high-performing team through the power of recognition? Caribou helps home care agencies boost recruitment, retention, and performance by tapping into simple to use technology and powerful data to engage your care team in the behaviors that matter most to your business. With Caribou, you can build a culture of appreciation that keeps caregivers engaged, connected, and committed for years, not months.
#24 Wayne Morgan opens up about the persistence, mistakes, and lessons that finally got him in the door at Spaulding, the nation’s #2 rehab hospital. Alongside Breanne Muchemore, who led Spaulding’s care management team, they share what actually matters to hospital partners and why most agencies never make the cut. This is an inside look at the conversations, questions, and trust-building that turn ignored emails into a first-class referral relationship.
This episode is brought to you by AxisCare.
Running a home care business is challenging enough—your software shouldn’t be part of the struggle. That’s why top-performing home care leaders and enterprise agencies choose AxisCare, rated the #1 home care operating system for the past two years. With powerful, scalable tools, best-in-class customer support, and a team that truly understands home care, AxisCare helps agencies streamline operations and scale with confidence.
#23 An unheard of home care success story—Reggie Mackey and his team have built Live Well Home Care to a projected $25M in annual revenue in just two and a half years. The company is 98% VA funded, works mostly in rural markets across 30 states, and credits its growth to one thing: customer service—taking care of people who take care of people. Reggie shares how they approach recruiting in hard-to-staff areas, why their branch managers are measured on more than just dollars, and their “old-school” methods that still work today. He also talks about their next chapter—helping other agencies with staffing and recruiting with Staff Well.
This episode is brought to you by Acrisure.
90% of home care businesses are not properly insured for their operational needs—yet insurance is often overlooked or underappreciated until disaster strikes. Acrisure’s Home Care Practice Group specializes in insurance solutions designed to protect home care businesses from lawsuits, data breaches, employee injuries, and more. With expert home care guidance and comprehensive coverage, Acrisure helps you safeguard your business so you can focus on what you do best—providing great care.
#22 Clint Nobles has worked closely with upwards of thousands of home care leaders and in this episode we talk about leadership behaviors—particularly the bad ones. He shares things that he’s seen and experienced firsthand that he advises home care leaders to actually stop doing. We tackle triage, trust, productivity, delegation, and other unique-to-home-care leadership lessons. He also shares his formula for the speed of success and a handful of other simple but effective frameworks to implement in your business now.
This episode is brought to you by 52 Weeks Marketing.
Mention LAB @ 52weeksmarketingllc.com for $100 off your first month’s subscription between July 1 - July 31.
80% of home care revenue is driven by referral marketing. Yet, less than 50% of home care businesses have a dedicated sales person focused on building relationships with referral partners. That’s where 52 Weeks Marketing comes in, providing a complete referral marketing system designed by Debbie Miller, who built a $10 million home care business in just 10 years. With done-for-you marketing tools, a healthcare referrer database, and a CRM to track results, 52 Weeks helps you build a scalable marketing engine that drives real, long-term growth.
#21 Smart home technology is reshaping how aging adults live—and how home care agencies serve them. In this episode with Jim Conti, Shea Gregg, and David Eby, we explore the most adopted tools, emerging trends, and what’s becoming standard in aging-in-place environments. We dive into the ethical and practical challenges agencies face as technology changes communication, care responsibilities, and client autonomy. We also talk about the future where tech isn’t just a tool, but a foundational part of the care plan.
This episode is brought to you by The Home Care CPAs
Mention LAB @ thehomecarecpas.com for 25% off your first month’s service between July 1 - July 31.
Are you managing your bank account, or is it managing you? The Home Care CPAs specialize in helping home care agencies—from startups to $40 million businesses—optimize cash flow, streamline billing and payroll, and build scalable financial strategies. Whether you need full-service bookkeeping or expert coaching, their team ensures your finances are working for you, not against you.
#20 Not enough home care leaders are thinking about or talking about insurance. Why? They think it’s a commodity, they haven’t had a claim filed against them, or they don’t know what questions to be asking. Gavin Studner, Client Advisor at Acrisure dives into changes in workers compensation, increased rates for general and professional liability, and why carriers are limiting their appetite for home care risks. It’s not good enough to think about insurance at renewal—talk with your broker, build a risk management plan, and be proactive.
This episode is brought to you by AxisCare.
Use code LAB @ axiscare.com for a waived onboarding fee between July 1 - July 31.
Running a home care business is challenging enough—your software shouldn’t be part of the struggle. That’s why top-performing home care leaders and enterprise agencies choose AxisCare, rated the #1 home care operating system for the past two years. With powerful, scalable tools, best-in-class customer support, and a team that truly understands home care, AxisCare helps agencies streamline operations and scale with confidence.
#19 Jessica Schultz, Director of Franchise People Strategy at Right at Home, and Paul Blom, a 24-year franchise owner, share what they’ve learned about caregiver recruitment and retention. Jessica unpacks the “Top 10 Project,” a system-wide deep dive into what the best-performing offices are doing differently. Paul shares the specific tactics that have helped his agency maintain exceptional retention and caregiver satisfaction—including weekly personal emails, birthday phone calls and annual events.
This episode is brought to you by Caribou
Mention LAB @ caribou.care for 10% off between July 1 - July 31.
Do you want to build a high-performing team through the power of recognition? Caribou helps home care agencies boost recruitment, retention, and performance by tapping into simple to use technology and powerful data to engage your care team in the behaviors that matter most to your business. With Caribou, you can build a culture of appreciation that keeps caregivers engaged, connected, and committed for years, not months.
#18 Debbie Miller, CEO of Senior Helpers agency in Franklin, TN, shares how her team strategically integrated seven virtual assistants across recruiting, scheduling, billing, and after-hours support. She walks through their step-by-step approach—from starting with just two VAs to scaling to a fully embedded offshore team. Debbie breaks down key results like a 40% reduction in time-to-hire, 25% fewer cancelled shifts, and stronger after-hours coverage. She also explains why they launched their own VA company, Helper Heroes, to solve the biggest flaw in the traditional VA model: turnover.
This episode is brought to you by Acrisure
90% of home care businesses are not properly insured for their operational needs—yet insurance is often overlooked or underappreciated until disaster strikes. Acrisure’s Home Care Practice Group specializes in insurance solutions designed to protect home care businesses from lawsuits, data breaches, employee injuries, and more. With expert home care guidance and comprehensive coverage, Acrisure helps you safeguard your business so you can focus on what you do best—providing great care.
#17 Gabrielle Pumpian, a former 7-figure home care business development rep, shares how she got started, what kept her motivated, and what most home care owners misunderstand about sales. She breaks down her top-performing health care referral sources—and exactly how she stood out—then dives into the non-health care partners and offers tactics for selling to trusted advisors. She adds insights into the evolving private-pay landscape and introduces her new venture: Trail Angel Partners.
This episode is brought to you by 52 Weeks Marketing.
Mention LAB @ 52weeksmarketingllc.com for $100 off your first month’s subscription between July 1 - July 31.
80% of home care revenue is driven by referral marketing. Yet, less than 50% of home care businesses have a dedicated sales person focused on building relationships with referral partners. That’s where 52 Weeks Marketing comes in, providing a complete referral marketing system designed by Debbie Miller, who built a $10 million home care business in just 10 years. With done-for-you marketing tools, a healthcare referrer database, and a CRM to track results, 52 Weeks helps you build a scalable marketing engine that drives real, long-term growth.
#16 - JM & Michele Simmonds share how they built a successful home care business in rural Texas through trust, community ties, and a strong team culture. From recruiting and marketing to handling challenges and keeping a stellar reputation, they break down what worked and what didn't. We also dive into their expansion across Texas and what it took to sell the business. Now, they’re gearing up for a fresh start in rural Colorado—with lessons learned, new ideas, and big goals.
This episode is brought to you by The Home Care CPAs
Mention LAB @ thehomecarecpas.com for 25% off your first month’s service between July 1 - July 31.
Are you managing your bank account, or is it managing you? The Home Care CPAs specialize in helping home care agencies—from startups to $40 million businesses—optimize cash flow, streamline billing and payroll, and build scalable financial strategies. Whether you need full-service bookkeeping or expert coaching, their team ensures your finances are working for you, not against you.
#15 - VA billing expert, Greg Bean spells out how agencies can streamline and increase VA billable hours. He talks about the importance of educating veterans on their benefits and using thorough assessments and care plans to support billing and authorizations. Greg shares strategies for community outreach, veteran advocacy, and leveraging technology to improve service delivery. The episode also features success stories showing how agencies have grown their VA clientele.
This episode is brought to you by Caribou
Do you want to build a high-performing team through the power of recognition? Caribou helps home care agencies boost recruitment, retention, and performance by tapping into simple to use technology and powerful data to engage your care team in the behaviors that matter most to your business. With Caribou, you can build a culture of appreciation that keeps caregivers engaged, connected, and committed for years, not months.