December 7, 2025 • 18 mins
A single phone call can change everything. When a hospital discharge looms and panic sets in, the difference between chaos and calm is a voice that knows the path. We talk with Steve Whatley of Home Care Services in Plano, Texas, about turning personal experience into a stable, humane system that puts dignity and independence first. After seven years caring for his father, Steve and his wife Leslie built an approach that moves quickly when families are overwhelmed, yet never compromises on fit or respect.
We walk through the first moments that matter: how the team answers the phone, gathers only what’s essential, and calls back within an hour to schedule an in-home assessment. Leslie’s visit centers the client, not the clipboard. She asks what they need and what they want, preserving their voice in the plan. That small shift changes acceptance and adherence, especially when “caregiver” becomes “personal assistant.” Words signal power. When people feel in charge of their own days, they welcome help and stay safer longer at home.
Steve shares why hiring starts with personality and reliability before technical skills, and how matching an assistant to a client’s temperament prevents friction and builds trust. He explains why punctuality and transparency are nonnegotiable in a field where five minutes late can spark worry, and how being honest about timelines earns confidence. We also dig into the value of stories: the Navy pilot who casually mentioned 42 carrier landings, the elders who think they “just did life.” Asking opens doors. Those histories guide better care and remind families what they’re protecting.
If you’re navigating senior care, discharge planning, or searching for trusted home care in North Dallas, you’ll hear practical steps, language shifts that work, and a philosophy that admits families, not just clients. Press play, then subscribe, share with someone who needs it today, and leave a review to help more families find calm in a storm.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
SPEAKER_00 (00:09):
My name is Steve Watley.
I'm own home care services andwe're located in Plano, Texas.
So we serve North Dallas, farnorth Dallas, and the
surrounding areas, like Planoand McKinney, Allen, Frisco, and
those areas.
SPEAKER_01 (00:28):
And how long have you been in the business of home
care with homework?
SPEAKER_00 (00:32):
We're closing in on our 10th year.
We will start our 11th year inJanuary.
SPEAKER_01 (00:37):
Wow.
That is great.
That means that you have beenaround the block for a long time
and you're not going anywhere.
You're not a brand new businessand you've established
yourselves.
That's an achievement.
SPEAKER_00 (00:50):
Yeah.
It's we think we've establishedourselves more than once because
sometimes it just feels okay.
We've been there before, butit's all been good for the most
part.
I don't know what else I'drather do.
We got into this business everyweek after we took care of my
dad for almost seven years.
(01:11):
Wow.
And he had a stroke in Januaryof 2006.
And within a within a couple ofdays, uh, we knew my wife and I
knew that we were going to behis caregivers.
And we were living in Ohio atthe time, so we moved him from
Louisiana to Ohio and he stayedwith us until he passed away in
(01:33):
2012.
But we felt like that both of uswanted to get out of the
corporate race, and we felt likewe had a story to tell that we
could relate to people whoassume the job of caring for a
loved one.
I think it's the hardest jobanybody will take on, but it's
(01:54):
also the most rewarding job.
You'll never regret it.
We were talking to a the son ofa new client yesterday, and he's
pretty stressed because he losthis mom in July, and is he's
learning more about his dadfirsthand and their finances and
his care needs and things ofthat nature.
(02:15):
And we were able to tell him,like we have hundreds of others,
that we've been in your shoes,we know what it's like to get
the phone call, to learn thatyour dad is in ICU with a
stroke.
And by the way, as I told himlater, he didn't come with a
book.
(02:35):
And of course, he promptly toldme I didn't either.
But for the most part, it wasyou learn about not only their
situation and their mindset astime goes on, how difficult it
is to get old, but you alsolearn about the healthcare
system.
Yeah.
And that it's not designed forpatients, it's designed for the
(02:57):
system itself.
When somebody calls on a lateFriday afternoon in a panicky
voice, saying they're about todischarge my mother or
mother-in-law from rehab, theysay we need 24-7.
And you can just feel theteneness and the strain and
stress of their voice, theydon't know what to do.
(03:18):
And then we have the privilegeof telling them that you called
the right place, we've beenwhere you've been, and we can
take care of it.
And uh man, what a great spot tobe in to be able to, you can
just feel the calmness settledown, knowing that they've
connected with somebody who'sbeen there.
(03:39):
Because we don't believe inadmitting clients, we admit we
believe in admitting families,yeah, and we take care of
everybody.
We want that daughter to becomedaughter again, and the son to
be son and spouse to becomeeither the husband or the wife,
because you know, when you startmixing up roles, that's when the
(04:00):
stress is exacerbated.
And but yeah, that's what led ushere.
With we got a picture of my dadand us hanging in our outer
office, and without him and ourexperience with him, we probably
wouldn't be doing this.
But what a pleasure to do it,and what a these people, the
people that we meet are justhave incredible stories.
(04:22):
And some of the older folks,especially the traditionalists,
they think they just did life.
They don't think that they didreally anything special.
And that, and we're talkingabout secret service agents that
have taken care of presidentialfamilies.
We're talking about World War IIfighter plane pilots, nurses,
(04:43):
Rosie the Riveter.
These folks don't think anythingof that.
SPEAKER_01 (04:46):
It was just what you did.
You did what you were called todo, or you did what life brought
to you.
SPEAKER_00 (04:52):
Yeah, exactly.
SPEAKER_01 (04:53):
Made it work.
SPEAKER_00 (04:54):
Exactly.
Yeah.
SPEAKER_01 (04:56):
I know that you I know that our seniors typically
have some amazing stories thatall of us can learn from about
how to treat others, about howto take care of ourselves, how
to take care of family, how towork hard.
SPEAKER_00 (05:10):
Valerie, one one story in particular, I was
sitting down with a guy and Ilearned that he was a he said he
flew planes for the Navy, right?
And I said, That means you werea fighter pilot.
And he's yeah.
And I said, How many times didyou land on an aircraft carrier?
And he said, Oh, not that many.
People did it a lot more than Idid.
(05:32):
I said, How many?
And he said, 42 times.
And I said, So you were up inthe air and you were looking
down on a ship that probablylooked like the size of a
postage stamp, and it wasdancing in the water, and you
had to land a plane on it.
And he said, Yeah, and one ofhis daughters spoke up and said,
(05:55):
Dad, I never knew that.
Wow.
He said, You never asked.
So we encourage family members,caregivers, all of our staff,
when you go and see a client,ask.
They'll tell you, but you gottaask.
And I think his two daughtersthat were with us that day
(06:18):
learned something.
They probably got a lot moreinformation about their dad than
they knew for sure.
And but man, rich lives, greataccomplishments.
And man, it you just sometimesyou wonder, okay, why are we
doing this?
And then you have you sit downwith somebody like that, and
you're in the right spot.
SPEAKER_01 (06:37):
Yep.
Tell us a little bit about theprocess.
You've you obviously have someamazing conversations with these
families, and you bring them alot of peace of mind.
But when somebody has never beenin this position before and they
call your office, how does itwork?
What happens from the minutethey pick up the phone and call
you all?
SPEAKER_00 (06:58):
Whoever answers the phone knows that how we answer
the phone matters.
And of course, we're home careservices, so we say, home cares,
my name is Steve.
What can I do for you?
And of course, sometimes we getsome folks that are shaken and
nervous and don't know what,don't know what where to go
(07:20):
next, who to talk to.
And I tell them that you callthe right place.
We've been where you've been,and we take minimal information
because Leslie, my life andbusiness partner, she does most
of the assessments andadmissions.
And then I don't want them tohave to tell their story more
(07:41):
than once.
And so I get basic informationof who needs care and an idea of
what care they might need.
And then I take thatinformation.
We have an inquiry andapplication form, it's very
brief.
And then I take that form, andor whoever answers the phone
takes that form and passes it toLeslie.
And she has a self-imposeddeadline to call prospective
(08:05):
clients back in less than anhour within an hour.
And most of the time she'stalking to them in 30 minutes.
And our goal is to set a time towhere we can conduct the
assessment, have a conversationwith them and family members,
and work with them to decidewhat the best care solutions
(08:26):
are.
Sometimes people have an ideaof, oh, especially the folks who
are going to receive the care, Ionly need a couple hours here
and there.
But they learned that they maynever admit it in some sense,
but they learned that man,having some help around is not a
bad thing.
SPEAKER_01 (08:44):
Nice.
SPEAKER_00 (08:45):
Yeah.
Let's get used to it.
And he was coming out of thehospital in rehab, and he wanted
somebody for three weeks.
So we sent Constance in for him.
And Constance is a wonderful,loving, caring individual.
And he fell in love with her,and he's been with us for months
(09:07):
now.
That three weeks has turned intoseveral months.
SPEAKER_01 (09:10):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_00 (09:11):
Because having that added assistance and also sense
of confidence that he can getout of his chair and move
without the fear of falling.
And he and Constance arebuddies.
And uh that's great.
Boy, who wouldn't want a buddy?
And just an added thing is wedon't refer to our caregivers as
caregivers, we call thempersonal assistants.
(09:32):
That's nice.
Because my dad, he didn't want acaregiver.
But when I said, Dad, don't youwouldn't you like having an
assistant around?
He's yeah, I could get used tothat.
So that's why we took from daddyand I said, just look at them as
an assistant.
What do you need?
You need to drive somewhere, youneed to do this, that, and the
(09:52):
other.
I can be your assistant.
And he would tell people thatthis is my assistant.
And so we adopted that when wejoined home.
And nobody really wants to thinkabout needing a caregiver or an
aide.
SPEAKER_01 (10:03):
Heck, who wouldn't want a personal assistant to
take them places and make themdinner?
SPEAKER_00 (10:08):
And yeah, exactly.
Exactly.
SPEAKER_01 (10:12):
Yeah, I think that's a great way to phrase the term
caregiver for many seniors,having an assistant around the
house, whether they're there forfour hours a day, eight hours a
day, or whatever, is a mucheasier uh transition or addition
to their life than having acaregiver come in the house for
sure.
SPEAKER_00 (10:32):
Yeah, I just turned 70 last week.
So I'm I've got I've got peoplecasting bids on who can be my
driver because I always wanted adriver when I turned 70.
SPEAKER_01 (10:44):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_00 (10:45):
I've gotten several folks call texting me now
saying, okay, when are you goingto pick the driver?
SPEAKER_01 (10:51):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_00 (10:51):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_01 (10:52):
We have a couple of we have a couple of home care
agency owners who actually arewhen they're getting a little
older and they are recipients ofthey're perfectly fine, but they
need a little extra help aroundthe house.
And they are they their owncaregivers actually come out and
help them.
But hey, I you know what?
I'll take a driver in and anassistant right now.
SPEAKER_00 (11:11):
Oh, absolutely.
My my oldest granddaughter.
SPEAKER_01 (11:14):
Anybody wants to drive me around?
That's fine with me.
SPEAKER_00 (11:17):
So when folks call and then Leslie goes out and she
meets them in person and getsmore information and really gets
the whole Yeah, she actuallyconducts the needs assessment
and goes through and finds outwhat they need, and not only
finds out what they need, butwhat they want.
And there's a big difference inthat.
People probably are more likelyto accept help from somebody
(11:40):
they don't know if they feellike that they're steering the
ship.
And they may not be steering theship totally, but they've got
some input.
I've been to the doctor with mydad years ago, and some of the
doctors talked to me.
But the doctors who were mosteffective with my dad talked to
(12:02):
him and asked him the questions.
SPEAKER_01 (12:06):
Leslie goes out to the house and she meets the
family and sits down and has atalk.
SPEAKER_00 (12:12):
Yeah.
Yeah, and she she's she's a uhshe's a little person in size,
but she's her smile is biggerthan she is, and she just walks
in and everybody loves her andshe loves on them, and she lets
them know that we want to takegreat care of them, and our goal
is to keep them as independentas we as long and in the home as
(12:35):
long as possible.
She talks directly to theclient, and you know, sometimes
you'll have the care the familymembers want to insert this,
that, and the other, which isgreat, but we want to make sure
the client feels like they're incharge and like they can they
are the ones driving.
SPEAKER_01 (12:52):
Yes, that and not only is that respectful, and but
it preserves their dignity andthat they feel like they are
still in charge and makingdecisions.
SPEAKER_00 (13:02):
Yeah.
Well, we just we just brought ona couple here in the last few
weeks that they had anindependent client
representative, and she hadhired another company and she
was trying to manage the careinstead of letting the company
do that, and she had thecaregivers anytime the client
wanted to do something, she hadthe caregiver call her.
(13:23):
And it's like they live inindependent living, but they
wanted to go downstairs andvisit some friends, and she
said, No, they don't need to dothat.
And I told them that we're notgonna we're if they take us on,
we're not gonna do that.
That if Mike and Donna want togo downstairs and get a piece of
pie and visit with friends,that's what they're gonna do.
(13:44):
If they want to go outside andtake a walk, that's what we're
gonna do.
This is not, they're not inprison.
They are 86 and 83,respectively.
And if they can't do what theywant when they want to do it, at
what age can they?
We've got a client now that's103, and she wants a bath every
day at 330.
(14:05):
Not 331, not 329 at 330.
SPEAKER_01 (14:12):
I think the most important thing now would be to
if you can tell us what you lookfor in a caregiver when you hire
them.
SPEAKER_00 (14:21):
Oh, first and foremost, is it may sound weird,
but personality.
And because if they could be thegreatest skilled person around,
but if they don't have enoughpersonality, the type of
personality that connects withpeople and makes the clients
comfortable in conversation, inactivities, and giving a bath or
(14:44):
whatever assistance is needed,then it just simply won't work.
And when and it's not that I'mwe have some clients that are
introverts, right?
So if you send an extrovert in,it would they would be over that
pretty fast, right?
But we want them going insmiling with a caring attitude
(15:06):
and treating them like theywould treat their own parents,
and then I think second to thatis is and equal to that is
reliability and skills, right?
Because if you're not reliable,if you're gonna be late, our we
have found that our clientsworry about their caregiver if
they're like five or six minuteslate.
They are afraid that something'shappened to them.
(15:30):
And we tell them, look, ifyou're gonna be late, sometimes
you can't help it.
We live in the Dallas Metroplex,it takes you half hour, 35
minutes to get anywhere.
Sometimes it takes longer.
Call us and let us know.
Don't text us because we mightmiss it, but call us and let us
know so we can let your clientknow.
(15:51):
And so we want people who wecould tell time by, but we also
want folks who can go in andlove on people and take great
care of them and they feel verycomfortable with them.
Much like the relationship wehave with Lisa, Lisa tells me
what to do from my position insocial media management because
(16:12):
she knows.
And I don't even question that.
And that's what we would likeour caregivers to do because one
of our values is trust.
And we're gonna trust thecaregivers to know what they're
doing, but we want that trust toto connect with the client where
the client as soon as they cantrust that caregiver.
(16:35):
Because they're gonna have to dosome, they do some tasks you'd
rather not talk about sometimes.
And they're gonna intimate,they've got those intimate
moments when those thingshappen, and trust is the main
thing.
If our client doesn't trust you,then you know we we've got to do
something different.
But it's um sometimes it can bea challenge to to find those
(16:56):
folks, but our challenge,Valerie, is not to get into the
mode of just putting somebody,putting a body in a slot, right?
We've got to, even if it takesus a little bit longer to start
care with a client, we tell themwe can't start until we get the
(17:19):
right person.
We can't just send people.
And and I know sometimes thatmakes us a little nervous and
all, but because they couldalways call somebody else.
But I think sometimes when youhave those conversations and
you're transparent with theclient, that yes, we can take
care of you, but it might takeus a couple of days to find
somebody exactly for you.
(17:40):
Or there may be times where weknow the perfect person, they're
available, we can get startedtomorrow.
But just be transparent witheverybody.
SPEAKER_01 (17:49):
Yep.
That that also helps with trustif you're transparent from the
very beginning.
You have done a wonderful job oftelling us about your business,
your mission, your compassionfor these seniors.
I appreciate you talking to usand sharing with everyone how
amazing you guys are as a team,your whole office, you and
(18:12):
Leslie, and how the Plano areais very lucky to have you.
SPEAKER_00 (18:16):
I appreciate that.
We're lucky to have you guystoo.
My name is Steve Watley.
I'm own home care services andwe're located in Plano, Texas.
So we serve North Dallas, farnorth Dallas, and the
surrounding areas, like Planoand McKinney, Allen, Frisco, and
those areas.
SPEAKER_01 (00:28):
And how long have you been in the business of home
care with homework?
SPEAKER_00 (00:32):
We're closing in on our 10th year.
We will start our 11th year inJanuary.
SPEAKER_01 (00:37):
Wow.
That is great.
That means that you have beenaround the block for a long time
and you're not going anywhere.
You're not a brand new businessand you've established
yourselves.
That's an achievement.
SPEAKER_00 (00:50):
Yeah.
It's we think we've establishedourselves more than once because
sometimes it just feels okay.
We've been there before, butit's all been good for the most
part.
I don't know what else I'drather do.
We got into this business everyweek after we took care of my
dad for almost seven years.
(01:11):
Wow.
And he had a stroke in Januaryof 2006.
And within a within a couple ofdays, uh, we knew my wife and I
knew that we were going to behis caregivers.
And we were living in Ohio atthe time, so we moved him from
Louisiana to Ohio and he stayedwith us until he passed away in
(01:33):
2012.
But we felt like that both of uswanted to get out of the
corporate race, and we felt likewe had a story to tell that we
could relate to people whoassume the job of caring for a
loved one.
I think it's the hardest jobanybody will take on, but it's
(01:54):
also the most rewarding job.
You'll never regret it.
We were talking to a the son ofa new client yesterday, and he's
pretty stressed because he losthis mom in July, and is he's
learning more about his dadfirsthand and their finances and
his care needs and things ofthat nature.
(02:15):
And we were able to tell him,like we have hundreds of others,
that we've been in your shoes,we know what it's like to get
the phone call, to learn thatyour dad is in ICU with a
stroke.
And by the way, as I told himlater, he didn't come with a
book.
(02:35):
And of course, he promptly toldme I didn't either.
But for the most part, it wasyou learn about not only their
situation and their mindset astime goes on, how difficult it
is to get old, but you alsolearn about the healthcare
system.
Yeah.
And that it's not designed forpatients, it's designed for the
(02:57):
system itself.
When somebody calls on a lateFriday afternoon in a panicky
voice, saying they're about todischarge my mother or
mother-in-law from rehab, theysay we need 24-7.
And you can just feel theteneness and the strain and
stress of their voice, theydon't know what to do.
(03:18):
And then we have the privilegeof telling them that you called
the right place, we've beenwhere you've been, and we can
take care of it.
And uh man, what a great spot tobe in to be able to, you can
just feel the calmness settledown, knowing that they've
connected with somebody who'sbeen there.
(03:39):
Because we don't believe inadmitting clients, we admit we
believe in admitting families,yeah, and we take care of
everybody.
We want that daughter to becomedaughter again, and the son to
be son and spouse to becomeeither the husband or the wife,
because you know, when you startmixing up roles, that's when the
(04:00):
stress is exacerbated.
And but yeah, that's what led ushere.
With we got a picture of my dadand us hanging in our outer
office, and without him and ourexperience with him, we probably
wouldn't be doing this.
But what a pleasure to do it,and what a these people, the
people that we meet are justhave incredible stories.
(04:22):
And some of the older folks,especially the traditionalists,
they think they just did life.
They don't think that they didreally anything special.
And that, and we're talkingabout secret service agents that
have taken care of presidentialfamilies.
We're talking about World War IIfighter plane pilots, nurses,
(04:43):
Rosie the Riveter.
These folks don't think anythingof that.
SPEAKER_01 (04:46):
It was just what you did.
You did what you were called todo, or you did what life brought
to you.
SPEAKER_00 (04:52):
Yeah, exactly.
SPEAKER_01 (04:53):
Made it work.
SPEAKER_00 (04:54):
Exactly.
Yeah.
SPEAKER_01 (04:56):
I know that you I know that our seniors typically
have some amazing stories thatall of us can learn from about
how to treat others, about howto take care of ourselves, how
to take care of family, how towork hard.
SPEAKER_00 (05:10):
Valerie, one one story in particular, I was
sitting down with a guy and Ilearned that he was a he said he
flew planes for the Navy, right?
And I said, That means you werea fighter pilot.
And he's yeah.
And I said, How many times didyou land on an aircraft carrier?
And he said, Oh, not that many.
People did it a lot more than Idid.
(05:32):
I said, How many?
And he said, 42 times.
And I said, So you were up inthe air and you were looking
down on a ship that probablylooked like the size of a
postage stamp, and it wasdancing in the water, and you
had to land a plane on it.
And he said, Yeah, and one ofhis daughters spoke up and said,
(05:55):
Dad, I never knew that.
Wow.
He said, You never asked.
So we encourage family members,caregivers, all of our staff,
when you go and see a client,ask.
They'll tell you, but you gottaask.
And I think his two daughtersthat were with us that day
(06:18):
learned something.
They probably got a lot moreinformation about their dad than
they knew for sure.
And but man, rich lives, greataccomplishments.
And man, it you just sometimesyou wonder, okay, why are we
doing this?
And then you have you sit downwith somebody like that, and
you're in the right spot.
SPEAKER_01 (06:37):
Yep.
Tell us a little bit about theprocess.
You've you obviously have someamazing conversations with these
families, and you bring them alot of peace of mind.
But when somebody has never beenin this position before and they
call your office, how does itwork?
What happens from the minutethey pick up the phone and call
you all?
SPEAKER_00 (06:58):
Whoever answers the phone knows that how we answer
the phone matters.
And of course, we're home careservices, so we say, home cares,
my name is Steve.
What can I do for you?
And of course, sometimes we getsome folks that are shaken and
nervous and don't know what,don't know what where to go
(07:20):
next, who to talk to.
And I tell them that you callthe right place.
We've been where you've been,and we take minimal information
because Leslie, my life andbusiness partner, she does most
of the assessments andadmissions.
And then I don't want them tohave to tell their story more
(07:41):
than once.
And so I get basic informationof who needs care and an idea of
what care they might need.
And then I take thatinformation.
We have an inquiry andapplication form, it's very
brief.
And then I take that form, andor whoever answers the phone
takes that form and passes it toLeslie.
And she has a self-imposeddeadline to call prospective
(08:05):
clients back in less than anhour within an hour.
And most of the time she'stalking to them in 30 minutes.
And our goal is to set a time towhere we can conduct the
assessment, have a conversationwith them and family members,
and work with them to decidewhat the best care solutions
(08:26):
are.
Sometimes people have an ideaof, oh, especially the folks who
are going to receive the care, Ionly need a couple hours here
and there.
But they learned that they maynever admit it in some sense,
but they learned that man,having some help around is not a
bad thing.
SPEAKER_01 (08:44):
Nice.
SPEAKER_00 (08:45):
Yeah.
Let's get used to it.
And he was coming out of thehospital in rehab, and he wanted
somebody for three weeks.
So we sent Constance in for him.
And Constance is a wonderful,loving, caring individual.
And he fell in love with her,and he's been with us for months
(09:07):
now.
That three weeks has turned intoseveral months.
SPEAKER_01 (09:10):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_00 (09:11):
Because having that added assistance and also sense
of confidence that he can getout of his chair and move
without the fear of falling.
And he and Constance arebuddies.
And uh that's great.
Boy, who wouldn't want a buddy?
And just an added thing is wedon't refer to our caregivers as
caregivers, we call thempersonal assistants.
(09:32):
That's nice.
Because my dad, he didn't want acaregiver.
But when I said, Dad, don't youwouldn't you like having an
assistant around?
He's yeah, I could get used tothat.
So that's why we took from daddyand I said, just look at them as
an assistant.
What do you need?
You need to drive somewhere, youneed to do this, that, and the
(09:52):
other.
I can be your assistant.
And he would tell people thatthis is my assistant.
And so we adopted that when wejoined home.
And nobody really wants to thinkabout needing a caregiver or an
aide.
SPEAKER_01 (10:03):
Heck, who wouldn't want a personal assistant to
take them places and make themdinner?
SPEAKER_00 (10:08):
And yeah, exactly.
Exactly.
SPEAKER_01 (10:12):
Yeah, I think that's a great way to phrase the term
caregiver for many seniors,having an assistant around the
house, whether they're there forfour hours a day, eight hours a
day, or whatever, is a mucheasier uh transition or addition
to their life than having acaregiver come in the house for
sure.
SPEAKER_00 (10:32):
Yeah, I just turned 70 last week.
So I'm I've got I've got peoplecasting bids on who can be my
driver because I always wanted adriver when I turned 70.
SPEAKER_01 (10:44):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_00 (10:45):
I've gotten several folks call texting me now
saying, okay, when are you goingto pick the driver?
SPEAKER_01 (10:51):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_00 (10:51):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_01 (10:52):
We have a couple of we have a couple of home care
agency owners who actually arewhen they're getting a little
older and they are recipients ofthey're perfectly fine, but they
need a little extra help aroundthe house.
And they are they their owncaregivers actually come out and
help them.
But hey, I you know what?
I'll take a driver in and anassistant right now.
SPEAKER_00 (11:11):
Oh, absolutely.
My my oldest granddaughter.
SPEAKER_01 (11:14):
Anybody wants to drive me around?
That's fine with me.
SPEAKER_00 (11:17):
So when folks call and then Leslie goes out and she
meets them in person and getsmore information and really gets
the whole Yeah, she actuallyconducts the needs assessment
and goes through and finds outwhat they need, and not only
finds out what they need, butwhat they want.
And there's a big difference inthat.
People probably are more likelyto accept help from somebody
(11:40):
they don't know if they feellike that they're steering the
ship.
And they may not be steering theship totally, but they've got
some input.
I've been to the doctor with mydad years ago, and some of the
doctors talked to me.
But the doctors who were mosteffective with my dad talked to
(12:02):
him and asked him the questions.
SPEAKER_01 (12:06):
Leslie goes out to the house and she meets the
family and sits down and has atalk.
SPEAKER_00 (12:12):
Yeah.
Yeah, and she she's she's a uhshe's a little person in size,
but she's her smile is biggerthan she is, and she just walks
in and everybody loves her andshe loves on them, and she lets
them know that we want to takegreat care of them, and our goal
is to keep them as independentas we as long and in the home as
(12:35):
long as possible.
She talks directly to theclient, and you know, sometimes
you'll have the care the familymembers want to insert this,
that, and the other, which isgreat, but we want to make sure
the client feels like they're incharge and like they can they
are the ones driving.
SPEAKER_01 (12:52):
Yes, that and not only is that respectful, and but
it preserves their dignity andthat they feel like they are
still in charge and makingdecisions.
SPEAKER_00 (13:02):
Yeah.
Well, we just we just brought ona couple here in the last few
weeks that they had anindependent client
representative, and she hadhired another company and she
was trying to manage the careinstead of letting the company
do that, and she had thecaregivers anytime the client
wanted to do something, she hadthe caregiver call her.
(13:23):
And it's like they live inindependent living, but they
wanted to go downstairs andvisit some friends, and she
said, No, they don't need to dothat.
And I told them that we're notgonna we're if they take us on,
we're not gonna do that.
That if Mike and Donna want togo downstairs and get a piece of
pie and visit with friends,that's what they're gonna do.
(13:44):
If they want to go outside andtake a walk, that's what we're
gonna do.
This is not, they're not inprison.
They are 86 and 83,respectively.
And if they can't do what theywant when they want to do it, at
what age can they?
We've got a client now that's103, and she wants a bath every
day at 330.
(14:05):
Not 331, not 329 at 330.
SPEAKER_01 (14:12):
I think the most important thing now would be to
if you can tell us what you lookfor in a caregiver when you hire
them.
SPEAKER_00 (14:21):
Oh, first and foremost, is it may sound weird,
but personality.
And because if they could be thegreatest skilled person around,
but if they don't have enoughpersonality, the type of
personality that connects withpeople and makes the clients
comfortable in conversation, inactivities, and giving a bath or
(14:44):
whatever assistance is needed,then it just simply won't work.
And when and it's not that I'mwe have some clients that are
introverts, right?
So if you send an extrovert in,it would they would be over that
pretty fast, right?
But we want them going insmiling with a caring attitude
(15:06):
and treating them like theywould treat their own parents,
and then I think second to thatis is and equal to that is
reliability and skills, right?
Because if you're not reliable,if you're gonna be late, our we
have found that our clientsworry about their caregiver if
they're like five or six minuteslate.
They are afraid that something'shappened to them.
(15:30):
And we tell them, look, ifyou're gonna be late, sometimes
you can't help it.
We live in the Dallas Metroplex,it takes you half hour, 35
minutes to get anywhere.
Sometimes it takes longer.
Call us and let us know.
Don't text us because we mightmiss it, but call us and let us
know so we can let your clientknow.
(15:51):
And so we want people who wecould tell time by, but we also
want folks who can go in andlove on people and take great
care of them and they feel verycomfortable with them.
Much like the relationship wehave with Lisa, Lisa tells me
what to do from my position insocial media management because
(16:12):
she knows.
And I don't even question that.
And that's what we would likeour caregivers to do because one
of our values is trust.
And we're gonna trust thecaregivers to know what they're
doing, but we want that trust toto connect with the client where
the client as soon as they cantrust that caregiver.
(16:35):
Because they're gonna have to dosome, they do some tasks you'd
rather not talk about sometimes.
And they're gonna intimate,they've got those intimate
moments when those thingshappen, and trust is the main
thing.
If our client doesn't trust you,then you know we we've got to do
something different.
But it's um sometimes it can bea challenge to to find those
(16:56):
folks, but our challenge,Valerie, is not to get into the
mode of just putting somebody,putting a body in a slot, right?
We've got to, even if it takesus a little bit longer to start
care with a client, we tell themwe can't start until we get the
(17:19):
right person.
We can't just send people.
And and I know sometimes thatmakes us a little nervous and
all, but because they couldalways call somebody else.
But I think sometimes when youhave those conversations and
you're transparent with theclient, that yes, we can take
care of you, but it might takeus a couple of days to find
somebody exactly for you.
(17:40):
Or there may be times where weknow the perfect person, they're
available, we can get startedtomorrow.
But just be transparent witheverybody.
SPEAKER_01 (17:49):
Yep.
That that also helps with trustif you're transparent from the
very beginning.
You have done a wonderful job oftelling us about your business,
your mission, your compassionfor these seniors.
I appreciate you talking to usand sharing with everyone how
amazing you guys are as a team,your whole office, you and
(18:12):
Leslie, and how the Plano areais very lucky to have you.
SPEAKER_00 (18:16):
I appreciate that.
We're lucky to have you guystoo.
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