Latest / Christian Business Growth Podcast / Calling, Loss & Legacy

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Calling, Loss & Legacy · Christian Business Growth Podcast

• 0:02
  Hello and welcome to the Christian Business Growth Podcast.
• 0:05
  Today I'm in here with Dr.
• 0:07
  Amandita Johnson with Care Patrol.
• 0:09
  She's gonna share her story and I'm excited to hear more because I don't know a lot about you.
• 0:13
  I know we've been in business and we've been in network meetings together.
• 0:17
  Well, we haven't had the time to just sit down and really dig into our stories.
• 0:21
  So Amandita, how did you get started in business?
• 0:25
  Yes, I used to be in corporate America for almost two decades and my mother went into a terminal illness and I decided that I needed to change a direction.
• 0:38
  So I left the corporate world to purchase a franchise helping families and I'm really focused on senior services and senior solutions.
• 0:50
  Great, so you use a situation in your life to transition into some way of helping people with something you went through.
• 0:58
  Tell me more about that.
• 0:59
  What did that look like for you?
• 1:00
  Because it's probably scary to go from corporate to having your own business.
• 1:04
  Yes.
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  So, uh, before I actually was in healthcare insurance, I was a piano teacher.
• 1:12
  So I own my own studio.
• 1:14
  So I have some sort of a micro business.
• 1:17
  It's, know, just managing myself and the students and putting events together or their recitals and, special, uh, things for families.
• 1:28
  But I've never really had anything bigger than that.
• 1:30
  I mean, I sold.
• 1:32
  life insurance and sold Mary Kay and those are great steps to learn how to sell.
• 1:39
  But I'm not a salesperson in my natural environment.
• 1:46
  I'm more of a consultant.
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  um But I think that having the experience of going through something serious with a loved one makes you really think, what do I want to do?
• 2:01
  for the rest of my life.
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  I was approaching 50 years old and it was really important to have some reflection on the values that I have possessed throughout my childhood, because you can't change a 50 year
• 2:21
  old.
• 2:23
  as I was kind of closing that decade, I really had to think, what do I want to
• 2:29
  due to leave some legacy and have that societal impact.
• 2:35
  And I think that at that time, I did not really know that there was some sort of industry helping people find places, almost like a cross between a care manager and a realtor.
• 2:51
  I didn't know that.
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  I wanted to be still be in healthcare, but didn't know what that was going to look like.
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  So
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  I approached a brokerage, uh a franchise brokerage, because I wanted to follow a path and I don't have to reinvent everything.
• 3:11
  So Blue Cross Blue Shield, where I was, is also a large franchise.
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  It's owned by different companies.
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  And we follow a certain expectation in terms of the brand, the way we do business, the way we treat.
• 3:28
  employees and, and our clients and customers.
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  So I am aware of how important it is uh to follow a method.
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  And because I've never been really a large entrepreneur of some sort, other than those past experiences, I think it was beneficial to not have to worry about all the details of
• 3:55
  a business and just focus on.
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  following that method.
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  So when I purchased Care Patrol, and Care Patrol is the pioneer in the, what do you call it?
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  The senior placement industry.
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  It was started 30 plus years ago by a social worker.
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  And I like that because um the person who founded it, yes, he knew there was a business plan, but his focus was helping families just as social workers do.
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  ah So when I bought it, I had kind of six months to ramp up.
• 4:32
  I had to be a certified senior advisor.
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  And that is a small group of folks in America who need to be certified.
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  There's, I think, six or seven textbooks that you read, much like a financial advisor.
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  You test it, you know, and you understand the regulations surrounding older adults.
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  So I passed it the first time and at that time I was also in school and working full time.
• 4:59
  So that was a very challenging part of my life, but did that.
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  then left, I actually left corporate America before I started my business, of course, because I was managing employees at that time.
• 5:14
  I mean, I worked 50, 60 hours.
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  So to insert all of those other activities in my life was really tough, but
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  uh went through that and uh did get my certification and started what we call provider development.
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  That's where we get contracting with a lot of providers before we even open shop.
• 5:36
  Interesting.
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  And tell me, how did God fit into this process for you?
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  Part of the self-reflection is really my spirituality.
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  So before the transition, I had a 12-day, what I call media fast retreat.
• 5:58
  And I haven't really started the business at that time.
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  I was still studying and doing my provider development.
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  I mean, I haven't opened to clients, but I really wanted to be in that
• 6:11
  the right frame of mind because I knew it was going to be tough.
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  My parents were both business owners, so I've seen the challenges of that.
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  um So I stayed away from media for 12 days and I spent two hours with God.
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  um I've never done that before.
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  And I think that in that moment that we can have, I gained such clarity and vision.
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  of how I want to start the business, how I want to serve my clients in a humble um servant leadership way, and how to focus myself on kind of that right path.
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  Integrity and trust is very important in this business.
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  So having the right mindset as you start a business, um
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  Because I feel like I'm going to walk through thorns and fire um and I have to prepare myself.
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  That was my you know, when you go to the gym and you get stronger.
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  Right.
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  That was my sort of spiritual gym work those 12 days.
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  That's exciting.
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  And I really felt close to God.
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  It was also very painful because I was still grieving my mother's passing.
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  And I spent a lot of time uh
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  just pouring my emotions and crying and also being joyful about this new walk.
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  I do think that people, at least for three days, should do a media fast and spend time with God and journaling.
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  think everybody should do that.
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  Whatever form of religion they have, pulling away from the noise is important.
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  That's very important.
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  And was this an idea you came up with or is it something somebody suggested to you?
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  Kind of where did that develop?
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  That idea of just separating yourself out.
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  So I have done some stuff like that before.
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  I was leading a charge in our church.
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  I was a children's ministry director.
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  And every time I do something big, like a VBS or, you know, vacation Bible school, or just some big program, I would actually delete my social media from my phone.
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  And I would go to God in prayer saying, Lord, if I, I sort of kind of gave those
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  I call them negotiating tools of, Lord, if I give these stuff up, could you bless me in focusing my efforts in this?
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  And can you make that successful?
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  Because I think that part of what God wants from us, because we're always asking God, but what do we give up?
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  Do we give up part of our life, our money, our time?
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  So that was, I think so far, ever.
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  um The biggest sacrifice I had to do which is really a small sacrifice right because God gives us everything and he sacrificed his son so 12 days of you know, two hours of prayer
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  and some of those is just sitting in nature and reflecting on God's goodness and looking at the the stems of the roses and and the leaves and how intricate God has made all of
• 9:43
  these things around us and
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  staring at my dog and just wondering how did God made a dog?
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  Why is he so beautiful?
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  ah You know, just silly things like that, but you're really reflecting on his goodness.
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  And then some of those were journaling and some of those were prayer.
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  um Most of it was really reading the Bible, um which is my, you know, soul scripture.
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  just looking through what God wants
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  to point to me what are important things.
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  I think I fell in love with Psalm at that time.
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  ah Because a lot of it in Psalm is not just being close to God and praising him, but there are some really hard stuff that David went through and knowing how to pray.
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  That was a big thing that taught me.
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  Yeah, a lot of people, when they think about separating themselves out, they think they need to go buy a book or devotion or something like that.
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  But I love that you just went directly to scripture.
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  That's to me, that's the best thing you can do.
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  And I agree with the song factor.
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  Whenever I go through modes, and they're all of us go up and down.
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  But when I go through those low modes, I go into Psalms, because David went through a lot of low modes.
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  And he always comes back to but I still praise God, but I'll still breathe God.
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  And that's always kind of kept me me going personally.
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  What was one
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  Bible verse that stood out to you when you went through your journaling and everything.
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  Can you think of that?
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  there were a lot.
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  There were a lot.
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  think that, you know, when you go right close to it as Proverbs, um and I've always been a big fan of Proverbs 30, 30-32, you know, and it talks about like, the woman of wisdom.
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  And it's not a focus on
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  money is not a focus on wealth.
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  um My husband is a lay leader of our church.
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  We were also at that time starting a church plant.
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  There were a lot of things going on in my life.
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  Sorry, I'm wiping my eyes here.
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  There were a lot of things happening in our lives at that time.
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  And, you know, my husband went through a heart attack.
• 12:06
  I went through a major surgery after losing my mom and
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  There was a lot of self-reflection and I think Proverbs pointed back to what I have been studying as a young woman.
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  I mean, I was 17, 18 when I first fell in love with a verse and to go back decades later and really focus on what do you want to be when you grow up?
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  I want my husband to sit at high places.
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  That is part of what that set of verses talking about.
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  I want my husband to be proud of me, my children to look back and say she was a woman of strength and wisdom and they love me for just being who I am.
• 12:52
  um It was really something.
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  there's so much, I call myself uh a part feminist in terms of money.
• 13:08
  I need to make just as much as Amanda's or more.
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  I'm good with that.
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  But my feminism is about how God made me as a woman, you know, really embracing what that means to me.
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  Because I've, I've raised children and I've been a daughter.
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  I was a daddy's girl at one point.
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  yeah, like going back to that.
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  to me is that blessed feminism is what I call it is really appreciating yourself as this, wow, the gifts that a woman gets to have um going back to that with the proverbs woman.
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  And um another thing too is I think that the Beatitudes, which I was introduced to when I was little,
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  because there's so much humility needed as you start a business.
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  People will ghost you, people will, they won't return calls or they may insult you or you may feel like you're trying to do the right thing but the world is doing something else.
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  And I think the Beatitudes is gonna get you back to that path of if you wanna be blessed, here's what it is and has nothing to do with.
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  what the world teaches you.
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  It's kind of the opposite of that.
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  Right.
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  So I have to say you're in the perfect position for you.
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  You're such a heart driven person.
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  I can hear that in your words and what you talk about.
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  That's just really cool.
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  Tell us now what's something if somebody's in business for themselves, what's some ideas you have or what's some things you've done to grow your business that might help someone
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  else?
• 14:57
  Wow, if you are going to start any business, and I went through MBA school and most successful entrepreneurs say that, you have to have enough capital.
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  That's just practical.
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  But I think as a Christian, em do not compromise your values because there are times when you're going to feel
• 15:27
  desperate cash flow is a big thing when it comes to do I have enough money to pay bills?
• 15:35
  mean, on a franchise level, you have to pay your bills.
• 15:39
  So there are some tough times and you will be called and I think the enemy will call you to do some to make some decisions that will bring you a lot of money and a lot of
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  opportunities.
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  But you have to say no.
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  And that it's not a not yet.
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  It's not a maybe you have to really know, this path is going to lead me to dishonesty.
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  Or it's not true to the calling that I was tasked to do or uh just as an example, we have contracts, right?
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  In care patrol, some might pay us this much and some might pay us that much.
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  It's not a really
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  big, huge, you know, life changing number.
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  But um if you're desperate, you need more cashflow.
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  You could be pointing someone to a home and assisted living that can pay a lot of money, but is not appropriate for their care.
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  And it's really easy.
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  mean, doing the wrong thing is really easy, I think.
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  So it's important not to compromise integrity.
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  Good point.
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  Well, Amadita, how can someone get in touch with you if they want to reach out to you to know more about what you do or if they're in the Dallas area and they need help getting
• 17:06
  some help when they're seniors in their life?
• 17:09
  Yeah, they can go to carepatrol.com or just Google care patrol Northeast Dallas.
• 17:18
  and they can find my phone number there.
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  Cool.
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  I'm also on LinkedIn for those business owners out there.
• 17:24
  Yes, and I'm Anita they spell A-M-A-N-D-I-T-A.
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  uh
• 17:31
  say it perfectly.
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  It's hard to pronounce my name.
• 17:35
  was somehow named after my grandma and I think my parents thought that was cute and they didn't know it was going to be hard for everybody.
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  uh
• 17:44
  I go by Lyle, you'd be surprised how many people call me Kyle, just the thing that happens.
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  I know I've done that.
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  I know I wasn't going to say that.
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  So as we end up here, what's one little bit of wisdom you'd like to leave somebody?
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  Let's say somebody's 20 years ago talking to yourself.
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  What's something you would have told yourself 20 years ago?
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  read your Bible more and pray more than worry.
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  Because I was a worrywart.
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  I spent more time worrying than praying.
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  know that when I was younger.
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  So it's really easy, I think, if you just do that.
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  if you're in line with God, then things just fall in place.
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  And truly trusting Him.
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  It's a minute by minute effort.
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  It's not like when you pray, of course, you're going to your mind's gonna take you back to the worries but like Engaging with God all the time throughout the day.
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  Just praying and here it is again Lord is coming in my mind.
• 18:44
  Can you take it away, please?
• 18:46
  That's a good way to think about it.
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  Yeah, pray without ceasing.
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  I have to do that myself.
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  I literally pretend like it's a little piece of paper and throw it away.
• 18:53
  have to remind myself, get rid of that thought, that thought doesn't belong.
• 18:58
  that's a good idea.
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  I might try that.
• 19:01
  Writing my worries on a piece of paper, throwing it away.
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  Well, thank you for your time today.
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  And I look forward to getting to know you even more as we meet more in our networking group.
• 19:12
  you, Lyle.
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  I appreciate your leadership.
• 19:15
  You've grown a huge team with Steve.
• 19:17
  Thank you.
• 19:18
  It's an inspiring moment to be at DFW.
• 19:24
  Christian business.
• 19:25
  I know we've changed names once maybe, but our forum of Christian owners, I really like it.
• 19:32
  Thank you.
• 19:34
  I'm glad you were part of it.
• 19:34
  Thank you very much.
• 19:36
  Yeah, thank you.