Latest / The Inspired Stories Podcast / A Higher Standard of Care: Pete First on BrightStar's Mission in Home Health | Nursing Home Series | Senior Care

Transcript

A Higher Standard of Care: Pete First on BrightStar's Mission in Home Health | Nursing Home Series | Senior Care · The Inspired Stories Podcast

0:04
Welcome to another edition of the Inspired Stories podcast,
0:08
where leaders share their experiences so we can learn from
0:11
their successes and be inspired by how they've overcome
0:14
adversity. My name is Anthony Kotaspodi and
0:17
today's guest is Pete First, Chief Development Officer at
0:21
Bright Star Care. Bright Star Care is a respected
0:24
provider of in Home Care Services providing both medical
0:28
and non medical care. With over 400 locations across
0:32
the US, they are known for their commitment to delivering a
0:35
higher standard of quality and compassionate care.
0:39
Since 2002, Bright Star Care has helped countless families
0:42
through skilled nursing, medical staffing, and senior living
0:46
solutions. The organization has received
0:48
multiple awards for excellence and remains a leader in home
0:52
healthcare. Additionally, it earned the
0:54
Enterprise Champion for Quality Award for requiring all agencies
0:58
to achieve Joint Commission accreditation.
1:01
Pete initially joined Bright Star Care in 2018, having
1:05
initially served as Senior Vice President and Vice President of
1:09
Franchise Development at the company.
1:11
With over 20 years of franchise development experience, he also
1:15
has held roles at Windmark Corporation and Wyndham
1:18
Worldwide. Pete played a critical part in
1:20
Bright Star Care strategic growth and continues to ensure
1:23
the company remains at the forefront of compassionate care.
1:26
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1:57
All right, back to our guest today, the Chief Development
2:00
Officer at Bright Star Care. Pete.
2:02
First, I appreciate you making the time to Share your story
2:04
today. I'm happy to be here, Anthony.
2:06
Appreciate it. OK.
2:08
So Pete, it looks like you come from a background of building up
2:11
franchised operations. How did you first get your start
2:15
in that umbrella? Yeah, it it, it really started
2:18
right out of college. So I had a professor in college
2:21
who sort of became a mentor after graduation and he
2:25
connected me with a company that did that, that was a franchisor
2:28
and sort of started started that way.
2:32
And, and I really got hooked on it when I started working with
2:36
entrepreneurs and people that wanted to get into their own
2:39
business and do their own thing, taking them all the way through
2:42
that discovery process into actually opening up their
2:45
location. And then what really got me was
2:49
watching them get their family involved and open up more
2:52
locations. Just see how these all these
2:54
entrepreneurs come in and you know, they're very nervous in
2:57
the beginning and it's a huge life change and big investment.
3:00
And just to see them flourish. I was, I was into it.
3:04
I mean, I just, I just love that, that fact and seeing,
3:08
seeing them succeed. So you were hooked pretty early
3:12
on. So how how did the the
3:15
opportunity become available at then Bright Star?
3:18
You kind of shifted from the other franchise operations you
3:21
were working on into this home healthcare space.
3:24
Yeah. So I was working, you know, in
3:26
on the retail side with Winmark. There's that's a great company,
3:29
5 brands do some really great things with, with on the retail
3:34
side. And I spent what, 13 or 14 years
3:38
there and had a really good run and just was looking for
3:41
something else and something different and something in a
3:44
different industry. And I had known about Bright
3:46
Star that a great reputation, the founder, Shelley's son, you
3:51
know, was well known in the franchising world and had an
3:55
opportunity to, to interview and, and become a part of the
3:58
company. And it just, it was the right
4:00
fit, you know, Bright Star, the, the mission that we have and,
4:04
and what we're doing with serving seniors and, you know,
4:07
in that vulnerable population, just, it just resonated with me.
4:10
And it felt like this is another way to be involved with
4:13
franchising, but with a brand that really every location that
4:16
you open makes a difference. And so I was able to get connect
4:21
with with Bright Star and it's just been a great fit since
4:24
then. So tell us about the services
4:28
that you offer. We kind of touched on them in
4:29
the the intro there, but let's hear a little bit more about it.
4:32
From yeah. So I mean, we've got 5 revenue
4:34
streams. That's one of the biggest
4:35
differentiators with Bright Star and other brands out there.
4:38
So, you know, we've got companion care, personal care,
4:41
skilled care, medical accounts, national accounts and then
4:47
staffing as well. So we can go in and staff
4:50
facilities if they need that. So there's a lot of different
4:53
avenues for our franchisees to to go and a lot of different
4:57
areas that they can thrive in. The biggest thing that sets us
5:00
apart there's 21 is the nurse LED care.
5:03
So all of the cases that we have, all the clients that we
5:06
have, we've got nurse oversight on everything and that gives us
5:10
the, you know, there's nobody else out there that does that.
5:12
It's an investment that the franchise has to make, but it's,
5:15
it's great and and it separates us from everybody else and it's
5:18
a really big differentiator for the national accounts programs
5:22
that we run. They love to see that.
5:25
And then our footprint of course across the country with 400
5:28
locations now provides a great, a great foundation of service
5:33
for, for the national accounts to utilize.
5:35
So really excited about where that's going.
5:38
You know, one of the things we did with national accounts once
5:41
we had our footprint where it is, I mean, we, we've got a
5:43
central intake. So instead of a national account
5:46
having to call it 300 and 5400 different offices to get
5:50
service, they call one phone number and then we work that out
5:53
through the system. So that was a, you know, that's
5:55
been evolving over the last couple of years and it's been a
5:58
great thing for for our franchisees.
6:00
But the the core business really is taking care of moms, dads,
6:03
grandmas and grandpas. The the national accounts?
6:07
Is this where the staffing comes into play or what?
6:09
What is? That it can be staffing, it can
6:11
be long term care insurance, it can be VA, it can be, you know,
6:19
catastrophic injuries that are that are 24/7 cases, workers
6:24
comp type type situations. So all of those would fall under
6:27
that type of an umbrella. Can you give us an example of a
6:31
national account? Well, we work with, yeah, we
6:33
work with Tricare on the VA side and some of the in the long term
6:38
insurance companies that you would be familiar with.
6:41
We, we like to keep these rather close to the best.
6:43
So can't name any of the names, but they're, they're, they're
6:47
names that you would recognize in the healthcare industry for
6:49
sure. And the advantage is, like you
6:52
were saying, since you guys have such a huge nationwide
6:55
footprint, they can establish a relationship with you and then,
6:59
you know, in most locations where they need the services,
7:01
you've got folks there to support them.
7:03
Exactly. Yeah.
7:04
That that's the that's the key is that we can, you know, they
7:07
have so many cases that they need to get discharged and they
7:10
they need to provide service for.
7:12
And if they know that they can call us and we can handle that
7:15
in 561020 different markets, you know that that's an easy call
7:20
for them. And the, you know, the service
7:23
that we provide being that higher standard, they know what
7:25
they're getting as well because of the consistency across the
7:27
network with the with the nurse LED care.
7:32
Yeah, Explain a little bit more about what that means.
7:34
You say nobody else is doing nurse oversight on the cases.
7:37
Yeah, it's, it's it's each. Franchise does.
7:40
We do require a director of nursing.
7:41
They're either on a part time basis to begin, but then as they
7:44
grow, they become a full time part of their team and they do
7:48
oversee each and every client, all of the conditions, all of
7:51
the needs that are that need to be provided for the service in
7:55
the home. So they're, they're looking at
7:57
all of that and then they can see the changes in condition
8:00
too. So, you know, through our
8:02
software and through the, through the mobile application
8:05
that the caregiver has in the home, we're able to monitor that
8:08
and make changes and work, reach out to the, you know, to the
8:12
providers themselves when there's a, a need for a change
8:14
or, or some kind of a change in condition.
8:16
So being able to provide that, it's an extra layer of comfort
8:19
for the families, but it's also an extra layer of comfort for
8:22
the caregivers because they know that there's someone there who
8:25
they can go to and is helping them with that case.
8:29
And is this part of what makes that a higher standard?
8:33
And and I'm doing it in quotes because a higher standard I
8:36
understand is a registered trademark for your.
8:38
Organization, it's a big yes. So that does separate, separate
8:41
us because we know we've got some level of oversight on every
8:44
single client that we have in the system.
8:50
And the staffing piece, yeah, that one is unusual for home
8:53
healthcare companies. You're not typically in with
8:55
that model, providing staffing at at at third party services.
9:00
Yeah. And that that really, really was
9:03
very prevalent during COVID where we were providing staffing
9:07
not only to hospitals, but to nursing homes to to retirement
9:12
communities, senior living communities, all of those types
9:15
of things. We also provide staffing in
9:17
schools for nurses at, at in various school districts.
9:22
So there's a lot of different avenues that that can go.
9:25
But yeah, staffing was a big part, especially during COVID.
9:29
So Pete, when somebody chooses to become or shows an interest
9:33
in becoming a a franchise at Bright Star Care, why are they
9:36
doing that? What are they getting from your
9:39
opportunity that maybe isn't available to them somewhere
9:41
else? Yeah.
9:42
I think, you know, most of the franchisees that we have come
9:45
in, they're they're coming into the business because they've had
9:48
some sort of experience with home care or have had a family
9:52
member who has had or they've heard about somebody who's had
9:55
home care. And many times it, it wasn't
9:58
that great. You know, they weren't, they
9:59
weren't happy with it. So what we've done is really,
10:03
you know, worked very hard to provide something different than
10:08
typical companion care or personal care.
10:11
That's why we, you know, we have the the director of nursing as
10:14
part of the business and part of the brand standards.
10:17
So we're able to provide more in the home for that.
10:20
So they've as a franchise, they have access to all of that.
10:24
And then of course all the training that goes along with it
10:27
to bring them to bring them into the fold and it's continuous
10:30
training as we go. And then having the national
10:33
account opportunity, you know, this is business that we're
10:35
bringing to the franchise that their salesperson isn't out
10:39
there trying to get. These are calls that are coming
10:42
in that we can filter right back to the owners.
10:46
And So what are you guys looking for in a franchise?
10:49
It's the qualities, characteristics, the background.
10:51
Yeah, the big thing is they don't necessarily need to be
10:54
have a a healthcare background. So that's, that's not a
10:57
requirement. You know, their nurse will
11:00
handle the, the healthcare side of it.
11:03
What we're looking for really is somebody that is looking to
11:06
really build a business. So it's not somebody sometimes
11:08
in franchising they have owner operator type franchises where
11:12
you know, you, you're, you're not necessarily in a position
11:15
where you're building out a huge network.
11:18
You know what we have with price stars is the ability to do that.
11:21
Our system wide average location does about 2.4 million and our
11:25
largest location does upwards of of 12 to 14,000,000.
11:29
So there's, you know, these are large organizations that people
11:32
are able to build. So we'd love to have people that
11:35
have that managerial background. They're probably coming from
11:39
corporate, a corporate setting where they've had a lot of, you
11:42
know, several employees that they've managed.
11:45
So that's, that's good. We want somebody that wants to
11:47
make a difference in their community.
11:49
You know, that we, our, our brand is really mission driven
11:53
and we are making a difference in each one of the communities
11:55
that we enter. So having that type of that type
12:00
of drive for it. So we're not necessarily this is
12:03
a great business when it comes to the economics and we have the
12:06
demographics are pushing more and more seniors into our space
12:10
every single day. But you've got to have the heart
12:12
too. And so, you know, we, we want it
12:14
our, our ideal franchise has that combination of the business
12:18
acumen, but also the heart for the business and the, and the
12:21
why for why we're doing this. So not necessarily a background
12:25
in healthcare, not necessarily a background in having owned a
12:28
business previously, but it's certainly helpful to have had
12:31
some managerial experience where you're overseeing A-Team,
12:35
multiple teams of people. It, it does help for sure
12:39
because you've got, if you think about one of our largest
12:42
franchisees, I talked to him, had a call with him a while back
12:46
and, and he said I really, you know, run two different
12:48
businesses. I run my home care business the
12:51
day-to-day, but then I also run a business that involves all my
12:55
employees and my staff because you know, you'll have a lot of
12:58
part time caregivers and you know, they're being an employer
13:03
of choice because caregivers can can come and go to, you know,
13:06
work at various agencies. They go work in the hospital.
13:09
There's a lot of different options for them, but having,
13:12
you know, having the stickiness of, of keeping your employees
13:15
and keeping your really good ones and having that type of a
13:18
culture really has been beneficial to our, to our
13:21
owners. And that's what we try to, to
13:23
work with. And we've got, you know, we've
13:24
got a Reaching for the Stars program that has directly
13:28
developed for, for our owners to interact with their careers
13:32
because most of them never come into the office.
13:34
You know, they're always on, on site at someone's home.
13:38
I'm still trying to keep that connectivity with the, with,
13:41
with a large staff. You know, there's various tools
13:44
to do that, and the successful owners really do a great job
13:47
with it. Can you say more about that?
13:49
Because I imagine that has to be really difficult, you know, for
13:52
folks that are accustomed to working in a more traditional
13:55
office environment where you bump into each other at the
13:57
water cooler, You know, maybe there's a happy hour once a week
14:00
or, you know, a team lunch. Yeah.
14:02
There isn't a central location here.
14:04
I'm going to this home, you're going to that home.
14:06
You know, we, we're not really meeting and sort of building
14:09
that, that team culture, that environment.
14:12
How? How do you handle that kind of
14:13
a? Thing yeah.
14:13
So, so reaching for the stars is a really cool program.
14:16
So it's an, it's, it's like an app that we have that, that our
14:19
caregivers use and they can earn stars and earn points for
14:23
various things. And it's, you know, kind of like
14:27
a scorecard. And so people are interacting
14:29
with that there. There's a chat function where
14:31
they, the caregivers can, can communicate with each other.
14:35
And it's just another way to keep, to keep everybody
14:38
connected. And it really came to be and
14:42
it's really, it's getting even bigger now.
14:43
But, but during COVID when for sure, nobody was coming into,
14:46
you know, into the offices, but it's just a great tool and, and
14:51
the, the employees appreciate the recognition with that.
14:55
And it, it just keeps that, that it keeps everyone connected and
15:00
then they can earn rewards, they can earn gift cards, they can
15:03
earn gas cards, you know, whatever the, the particular,
15:06
the owner wants to set up. But that's all for, you know,
15:11
for various accomplishments along the way.
15:13
So it's, it's a, it's a pretty cool thing.
15:16
Yeah, that sounds really interesting.
15:18
I'm curious to hear other strategies that you guys have
15:21
tried and found success with that help with both recruiting
15:25
and retaining employees because like you said, they've got other
15:28
options. It's easier for them to work for
15:29
another agency or, you know, to go work in a hospital.
15:32
How do you how do you find the good folks?
15:34
And when you've got them, how do you keep them coming back?
15:37
Yeah, our recruiting it, it function is always on.
15:39
So we're we're always recruiting and we always want it to
15:43
continue that process. So we've even switched some of
15:46
our national advertising from focusing on focusing on bringing
15:53
in new clients to focusing on bringing in new caregivers.
15:56
And kind of the, we want the best of the best is, is sort of
16:00
the, you know, the theme of those types of ads.
16:04
So our, our, we have those on a national level.
16:06
Then we and we also have them for the franchisees to use
16:10
locally via social and other, other avenues.
16:12
But we're always, always on, always recruiting.
16:16
One of the things that we do as well that that folks really,
16:20
really like is we've got a National Nurse of the Year award
16:22
and a national caregiver of the year award.
16:25
And, you know, we send out the nominations that come in.
16:29
We have a whole team that goes through the nominations.
16:32
Excuse me. And it's, it's we, we couldn't
16:35
pay enough marketing dollars for the comments and the heartfelt
16:41
stories that we get about our caregivers from the families
16:45
that they're serving with. And so, you know, we have at our
16:49
annual convention, annual conference, we have those awards
16:52
given. So all of those folks that are
16:53
nominated, they come in and we send a video crew out from our
16:57
marketing team that, that shoots the videos in their, in their
17:00
homes and interviews the families and the caregiver.
17:03
And it's, it's just awesome. So there are things like that,
17:06
that people are really, they see it, they, they want to strive
17:09
for it. And it's just a great way to to
17:12
show, you know, how much we care about what they're doing and how
17:15
much of a difference that they make with the families and then
17:18
be to be able to show that sometimes when they're in the
17:21
day-to-day of it, they may not see it, but these are
17:24
caregivers. They become part of the family.
17:26
And, and it's, it's that connection that they love And,
17:30
and you know, one of the reasons that they love working with
17:32
right star. Yeah, yeah, Hearing you talk
17:35
about that, Pete, it, it kind of strikes me that you're in a way
17:38
you're serving 2 masters, right? Like you've got marketing
17:41
campaigns because obviously you're looking for new clients,
17:44
new patients. You know, how can you help more
17:46
folks at the same time, to be able to help those folks,
17:49
you've, you've got to recruit great team members to come in.
17:52
And so it's really interesting to hear about how you're, you
17:55
know, you shift some marketing dollars from one to the other
17:58
because you kind of have to have a balance there, right?
18:01
If you've got too many clients and not enough people to serve
18:04
them, you've got people who are unhappy.
18:05
If you've got, you know, too many people to serve and not
18:07
enough people that need served, you know, you've got people over
18:09
here that want more hours. It's kind of like a little bit
18:12
of a balancing. Act Yeah, you're absolutely
18:13
right. And so we we try to try to
18:15
balance that out. And and you know, we have some,
18:18
some local marketing requirements for our franchisees
18:21
and not just in advertising, but we've set aside a percentage
18:24
that goes towards towards recruiting.
18:27
So to make sure that that's an always on on function.
18:32
So Pete, you've obviously achieved a certain level of
18:35
success that others would aspire to.
18:38
Not everybody who enters the franchising space, you know, has
18:43
kind of reached the level to, to where you are.
18:46
Did you look back? What would you say are some of
18:48
the key decisions or actions that have helped you kind of
18:52
propel your your career? Yeah, I think for, for me, just
18:56
on a like a personal level, I started off in franchising and
18:59
then I then I took A and then I started, I tried to do something
19:04
on my own and I, I started a company and I was like 20 to 23
19:10
years old, somewhere in that range and had, you know, didn't
19:12
know what I was doing, but thought it sounded like a good
19:14
plan. And we gave it, gave it a shot.
19:16
And, you know, it was, was, you know, under capitalized and not
19:20
in a situation to help grow it, but it was with a company in
19:23
Japan. And it was a great experience
19:25
and learned a lot from it. But what I what I learned really
19:29
was that I needed to be back on the other side.
19:31
I love working with the and bringing in the entrepreneurs
19:34
versus me maybe being the one myself.
19:37
So that was sort of the the game changer for me that really set
19:41
me back on to this is where I should be.
19:44
You know, this is the type of industry I love and, and this
19:47
side of it, helping people get into the business and, you know,
19:51
live out, live out their entrepreneurial dream is really
19:54
where I I wanted to be. And so that kind of pushed me
19:57
back to to to franchising and I've loved it ever since.
20:02
You know, I, I'm glad that you shared that because I think, you
20:05
know, there are folks listening right now who, you know, like,
20:09
hey, I want to, you know, get to where Pete is either in the same
20:12
industry or a different industry.
20:14
And you know, what I take from your story there is it's often
20:18
times really good to try on different hats, right?
20:21
To to find the one that really fits.
20:24
You got to try on a, you know, sometimes a lot that don't fit.
20:27
And it sounds like you kind of found that pretty quickly, like
20:30
right out of college you started enfranchising like, OK, that's
20:33
cool. Like I'm going to go put on a
20:35
different hat, see how that fits.
20:36
And it didn't fit so well. This other area is where you
20:39
know my calling really is. Yeah, that's that's that's
20:42
really true. And that's it.
20:45
It didn't take long to to to figure it out, but I just, you
20:49
know, there's just something about working with the working
20:52
with people that have that really want to be a part of, of
20:55
what you're doing and being a part of the brand that you're
20:58
with and helping and helping them achieve that.
21:01
So, you know, there's, there was a lot of learning along the way,
21:04
trying to do, do things on my own that I could take in because
21:09
I could relate then to the, this, some of the initial
21:12
decisions that that the folks that I'm talking with and
21:16
visiting with about becoming an owner can relate to what they're
21:20
going through. You know, there, there's, it's a
21:22
huge life decision that they're making.
21:24
It's a, it's a good sized investment that they're making
21:27
as well. And then they're committing
21:29
their time to this. So it, it really helped relate
21:32
to to everybody that we're bringing into the system.
21:37
So Pete, at Bright Star Care, you guys earned something called
21:40
the Enterprise Champion for Quality award, which required
21:45
each location to receive this Joint Commission accreditation.
21:49
Can you first explain what this award is and then why it's such
21:53
a big deal? Yeah.
21:54
So this is this is the top accreditation that that you can
21:57
get in healthcare. So, so it's similar to we're the
22:00
same as the large hospital groups like Mayo Clinic,
22:05
Cleveland Clinic, you know, they know the Joint Commission
22:09
accreditation, they have that same seal of a gold, gold seal.
22:13
So we've had that every year since it started back in 2013.
22:18
This is something that Shelley, our founder knew was going to be
22:22
important and it, and it has been because our national
22:26
accounts understand what that is, but then also our caregivers
22:30
understand what that is. So they, they look and they're,
22:33
they are looking at various opportunities within home care
22:37
and other companies. And they say, hey, Bright Star,
22:40
they have this, they have Joint Commission accreditation and
22:44
that, that's a, that means something to them.
22:46
And they know that they're coming into an opportunity with
22:49
a company that takes that very seriously.
22:51
And, and, and all of the franchisees need to get to that
22:53
standard. This is also important with our
22:55
national accounts. So they understand that that we
22:59
are that our franchisees are really going through the
23:03
necessary surveys and education and all the checks and balances
23:07
that are required to attain that accreditation and they it's a
23:11
comfort level for them as well. So they know we've reached that,
23:14
that higher standard. Would I be correct in assuming
23:17
that this is a pretty big lift, especially when you're, you
23:23
know, you're obviously you're focused on growth, you've got
23:25
400 locations, you're looking to continue to expand, you know,
23:29
you've got growth on the mind, but like you've got to reach a
23:32
certain standard with all 400 locations over here.
23:37
It is, it's and it's a, it's a brand standard for our in our
23:41
franchise agreement that they that they attain this.
23:44
We work with them to help them through that.
23:46
We have, you know, there's mock surveys, there's all kinds of
23:48
things that you can do to prep for it, but it's a lot of work
23:51
and it is a financial commitment too.
23:53
So, but that's, but those are the type of franchisees that
23:57
we're attracting to because they want to be a step above and and
24:01
be at another level above that, that kind of that sea of
24:05
sameness. You know, everybody's kind of
24:07
the same out there. This is where we can rise above
24:09
that with the Joint Commission accreditation as a as a big
24:12
differentiator. It really helps them in their in
24:15
their sales process too with families.
24:18
I like that not only is it driving a higher level of care,
24:21
but on the back end it has this really powerful marketing
24:23
effect. Absolutely.
24:24
Yeah, Yeah. So as you think about some of
24:28
the different growth strategies that you guys have employed,
24:30
Pete, to get, you know, to 400 locations, what would you say
24:34
has been the most effective one? Well, you know, we made a
24:38
commitment to, to a couple. Well, there's, there's 2 two
24:43
ways to look at it. So we've got the growth story
24:45
with the franchise as far as the locations that we have.
24:49
And then we have the growth story with our franchisees and
24:52
you know, they're, they're, they're 22 separate paths when
24:56
it comes to marketing and advertising and things like
24:58
that, but they're both accomplishing the same thing.
25:01
So, you know, on the franchise, franchise development side, we
25:07
made a commitment to really doubling down and almost
25:11
tripling down on our advertising and marketing and really worked
25:14
hard to expand into social and in order to reach new people and
25:20
new potential franchisees. So LinkedIn has been a big thing
25:24
for us as far as our growth for new, for new owners go, because
25:27
we can look at specific backgrounds and specific
25:32
industries we can look at, you know, if, if you follow in
25:36
healthcare, there's lots of changes, there's lots of
25:38
movement within high level C level folks in various hospital
25:45
organizations all across the country.
25:47
And so we attract those. We, we've got, you know,
25:49
hospital administrators that are coming in.
25:51
We have doctors, we do have folks that have that higher
25:53
level of medical background that come to us.
25:57
So, you know, really doubling down and, and focusing on that
26:00
and, and investing in our our advertising because we know that
26:03
the more markets we get into, the more families we can serve
26:06
and our franchisees are doing a great job with that.
26:09
So on the on the franchisees side, for our owners, we're
26:12
always looking for new opportunities for them.
26:15
So something that's really growing now is infusions and
26:20
medical and hospital to home. So you know, things that
26:23
normally had to be done in a clinic and normally had to be
26:26
done in a hospital, now we can do those in the home and we're
26:31
really at the forefront of that. So that's driven a lot of new
26:35
growth, new growth and new excitement, you know, for our
26:38
owners, they've got something something else they can focus
26:41
on. And many of them are hiring just
26:43
infusion nurses that are handling all of that for them.
26:46
It's become almost a separate line line of business.
26:49
So, but it's, you know, something new and, and we're
26:52
constantly looking for ways that we can tap into that.
26:55
And the more hospital at home continues to grow.
26:59
We're we're right there and, and ready to take that and do that
27:02
business. So it's a huge opportunity in
27:04
front of us. Are you saying hospital to home
27:07
or hospital in? Home hospital in home, yeah.
27:10
So the, there, there are many opportunities where somebody's
27:13
coming in for off of a surgery and doing rehab.
27:17
We can do all of that in the home.
27:19
They need some additional care, you know, so all of the the
27:24
equipment and anything necessary for that is set up by the
27:26
hospital. But then we're able to provide
27:28
the caregiver and the staff in the home to take care of that.
27:31
So it's something that's continuing to grow and we've had
27:35
some great success with that already.
27:37
And we just know that there's, you know, the cost savings for
27:40
the hospitals and for everybody involved is is tremendous.
27:43
So it's it's going to be something that can can continue
27:47
and we like to be on the front of things.
27:48
So we are one of the first to get going with that.
27:51
It's been been a success and we're looking forward to
27:54
continuing to build that. And you're talking about in
27:57
different kinds of infusions. Can you give an example of an
28:00
infusion that couldn't be done in the home before and now
28:02
that's a? Possibility it's, it's all
28:04
types, but it's just taking it into that different setting.
28:07
So instead of somebody having to come in for chemotherapy or
28:11
something like that, that's on a regular basis where they'd have
28:15
to go into a clinic to do that each time, now we can do that in
28:18
the home. Wow.
28:22
It's surprising now that you say it, it's surprising to me that
28:24
I've never heard of that before because it, you know, these are
28:27
difficult treatments, right? You want sort of like the
28:30
advantage of being at home, you know, if you're going to be a
28:33
little uncomfortable, a little sick, like, you know, that it
28:36
seems just obvious. So it yeah, it's surprising that
28:39
this hasn't become more popular. Soon yes, it's just taking some
28:42
time you know so it's and taking some time and taking the right
28:45
partners too to be able to where they they're comfortable knowing
28:48
that you've got the right nurse you've got the right company
28:51
like a bright star that you can work with to help provide that
28:55
so. Pete, you know, growth comes
28:59
from challenges. Often times I'd be curious to
29:02
hear about a serious challenge that you've gone through,
29:05
whether it's personal or professional or a combo of the
29:08
two, how you got through that and some lessons that you
29:11
learned. Yeah.
29:13
There's I think what when we look back with our type of
29:17
business and not only with the the services that we provide,
29:22
but also working on the franchise development side to
29:25
bring in new owners into the network.
29:30
COVID played a major factor in everybody's lives.
29:35
But, but if you think about how everybody reacted during COVID,
29:38
nobody wanted anybody to come come into their home at that
29:41
time. So we needed to work through
29:42
that. Everybody sort of hunkered down.
29:45
And then the family, it became a situation where the families
29:48
tried to take care of mom or dad and realized that they they
29:53
can't, they're not trained for it.
29:54
It's, it just doesn't work that way.
29:56
So being able to gain that comfort level back for our
30:02
franchisees to have them, you know, come into the home and be,
30:07
be comfortable knowing that they're that they're properly
30:10
equipped. We had a Shelley, our founder
30:13
did a massive campaign to get PPE and made sure that we had
30:17
had PPE for all of our our franchisees when when a lot of
30:21
people couldn't get it. I mean, it was a lot of calls
30:23
internationally and all, all across the country to source
30:27
this, but to make sure that we had it available, available for
30:30
our owners. So, you know, doing that, we we
30:33
found ways to get new business during this time.
30:36
And some of that was with the staffing that I mentioned
30:39
earlier, but we were also a part of the Johnson and Johnson
30:42
trials for the vaccine. So we did the clinical trials
30:45
for that, provided the nurses for that and, and had, you know,
30:49
felt like we were doing a big part in finding away to the
30:54
other side of COVID and our franchisees played a big part of
30:58
that. So, so that was a challenge for
31:01
sure and it impacted, you know, so many people.
31:06
And then on the, on the franchise development side, you
31:09
know, we had to, we had to change our entire process
31:12
because we, you know, we're a, we're a brand that is very
31:17
personal. And it's, you know, we, we, when
31:19
we look at franchisees, we always wanted to have, we had
31:23
everybody come into in, you know, our office outside of
31:26
Chicago for Discovery day and get a chance to meet everybody.
31:29
And we, you know, everything that we did was in person.
31:32
And then just like everybody else, we had to flip to virtual
31:36
and trying to trying to get the same feel for a potential
31:43
franchisee virtually versus in person.
31:46
It took some finesse and, and it took a little bit more, I would
31:50
say more touch points along the way to be comfortable that this
31:54
is the right candidate for us than it did when we were in
31:57
person. Because you know what, you
31:59
missed out on the side conversations like you mentioned
32:01
earlier, the water cooler, you know, you missed out on that
32:04
with the talking with the candidates between sessions.
32:08
So we changed everything along those lines to go virtual.
32:13
Our conferences again, we're, we, we love having those in
32:17
person and we have two of those a year.
32:20
And so those, those change to virtual.
32:22
So the goal with this was just mean making sure that we
32:25
continue to care for the families that we had and then
32:28
kept the connectivity with our franchisees and them with each
32:32
other to be able to, to get through, get through that.
32:36
And, and came out of that, you know, Shelley, our founder, she
32:40
was named one of the top CEOs during, by Glassdoor during
32:43
COVID for her response and all the things that we did.
32:47
And she did specifically as a, as a CEO at the time.
32:50
She's our, our founder, our executive chairwoman now, but
32:55
was instrumental in, in helping our franchisees with PPE with,
32:59
with the loans and things like that to keep the businesses
33:02
going. So tons of activity behind the
33:05
scenes in a really difficult situation, but I think it made
33:11
our team stronger. So like our executive team and
33:14
our staff at our support center made us stronger in in helping
33:18
our owners get through that as well.
33:22
You know, we're not that far removed from COVID, but as I
33:26
talk with people, it's interesting to me how many folks
33:30
have sort of forgotten or repressed the just absolute
33:34
uncertainty, especially during the early days, weeks, months.
33:39
We didn't know if when a vaccine was coming, we didn't know when
33:45
we might be able to get back to some semblance of normal.
33:50
And, you know, for business owners and for business leaders
33:53
like yourself of a particularly large organization with lots of
33:57
franchisees, that uncertainty just compounds because you're
34:01
not just sort of worried about, you know, you yourself.
34:04
It's like all of these other entrepreneurs that you've kind
34:06
of helped set up in their businesses Was there, you know,
34:09
in the early days when there was so much uncertainty and you
34:12
didn't know when people were going to be comfortable, you
34:15
know, having you come back into their homes?
34:16
Was there any worry? Was there any sense of this?
34:20
We we might not survive this because a lot of businesses
34:23
didn't. Yeah.
34:24
I mean from, from our, we all made a commitment and we took a
34:29
reduction in pay during that time from the corporate
34:34
location. So we all of our entire team
34:37
during that time because we want to be committed to the to the
34:40
franchisees. And so we did that on our end.
34:44
And then we we really communicated a lot.
34:47
So communicate and over communicate during that time
34:50
period. You know, now we do quarterly
34:52
town hall calls, but before we did, we would do weekly calls or
34:57
monthly calls with all of the franchisees to make sure that
35:00
that we're just communicating everything that we know at that
35:02
particular time because we're all different recommendations
35:06
coming out and things were changing.
35:08
And as we progressed through COVID, you know, the, the time
35:13
frame for, you know, the time frame for being contagious was
35:19
changing and you know, the isolation period times were
35:22
changing. And so trying to make sure that
35:24
our franchisees had all of that information at the right time.
35:28
So we did just a ton of a ton of communication during that time
35:32
period to keep everybody together.
35:36
If you had to recommend one resource, call it a book, a
35:40
podcast, a course that was helpful to you, that could be
35:45
helpful to others listening, what would that be?
35:47
Yeah. So we use, we use EOS
35:51
entrepreneurial operating system.
35:55
I don't know if you're familiar, but I'm sure you are, but we've
35:58
been using that really early on. So that was something that was
36:01
embedded into our organization right away.
36:04
Our franchisees utilize it as well.
36:07
I, I noticed just a huge difference when I came in and
36:11
started, you know, getting involved and, and, you know,
36:15
being involved and seeing that the meeting cadences that we
36:17
have, everybody's accountable to things every week.
36:20
You know, the, the, the very common situation that occurs in
36:25
meetings as these same topics come up every week and they just
36:28
keep getting kicked down the road.
36:30
This, this system for us really worked well where those, those,
36:34
those things that needed to get done were getting done and
36:38
problems were solved. So, you know, during COVID, I
36:41
think that that was really important because we had a lot
36:44
of things that needed to get accomplished in a short amount
36:46
of time and making sure that everybody was accountable to
36:49
that. And I also like the way that it
36:51
builds out, you know, it builds out your plan, you know, you've
36:54
got your quarterly plan, annual five year, you know, so, so for
37:00
us, that's been, that's been a great tool and our franchisees
37:03
use it as well. We get them started with it
37:05
right when they right, when they come through discovery day, they
37:08
get the books and, and we want them to, to start to, to get
37:12
involved with that because that helps us when it comes to
37:14
supporting them too, when we know what their meeting cadences
37:17
are and, and you know, the system that they're running.
37:20
So, so that's that's been a big one.
37:23
Yeah, Uos, very common, very popular in the business
37:26
community, entrepreneurial operating system first
37:30
introduced by. Gino Dukman years ago.
37:32
And kind of a nice framework for businesses to, you know, uses
37:37
their operating system, you know, making sure that you've
37:40
got the right people in the right seats, making sure that,
37:43
you know, you're setting your goals on a regular basis and
37:46
that, you know, you're staying laser focused on them and that
37:48
you're reviewing them at the appropriate times to make sure
37:51
that you're on track. Yeah, it sounds like it's been,
37:53
you know, pretty helpful. Absolutely, yeah.
37:58
Any daily practices, rituals, habits that have become really
38:02
important and. Helpful for you.
38:03
Yeah, I think, I think the, you know, I, I like to, there's
38:07
always going to be some sort of a time period where you just
38:10
have some clarity and just take a, a, a break from all of the
38:16
electronic media that we have coming.
38:17
And we're getting emails, calls, texts, you know, you know,
38:21
pretty much all day long. But just, you know, kind of
38:24
starting the day out just for sort of planning what your, what
38:26
your day is going to look like just in a quiet setting.
38:30
I don't like to look at emails right away, even though it's
38:32
almost impossible not to. But you know, it's, I try to
38:36
give it a little bit of time to kind of, you know, just get, get
38:40
clear on set for the day, knowing some of the things that
38:42
I want to get done and working on those.
38:45
You know, our industry too changes rapidly.
38:48
So I find that, I mean, one of the things that I do check out
38:52
in the mornings or whenever is any of the industry updates, you
38:56
know, to find out if you never know when the next opportunity
38:59
is going to come. So I always like to, to, to hit
39:01
on, on the, you know, industry, the short briefs and the
39:04
publications that come out quick reads and, and knock those out
39:09
right away and then then get into the day.
39:14
And, and so how do you find these industry updates
39:15
specifically for your industry? Yeah, for us, so smart brief has
39:19
them we and then in the franchising world, they've got
39:21
the the IFA is a great resource, the International Franchise
39:24
Association. So they have their daily, daily
39:28
briefs and then there's on everything from, you know,
39:32
development to legal to, you know, you, you name it, they
39:35
cover it all. So I look at that, I look at a
39:38
lot of the, the senior living, so like Nick and Senior Housing
39:42
news and some of those publications as well, just to
39:45
see mainly look at headlines and see if that's something that
39:49
could apply and zip through it and, and, and see if there's an
39:52
opportunity there. You know, made the point that
39:56
I'm sorry, go. Ahead.
39:56
Yeah, it's, it's all about learning, you know, for it's,
40:01
you know, that when I think about, you know, how I got here
40:04
and it's really being a sponge, you know, there's, there's,
40:08
there's so many. There's so much to learn about
40:12
healthcare in particular from where I came from on the retail
40:16
side, totally different. So, so just grasping as much of
40:20
that as I can and learning as much about about it as I can.
40:24
Wherever that opportunity is, whether it's going to a
40:26
conference, you know, a publication, going to the
40:31
Internet National Franchise Association, going to their
40:33
events, you know, all of that comes into play and is really
40:36
helpful. You made the point that you
40:40
never know where the next opportunity is going to come
40:42
from. And you know, at a national
40:44
level you guys have some of these national sales accounts
40:46
where you're able to send opportunities to your local
40:48
franchisees. But for for that local
40:52
franchisee, aside from those, where are they most likely to
40:55
find client opportunities? Are they sort of, you know,
40:59
knocking on doors one by one? Are they trying to establish
41:02
relationships with different care providers who might be kind
41:05
of good funnels for that? Yeah, it's, it's more the
41:07
latter. So they're working with
41:09
hospitals, they're working with nursing homes, really working
41:13
closely with discharge planners. So if, you know, discharge
41:17
planners have a stack of files on their desk that they need,
41:20
they need to find, find care for.
41:23
And if we're able to go in there and, and one of the things that
41:25
we always tell our franchisees is to say yes and we'll figure
41:29
it out. You know, we don't want to be
41:31
the person that says no, because if you say no too many times,
41:34
they're not going to ask you again.
41:35
So we want to, we want to always say yes and then let's figure
41:37
out how to get it done. So that kind of that mentality
41:41
is really allowed our franchisees to grow and it's
41:44
helped find some of these, you know, new opportunities like
41:46
infusions and things like that, that are, that are coming out.
41:48
But you know, being being that, that owner and, you know, since
41:54
they're all individually owned and operated, they're able to,
41:58
to give that that caregiver the comfort that they're working.
42:02
You know, you're working with the owner of the company here
42:04
locally and, and they can build that relationship and that
42:08
become they become their go to person.
42:10
And so that that's really what the the goal is there.
42:13
So they're looking at all of those types of providers to help
42:17
them with with the referrals and be their referral sources.
42:23
Pete, sometimes mistakes end up becoming our greatest teachers.
42:27
What's a moment either with Bright Star or earlier in your
42:31
career that seemed like a set back at the moment but actually
42:34
helped moved you forward? I think we can go back to my
42:37
venture into being on my own for, in a business that's that
42:42
really for, for, you know, that was, that was kind of the eye
42:46
opener for me. And I, I think that that I know
42:49
that changed my whole trajectory and, and put me back to put me
42:54
on this path, which I, I, I can't even imagine doing
42:57
anything else, you know, So that's, it's just so much fun
43:00
and get to meet so many people along the way.
43:04
You know, what seemed like at the time, you know, you're when
43:08
you know, it's not working out, I mean, it's not a good feeling.
43:11
And and you kind of wonder what's what's going to be the
43:15
next move here and how, how is it all going to shake out?
43:19
But just, you know, taking that that next opportunity and
43:22
getting back into franchise development and then staying
43:25
with it, you know, and, and knowing that that's where you
43:27
want to be and have an opportunity to grow within one
43:30
company and then take that, you know, and take that to bright
43:33
star was really an an opportunity that I couldn't pass
43:38
up. But it would have never happened
43:40
if I hadn't taken the the leap on, you know, and made the I
43:44
would call it AI would call it a learning mistake.
43:48
But it. Was the best kind.
43:51
But it wouldn't have happened without it, So that's kind of
43:54
the foundation. So aside from leaving your own
43:59
entrepreneurial venture and coming back into the franchising
44:02
world, what would you call maybe your best decision ever in your
44:07
career path? Yeah, I think, you know, working
44:14
with working with Bright Star has, has been, it's really a
44:19
different, it's, you know, it, it's kind of hard to explain.
44:25
Everything that we're doing has just such a purpose and an
44:28
impact on, you know, on the families that we're serving in
44:35
the communities, you know, knowing that that we're making a
44:37
difference and seeing that all the time is, is just huge.
44:42
So I think that I think that the, the best decision was to
44:46
was really going with bright star because of that.
44:50
So it's, it's just from a, from a, you know, just from your own
44:54
personal development and personal feeling about what
44:59
you're doing and you're, you know, how you're, how you're
45:03
impacting things. And I know that my role is the
45:07
front end of bringing a new owner that's going to be able to
45:11
provide that service in communities we're not in yet.
45:14
It's very satisfying. Whether it worked out or not,
45:20
can you think of a particular innovation that you tried to
45:24
introduce here at Bright Star and and what you learned from
45:28
it, up or down? Yeah, I think you know, for, for
45:30
from our standpoint, it's really being working in, in expanding
45:35
and exploring other opportunities for advertising
45:39
and for marketing to find new franchisees.
45:42
So that we, we have the traditional avenues, you know,
45:47
our website we've got, we do a lot of pay per click
45:51
advertising. We we tripled our investment in
45:53
that. So that was a risk that kind of
45:57
was out on a limb for to make sure that that delivered.
46:00
So, you know, but, but we, but I felt good about it.
46:03
I knew that that we weren't maximizing our reach with the
46:07
investment that we have. So I was confident going in and,
46:11
and wanted to up that budget and increase that, you know, to a
46:16
sizable amount every month. So and it's delivered, you know,
46:20
so we've been able to to do that.
46:23
We've tried other things in the advertising world where, you
46:26
know, we've done some investments in some in some
46:29
shows and some various conferences to generate new
46:32
owners and that hasn't, hasn't worked.
46:34
But, but we know I'm never against trying it.
46:37
And that, that's one of the things that that we're I'll,
46:41
I'll always say to any of the agencies that we work with or
46:44
anybody that we're working with as a third party, we'll, we'll,
46:48
we'll be your test. You know, we're, we have, I'm
46:50
happy to test, test a campaign test a different, a different
46:55
way for PPC because you never know.
46:58
It's what we do know is we're not going to know if we don't
47:01
try it. So I always want to give that a
47:04
shot. Well, I've talked to several
47:06
other folks that are in the franchise world and a number of
47:09
them report that, you know, the online ad campaigns that they've
47:13
tried have not been successful. So the fact that you guys are so
47:17
willing to try, you know, hey, a different campaign, a different
47:20
approach, you know, maybe a different platform, I think
47:24
speaks to the success that you're having.
47:25
So that willingness to go out there and experiment.
47:28
Well, we really dig into it. You know, sometimes you'd get
47:31
that you with pay per click. It's sometimes you get into that
47:35
set it and forget it kind of thing.
47:38
And we really dig into the numbers and dig into the stats
47:43
and, you know, we're zeroing in on market.
47:46
So as some of our larger markets that are that are more costly
47:49
to, to run those ads in start to fill up, We move that budget
47:53
over to another market that we want to hit or, or peel some
47:57
advertising dollars off to a specific area where we know
48:00
we've got a national account that needs a, a franchise.
48:04
And so then we're able to really target that.
48:06
So that, that helps too. But it's having that data and
48:09
being able to, being able to understand it and and work with
48:12
the provider to to target those ads where we really need them,
48:16
it's been helpful. What's one thing you wish more
48:19
people knew about your industry? You don't have to have a
48:22
healthcare background to be in it.
48:23
And the, the anybody can be a franchise, I mean, and not just
48:28
with Bright Star, I mean, there are so many great brands out
48:31
there. I mean, I'm an advocate of
48:33
franchising obviously in, in general, but with, with us and
48:38
with our industry, it's continually growing.
48:41
You know, the, the demographics obviously point towards a long,
48:45
you know, tailwind here of, of growth within home care and more
48:51
and more people want to be in their home.
48:52
So you know, that's something that that is true now and it's
48:58
going to be true and all the way through, You know, that that's
49:02
the most comfortable setting for them.
49:04
And we can provide the safety for that and the and the Peace
49:08
of Mind for the families that they know mom and dad are being
49:11
well cared for while they're at work and have to do they have
49:15
they have a life that they need to to live.
49:17
And we take that that whole concern off of their plate.
49:23
But the opportunity's there. I mean, if you, if you have the
49:27
desire to, it's hard work. We're not going to, we don't
49:31
sugarcoat that. I mean this is hard business
49:32
and, and it's definitely hard work, but the, the satisfaction
49:37
of what you're doing in your community, anybody that can do
49:40
that and, and we've got the model and the system to support,
49:44
just to support them in this endeavor and would love to
49:47
continue to grow. And we plan to do that.
49:49
We're at 400 and 400 now we've got another 40 plus in the
49:53
pipeline to open and and have some very lofty goals for this
49:59
year too. So expect that to continue.
50:02
Exciting. Pete, I've just got one more
50:05
question for you, but before I ask it, I want to do 2 things
50:08
for everyone listening today. I know that you love this show.
50:10
Pete's been a fantastic guest, shared lots of great advice and
50:14
information. Take a moment and just hit the
50:17
follow or subscribe button on your favorite podcast app so you
50:19
continue to get more content like this.
50:22
Pete, I also want to let people know the best way to either get
50:24
in touch with you or to continue to follow your story or the
50:27
Bright Care story or Bright Star Care Story.
50:29
What would that be? Yeah, so I'm on
50:32
linkedinsopetefirstimlinkedinandthenalsopete.first@brightstarcare.com, right?
50:41
So last question for you, Pete, as you look to the future, what
50:45
are some of the most exciting changes in your industry that
50:48
you're looking forward? To yeah and we we touched a
50:50
little bit on it, but you know more and more of the hospital at
50:53
home so more care being that that's hospital level care being
50:56
provided in the home. But then technology too.
51:00
So there are a lot of companies now offering monitoring and,
51:04
and, and different types of devices in the home that will
51:09
continue to evolve. I think we haven't, you know,
51:11
there are some really, there are some good ones out there now.
51:15
And I, you know, we haven't, we haven't tapped into those
51:19
directly for our franchisees yet, but there's, we know that,
51:23
that, that monitoring will be a part of that.
51:27
So I think that that's an area and technology in general with
51:29
very with wearables and things that of that nature, there's
51:32
going to be so much advancement there that that, that that'll be
51:37
a big part of big part of the future in home care.
51:41
Terrific. It'll be fun to follow the the
51:43
advancements that are coming. Pete, I want to be the first one
51:46
to thank you for sharing both your time and your story with us
51:48
today. I really appreciate.
51:49
It my pleasure, Anthony. Thank you.
51:52
Folks, that's a wrap on another episode of the Inspired Stories
51:55
podcast. Thanks for learning with us
51:57
today.