From Managing a Bookstore to Sustaining 20 Years of Home Care Success

Twenty years in home care is rare. Building something that lasts through a recession, a pandemic, and everything in between is even rarer.

In this episode, Paul and Joan sit down with Anthony Acevedo and Mirian Montano of Visiting Angels Miami-Dade, who came from working in the bookstore industry to running a home care business that has stood for two decades.

You'll hear their early grind, the case that changed everything, and the culture that kept clients and caregivers coming back year after year.

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Your next big win starts here. Serve with heart, lead with faith, and remember… compassion is your calling, and wealth is your reward.

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:06

Hello and welcome to the Home Care Millionaire Podcast, the show where compassion meets prosperity. I am Paul Timband. Alongside of you who have John here, we're honored to be your host. Together, John and I have built a home care agency from a little $12,000 credit card loan. Okay, some people call it a gambler at that time, who built into a built it into an eight-figure business serving thousands of families over the years. And now we're here to share the lessons, strategies, and the strategies, and the mindset shifts that help us get there so that you can do it.

SPEAKER_04 0:42

We like this podcast because the home care industry is often misunderstood. Too many people don't see the sacrifices, owners and their caregivers make every single day, or the powerful impact agencies have on seniors and their communities. And truthfully, we looked around and realized there were not many podcasts out there shining a light on this industry. So it worked hard to create the own care millionaire podcast.

SPEAKER_01 1:09

This podcast is designed for the purpose-driven provider. For those of you who feel out of care, but also want to build thriving. Each week, we're going to share with you real life stories, for strategies, and powerful mindset checks that will help you move from just surviving to thriving.

SPEAKER_04 1:28

Absolutely. Compassion is your colleagues well, feature. And here on the Wolfcase Millennium Podcast, we're going to show you how to integrate food.

SPEAKER_01 1:41

So get ready for inspiration, practical insight, and encouragement you need to impact lives, build wealth, and create a legacy through your agency. So hit subscribe, folks. Join us on this journey to transform your business, your mindset, and your future. Welcome, folks, to the Home Care Millionaire Podcast. June and I are honored to welcome our good friends, fellow home care owners for many, many years, Anthony Acevedo and Miriam Montano. Anthony Acevedo is the executive director of Visiting Angels of Miami Dade, Florida. He's been leading a team of dedicated professionals who provide in-home care and support to seniors and individuals with disabilities. He's been doing this for over 20 years. So thank you for your wonderful work, Anthony. In addition to his work with Visiting Angels, uh, he's been the chair and vice chair, uh vice chairman of the Community Health Foundation, where he leads the fundraising efforts for the construction of a new children's crisis center. This project is the largest capital campaign in the organization's history, aiming to provide a safe and supportive environment for nearly 800 children who suffer from severe psychological abuse each year. Anthony is passionate about making a positive impact in the lives of seniors and contributing to the betterment of his community. We celebrate Anthony for your wonderful work.

SPEAKER_04 3:10

That is so impressive, Anthony. Okay, so let me um talk about Miriam. Miriam Monot is the owner and administrator at Visiting Angels of Miami Dade, Florida. And she has managed a dedicated team of professionals who work with independent care providers and families to provide in-home care and support seniors and individuals with disabilities. With 20 years of experience in this role, she has created a model of care that allows the senior to choose their caregiver so that they can age in place and remain in their own home. In her work at Visiting Angels, she's on the board of directors for newer, I hope I'm pronouncing it right, newer or muja, newer ink. Okay, and they provide comprehensive services to victims of domestic and sexual abuse from a trusting environment that promotes healing. And she's also a member of the American Business Women's Association, Homestead Chapter. Wow, wow, both of you are just making such a big difference and impact in your community. Thank you so much. Absolutely.

SPEAKER_01 4:31

Well, Anthony and Marianne, we're excited for you. We're excited to hear, have you here today on our podcast, the Home Care Millionaire Podcast? Uh, it's a podcast for folks who are service-minded, you know, folks who want to serve, who want to, you know, really get out there and and make a difference. And you guys certainly exemplify that. So, welcome again to the Home Care Millionaire Podcast program.

SPEAKER_04 4:56

Thank you for having us. All right. Thank you. Awesome, awesome. So let's let's jump in, right? Let's jump in. So, could you share with us, uh, audience, of course, you know, what you were doing before you got into home care, right? And specifically what motivated you to get into this industry.

SPEAKER_05 5:13

So, um, the uh the origin story as it is, the origin story is that um back in 2004, Miren and I had um we were working in um uh the retail business. Uh, specifically, we were working in the um uh the book selling business, uh, you know, the borders of the world, uh, Barnes and Nobles of the Worlds. We happened to both work at Borders. Um, I was the um the events and marketing manager for the South Florida stores uh for Borders, Books and Music, and Miriam was uh the general manager of one of the stores in Coconut Grove. Um, but subsequently in 2004, uh Borders uh decided to file for bankruptcy. Um and um so we at that point, uh you know, we had two young children, both six and three. Uh and I subsequently got my walking papers uh later that year, 2004. Um, and basically I believe I got I got um laid off because I was holding the uh healthcare package for our children. So they let me go uh with Cobra. Of course, you know that's four times the amount. Uh Miriam was still working, she was still working at the store, but she had about a year before that store was winding down and closing officially. Um, so um we basically uh pivoted. I had done some business book discussions. Uh, one of the business book discussions as part of my job was Rich Dad Poor Dad uh on how to become he lives by that. So yes, yes, so you know, we were at uh we were at a certain age, I was at a certain age uh that I thought, you know what, I've never um in my professional career ever lost a job. Um, but I wasn't inclined to um go to another situation where I would basically be uh subject to the same situation that happened to us. Exactly. Exactly. I looked at my wife, I said, Hey, I read Rich Dad Poor Dad. What do you think about what do you think about us becoming entrepreneurs? Uh there are entrepreneurial uh spirit in our family. Um, you know, my my grandfather owned uh like a mini grocery store in New York City. Um Miriam's grandma, I believe, owned a uh um a store as well, and her mom is an entrepreneur, had her own little side businesses for many years. There was this thought that maybe you know we could do this, but of course, uh as uh Miriam thought, you know, with children, how do we how do we survive that? Yes.

SPEAKER_00 7:55

My biggest concern was health care. How do we provide for our children?

SPEAKER_02 8:00

I don't know.

SPEAKER_00 8:01

God forbid they get sick, God forbid we get sick, what's gonna happen? So that was one of our biggest, biggest concerns. But the story continues, Anthony.

SPEAKER_05 8:11

Um, so of course, um, you know, when you lose your job, um, you know, Florida does provide at least for the children. Um that's good health care while you bridge the gap, while you're looking for new work. Um, we um at the time also uh looked at uh what investments we had, and there was a thought about um several things in in retail, but um one of the things that appealed to us was uh senior home care, um, partly because Miriam's family uh had a connection to that. And tell them a little bit about that.

SPEAKER_00 8:45

Yeah, my my mother and my sister were involved in the home care world. Oh wow um and so did I. When I was in college, I did do home care as well through college, and so I had an idea, I was familiar with it, and I thought, you know, this is something that I liked very much, that it's something that I can I can do. I mean, I you know, analyzing everything and everything that I've done, I'm like it, you know, if there's a blueprint for me to follow, I can certainly do it. So there that was that was our way in, basically.

SPEAKER_05 9:21

I think her into and her intuition was very, very strong. We had looked at um, you know, retail, like possibly purchasing a subway franchise, but you had the end and all these other crazy things, the business was rather large. Yes, you know, we had um uh a limited amount of resources that we could utilize to buy this business. Uh, then we started looking at home care. You know, we worked in the bookstore, so we looked at these franchise magazines and books, that's right. And we saw several of them. We also we it checked out home instead, which is a competitor of our visiting angels. Yep, but but um when we discovered visiting angels and then planned our trip to Pennsylvania to get the initial uh meeting together, we felt they were the most altruistic, and and and that's how we decided to do visiting angels.

SPEAKER_01 10:09

Wow, good choice! Wow, wow here we are 20 years later, huh?

SPEAKER_00 10:14

That is true, and we will continue for sure.

SPEAKER_01 10:17

Yes, yes, yeah. It's it's interesting because uh I you know your story kind of is similar to ours too, because uh when we um we were Joan was uh Joan was a CNA, she worked in that world a little bit, and then she became uh she got into IT. I was in IT as well, and then it was interesting because uh when we got to IT, we thought, man, this is the big, this is the the big leaks, you know. I mean, you know, this is where we're making all this money. Come to and then we started our family, come to find out, realize that uh there was a lot of month, and uh there was a lot, lot of a lot of month, you know, at the end of the money, right? So the money ran out before the end of the month, essentially, you know. So, wait a minute, this is not working out well for us. So we started looking side jobs, like you said, and then John was tasked to make some inquiries, you know. She went to home instead, Anthony, just so you know. Okay, that's why I'm bringing that up. She went to home, came back, made a visit to Pennsylvania, said, Well, you know, honey, I think this is it. So uh, so we we went through simra, you're so right, you're so right. But to your point, I mean, you know, I think it just made sense, it just it just felt right, you know, visiting angels, and uh and here we are so many years later. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_04 11:28

So, how were the early years? You talked about having two children, six and three. We had three under the age of seven.

SPEAKER_01 11:35

You know, we started, yeah. So it's kind of similar, you know.

SPEAKER_04 11:39

Yeah, so how was that journey like for you? You know, starting out, you know, in home care.

SPEAKER_00 11:44

We well, it would we will we were determined, definitely determined to make this work. We were told by someone um that we knew said, you know, this business is very tough. We're not sure if you're gonna be able to make it. But when, especially for me, when somebody tells me that I'm not or it's hard, I it goes the opposite. So that was my encouragement to go forward and do everything that we needed to do to make this work. It was hard at the beginning, not I mean, as you probably experienced, especially with two kids for me, for us, um, our kids grew up in the business, literally to the point where if that phone rang, don't breathe, children, because mommy's on a call right now. So, especially initially when we first started, um, we had a very small office, literally one desk. He was on one side, I was on the other. And we manned this whole thing uh however we could, but we did it. And uh the most important thing is that we were able to follow the guidelines. They give you this amazing guidelines. I I I don't know how difficult it would have been without it, but we had those guidelines that as long as you and I read those manuals page to page, but front to back, uh, like it was my Bible. And with that, and I'm sure you guys did the same. So, with that, we followed through, we did exactly as uh we were guided and implemented systems and slowly um started adding more people and eventually move into a bigger office. And it, you know, it was uh a very interesting process, but a good one, a very positive one because it was always progression and never regression. We always move forward from whatever we were next year was better, and then it got better, and it got better, and 20 years later, I can tell you it is it's been amazing.

SPEAKER_05 13:55

Well, also the first year, I think some of the I think your question was about that um uh the struggle season. So in the in the first uh year and a half, you know, I always tell the story that um, you know, we uh you know you took whatever you could get, right? Whatever the case small or large, it didn't really matter. Yeah, you know, here and there you'll take the ones that give you the opportunity to to grow your business. So we had a uh maybe that first year and a half, we had a you know a mix of small ones, mostly small, little cases, all around. We were the only visiting angels in Miami at the time, so we we went from north to south. I mean, we were all over, we're just you know, good for you in the county, and it's a big county, you know. So and uh it got to a point where um what I like to call the perfect storm, where these little cases, either because someone passed away or they you know they moved them into a facility that we were down. I mean, it got to a point where we were like almost down to I don't even know, maybe 48, 50 hours, whatever that number was, it was pretty, pretty even with the leads, some of the leads didn't really pan out that we were getting from the home office, you know. So um, so then we get basically what I call our foundational case, where this gentleman called us and so my aunt lives in such and such a place, yes, and we need you know, uh basically a full day, seven days a week. And whoa, all right, of course. We had an idea about you know, we we had a fixed amount of what a rate was, but he negotiated me down 50 cents per hour, right? He said, I don't know about that, but what do you think? And of course, I wasn't gonna tell him that he was really like it. He was going to we said, Okay, sure, we'll take it. But that case became our foundational case. That case um lasted, I want to say maybe five to six years.

SPEAKER_00 15:48

Whoa, 24-7 eventually.

SPEAKER_05 15:51

And on top of that, the the the uh the lady that we took care of, she brought in her brother who was elderly, who needed care as well.

SPEAKER_02 15:58

24-7.

SPEAKER_05 16:01

So from that, it built a foundation that we built um uh able to build our business. That basically was the pivot moment I would say that changed us from struggling to something that was more steady. Um, of course, you know, when you start doing things and people, you know, uh the referrals come from word of mouth. I'm still with I was still visiting hospitals and rehabs and things like that. But yes, you know, those things that we built, we were able to build from that. Um, and then um, you know, uh then we doing super, super uh, you know, growing the business day by day. You know, what we do in a week, we used to be excited to do in a month and a half to two months, you know. So in terms of the amount of clients we're servicing, so it it it it's it's a tremendous perspective. Uh, but then we kind of hit a little bit of a road like most businesses did um during the Great Recession, uh, you know, 2008. We started in 2005. So 2009, um, we kind of hit a wall because people lost their jobs.

SPEAKER_02 17:06

That's right.

SPEAKER_05 17:07

So uh it became, but thank goodness we were we were lucky enough again to had built that foundation uh enough in those four years that the business did not collapse. Uh what we did lose was the cases where the families were always um uh were wound up working at home or didn't work, so we lost those cases, but the families who needed us most around the clock could not manage on their own. So we were able to sustain that right.

SPEAKER_04 17:36

Yeah. The one thing that uh Miriam said was that speaks to your ability to sustain, even in those challenging um years of the times. Well, you started small, you were very um um intentional in how you started, you know, from a small office, one desk, both of you using one desk, and let the business grow, you know, because sometimes when we I know we we sometimes start out excited, we have these big ideas, we want to serve the entire world, and we don't take time to really think about the process, the challenges that may come along the way. We can get ahead of ourselves, but I think what you guys did there really helped you to the point where you could build that foundation and then grow.

SPEAKER_01 18:23

I I was gonna add also that it speaks to your faith, really, you know, your faith because you took whatever came. The small ones, you took them, the big ones, you big you just took whatever came. You know, you you were just taking you wanted, you went in faith, you were resilient, you know, because as you took those little ones, because some folks sometimes I just want a big one. Well, I mean, you know, the big one's gonna come, but it may not be the first one that comes, right? You guys were were very deliberate about taking whoever came, you serve them. Yeah, you know, you know, I heard from as I say the reputation, word of mouth. I think you talked about it.

SPEAKER_00 18:59

I'm sure Miami said, you know, absolutely, that's how we have developed an amazing reputation here in Miami. There you go. People know us because of the amazing customer service that we provide. That is our um signature uh service, customer service. We go above and beyond and truly deliver what we say we're going to deliver. If we can deliver, then we haven't done our job. So we pride ourselves in that. Um, we make sure we're very clear and transparent to the clients exactly what we have, what we can do, how we can do this, and they appreciate that very much. And so that's what we've maintained. We have clients that have started with us seven, eight, nine years ago, and we still have them. We have long-term clients, truly. Wow, truly that you know they like they like the consistency, and that is a very important factor here. With the elderly, you need to have consistency, reliability. If you don't have that consistency and it's a revolving door, you're not gonna have a client. That I can guarantee.

SPEAKER_01 20:09

Go ahead, Anthony. I was gonna add I was just gonna say that it should speak to how you take care of your people, though, because if your people hang around, you know, to be consistent. I mean, doesn't it speak to Anthony? To your the kind of the way you take care of your people.

SPEAKER_05 20:23

Yes, yes. I I think that um, you know, one of the so so we look at our caregivers, the the the you know, the the folks who really do the the work, um, and my team, you know, they're they're they have a relationship, they are our clients as much as the people the elder we search. Amen. Um, you know, it it's the love and respect that we give them. And and our whole team, the customer service mantra goes all the way for both ways, right? I mean, these folks who come in looking to help seniors, we we regard and and respect them for the work they do. Yes, um, you know, our our team has great conversations with them. Uh, if it's personal conversations about challenges they're having in their life, we have that, you know, they spend the time and speak to them and understand them. And and um, I I give tremendous credit to the team. And it comes from Miriam and all of us down to our team because you know, the way you communicate with them, the way we commiserate with them and understand what they're going through, uh, it adds to it. And if you call that a culture, that's fine. Uh, it is a culture in a lot of ways because again, they they have told us that you, your office, your visiting angels treats us with more respect than any other place we've been to. Which to me, I'm not sure how well it speaks about everyone else, but it certainly underscores the fact that we take that time to sit down and have that conversation. Even in person, if they choose to come in and say, Let you know, let's have a talk, I'm having these issues. How can I fix this so I can work more with you? Wow. Wow. That's awesome.

SPEAKER_01 22:09

Well, it shows you care. Yes. Shows you care. Yes. I mean, and you know what it says. People don't care how much you know until they know how much you care. And once you care, once you care, that's it. I mean, they become spokespeople for what you do, don't they?

SPEAKER_05 22:22

Yes, 100%. Wow. Wow.

SPEAKER_04 22:24

Miriam, you mentioned your um excellent customer service, right? That is your differentiator in your market. Correct. And that will be key to your business growth. But maybe there's something else that you can attribute to the tremendous success you and Anthony have there in Miami Dade, Florida.

SPEAKER_00 22:41

Well, I can definitely tell you the caregivers that we recruit, we don't, I mean, we go through a whole process. We have uh a recruiter, one specific recruiter in-house that does the recruiting day in, day out. So we are very selective, truly selective with the caregivers. They have to have all their qualifications, um, they have to have the experience and so forth, in order for us to be able to uh refer them to our clients. Um, good quality caregivers, extremely important. Um, delivering what we promised, extremely important, and truly working with a community. I mean, Anthony is so involved with our community, he's out there anywhere you go. People will know who Anthony is. Mr. Angel, that's what they call him a lot of the time. Oh, right.

SPEAKER_05 23:33

Mr. Angel, wow. So they forget my name. So they think they call me your angel, right? I don't know. I go with uh Angel as well. But um, you know, I I think that uh um one of the things I think that's really important. I always said that um if if if these folks can get to an interview with Miriam and the team, then they're good to go. Because I think there's there's also an intuition about people, I think that you have to have in some level, um, you know, depending on really well, ours is like the customer service, but that translates to everything else, you know, compassion uh and caring is part of customer service, right? So I think it translates really, really well. And our team who's been with us, you know, we've got a uh pretty much a mature team in terms of years. Uh they they see it. I mean, they feel it. I mean, they'll have the conversation. Are we sure that's this young lady can go with so-and-so? Are they a match in some levels? Are they do they have it? Qualifications are amazing, but I would tell you that I think part of it is really understanding whether or not they can they do this as a vocation, I like to say, as opposed to a job, right?

SPEAKER_01 24:44

Wow, wow, that's that's powerful. That is powerful. So uh, you know, I gotta say this, uh Anthony and uh Miriam. I know with uh with the wonderful business that you guys have built over the years and the successes you've had, I'm sure there must have been some challenges along the way. Because as we all know, no business is you know, there's ups and downs, right? So what would you say are some challenging times you've had? I know you talked about the I know you talked about the uh recession. Go ahead, go ahead, Mira. Right.

SPEAKER_00 25:11

Yeah, the biggest challenge that we've encountered throughout all these years was truly during COVID. Wow. COVID was definitely one that um really scared everybody. Yes, it is scared everybody because that's where we ended up losing so many caregivers because they were afraid. We ended up with so many clients that needed our services, but we couldn't service them because we were short of caregivers throughout. I mean, Miami Dade in an emergency status everywhere. We would get calls from other organizations, from nursing homes. Do you have caregivers? Can we share your caregivers? Yeah, that's how difficult it was. It was very challenging to the point we ended up having a waiting list for clients, which the history of our business have we had a waiting list. And that was astonishing to us. But, you know, with time we came through and caregivers started coming back. But during that period, it was scary and it was very difficult, and I felt like we couldn't do what we wanted to do because we were lacking the proper people to go out there to take care of the clients.

SPEAKER_05 26:30

So I have to tell you though, that um um Miriam and and our team uh and and Miriam's leadership really, because I was uh a bit uh more nervous than she was about because you know think about it, we had the elderly, which were probably much more susceptible to COVID.

SPEAKER_03 26:48

That's true.

SPEAKER_05 26:48

Uh, and we had uh a group of people who were going possibly to uh between you know uh families, you know, working with other families, so they could possibly be impacted by that, possibly carry it to other places. Right. Um, but I have to say, with her leadership and her thoughts, so what we did to and and really it it it really kind of insulated us from any major problems was you know, Miriam said, okay, what we need to do, we're gonna get uh we're gonna get a package together. Uh we you know, with like a care package for the character, uh gel, we had masks, we had shields, we had gloves. I mean, we ordered from Amazon, I think, thousands of protective devices. Um, and you know, to that first year of 2020, I have to say, I think one client passed away, and that was only because her family member decided to go out and gallivant and brought home the COVID to to his aunt. Um, and and and that was unfortunate. Um most of the caregivers were not impacted by that uh at all because we protected them. Uh, there was one caregiver who you know decided that really she was it a lot of people had a lot of different thoughts about what this was.

SPEAKER_03 28:08

That's true.

SPEAKER_05 28:09

Uh, and she got sick, but unfortunately, uh fortunately, she she um survived it. But but I would say that first year, um, we basically uh because of Miriam's diligence, we were insulated from anything tremendously worse than it could have been during that time. Wow, uh, everybody took the same precaution because I remember seeing our visiting angels uh you know uh franchise, you know, everything online and what people were dealing with throughout it, and you know, measuring ourselves how how are we doing? How is everyone else? How are they protecting their clients and their caregivers?

SPEAKER_01 28:49

So yeah, wow, wow, wow, that this is awesome. Let me just ask you folks. I mean, for by the way, just just if I may just say something about about the COVID years, those were terrible years, scary years, yes. I mean, we we lost so much business, we thought we're gonna go out of business. Oh, yeah, seriously. Wow, yeah, we lost business too. We we did get it, sure. There you go. It was it was but you know, but uh I tell you when you believe in something and you believe in God, you know, um you believe that He can pull push you pull you through anything, which I'm sure that's what you guys felt too, you know, because everybody felt the world was collapsing, right? Yeah, that's really what it was. We were scary church, but uh we're glad we're glad we're able to pull through and we're we're talking, and that's an array of your mirror, right? That's the good part. That is a good part. That's right, yes, yeah. I was gonna ask you guys um for someone who is just starting out today, getting into what we do home care, serving seniors and folks with disabilities. What's one piece of advice? Or maybe from from I know you guys are real smart, maybe you know, two from Anthony, two for Miran, or however you want to do it. What are some pieces of advice you would be able to give someone starting out that would help them prevent some of these pitfalls? I mean, they're gonna have to go through challenges like the rest of us, right? But what would you say to folks that are getting into this business and looking to serve?

SPEAKER_00 30:07

Well, for me, the number one thing to make sure this is something they're going to love, not just like they have to love this kind of work, they have to love working with people because you're dealing with elderly, you're dealing with families, you're dealing with caregivers. So you're gonna have that contact, constant contact with other people. If you're not a people person, this is not for you. So really consider thinking very carefully that this is the kind of work that you're going to want to do. And then the second um advice I would give is that as you as you grow, as you see your growth process, start adding help. Do not do it all on your own because that is when you're going to fail. You're always going to need someone, you can do it alone. I know we all want to do it ourselves. We want to do it all.

SPEAKER_02 31:09

That's right. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 31:10

I can tell you that if you don't have the help, you don't have the assistance, you are not going to grow. You're going to stay in the same place. So add people as you see growth, continue adding, adding uh positions, adding, you know, like for example, for us, we have a recruiter, we have the administrator, we have schedulers, um, we have a person that takes care of my phones at night. I don't want to have a machine, I want to have a human being answering the telephone. So I have one person that works remotely for nights and weekends, which works beautiful for her. Um, and so as long as you have the right people in place, and again, that's also selecting the right people because you can have bad apples in the mix and that will bring everybody down. So having the right people, the right culture in your work environment, um, it will take you very far.

SPEAKER_05 32:12

I think for uh Miriam, what Miriam said, so Jeffrey Johnson, you know, who was one of the original founders of this. Oh yeah, oh yeah. You know, when we went into the to the meeting and he talked about, he said, look, uh especially the franchise model, he said this if this is not flipping hamburger. So if if you're not, like she said, a people person who have to deal with both the the senior and then the worker, which is the caregiver, the nurses, and home health aid, and you and you can't handle those people in terms of it emotionally and professionally, then this is not the business for you, he told us. And that made sense when he said that to us, that made sense to us. And then the other thing I would also say is look, you know, uh, this is a people business, and the reason we get involved in the community, and the reason I'm you know, I and somewhat level successful is uh you know, not not only the sales aspect, and I know they talked about it at our at our business builder, that's important, but I think it is a a soft skill, right? The soft skill of speaking to people, uh, but also be creative in your in your sales, you know. Uh be if you're connected with a community, find other ways around besides going to the hospital, maybe going to events where the hospital might be and participating in these things, you know. So be creative to grow your business. You have to work, think outside of the box, you have to come up with other ways to get people to notice you in a good way, yes, and and then want to really entrust you with their with their families and and their business. But you know, again, once once you get that, if you've got that culture in place and you're delivering what exactly what Miriam said, what you promised, always have a successful business because no one can ever wait a minute, Paul didn't do what he promised me. We had a bad experience. Sorry about that.

SPEAKER_01 34:04

I'm gonna go to my competitor. That's true, so true. Wow, that is brilliant, bro. Brilliant. I'll tell you, you know, I mean, what's now we know the secrets to the success. I mean, you know, the amazing situation. Well, I'll tell you, you know, um, thank you all so much. Uh, I don't, I think you've said it all. Did you have one more question for this wonderful guy?

SPEAKER_04 34:22

I just wanted to make a comment. It's it's about the people, and the way both of you embrace that uh philosophy, right? It's the people. Once you have the right people, they're gonna work with you, it's gonna be teamwork, the same mission, the same vision, you're gonna grow because that support system is there to face any challenges that may come. So, well done, and again, your presence in the community because sometimes people getting into the industry they think, oh, I'll just go to this hospital, I'll just go to this nursing home and I'll get cases, right? Or maybe those who are working with the state, they think Medicaid will just send me the cases. Yeah, maybe, but your presence in the community because we don't operate in a vacuum, we operate in a community, and the more you can be present, let them know you, then you develop that trust, and then the word of mouth, right? Right and you can see your business really take off. So, yeah, good job. Yeah, yeah, thank you.

SPEAKER_01 35:17

Yeah, I was gonna say Anthony and uh and Miriam. Uh I would I would be remiss really if I did not bring this up. I see a lot of I see the synergy with you guys. You guys have a special working work working together. Could you share some of your secrets? How do you? I mean, I see that you know, so I can't I I can't go without bringing that up. I mean, what is it? What is the secret to you? How do you guys keep it together? Please tell me.

SPEAKER_05 35:39

Well, I'm gonna say my side, but but um, so we talked about that that first office where we're across the desk from each other. Yes, we're working, and I've got I'm I'm pretty loud. Yes, she looks across the desk at me at me and says, Don't you have to go out there and market somewhere? Uh, which basically means that we have to see in our business what our strengths are, and we uh have done that. I uh I have my own office now, by the way, so I can speak.

SPEAKER_02 36:06

There you go, there you go, there you go.

SPEAKER_05 36:08

But um, we define that basically almost from day one. Yeah, she is um has management and people management skills for many, many years. That's her strength in organizational development and management. So uh, but I'm marketing and public relations, which I did do so so those are the things that we build the strength, and this is how we've lasted in business for 20 years. I know people always wonder, like you and you and your wife Joan, how how do you work together? Yeah, our secret is we've defined our positions, our strengths, and keep them separately.

SPEAKER_00 36:43

Exactly. We truly respect our two areas. I don't go over his, he doesn't go over mind, and if he wants to go over mind with permission.

SPEAKER_02 36:53

There you go, there you go.

SPEAKER_00 36:56

Very important.

SPEAKER_04 36:58

In fact, we struggled a little bit in the you know, in the onset, and um Padre, I don't know if you they know they don't know. She saved us, you know, she came to visit us saving marriage too. She said, So Paul, what do you do? Joe, what do you know? We're looking at each other because we're doing you know whatever we had to do. I said, you know what? Stay in your lane, Paul. Joe, stay in your lane, and we kept it that to this day, and it's worked.

SPEAKER_01 37:23

I mean, same thing you have same thing, you know. You got you you're right, you're so right, Miriam and Anthony. You gotta know your strengths.

SPEAKER_00 37:30

Absolutely.

SPEAKER_01 37:31

This is not competition, you know. I mean, I like to say that it's almost like you know, you wear pants with two pockets, right? I mean, you know, whatever happens is going to the to the to the pockets, right? So it's the same pair of pants. I mean, we just have to know that we're all doing what's best for the company, whatever she's strong in, which she's more running of the business, you know, people's skills again, working with the people team, you know, and all that. Because I kind of get loud sometimes, Anthony. You know, just so you know, I can learn. But I I defer to her, I defer to it, her instincts. She has tremendous insights, which I think I see also from with Marion here, and and I just defer, and it just works better that way, you know. Yeah, if I mean I'll check in with her, she'll check in with me on things that you know, but again, you know, it's it's part of it, it's because it's a growth process involved in here, which we all certainly go through, and and and and that it really happens. But again, I just want to thank you for coming in. Thank you for sharing. You know what?

SPEAKER_00 38:25

I want to give you one more, one more before we business after you leave your office, stays in the office, especially when you have children, when you have family, it when you make so much of family life, and in our world, it happens a lot. But I try, we have tried that tremendously to our benefit, obviously, because we had kids, and so we wanted to, you know, we spend so many hours in our office doing our business. We needed to make sure we made time for our kids as well. So also that was my other very important factor that's very, very important, and and also to add to that, this is a 24-hour business. Absolutely, it's a 24 business.

SPEAKER_01 39:08

So, so but thank you. Thank you. I know Anthony and Miranda, you know what you've done, you've blessed us here today. And I know that your wisdom, the way you do your business, which serves so many hundreds, thousands of people. I might add over 20 years, it's gotta be thousands of people. The kingdom is you've blessed by being a source of work. I mean, just think about it, folks you've had over the years. That's a lot of people.

SPEAKER_02 39:33

That's a lot of people, that's graphic.

SPEAKER_01 39:35

Yeah, so thank you all for what you do. Thank you so much for being on the Home Care Millionaire Podcast and sharing what you do to us and the world because you this what you put out there is gonna help so many other people, you right, you know what?

SPEAKER_04 39:49

I mean, we want to absolutely thank you so much.

SPEAKER_01 39:51

Thanks for inviting us, man.

SPEAKER_00 39:52

Thank you for having us.

SPEAKER_01 39:54

Thank you so much for joining us today on the Home Care Millionaire Podcast. We hope you found inspiration, encouragement, and practical tools you can apply right away in your own journey. I mentioned it simple, folks, to shine a light on the incredible impact that home care owners and their caregivers make every single day, and to give you the mindset, strategies, and faithful wisdom to build both purpose and prosperity.

SPEAKER_04 40:24

Because here's what we believe. Compassion is your calling, wealth is your reward. If this episode spoke to you, we'll love for you to subscribe so you never miss an episode. And if you'd like more resources or have questions to follow live, just head over to at your call.com. We'll be honored to connect today.

SPEAKER_01 40:50

Well, freedom and legacy through your edge. We're turning on every step of the way.