Q2 Executive Update with Margaret Haynes

Right at Home's President and CEO, Margaret Haynes, spoke with Sr. VP of Franchise Development, Jen Chaney, on the company's goals for Q2. Entering the year with strong growth potential and an abundance of opportunity, Margaret speaks to the booming senior care industry. Learn how franchising may be the right path for you and how Right at Home sets itself apart from other senior care franchises.

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Transcript

SPEAKER_03 1:07

He came here, he brought me uh Taco John's. That was my request.

SPEAKER_06 1:12

I love it.

SPEAKER_03 1:13

I was on a zoo with Brady and I was like, Jimmy's coming here, he's bringing me food. He's like, What's he bringing you? I'm like, tacos, and he's like, from where? I'm like, Taco John's.

SPEAKER_06 1:23

Whatever works. We went to J.

SPEAKER_03 1:26

It is my special day.

SPEAKER_06 1:28

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 1:28

Okay. And I want taco.

SPEAKER_05 1:30

Taco John's. Great potatoes.

SPEAKER_02 1:36

Some people request like mahogany steakhouse. This girl requests tacos from taco jack. Yeah. I love it. Okay, I gotta get my out of here.

SPEAKER_05 1:59

We don't have a headshot for Don Orlando.

SPEAKER_02 2:06

Did you check his website?

SPEAKER_00 2:08

Not yet. There is not a single good picture of him on the internet. Because he just had an anniversary and I was like begging him to send me a photo. So I have like one, but it's like really it's not good.

SPEAKER_03 2:24

And there isn't anything like in our records?

SPEAKER_00 2:27

Nothing.

SPEAKER_05 2:29

How about Tony Fenno? Because I see we don't have anything in Monday either.

SPEAKER_03 2:34

Hi Margaret.

SPEAKER_05 2:38

Those are the two that we need.

SPEAKER_03 2:40

Of course, they're not readily available.

SPEAKER_05 3:15

I know we have one registered. We don't have as many people registered because we do have the website on freeze right now. And so I wasn't sure, but Jenna picked out a reminder to everybody. That's in her pipeline. So essentially we may not have as many live participants, but we do have one that's registered so far.

SPEAKER_03 3:41

So that's I am totally okay. I mean, we've done these webinars where there's zero people in the audience because we know the bulk of the watchers are people who watch it from our resource library, and we get a ton of viewers, I suppose is a better word to use versus watchers.

SPEAKER_05 4:00

We got ourselves a watching.

SPEAKER_03 4:07

I have some fun questions for you today, Margaret.

SPEAKER_01 4:09

Oh, awesome. It's your birthday, so I should be able to ask you some.

SPEAKER_06 4:13

Ooh. I like it.

SPEAKER_03 4:15

That's not how this works.

SPEAKER_02 4:23

Oh, goodness.

SPEAKER_04 4:25

Yeah, I'm having a wacky hair day. All my curls are like.

SPEAKER_06 4:35

All right. It looks great. Perfect. All right, we're gonna go live.

SPEAKER_03 4:49

Hello everyone, and welcome to this Tuesday talk. I have my friend Margaret joining me today. Um I'll have her introduce herself here in just a moment. Um, but before we get started for our live listeners, our live viewers, we love audience participation. So if you have joined us live, um, I encourage you to ask a question. And you can do that by means of clicking on the QA button on your Zoom screen. It's most like at the bottom of your screen if you don't see it. There's a little button that says more. It's a circle with three dots in it. Click on that bad boy, and then you will see the QA button. Click on that and you can type in a question. So, Margaret, I will watch the QA box. You don't need to monitor that. I will watch it. As questions come in, I will make sure that I ask them and you can answer them as we are having a conversation. Does that sound like a plan?

SPEAKER_01 5:43

Sounds great.

SPEAKER_03 5:44

Okay. If you would please introduce yourself to our listeners.

SPEAKER_01 5:49

Yeah, so such a pleasure to be on this call with you, Jen. So yeah, I'm Margaret Haynes. I'm the president and CEO for Right at Home. Um, been sitting in this position for gosh, I think it's right at four years. Um, but I've been with the company 15 years. So I served as a COO from 2014 until 2022 and joined the organization in 2011. And I love getting up and coming to work every day. It is such a great industry and such a wonderful brand to be a part of. So uh appreciate the opportunity to spend this half hour with you.

SPEAKER_03 6:21

Yes, and we're glad you're here as well. Um, okay. So I know I asked you this. Um you and I do these interviews at least once a quarter, uh, I would say, uh, if not every other month. But I I typically like to ask a lot of the same questions because a lot of things change from the last time uh you and I visited. So uh if you would please just uh as of uh current timestamp, it is April 7th, 2026 today. If you would just kind of give a current State of the Union to our listeners and home care in general, that would be great.

SPEAKER_01 6:55

Yeah. So I mean it is an uh absolutely exciting time to be in our industry and certainly part of right at home. So 2026 is off to a record-setting year from an overall network perspective. I mean, we are already crushing through like the highest hours ever. And we um what gets us so excited about that is that that means, and we are looking at how many hours the whole entire network across the U.S. alone, not even counting our our international partners, how many hours of care we're providing in a single week, and we just keep crushing those records. And that gets us excited because that just means that we are helping so many families and seniors age gracefully wherever they call home, and that's what gets us excited. We we are really passionate about our mission to improve the quality of life for those we serve. And I keep saying, and we're just getting started, and I say it's such an exciting time to be a part of the industry, is just we really are, even though now we're a 31-year-old brand and 26 years in franchising. It is amazing to think that we are just scratching the surface. When you think about the aging population, and it isn't until 2030 that all the baby boomers are at least 65. And so we, you know, our our peak age group that we get to services, typically, when I look across the entire network, it's between 80 to 85 years of age. That population doesn't even hit that peak, the big boom of the boomers, till late 2030s and 2040s. And so, I mean, again, we really sitting here in 2026 with that many years as being a brand and growing and touching lives in a meaningful way, we truly are just starting. And to me, that is super exciting. Um, with so much opportunity ahead for all of our franchise owners to build sustainable, profitable businesses, and in doing that, uh touch lives in a really meaningful way.

SPEAKER_03 8:49

And I can just hear the excitement in your voice, and I am the same because we know being in this industry, like how truly wonderful this business is right now in 2026.

SPEAKER_01 9:02

And we're just starting.

SPEAKER_03 9:04

I know, I know. So I don't think it's super exciting, and I get excited when I talk about it, and I can just hear the excitement in your voice as well because it truly is an incredible opportunity and um an opportunity I'm hopeful that the our listeners and the people who do research on just home care in general, that they truly know the the opportunity that that lies ahead. It's a great opportunity now, but gosh, looking ahead to the future, it's it's pretty awesome.

SPEAKER_01 9:29

Yeah, yeah, it's it is very exciting.

SPEAKER_03 9:32

Yes. Yes. Okay, how about um for brand new franchise owners? And I I again I I mentioned I I'm gonna ask you a lot of the same questions that I've asked you before, Margaret, but a frequently asked question that we still get um today, as we always have, is you know, what sets right at home apart? You know, thinking of the people that are doing research on potentially joining the right at home brand, they're looking at other home care brands, senior care brands. Um I always ask, you know, why would we choose right at home versus someone else? And what sets right at home apart? Um, and what makes you different than others? And, you know, um, all of those FAQs. Um, I would love you to answer that question. Um we generally all have the same answer when it comes to that, um, but just would love to hear it from yours, your per your perspective.

SPEAKER_01 10:28

Yeah, absolutely. So it's a great question, and certainly we would want prospects to be, you know, looking across the industry and whatnot, because that's where you start to feel what sets right at home apart from the rest. So when you think about a service-based industry, one that is built on building relationships and you're going in and helping people with very personal things as we go in and help seniors age gracefully wherever they call home. The tasks themselves, so let's say mom needs help with bathing and grooming and maybe some light housekeeping and some cooking and and whatever else, the tasks themselves you can find replicated across different brands. But what we differentiate on is the way in which we approach it, the fill, the experience that is created. And we focus on the experience from all franchise or we think about the experience for the prospect that then hopefully becomes a franchisee. We want that to be a great experience and we want it to feel different than any other brand that they might engage with, just as our franchise owners, as they're building their staff, they want the culture in their office to feel different than it does any other brand that they might choose to work with or any other job they've had before. For the caregivers, we want it to feel different working for the right at home, the local right-at-home owner, than it is for anybody else down the street that they might go and get some hours from. Because that's how in a service business you differentiate. And so it's hard to say, well, it's this, this, and this, because it's actually an experience. It's the way in which we make you feel that truly is a differentiator and it's it's palatable. Once you experience it, then you know what it is because it it's it's that unique. Yes. Okay, awesome.

SPEAKER_03 12:19

Um, this next question is is two parts.

SPEAKER_06 12:22

Okay.

SPEAKER_03 12:22

So when you think about franchise owners who are just crushing it, they're absolutely thriving here at Ride at Home. Yeah. First question is what do they consistently do well? Yeah. And the second part is, how do we here at Right at Home support that?

SPEAKER_01 12:41

Okay. So there's lots of things when I think about franchise owners that are crushing it. Uh, what do they do really well? Um, and and it can be as easy as they just execute the fundamentals of the business really well. But I will say some of the call-outs that I'll make is they are highly engaged. So from the minute they decided I want to join a franchise network, they realize I can be in business for myself, but not by myself. So they leverage all the expertise relationships that they can build within the franchise network that helps them grow and be successful in their business. So they stay engaged from day one to day 15, 20, 25, 30 years down the road whenever they take this great asset and decide to do something else with it. So engagement is really important. Our top performers also they are very dialed into the health of their business. So they use what we call the key performance indicators. They use the data, they use the information that is coming out that tells them from an unbiased, non-emotional perspective, how well is your business doing? And they do that in conjunction with their business coach. So they stay engaged with their coach to say, help me continue to grow this business. And they have that growth mindset saying, I'm gonna keep my eye on those key figures so I can make sure that my business continues to grow. Because the minute your business stops growing, it's declining. And and that's not what you get in business for. You're not a business owner. Say, well, eh, I just want an okay kind of business. Uh-huh. Um, the the best owners are the ones that always have that growth mindset. They're always really passionate about touching more lives in a meaningful way. And that growth mindset um makes them open to um dialogue, to feedback, to coaching, knowing that it's not coming from a place of negative. We may still say, you know, give feedback that is um hard to hear, but it comes with positive intent, comes with love in the sense of we only want to help you build a sustainable, profitable business. And then so owners that dial into that, and the last thing I'll say is they have the tenacity. They recognize in any kind of business ownership, you're gonna have the highest of highs where you're like, This is the best thing I did since sliced bread. And you're gonna have the middle of the road, which eh, you know, it's good, and you're gonna have days when it's like, oh my gosh, what did I just get myself signed up for? Yeah. And they holistically understand that whichever day they're on, this too shall pass. Yeah. And and they know that with the the support that's surrounding them, that through the highs and highs will celebrate and the lows of lows will help pick themselves up, help them move through that, go over or under, around, or through whatever obstacle is there, um, because of the alignment and the strength of the brand. So, to your second half of the question, then, how do we support? That is what we're all about. That is why we exist as a corporate office. We get up every day thinking, how can we help our franchise owners build sustainable, profitable businesses? And we recognize each owner is in their own journey based on prior experience, what they're learning, how long they've owned the business, all of that. And we adapt our coaching to where that owner is at at the moment and helping them see the next steps in front of them. So we have excellent coaches, excellent support structure, and excellent uh subject matter experts that can go very deep into any kind of the topics, um, and so have all the resources that as a franchise owner you will have access to. At the end of the day, though, it still comes back to the franchise owner to execute in their local market. And that's where that DNA of some of the things I talked about before are really important. But we're here because we exist to support the franchise network, and it and it's a privilege to work with all of the owners that we have in the system.

SPEAKER_03 16:40

Perfect. Well, well said, Margaret. Um so speaking of, we we are a franchise concept. So you just described the franchisee, franchise, or you know, relationship between the franchisee and you know everyone here at corporate headquarters.

SPEAKER_02 16:54

Right.

SPEAKER_03 16:55

So franchising isn't for everyone. So, you know, people who are exploring Red at Home, they they know it's a it's a franchise concept. And what all comes with, you know, that that franchising, you know, footprint and um, you know, just you know, the the basics of you know uh being part of a franchise. So a concern that people have is like, hey, I am looking forward to that franchisee franchiser relationship, and people are interested in franchising because, and especially with Red at home in our tenure, we have decades of experience and resources and support and like all of those things are in place to help and support you as you start up your business. The concern that some people have is like, okay, I'm a little nervous. I'm part of a franchise concept. Does this mean I'm going to have, you know, um be held down and not being able to be like a true entrepreneur? So my question to you is how do we balance that? You know, like you're part of a franchise um concept, you're, you know, you have a franchise agreement that you're part of, but we instill encourage this entrepreneurship. All of our franchise owners are running the same business, the same right-at-home business, but they do have that flexibility to run it kind of in their own individual way. So can you describe that to our listeners? The the ones out there that are like, you know, franchising, not quite sure because it has just the solid, you know, stamp I'm gonna have to stay within this box and I'm bound by so many things, and I'm not gonna be able to be a true entrepreneur, which I would say that that isn't completely true. So if you could kind of describe how we still give franchise owners that flexibility and that freedom while still, you know, uh following um uh the the footprint of our franchise.

SPEAKER_01 18:42

Yeah, you know, it's it's a great question. And when you think about franchising in general, I do. I think there's there's great stories and maybe what you would call horror stories of different kinds of franchising concepts where all you're doing is kind of an order taker, like you know, the product and everything's dictated of what you have to use and whatnot, versus us and of being part of a franchise network, that we do have rules that you need to follow and key things, but it's around really important things that ensure that it's a protected brand, that it's a solid brand that you're buying into that you feel good about as you open it up in your local market. So how the brand can be used and IP kinds of things. But then when you think about that entrepreneurial spirit, you do have a lot of flexibility in making this your own. You're gonna create your own culture with your office, you're gonna hire your own people to come alongside you and help you grow this business, even with the services that provided. Um, we have some different levels of service, so companion care, private um care, and then also um specialized nursing. And you can decide, you know, where you want to play. Most offices play in the first two levels, and then there's some that decide they really want in to get into that specialized nursing service. That's a choice that you make, it's not a mandate that you, gosh, you have to offer all three levels of service because we too recognize when you move to that specialized nursing service, it's a whole different ballgame. It's it's a different expectation of what you need based on the needs of the clients that you're taking care of. So that's just one example. But but you're able to, in your local market, get out and build the relationship and be the face of that business and really create a culture and a business itself that encompasses you as an individual and and helps bring to the community a service that that's very well needed. So we have some things that you need to have as guardrails because they're they're critical to the brand and critical to being fair to your neighbors and all of that. But aside from that, our best ideas, I will tell you, come from our our franchise owners. They're entrepreneurs, they have great ideas and they feed them up to us, and we love that. And and there's all different levels of that. We have some franchise owners that are very like like trying new things. So they do a lot of our pilots that we're trying because they want to be involved, and others are like, yeah, I want to bring it to me when it's a proven concept and you've got a good, you know, return on investment kind of calculation, and then I'm ready. And we're like, great, then we can bring it to you then. And so I think franchising and the way that we approach it at Right of Home is the perfect combination that again allows you to be in business for yourself without being business by yourself. And it's a really good symbiotic relationship that ultimately can drive great, great success.

SPEAKER_03 21:38

Okay, well said again. Thank you for that. Um, next question. I already know you're gonna be like, ooh, I could talk about this for a solid hour. So this this is a big question. And we've uh I know something that we have been talking about so much lately, just given kind of what's going on in the world. Um, and as a part of the leadership team, as we look ahead to the future. So my question to you is what is Right at Home talking about today in areas of technology, innovation, and AI to help owners scale more efficiently in the future? So again, I don't even know where to start on this one for you because there's so much to talk about and so much going on. Just uh give our listeners just like a general update on on what we're talking about right now and what we're thinking about as we look ahead to the future.

SPEAKER_01 22:30

Yeah. So uh uh if someone hasn't, you know, either interacted with AI or had a conversation with somebody else about AI, um I I would wonder, gosh, have you been interacting for even? Yeah, yeah, yeah. Where have you been? Um so AI is everywhere, and AI both excites me and it also scares me. Um it excites me from the aspect of that it is going to and is already creating efficiency within core operations. And so as we look at our own business, we're looking at AI in ways that it can drive efficiency in each franchisee's office, taking some of the routine things that need to be done in an office, automating them, letting an AI assist with them so they can spend more on the human things that that AI can't replace, and that's the relationship building and whatnot. So we already have AI technology that's infused into like applicant tracking systems and how it's using that to be more responsive. And in in the CRM, a customer relationship management system, it uses AI capability and scheduling software, it's getting infused with AI capability. So on our strategic roadmap, three years ago, we started a plan back in 2022. We did we always kind of work in a three-year cycle. And so in 2022, when we created that plan, there was no mention of AI. Fast forward to 2023, and already we were saying we need to stand up an AI team and we need to stand up an innovation team. And the innovation team is just thinking about how do I innovate around the business model and how do I innovate around technology. So those teams are now established, and AI now sits squarely on our strategic plan very prominently to say it is here to stay, but we want to make sure that we are helping our franchise owners also do it in a responsible way. Because we recognize in our industry we do have sensitive data that we're that we handle, right? So we have PHI, personal health care information, uh data that we've got to make sure is protected. So we are helping educate franchise owners on how you can use AI responsibly, what does that look like? What are the guardrails you should have around it? And then we're testing different AI capabilities with them, and or they're testing it and we're monitoring it because there's so many things happening right now. So when I look to the future, AI is gonna touch all aspects of the business in terms of driving efficiency. I don't see AI stepping in and being a robot that's gonna go in and start to provide the care. And I hope if that ever happens, it happens when I've left this world. Because it's very, you know, uh a very personal thing in terms of the care that's provided in the home. But AI is gonna be a great tool, even helping the caregivers as they're in the home and helping with the caregiver plan uh the care plans that are being executed with that client and being able to predict things more readily, as even healthcare embraces more of this technology. So to me, again, exciting exciting time to be part of this broad ecosystem of health care because things are changing fast and we're right there with them. We're not looking to be bleeding edge. We want to be smart because it is a vulnerable population that we're taking care of, which is what scares me about the AI part, is just the scam side of things that that um can prey on the population that we serve. But we've got so much opportunity in front of us, and and we're all from over it from a technology and leaning into the new capabilities that are becoming available.

SPEAKER_03 26:16

Yes, and I I agree with you. The the exciting and scary part, just thinking back, you know, three years ago when we were just starting to talk about AI and how much it has advanced to present day. Where are we going to be in that regard? Exciting opportunity and it's an exciting ad to our business, to health efficiencies and and so many things. But you're right, I don't I don't believe robots are gonna be re replacing caregivers uh anytime soon. It's just the the AI and innovation is is really gonna help us as far as infusing it into our already awesome business model to help our franchise owners just uh run their businesses in a in a more efficient way. So very exciting, but kind of unknown at this point because it's changed so much in the past few years, and I'm sure it will uh in the next few years to come.

SPEAKER_01 27:09

Absolutely, absolutely.

SPEAKER_03 27:11

Okay, so next question for you. Um so for someone who is doing uh in their early stages of doing uh research on right at home, what would you say if they become a right at home franchise owner? What's the biggest mistake someone could make in their early stages of being a right-at-home owner? What is something like there's one thing you don't want to do, it's this?

SPEAKER_01 27:40

Yeah. So the first thing that pops into my mind is the opposite of what I talked about earlier, which was what do the, you know, the top performing offices do? And that is the biggest mistake would be to disengage from the from the from the corporate office, from your business coach, from the the support and the resources and everything that is there to help you learn this new industry. Because the majority of our owners come in with no background around home care, and most likely no background around health care. We have some that come from a healthcare space, maybe they were a nurse before, etc. But for the majority, most of them come from all different walks of life, and yet we have the help take your prior experience and connect that to a new industry and the way in which you can then use that to build a new business that that um can serve your community in a really special way. So the biggest mistake would be sign on the dotted line and then be like, okay, now I know home care, I'm gonna go do it by myself and operate as if you're on an island because you're not. And we're always here and we're gonna reach out to you and and want to engage with you, but it takes two people to engage. Yeah. And uh so I that's the first thing that pops in my mind is the biggest mistake.

SPEAKER_03 28:59

Okay, perfect. So um, speaking of all the people that we have here at Right at Home Corporate to help our franchise owners, you know, run their businesses, how important is it for right at home franchise owners to engage with other right-at-home franchise owners? Maybe just give some examples of why that's so important and ways that people can do that.

SPEAKER_01 29:22

Yeah. So again, you join a franchise network for a reason, and it's partly because you've got all these resources from the franchise or perspective, but also you can look across the brand and see all these other individuals that are running really successful businesses that started at the same point you did, right? Uh-huh. You know, they either decided I'm gonna start a brand new business or maybe they bought a resale and they jumped in. I call it they jumped on the semi as it was flying down the interstate, but they did it, you know, and and they're in running their business. So it's important to build relationships with your other right-at-home peers. And we help you in a couple ways. Certainly you'll meet other peers as you go through potentially Discovery Day. You might then go with those same people through training or in your training class, you know, others that are going through that process. Uh, an introduction to other owners that are in uh, you know, maybe in your same state. You know, a lot of our states will do some state calls and state meetings from time to time. And then we bring all the owners together every year to what we call home improvement, which we're getting ready to go to in less than two weeks. We're all gonna be together, um, which is also a great thing. And I would add that to the list of what the top do or a big mistake is not coming to home improvement, nine getting engaged in all the different ways that we have for you, you know, for hours, and I know we only have like four minutes, but we've got lots of different ways um throughout your journey in the Right at Home Network to engage with your peers, whether that's through a performance group, whether that is through state meetings, whether that is through serving on task force, um, participating in Takeoff Tuesdays, which is a a regular Zoom call that we do across the network with this, you know, specific topics, you know what they are coming into it, and you get to hear from your peers and learn about best practices. So I, you know, that's the beauty of a franchise network, and that certainly uh the way in which we approach it and the relationships and the connectivity that we have between our franchise owners is part of that culture I was talking about at the beginning of the call that really separates us when we think about what makes us different.

SPEAKER_03 31:34

Okay, awesome. Thank you. Okay, so for someone watching this video right now who is considering joining right at home, what is one piece of advice you would give to that viewer?

SPEAKER_01 31:47

Yeah. So um my my advice would be take advantage of the list of the franchise owners that we give you. We don't tell you who you need to call. If you have specific questions, you know your your development director can point you in the direction and give you some suggestions, but you have the list of all of our franchise owners. All of them. So call them. Call them. Because my hope is you get someone on a great day, and they're like, this is the best thing since sliced bread. You get someone on a good day saying, Yeah, it's good, I'm doing great. And quite honestly, I hope you get someone on a hair on fire kind of day, and they're like, you know, I don't have time to talk to you today, Jen. I've got to go work on this, I'll call you back later. Because at the end of the day, we don't want to sell you a franchise, we want to make sure it's a good match for you and a good match for us. Yep. Because it is it's a wonderful business, you're gonna touch lives in a meaningful way, but it isn't for everybody. And we do our best to try to make sure that that we have open and honest, and the best way for you to know what it's like to run a business is talk to talk to our franchise owners and get to understand what it's like to engage with us and to be part of this amazing network.

SPEAKER_03 32:54

Yes, so very true, and excellent advice. And I would say uh the best advice you could give someone looking to join the Right at Home system, there is no better way to really fully understand what this is going to be like other than talking to our franchise owners directly. So excellent advice. Um okay, Margaret, thank you so much. Our time is up. I uh so appreciate you taking the time to do this. I know you're very busy. I so appreciate it, and I know that our viewers do as well. So thank you.

SPEAKER_01 33:22

Yeah, my pleasure. Thank you so much for the opportunity. Yes, okay, until next time.