Steve Morris, Right at Home franchise owner, found fulfillment in helping others through senior care. Join Jessica Cornelius, Franchise Development Director at Right at Home, as she talks with Steve about his experiences in the home health care industry. They discuss the importance of building strong relationships with caregivers, clients, families, and community members, as well as the value of delivering high-quality care to clients which creates a lasting positive impact on their lives.
00:27 Background & Intro
In 2012, Steve Morris purchased two territories in Northwest Washington, just north of Seattle. Prior to purchasing his franchises, Steve had been a management consultant and a leadership coach based in Singapore, working with CEOs and their leadership teams in Asia. He did not have a healthcare background.
01:36 Why did you choose Right at Home?
As a leadership coach, Steve started reflecting on the next chapter of his life. His kids grew up in Asia, went to university in the US, graduating and on their own. His parents had started aging and had started failing a bit. Flying back and forth from Asia, he started to see the need for senior care in the US. It made him reflect on what he could do to help his community and country. He saw an ad and thought he could create some jobs, do something for the community, and have a platform to meet nice people. He owned a vacation home in the northwest Washington area and found an open territory in Bellingham, Washington. Steve flew to Omaha, met with Corporate, and fell in love with Right at Home.
03:52 Making a Difference
Steve Morris and his team are over the moon that one of his caregivers, Leon Church, won the National Caregiver of the Year award. There are over 20,000 caregivers across North America and more than 300 offices that can nominate people. It's a fierce competition and is really a spectacular honor to be selected as the best of the best. We are honored that Leon was awarded that honor at the National Right at Home Conference in Kansas City. He is an inspiration for all his staff. If you visit our corporate website and watch Leon's video, most people say they start sobbing. It's inspiring to see how people really care, bring themselves to work, and suit up as caregivers impacting somebody's life.
05:58 A Typical Day When First Starting Out
When Steve started out, his partner Sharon was the boots on the ground while he was taking care of business in Singapore and handling such items as finance, legal, and systems. Sharon was handling marketing and the initial marketing contact. The first year was also figuring out how to get credentialed, what are the requirements, and what rules we need to learn. Steve admits that when he started other businesses from scratch, he had to go through all the steps. But with a franchise, steps 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 have already been figured out. He could just jump on the ladder at rung 6. And the RightStart program provided Steve the education, terminology, support, and game plan to get going. Eventually, he started meeting with the community, speaking to groups of seniors, healthcare workers, and hospital workers, and sharing his expertise as a free service. It helped him build a brand for himself in the space.
09:02 A Typical Day Now
In the last few years with COVID, it really shook the way Steve did business with regards to face to face meetings. He had to figure out ways to stay connected with people. Now we are back in an era where people are embracing face-to-face get-togethers, however, it's still a bit different. Steve is now taking on more board positions, and getting involved in more volunteer and charitable work. He is involved in the State Chamber of Commerce, lobbying politicians that regulate employment taxes and regulations, and the State Home Care Association of America. Steve is also involved with Right at Home corporate roles, serving on the leadership committee for more than 6 years. So he is much more involved in policy shaping.
11:18 Most Valuable Support You Receive
Initially, I needed people that could help me get things going. So all the coaches provided by Right at Home were the most important thing in the first couple of years. Then the performance groups became very important as it is a group of up to 12 other owners from different parts of the us, where we bear our souls and financial results. We hold each other accountable and have formed a really tight peer bond. Steve adds that the performance group has helped him sharpen his focus, increase his conversion rate. It was nice to be able to get new ideas from others.
14:04 Best Advice to a Prospective Owner
Steve says, "You really got to want to be in the people business." There caregivers, clients, families, community members. There is going to be human drama every step of the way. You have to have compassion and passion. It is a relationship business, hard work and persistence.