Brandy Streck has an innate desire to help others and has spent much of her life doing just that. When she started working with her husband, Tom, in his industrial products business, Brandy realized that something was missing for herself. Having a son who requires in-home care, and having cared for her father as long as she could before he needed assisted living after suffering a stroke, she knew she wasn’t using her God-given gifts to help others. She understood the guilt and the burden of the family caregiver, the feeling like you’re not doing enough, but finding it difficult to find somebody who truly cares about your loved one. It isn’t easy finding someone who is professional, yet compassionate.
At different points in her life Brandy, was the lead nurse in hospital operating rooms and worked for physicians in private practice. She later found herself as a supervisor and trainer at a large call center. It was at the call center where she learned so much about managing and leading people, and mastered skills that she never would have gained as a nurse.
When free time allows, she loves to play the violin. She has played at various events all her life. She enjoys collecting rare vinyl records with her son, cooking for her family, and kayaking with her husband.
How did you get started with Stay At Home Senior Care? What inspired you to start this business?
Tom and I worked together on his business, an industrial products business, and while we partnered well on that, there’s nothing personal about it. There’s little personal interaction involved. We talked about it and I looked back over my life, my experiences and education, and the true desire to make a difference. That’s how we decided this is the way to go; this is our calling. This is really my calling.
Above my desk there is a picture with a scripture from the book of Esther. It says, “Perhaps this is the moment for which you were created.” I believe that completely. I know that I’m going to give 100 percent to this business and I know that it’s a needed thing in our community. I will give my very best effort to ensure that it will be successful.
How do you plan to make money?
Simply by providing the most professional and compassionate service to a very deserving population when they need it most. We have sophisticated software that matches caregivers with clients on 25 points. You need to get yourself out there marketing to hospitals and the social workers who work in the discharge offices. They assist their patients when they are discharged and need in-home care through a referral to a company like ours.
What is one marketing strategy (besides referrals) that you’re using to help generate business for your new company?
The best marketing strategy for us is genuine, personal interaction. Just getting out there and being the face of the business. Providing educational materials to health facilities and local community groups alike and letting them know who we are and how you are different from the rest of the agencies. You have to find the clients, they aren’t going to come to you. Word of mouth eventually will be a natural form of marketing for us.
With regard to your home health care business, what is the toughest decision you’ve had to make in the last few months?
That’s a tough one. The toughest decision that you have to make as a business is in deciding what you want to be known for; what you stand for; your integrity. Building our website and talking about our philosophy and mission is a tough thing because you won’t please everybody in what you say about it. However, it is important to be earnest about what you stand for and to put that out there.
What do you think makes you successful?
The thing that makes me successful is my belief in the business, my professional and personal experiences, and my compassion for others. I know that our business will be successful if we hire the best caregivers. We don’t want mediocre caregivers. We want the best and we will settle for no less. Providing quality will make us successful in the end.
What, until now, has been your most satisfying moment in business? What are you looking forward to with Stay At Home Senior Care?
The most satisfying thing to date, I think, is after all the daily hard work, we now have a Stay at Home sign outside of our office! We have a website launching, and for us, we see that the beginning is near. I didn’t think that I’d be able to do some things, like creating a website. I wrote all the content for that and selected all the photos and placed everything on each page, and I never thought I could do that. When you have a passion for something, you kick into overdrive and put your heart into it and you get it done. That’s pretty satisfying to me.
What does the future hold for Stay At Home Senior Care? What are you most excited about?
I am probably most excited about being the in-home care agency that is known to provide top notch caregivers with great follow-up and communication with the family. I would also wish to be known as the agency that goes above and beyond. I look forward to that because I know that is our goal.
What is a recent purchase that you’ve made that’s helped with the Stay At Home launch?
We purchased health care software, the same software that some of the big franchises use. It was a big and expensive decision, but we want to match up our caregivers and clients and you cannot do that by eyeballing a client assessment. With this software, the matching is performed instantaneously. We are also able to perform real-time check-ups to ensure that all the tasks that are required to be completed during a client visit are being completed. Our caregivers must log in using their smartphones, with GPS enabled, so that we can see they’re actually where they’re supposed to be at the correct time. After the caregiver completes their shift, they sign it, and then the client has to look it over and sign it, verifying that all tasks have been completed. There is also a family portal which allows family members to see what is going on and the care provided in real time. They can see care notes, what was provided, and how long the caregiver was at the home. It is truly amazing. It was a big purchase, but probably the best one we’ve made so far.
Is there anything else you’d like to share with our readers?
In talking about our philosophy and mission statement, sometimes there’s controversy if you get into any kind of religious talk, per se. That was something that we struggled with a little bit. I decided that I wanted to be honest about my beliefs, so we included a scripture. Colossians 3:12, which says, “Clothe yourself with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience.” I believe it wholeheartedly.
Our mission is to provide professional home care services with loving compassion, while preserving your loved one’s quality of life with the dignity and respect that they deserve.
We want to provide care and let others know where our hearts are coming from. It’s not just a business. It’s about serving others, to fill a need, to be of service. It’s about really making a difference.