Mike and Addie Walls, owners of Caring Senior Service in Brazoria County, Texas, share their journey from franchise development to running a successful home care business. What started as a personal mission—caring for Addie’s grandfather with Alzheimer’s—became a thriving franchise dedicated to providing compassionate, high-quality care.
In an episode of Franchise Marketing Radio, Mike and Addie discuss how their backgrounds shaped their approach to business ownership, the challenges and rewards of working as a husband-and-wife team, and the importance of building strong relationships with both employees and clients. They also highlight how technology and AI are transforming the home care industry, helping franchisees operate more efficiently while enhancing client safety.
For those considering franchise ownership, Mike and Addie offer valuable insights into what it takes to succeed in senior care, emphasizing the power of a strong support system, a people-first mindset, and the ability to adapt and grow.
Listen to the full episode here: [Insert Podcast Link]
Post Transcript
Rob Gandley:
Hey everybody, welcome back to Franchise Marketing Radio. I’m your host, Rob Gandley, and we are the podcast that spotlights brands, innovators and leaders driving success in the franchise industry, and we have a truly inspiring story today that blends business purpose and personal passion. Joining us today are Mike and Addie Walls, franchise owners of Caring Senior Service in Lake Jackson, Texas. Their mission is to provide compassionate care for seniors, and it’s inspired by 80s grandfather’s battle with Alzheimer’s. So really interested in in learning more about that. But along the way, they’ve built a thriving business and even earned the prestigious. And it is prestigious. I’m very involved with these awards. Franchisee of the year award. There can only be one. So that’s pretty amazing. And so we’re excited to hear their insights on franchising, marketing and making a difference in the lives of seniors and families. Welcome to the show, Mike and Addie.
Mike Walls:
Thank you very much. We’re really excited to be here. Rob, thanks so much for having us.
Rob Gandley:
Yeah, you got it. You got it. So it’s one of my favorite questions. I love to tee it up. Tell me, how did you arrive at being a business owner? And I know that you were in franchise development, which obviously you’re very involved with the idea of business ownership and sharing that, that with someone else. Then you flip sides. So tell me a little bit about how that happened and your journey to becoming a team here, a husband and wife team to build this business.
Mike Walls:
Yeah. So, uh, it’s an interesting journey to get here. That’s to be sure. Um, I had dabbled with, uh, being a business owner in the past, and, um, in the kind of 2008, 2009, uh, bubble burst, you know, that occurred, um, my business at the time didn’t fare very well. So, uh, I was unemployed. I was looking for a job. Um, and luckily, I came to know Caring Senior Service. I had never done anything in franchising before. They were looking to really expand their franchise growth. And so we we both kind of took a chance on each other, you know. And and and that’s how I got into franchise development in, in late 2009. Um, from there, I think we, you know, over the next, uh, 3 or 4 years, uh, expanded by about 50 or 60 units. Um, and what was interesting was along the way, of course, um, in franchise development, you talk with people at all hours of the day. You know, I live in Texas. So if I’m speaking with somebody in California, there’s a two hour time change. Or if they’re on the East Coast, there’s a one hour, you know, and so it might be after dinner or something like that, 80s listening to me on the cell phone, you know, going over the the spiel of what the Kerry senior franchise opportunity is all about. Um, but at some of the conferences and things, she would start to attend with me and got to know many of the existing franchise owners and some of the new franchise owners that I had helped bring on board and I think started to, you know, feel kind of called to this. Um, and, and it was I kind of like maybe for her to, to jump in and give her side here. But. Yeah, but many of our franchise owners, uh, would talk with her and say, you know, you would be perfect for this. You really need to get into this.
Addie Walls:
That’s what they said. Um, my my youngest was starting kindergarten, so I was looking at, you know, going back to work and, um, as more people said, yes, you should think about this. Um, we looked in our own family. Um, my my grandfather, like you said, was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s in 2010. So, um, you know, we were dealing with that for a couple of years, and finally we decided that, yes, um, we needed to, to do this. Um, and that would help me to take care of my grandfather, um, and my grandmother I was very close to. Them, um, I, you know, I, I’m the first grandchild, but I consider myself the fourth kid. Um, because I was stepping in and doing a lot of things that, you know, typically the. Daughter does. So, um, caring senior service just helped us to be able to, to do that. So. Yeah. Um, so.
Rob Gandley:
So how do you think just just kind of made me think of this, but how do you think. That that affected how you guys approached this business, how you approached how you built it. How you now manage it? I know that never leaves you that experience. So. So how how do you think? That influenced the way you run this business?
Addie Walls:
I feel like it, it it gave us, I mean, the ultimate purpose because, you know, I was taking care of my grandparents and then sharing with others how I was taking care of my grandparents. Um, it was very personal because, you know, I did it on the on a daily basis. I got to see it. But I also, you know, learned from my other clients. Um, you know, different things and, and took those things that I’ve learned to, to help care for them. So, you know, it just kind of was all intertwined. But, you know, the main focus being, um, you know, I want to treat people like I want others to treat my grandparents and how, you know, I would I would care for them.
Rob Gandley:
Oh, you just said my favorite thing, the golden rule. I love the golden rule. I wish everybody followed the golden rule.
Addie Walls:
Yeah, it would be a lot better.
Rob Gandley:
Yeah, it’s a little less work. It’s a little less effort. Um, yeah.
Rob Gandley:
Cool. Well, that’s amazing, I, I love the industry. I am in that age range where I have my mom and my dad did pass away at 82, but I was very happy he had that life. And, um, my mom’s 86 and doing pretty good. Uh, but definitely because of my, uh, relationship with the industry and with some of the brands that do such an amazing work, like you guys. Um, I was able to get some some guidance and experience how that makes the other person feel like the family. And I’ll tell you, it was a 15 minute consultation that really gave me peace of mind. We like using the phrase peace of mind a lot, uh, in a lot of marketing that we do. Uh, because it’s so true. Oh my goodness. It was. And I would just encourage anyone listening, you know, make sure you, you speak about it, uh, reach out because it makes you feel better when you understand what to do. Uh, when you’re dealing with parents, it really is a it’s a weird shift when you start having to take care of your parents, right? After all those years of them being your parents. And so, anyway, I had a great experience and felt really good, uh, in that. So so let me ask you, uh, maybe pivot over here to Mike. Um, so you were doing, uh, franchise development, Right. And you and I know that that is for anyone listening. That is the side where you’re helping share the opportunity with others that are thinking, yes, I’d like to start a business and not sure where they want to start it, but this is a great industry and so they wind up talking to Mike and Mike. You helped grow that business. The same brand you’re a part of, you helped grow that. So doing that role for so many years and then coming over and becoming a franchisee. Tell me, were there any were there any adjustments, were there any challenges, any any notable things that you said? Oh my goodness, I didn’t realize.
Mike Walls:
Yeah. I mean, yeah, I mean and that’s what’s what’s pretty funny is I think a lot of people thought, well, you were already involved, you know, at the franchisor level. And, you know, on the franchise development side, you know, this should be a cakewalk. And it’s like, I could talk about the business a lot, you know, and and I even thought I understood it. And wow, being on this side of the table, you know, and and working as a franchisee and an operator was, uh, yeah, there was a lot of eye opening experiences along the way. Luckily, um, my transition was helped so much by A.T. as as we launched our franchise, I was still working in dev, and so she was, you know, the the operational side of our franchise. So we worked in the same office. But I, we were filling very different roles. I was very little involved in the franchise at the time other than, um, a sounding board or sometimes a punching bag, maybe for A.T., uh, at times. But, um, it, it slowly, you know, developed where as our franchise grew rapidly. Um, I needed to to to to pivot and move into, you know, full time working in the franchise. And I remember that conversation I had to have with our CEO basically saying, you know, I’m I’m going to have to quit. You know, I’m going to have to leave the franchise or because my business, my wife, my family, you know, they need me. And, um, and I was really enjoying it, too, you know, which which was which was wonderful. And, you know, not only do we have the opportunity to care for our own family members, um, but getting into that side of the business and no longer just talking about it like I had done previously, I found to be, um, extremely rewarding, uh, both personally and financially. You know, if I’m being honest. So, um, it was it was fantastic. But yeah, the the number, the number one question we get asked is how on earth are you able to work with your spouse.
Rob Gandley:
That’s a that is a testament to your relationship because it’s an I agree I understand what you’re saying. It’s another level, another dimension. But it’s awesome.
Mike Walls:
Yeah. And you know, for us, I mean, working with each other. This is the first time we’d worked, you know, together like this and, um. Yeah, that that is the most challenging part because we don’t get a break from each other anymore. Right. And so it blurs the lines between where does business end and where does, you know our life as a, as husband and wife and a family, you know, and it kind of all intertwines. And I mean, yeah, there’s our kids can tell you, you know, there’s been conversations 11:00 at night. You know, we’re heated about something about the business. And they’re like, guys, can we, you know, please stop talking about business for a change? Um, that’s been the most challenging aspect is not as business partners not being, you know, business business all the time, taking time to step back from the business, be husband and wife, be mom and dad, you know, and do those types of things.
Rob Gandley:
Yeah. Yeah. Well and that as I said, you’re doing a family business though too, which I think is probably edifying on some level still challenging to run a business together, but I’m sure you enjoy a lot of the moments together that that where you’re impacting families, because being married in a family is all about, you know, you want your family to be healthy, but you know, you feel the community around you and the friends and, you know, and so you want them to feel that too. And so you’re doing that good work must be a good thing for your relationship. But I don’t know, it’s still work. Um, but so tell me about your community, though. Tell me about the area you’re in and how did you how did you go about building the relationships and what kind of marketing and, and what is the approach to kind of getting started maybe in that early period. And then now as you’re more mature, like, what does that look like? Who do you work with and how do you get the word out? Because I know awareness is certainly a factor. People don’t just automatically think of you, or maybe they kind of do a little. But the reality is not a lot of people realize what the options are when they experience family challenges like this. So how do you get out there and get the word out?
Mike Walls:
Yeah. You know when when when we we moved back home to our hometown where we grew up to do this. We had been gone for around 15 years, but but we grew up in the area where we started our franchise and where our family was, and we really thought that it would be a cakewalk. Oh, we’re going home. We know everybody. You know this will be no problem. And boy, were we wrong. You know, um, and I think you you alluded to this just a second ago. This isn’t something that, uh, people normally think of. You know, we make decisions, um, about where we’re going to have lunch on a daily basis or where am I going to get my car washed, or where which vehicle am I going to purchase? Even making a house purchase. We make these decisions multiple times over our lives. Oftentimes, the decision to take care of a loved one, um, in the long term, an elderly loved 1st May be Maybe a decision you only make once. Um, and so to get in front of those people when they’re ready to make those decisions is, is quite challenging. And, um, luckily, working for the franchisor, um, this was one of the most common questions we would get by people investigating our brand is, you know, how do we generate the business, right? How do we get the name recognition? How do we market and get that information out there? So I’ll, uh, I’ll let Adi talk a little bit more about that, because, again, I’m still working in dev at the time. Right. So she’s the one who’s pounding the pavement.
Rob Gandley:
Yeah. Got it.
Addie Walls:
It was. It was really cool moving back home and, you know, knowing some people, um, this was a small town, um, created for Dow Chemical, you know, 50, well, 70 years ago now. Um, and so, you know, it was very small and it grew from that. But some of the original family members, um, you know, or families that were here, I was then dealing with, you know, my grandparents, friends, um, people that we went to church with, people that I had known, you know, through church forever and, um, you know, so so it was we still had that kind of kind of close, um, six degrees of separation or something like that. Where.
I could tell, you know, if I didn’t know, you know, the the son or daughter I knew, the grandparents or I, you know, they knew my aunt and uncle or his aunt and uncle or, you know, something like that. So, I mean, that that makes it, you know, really interesting. Um, and, you know, and that, you know, helps helps make you feel like, okay, hey, I know you and I’m going to take care of you, you know, like, I take care of my grandparents, you know, it just.
You know, kind of, um, you know, just your family. Okay? We’re going to, you know, care for you that way. So, um, we we did have to go out and and talk with the healthcare community and, and, you know, because that’s where you find those people that are, um, make need to make those decisions right away. So, um, we did go out and visit with them. But, um.
Mike Walls:
I mean, primarily, you know, talking about these, these people that we knew or maybe really didn’t know, but they knew our family members and whatnot. It seemed like we made those connections after the fact. Those weren’t the driving force of how they came to know us. So the interesting part in this type of business is, again, it’s not something we think about on a regular basis. So it’s really, um, usually in times of crisis where a family member starts thinking about, you know, needing this type of care, which caring senior service provides non-medical in-home care. Um, so caregivers that come into the homes of our clients and help them with what we call activities of daily living. Um, everything from light housekeeping, cooking of meals, maybe running errands, picking up medications to. The more hands on personal care assistance with dressing. Grooming, bathing. Ambulation. Getting around their environment. Um, and so normally what we found is. An incident occurs, an illness, um, a fall, an injury, something like that. That maybe put. Put a loved one in the hospital. Um, and now things have changed significantly for them. And they maybe are not able to, uh, live as independently as they could previously. So how do you catch those people in that moment is what we’re always trying to understand. And so we reach out to the people who are interacting with those patients in that moment. Hospitals, um, home health care companies, which might be providing skilled services in the home, um, rehab facilities that will be discharging patients home. Um, and it’s it’s old school face to face, you know, it’s it’s getting in front of him. Um, luckily, we’re able to have a little bit of a unique story, you know, that we can share with them, which, um, catches ears a little bit easier, I hope. Um, but that’s that’s how. That’s how we drive the marketing and and and get that name recognition. And then we are in a fairly small town. So, um, the word of mouth, by providing superior service, um, you know, takes it from there and is invaluable.
Rob Gandley:
Yeah. I, I can tell you, I, I would guess your, your reviews are, are amazing. Uh, because, um, you know, in this business, there’s such a heartfelt thank you that occurs when that is a mom and dads are good. They’re good. She’s covered. You know what I mean? It’s like you finally figured it out. It’s, uh, it’s a good feeling, but that. Yeah, that word of mouth and that that experience just kind of naturally carries. Right? So that’s your your marketing is your product. Your marketing is your service. Right. Doing the good right.
Doing the good work and it amplifies the good work. So that’s amazing. I love businesses that work that way, just like we just do what we do and then it just grows.
I mean if it’s really good, that’s what happens, right?
Mike Walls:
Yeah, yeah. I mean, you have to be excellent, right? You have to you have to be excellent in everything you do. But, uh, but when you, when the reward, you know, when you get to help, you know, not to besmirch any other business out there, but we’re not selling widgets, you know? Yeah. Uh, yeah. It’s a very intimate line of work that we’re in with a very vulnerable population. And, um, to, to do that, we’re we’re blessed and humbled every day.
Rob Gandley:
I love what you just said. Uh, intimate work with a with a vulnerable population. What a what an important thing to. That’s a great perspective. It’s true. So true. And that’s that is what makes that impact, you know, when when people feel that way. Um. Very cool. So tell me a little bit about, uh, I love talking about technology. I’m a technology. It’s my background and marketing. And and I come from franchise development, brokerage and and way back when 20 plus years now and but was in technology. So I love to get into that. And um tell me a little bit about that. And so you have this real intimate, um, business model. But there’s some technology, right? There’s some things going on and it’s just, hey, how can we help, uh, this population? So tell me, how do you evaluate, first of all, which is there some technologies that you, you’re a fan of and that you’re starting to look at or use or are using? And then, you know, what’s your perspective like? How do you evaluate things like AI coming down the pike? Right. We don’t know where things will be in 5 or 10 years. How do you guys like think about that stuff? How do you use it to help your your your your clients?
Mike Walls:
Yeah. Great. Great question. Um, it’s been, um, what? We’ve been doing this for 11 years, I guess now. And, uh, the changes over the past decade have been absolutely incredible on the technology front. Um, we, um. We were a little cold. Um, we we started off pretty basic, you know, almost Excel spreadsheet type of database. Um, for, you know, logging our, our, you know, our CRM, if you will. Right. And logging our clients and our employees. And we had multiple different, you know, programs and different things. And luckily for us, our franchisor, the founder Jeff Salter of Caring Senior Service, um, is really technology, technology focused. And he made it his mission to create a software just for our business that could incorporate all these details payroll, clocking in, clocking out telephony, uh, tracking progress notes, tracking patients. Tracking employees all into one. Accounts receivable. Accounts payable. I mean, everything got into this one package developed just for our business model. Um, and that happened in about 15 in 2015. And we’re about to adopt the second iteration of that, which is starting to incorporate AI. So that’s incredible. And we’ve had some demos of some of the conferences we’ve been to. And you said it earlier, like, I have no clue how this is going to impact us. I know it’s super cool. Um, it’s a bit overwhelming. Um, and a lot of it is just I’m not a tech guy. Um.
Addie Walls:
Certainly not. Yeah.
Mike Walls:
And and so we’re really interested, you know, from a from a management, you know, how we manage our, our, our business. You know, how that is going to help streamline things and provide efficiencies. With all of that being said, you know, the more time we can spend devoted to our patients and what’s going on in the home and not the the mundane goings on of scheduling and payroll and things like that, you know, we can focus on the things that really make a difference. Um, so that’s been really cool. What another thing that was super cool. I think it was in August of last year. We implemented, um, some AI technology. Now we place devices in the home of our patients and kind of like Amazon. Um, uh, we have an Alexa in here and start talking. Yeah. Yeah.
She who shall not be named. Um, it’s similar to that in that it’s listening all the time. Um, and it’s running that information through an AI model. And when it hears sounds of someone maybe having a fall or calling out for help or something like that, We can get alerts about this. Um, it can also listen for, um, positive interactions between our caregivers and our patients. And it can be used as a coaching tool for us where we can coach our caregivers. Um, we can also maybe coach family members. Hey, you know, you’re dealing with someone with with dementia or Alzheimer’s. Here’s some tips that we can provide you to maybe make things less combative for you. Yeah. Um, but just the other day, we were getting ready to go out of town, and this, um, technology alerted us. Um, and it alerted me, my wife and one of our managers, my managers immediately called the closest family member. Um, I got in the car and started driving to the, uh, patient’s home because it had detected a fall, and then it had detected someone crying for help.
Rob Gandley:
Wow.
Mike Walls:
And me and the family member got there at about the same time, and sure enough, she had had a really bad fall, um, and hurt herself pretty significantly. We were able to be there in about 5 or 6 minutes. And she lives at home. This this patient that lives alone. We weren’t scheduled to be there until about 10 a.m. the next day, and this was about 6:30 p.m. the night that when it happened. There’s a really good chance that she would have not been found by anybody until 10:00 the next day. And I believe firmly that that technology saved her life.
Rob Gandley:
Man, what a great what a great. That’s what I hope for, for our future, where technology is helping us be better people to each other, spend more time and solve so many problems that that that are just, you know, part of living. But I you know, it’s funny because, you know, let’s let’s look at a different story real quick. This is my story. I went home to visit a family member, my sister, and we’re sitting around the kitchen table and just having a nice visit, and she gets a phone call from a neighbor. But the neighbor is in Harris. We’re in Pennsylvania, in Philadelphia area and Harrisburg. The the daughter is calling from Harris several hours away, uh, calling my sister, saying her mom fell, and we run over across the street. Now, that is not a reliable solution. You know, just happen to be home happened to answer. And of course, they’re close enough. They we we all did. Me and and my brother in law. And we went over and sure enough, she was laying alongside her bed. And you know, if we weren’t there, we wondered we always wondered. And I remember thinking, man, that happens too much. It just this is the awareness part. And I believe then your CEO Jeff ride his bike. Didn’t he have a bike? Did he do that?
Mike Walls:
He’s the yeah, he rode it around the country and, um, he got stopped at our location, you know, and we we got to enjoy that. But. Yeah.
Rob Gandley:
Very cool stuff because you know, you know, you wonder how does that happen? You know, this woman was 92, I think. I mean, she had her wits about her and she was pretty, but you know, but physically, you know, it was hard for her to get around. And she had a walker and and so it’s it’s just. Yeah, we don’t want to leave that exposure. It just seems too risky to me to even have someone living alone like that. But but if you’ve got technology that maybe helps with that or, you know, for the hours that they’re by themselves or what have you, you know, amazing stuff, great story. Glad that you’re. So, so tell me, is there anything else that you found like that in the home security, anything like that, that you found that’s really cool or that you’re using or.
Mike Walls:
I mean, we, we’ve tried a number of different things. And of course, there’s all kinds of gadgets and stuff that come along to right that. So yeah, not all technology is good and, and you know.
And bears fruit. Right. But um, this one in particular, we’re really, really excited about about what AI is going to do, you know, and, you know, like I said, the services that we provide, Rob, are, are, are non-medical, but we’re so closely connected with the medical side of things. And of course, we get a lot of, you know, medical journals and things like that that we read, you know, what they’re doing by, you know, doing imaging and running that through an AI model. And it’s finding things that humans missed. And I just think in the grand scheme of things, um, especially, you know, just looking at our end of the market in long term care, we’re incredibly excited about what that technology, you know, is going to bring. And, and the innovators who are going to take these technologies and use them like I would have. When I think of AI, I think of ChatGPT, you know, or Gronk.
Like that. Right. And and we use that. You know, we’ll use it to write Facebook posts or you know some little marketing you know, thing. But um, to have some type of device that’s listening and keying in and learning, you know, about these situations. Um, we get alerted, uh, you may know this when when someone has Alzheimer’s or dementia, um, a sudden mood change, especially in women. Um, one of the, uh, things that can cause that is a urinary tract infection, um, it’s very common. And it’s a, it’s a it’s a very common signal that someone maybe has a UTI. Um, the AI will alert us to that and it’ll say, hey, possible UTI, so we can make a quick phone call to their home health company or doctor, you know, and say, hey, we suspect there may be a UTI. Would you take a sample? I mean, and it nails it almost every time. It’s incredible. Wow. What it’s capable of learning and doing. So, um, that’s the most significant thing that I think is coming. But again.
Addie Walls:
We don’t know what’s next.
Mike Walls:
Jeff and our franchise system have all kinds of stuff that they’re working on. I mean, and I probably can’t talk about some of it because. He’s pulled back the curtain and let us see it. But it’s truly incredible what’s what’s what’s coming down the pike very, very quickly.
Rob Gandley:
Very cool. That’s great to hear and very important. And it goes back to us spending more time with each other. Right. You guys can focus in different ways with the relationship and being, you know, just human to human relationship. And and you are in that ideal sort of industry where like you said earlier, where you know, you’re you’re a very intimate business model. But I feel all business models can become more intimate because of AI. So I’m really excited what this means for everybody. So we can maybe slow down and focus on each other a little better instead of staring at screens trying to figure it out.
Well, tell me a little bit about we didn’t talk much about training because, you know, you did have a background. So you knew the brand and the industry. Um, but certainly, you know, 80 you had to jump in and learn the business. And then Mike, later on, you kind of came in and had to learn the franchise owner side. Tell me a little bit about that path. I mean, a lot of people probably wonder, you know, do I have to be more medically inclined? Do I have to have a healthcare background? I know it has a lot to do with your heart. So maybe talk a little bit about that, but tell me a little bit about the training and a little bit about what is a good fit. Like who is a good candidate for this kind of a business?
Addie Walls:
Well, I think a good candidate like you said has to have the heart for this. You have to be passionate about taking care of people. And you know that I don’t have a nursing background. I don’t have a medical background. I was a stay at home mom and, you know, wanted to care for my grandparents. Um, I didn’t I went through the franchisee training and, you know, learned a lot. One of the best things that I, that I utilize, you know, still to this day is talking with other franchise owners. Um, we have our quarterly conferences and we’ll get together and, you know, talk about, you know, what’s working in your office and, and just learn from each other. Um, so we have this, you know, close knit family that we can reach out to. Um, you know, I can pick up the phone and call one of the other offices. If I have a question, we can call the corporate office. If if we have a question, you know, about software or about, you know, any, any kind of kind of situation. So, um, I feel like we’ve got, you know, good lifelines there.
Mike Walls:
And not just the not just the procedural stuff or the process stuff either. The, you know, talking about goals and, you know, how how do we see growth? What are the pitfalls of growth. Right. Um, growth can be incredibly challenging. And early on we grew rather quickly. And I don’t think we were prepared for some of that. We didn’t have some of the systems in place, so maybe some of this is a little misery loves company. But you know, 80 is right. These are franchise family. You know, it’s a whole group of people that we all want each other to succeed as, as as each franchisee succeeds, the franchise system as a whole succeeds. And that’s how we all grow together, right? I mean, that’s the essence of franchising. Um, yeah. A little bit of Fran Dev coming out of me here.
Rob Gandley:
But yeah, no, it’s beautiful.
Mike Walls:
But, um, you know, if you’re not in a franchise system, who are you going to go to that you can trust with some of these very difficult questions? Who can you share information with? You damn sure can’t do it with your competitors. Right. Um, and then you can pay for consultants. Are you getting good advice? Are you not? What’s that cost? So I, I agree, you know the the the training was incredible a week at our corporate office and then them coming to our location and helping us both on. You know, just setting up the office. What what equipment do we need? How many computers? Printers. You know all that from those mundane things to. Let’s go out and market. Maybe you have a client. Let’s go see what that is. Let’s hire employees. All of this is new. You know, to us and especially new to to 80. But once you learn those things, you know them. Um, it’s the it’s the more subjective details. And that being part of a franchise system I think has really benefited us.
Rob Gandley:
Oh, yeah, I, I always talk about, like, the cost of a mastermind. Right. Like, you had talked about consultants and things, or you’re involved in groups and networking groups and different, different support groups that might exist for business, but nothing is more powerful than a network of one brand working together in the same direction, supporting each other because you’re all doing the same thing. Similar things, different markets. But that’s powerful. Like, you just don’t manufacture that without the idea of a franchise. And you need to get you know, it’s funny because you got to get there. It takes a while to build 100 units or whatever. In fact, how many units do you guys currently have right now?
Mike Walls:
I don’t even know right now.
Rob Gandley:
Quite a few, but but the point is, you got a lot of people, right? There’s a lot of personalities, a lot of different, a lot of talent. Right? A lot of skilled people that come in and become franchisees. So it’s pretty exciting in that sense. But you guys did something pretty special because not a lot of people can do what you did. And I think it was it was 2018, if I get that right. But you want franchisee of the year. And I wanted to kind of talk to you about that. Like and maybe couple that with any advice you might have for any new franchisee. Right. Maybe it is coming into your brand, but just in general. And how do you get to franchisee of the year? Tell us a little bit about why that was and how did you make that happen?
Addie Walls:
I know how we got there.
Rob Gandley:
It just happened.
Mike Walls:
I was so happy to get it.
Addie Walls:
You get there.
Mike Walls:
I know. I mean, I think she makes a really good point, you know, 2015 or thereabouts. We started on this very new, uh, software system that, that, that Jeff had developed, the franchisor had developed for us. And, um, my, my lovely wife, who is not the most technologically gifted, and that she admitted to earlier, um, she from day one said, I’m just embracing this, you know, out with the old, in with the new. Um, and, and she’s a bit risk tolerant, you know, and maybe not the earliest of adopters, um, but had faith. We we we started in 2014 and, um, we, we had already seen that the system works, you know, over the first couple of years. And so I think it was easy for us to make that decision, you know, just adopt it. Don’t push back. It was difficult. You know, change is hard at times. Very hard. Especially anybody listening. I’m sure most of the people listening to this will have been through these types of software changes and things like that, and it can be very difficult. Um, but we trusted the process. We trusted the system. Um, we worked incredibly hard, you know, I and and and by this time when, when, when she won franchisee of the year, um, I was now in the business with her.
It was demanding, um, us and we were also at a, at a bit of a, a crossroads of what’s the next step forward, you know, in growth look like for us. How are how can we not be both in the business. You know, daily, you know, in the daily grind of it. All right. We know that that can’t continue if we wish to grow. So you know, how do we expand it. So we were kind of in, in those, uh, discussions at the time as well. But, um, I think, you know. Having the 80s since day one, her, her mantra has been I just she never says no to any patient. And no matter the difficulty, um, the success of our business, while we have a great system, um, the success of our business is her incredible work ethic and passion to not leave any of our patients ever, you know, never question that. We won’t be there, you know, for them.
Rob Gandley:
It’s people first. Right? People first. And it’s good.
You gotta have a good system to make sure you can do that. Right is because otherwise you may not stay in business. And that’s always a struggle with any kind of business. Right. And that’s a little bit what we said before is I can maybe relieve some of the pressures that we have as business owners just with administration or different things. But but if you say to yourself, our culture is about people first, we’ll worry about it later. We have the systems in place to help us be able to do that. Right. That way, the that’s the way the families always know you’re like family. And it’s like you said, and you have that level of trust. And once that’s there and that that pays back in dividends is what I would guess. Then people talk about you and share the story and you just get more referrals that way. And and it just that’s beautiful because it’s based on what we said earlier, treating people the way you want to be treated. So I think that’s pretty cool to be able to do that in your business.
Mike Walls:
Absolutely.
Rob Gandley:
I wanted to ask you real quick, and then maybe we can wrap up with any advice you might give to anyone thinking about the industry, right? Because I think at this point it’s one business ownership. But there’s something special about this industry. And we we need good people, right? There’s no doubt. Um, so any advice? But before that, is there anything about this business model that you would think people would get the wrong impression? Like, is there something different about running it that you weren’t you didn’t realize and now you realize? Uh, anything like that, that just kind of on the surface it seems kind of obvious, but is there something you were kind of surprised you about business ownership and you maybe pleased you something that was, um, you know, it was nice to find out.
Addie Walls:
I think probably the biggest surprise to us was employees. Um, just learning how to manage employees. Um, I think that, you know, they we learned how to take care of of seniors and the processes for that. Um, but, you know, when you’re dealing with human people, it’s, you know, on both ends. They’re they’re they’re humans. And, you know, they do things, they get sick and and you know, there’s just there’s it’s not it’s not an easy black and white. Um, so you have to learn to adapt and learn how to, you know, figure out, um, how to best manage. I think that’s probably the biggest, biggest hurdle and an ever changing hurdle.
Rob Gandley:
It sure is.
Mike Walls:
Yeah. It’s this is not a transactional business model in any stretch. You know, there’s oftentimes our our employee is with a particular patient, uh, for, you know, for six, eight, up to 12 hours at a time. Um, they do become like family. And so challenges are setting boundaries. Um, but we also have a very diverse workforce. I’ve got employees who are in their 60s. I’ve also got employees who are 22, and they’re doing the same job. Right. But the way they go about doing the job, or the way they go about communicating with each other or with us is very different from one another. You know, um, my 60 some odd year old employee, um, will come to the office and wants to speak face to face or at the minimum, wants to get on the phone. My 23 year old employee doesn’t want to have anything to do with talking to me on the phone. They would rather do it in a Snapchat or a text message or something like that, right? Yeah, that’s been super challenging for us. You know, we’re Gen Xers and, um, ah, I mean, our children are the age of some of our younger. Well, let me back up. Our child does one of our our oldest child does work for us and does marketing.
Yeah, he’s he’s been texting me during this. And I’m like, bro, I’m in a podcast right now. You know, I worry about you borrowing the truck to pick up a couch later, you know?
Rob Gandley:
Yeah, yeah, yeah. That’s funny.
Mike Walls:
So I think, you know, I think to her point, you know, that us learning how to manage this diverse group of employees has probably been one of the most challenging aspects of running the business. And, uh, uh, it’s been rewarding at the same time. Um, because we learn a lot, you know, through that process as well.
Rob Gandley:
Yeah, yeah, they become part of the family. Right? It’s just it’s it’s all of it. It’s the community. It’s your it’s your clients. It’s your employees. It’s. You gotta you gotta figure it all out. But it is part of the family and and, uh. Yeah.
Mike Walls:
Well, you know, and and 81 the franchisee of the year award. Well, just last year, it was one of our caregivers who won our national, uh, caregiver of the year across our entire system. We were lucky enough that our, one of our employees was the caring senior service caregiver of the year. Her and her husband went to our owner conference in Cancun, um, all expenses paid. You know, she was completely blown away. And they announced her in front of all of these different franchisees at our annual conference. And I mean, tears and cheers. And it was it was such an overwhelming experience, uh, for us. I can’t I mean, I can’t imagine what Christina Devine, our character of the year, what what she thought about all of that. It was it was really incredible and so proud. Yeah.
Rob Gandley:
Well, I think that.
Addie Walls:
That second this year.
Rob Gandley:
Well, I was going to say it has something to do with both of your heart. Right. And the way you approach things, obviously you’ve been given the framework and the brand and that’s a big part. But yeah, that’s saying a lot. Yeah, that’s saying a lot. You won two very big awards and there’s a lot of you out there. So you, you that’s pretty important. So with that I wanted to to to wrap our conversation up, but make sure that you shared how folks can, um, get Ahold of you in your local market. Maybe share that. And then if you had one last piece of advice for anyone, again, just maybe one thought that you wanted to leave with anyone thinking about participating in the industry, either as an employee or as an owner, but just just anything at all you’d want to leave with the audience.
Mike Walls:
The the easiest way to reach out to us is through our website. It’s very simple. It’s the name of our company, Caring Senior Service. Com. Um, absolutely. The best way to get Ahold of us 24 hours a day, seven days a week. We’re always available. Um, we service an area, uh, in Brazoria County. We’re in Texas, uh, south of the outer skirts of the Houston metro area. Um, in our in our headquarters in Lake Jackson here. So, um, as far as the best piece of advice, um, you know, being on the franchise development side, you know, you having a long career doing that as well. Um, you know, you know, 99% of the people that we talk to do not wind up moving forward, you know, with, with your particular brand that you’re representing. And so I think it’s important to, you know, I remember when I first got started, you know, they said, uh, this guy loves to play golf. He wants to get into a golf franchise. The last thing you’re going to do running a golf franchise is play golf, because you’re running a business.
Mike Walls:
And so you know that that business, the the process of running the business is what is the most important aspect in my, you know, in my viewpoint of what someone needs to be looking at when evaluating any franchise system, but specifically caring senior service. I can think of very few things that are as satisfying, gratifying, and rewarding as taking care of our loved ones. Um, and there are a lot of us who are not nurses, are not doctors, but who have a servant’s heart and feel compelled and called to serve each other. That that this is a really, really incredible fit. And, you know, a lot of people are nervous or scared. You know, starting a business is, is, is is every bit as big as buying that first home as making, you know, as getting married? Um, it is a life altering decision. Um, and so the more someone can research and really soul search, what motivates them, what makes them happy, if it’s to serve others in some capacity, if it’s a desire to excel in everything that you do. Um, then, you know, caring senior service, I think is a is an excellent choice for someone who’s looking at something like that. Uh, it doesn’t have to be. You know, I care about giving, you know, old people a bath, right? It doesn’t have to be that, you know, but. But this this desire to serve one another, someone with a servant’s heart, you know, is is ideal for what we do. And, uh, if anybody has a a question about that or wants to, you know, look into that, reach out to me on my website also. And, um, I’m willing to share. I’m always willing to share. I’ve had nothing but mentors. We’ve had mentors both in the system and outside the system. Um, I love sharing our story with others and and willing to do so with anybody who’s who’s willing to ask.
Rob Gandley:
I and I, I hear that a lot on these conversations. And I always tell people, take them up on it. Take them up on it. That’s the thing about the franchise industry is it’s very giving, uh, very, very giving. And, um, and that’s good because you’re all, yeah, you’re serving all the time. Right? You’re helping those folks to hopefully they get to the place they got to go. And we have better business owners everywhere. Um, but, Eddie, what do you think was a good piece of advice?
Addie Walls:
A piece of advice for someone starting in senior care. Um, I don’t know. Look. Look at your heart.
Rob Gandley: It’s that it starts there, right? That’s what’s driven your success. So it’s not just. It’s not that complicated. Well, it’s awful. It’s awful hard, right, to say. It’s easy to say, oh it’s just about your heart. But that is easier said than done. It has to be in your heart. So don’t don’t force it. So anyways. Well listen you guys, I appreciate you sharing your journey. I appreciate the work you do because as I said, I’ve kind of been in that a little, um, and experienced it on the other side. And, uh, it is great work. It is an industry that is obviously going to be propelled here in the future with aging population really starting to accelerate, as you guys know. And, uh, so thank you for the work you do. And thank you for sharing your story with us today.
Mike Walls:
And thank you, Rob.
Rob Gandley:
You’re welcome. You’re welcome.
Mike Walls:
Thank you for having us. It’s been a real pleasure. And it’s been it’s been a joy to talk with you today. Thank you.
Rob Gandley:
You got it. And I just want to thank the audience for tuning in and and keep on tuning in. If you like what you hear, share it. And, uh, we appreciate you too. And bye for now.