Lara Harris and Cathy Trlica of Caring Senior Service in New Braunfels, TX, recently joined the Best of Best in Franchising podcast to share their journey as mother-daughter franchisees. From Cathy’s early inspiration to Lara’s shift from interior design to home care operations, the duo offers a candid look at how they’ve built a thriving $2.5M business together. They discuss their 20-year growth, staff retention strategies, and how innovation—like integrating AI—keeps them ahead in the industry.
Listen to the podcast or read the transcript below.
Transcript
00:00 – James
Welcome to this episode of Best of Best in Franchising podcast. Today we’re privileged to talk with Lara Harris and Cathy Trlica of Caring Senior Service in New Braunfels, Texas. That’s located just kind of northeast of San Antonio a little bit between San Antonio and Austin is where they’re located at. It’s an absolute honor to have them on the podcast today. They joined the franchise back in December of 2004 and so thank you both so much for being here today. We really appreciate it.
00:22 – Cathy
We’re glad to be here.
00:26 – James
So tell us about you guys’ start. How did you, obviously you’re a mother and daughter and started the business together. Cathy is the mother and Lara is the daughter. So, tell us a little bit about how you guys decided to start a business together and why you chose Caring Senior Service as a business to start together.
00:36 – Cathy
Basically, I met Jeff Salter who is the founder and CEO of Caring Senior Service together when we were doing a volunteer endeavor with the Meals on Wheels franchise in San Antonio. It was part of an advisory council, senior advisory council, and that’s where I actually found the relationship with him. But back in the 80s, I knew I was called to do this work. My grandmother was one who felt that she never wanted to go to a facility and so unfortunately, before she passed away, she did end up going to a facility. And it just cemented in my mind that I needed to do this work to allow people to remain in their home. And so, I had the opportunity many years later to meet Jeff and that was how we started.
01:33 – James
Fantastic. How about you Lara? How would you add to that about going into business with your mother and doing this together?
01:38 – Lara
So, she started it in 2004. She left corporate America. She had, like she was saying, all the doors opened for her to meet Jeff and start the franchise. And anybody who knows anything about this business knows that it can be a lot of work. You know, it’s 24/7 if you do it the right way. You don’t get a whole lot of sleep at times, especially when you’re starting out.
I’m an only child and she was a single mom raising me. I had just finished college actually when she started the franchise. And I was working and trying to get my career started. But in doing that saw her working pretty much 24/7 seven days a week, finding it very difficult to find people that were reliable, dependable, that she could really trust to help her run the business. And so after doing it for about, I came on and started helping her in 2007. Just watching her struggle to find dependable people, I just approached her and asked do you need some help? So, in 2007 her and I just kind of brain-stormed and figured out how I could come in and help her because my background is actually interior design. So, it’s very different than non-medical home care. So, I started helping her and I’m still here so.
03:15 – James
Tell us about the size of your business today. How many different caregivers do you have working for you now in your operation and what’s the size of your business overall? Like what you did revenue wise last year?
03:26 – Cathy
We have about 70 caregivers and about 65 clients at this time. We feel very blessed to be able to serve as many people as we can possibly the best we can. I think probably the success that we have seen has really been about consistency in the marketplace. We were very fortunate to have the same marketer for 17 years so which is very unusual for our type of business and that same face and the consistency of doing what we say we will do. And her being able to be out there in the marketplace with that same consistent work is how we’ve managed to remain very consistently in a growth mode.
04:22 – Lara
As far as our revenue, last year we did a little over $2.5 million.
04:29 – James
How did you guys decide on that location? Obviously, that’s where you guys live. Do you guys go over into San Antonio too or is it mostly in New Braunfels that you mostly do your work? Talk about the size of your territory a little bit.
04:37 – Lara
So, our territory is about 70 miles. We actually both live in San Antonio, so we commute. My drive is about 35 minutes. Hers is about 25. It’s not as long. I have always loved this area. It’s just a beautiful, it’s the hill country of San Antonio basically. Its growing very rapidly but it’s just not a very metropolitan area. So we basically service it as far south, our cut-off is San Antonio. We don’t go into San Antonio, and we go as far north as Kyle which is a little bit south of Austin. And then east we go to Seguin, which is a little farming area, and then west we go Canyon Lake, Spring Branch, which is again a very rapidly growing area, and it’s hill country. There are lakes out there. There are rivers, all those kinds of beautiful things. Anything else you want to add to that, mom?
05:47 – Cathy
Uh, no. Really it’s an awesome territory because each community in the San Marcos area, the hill country, Seguin, and New Braunfels, all of those small towns that were very small when we started have all really grown significantly over the last 20 years. And they each have their own personality. So it’s really great to have the opportunity to serve each of those different life styles, a farming community, a college town, more of a touristy type environment.
06:29 – James
I just interviewed Jeff not too long ago on the Best Franchise Brands podcast, and we were chatting about some of the innovation and things you’re doing with AI now. Talk about how that sets you apart from other people who are offering in-home care for aging individuals and how helpful for you guys to scale and grow your business.
06:42 – Cathy
I think one of what we use in 2 different ways right now, one, we have a program that allows us to evaluate our phone calls that come in and help provide feedback to our staff in the office who are answering the phone to make sure that they are providing the best customer service, the best opportunity to explain our services to potential clients. And then we also have a great program that we are trying to introduce to the majority of our clients and have kind of made it basically a standard of care for new clients and that’s Sensi.AI, which is basically a virtual assistant 24/7 within the home. So, for those individuals who are not able to actually afford 24/7 or they need that additional support where they might be a fall risk or whatever, the virtual assistant is available 24/7 in their home. We get immediate feedback from any type of event that might occur such as a fall, and we’re able to activate whatever we might need to do at that point to investigate the scenario.
08:07 – James
Lara do you have anything you want to add to that?
08:10 – Lara
No, she pretty much covered it. But it does set apart because I don’t know that anybody in our area is utilizing any of those tools and the call feature that she was referencing. It really does help give immediate feedback when and if there is an issue with a sales call or a call that comes in and we need to let our staff know if they need to handle the call in a different manner. So it is very, very insightful.
08:44 – James
What does an average typical day look like for each of you as far as what you’re doing in the business and how you divide the roles between what you’re doing in the business?
08:52 – Lara
So I think one of the things that we really did do when we strategically set up our office that really did help and has set our office apart from some of the other offices even in our franchise system is we strategically — because I did not come from a health care background and I was more in the administrative side and you know that’s what I enjoy doing more so — when I did decide to come and help Cathy, she was more of the field-based, hands-on, out in the field type coverage versus where I strategically stayed in the office. Because what we found was she would get pulled out to cover cases when we had call-outs and that kind of thing and it was really the office duties and the clerical stuff and the scheduling and all of those things would be left to the wayside. So, when that happens it really does create backlog and it creates late hours and all those things. So when I came on board we really did set up a model where we have designated office-focused people and field-focused people to really focus on the customers and the caregivers and then somebody that’s not going to be pulled away and get side-tracked with those duties. It’s really helped streamline and hold people accountable for specific duties, so I am pretty much, Cathy has taken a backseat. For the most part she is semi-retired. (I saw semi because sometimes she does have to step back in and help out when we are, like right now we are short-staffed by one person in our office and so she has had to step back in and do some things with recruiting and that kind of thing that she can do from home) But I pretty much am here day-to-day to help with any administrative things, insurance, 41K, payroll, those kinds of things, and then the ladies below me are helping out with more of the client-based things and scheduling and that kind of stuff.
11:23 – James
Cathy, you are semi-retired now but I’m sure that you’re still quite active in what you’re doing. I’m curious, did you have a background in nursing before you started this franchise? What was it that attracted you? You kind of mentioned your vision and why you got into this business a little bit, but is that something that is required for people getting into this franchise to have a background in nursing or in home care?
11:41 – Cathy
Well, no, not at all but I think it definitely helps. I was not a nurse, but I did work in the health care industry for about 35 years before I started this. So, and I loved medicine and I loved health care, so this was just another step to be able to help support the folks that need that extra assistance and with the background in health it was easier for me to kind of assess the situations and the needs a little bit easier than perhaps someone who might be from a different industry. So, it’s been a great experience from day one really. I feel that it was a calling, and I think it was definitely a successful endeavor from the very first day that I started and I knew that it would be. We’ve been a leader in our franchise for many years.
12:43 – James
What do you like most about being a part of Caring Senior Service, this particular franchise brand?
12:49 – Cathy
Well, the support that we get from the training avenues. We need to ensure that our staff, both the office staff as well as our caregivers, are equipped with the knowledge that they need to be able to provide the care that we would expect. And they do an awesome job with training.
Just the camaraderie with the other owners, the opportunity to discusses issues and concerns, and come to a solution if you haven’t had the opportunity to come up with one yourself. It’s always great to have others in the industry that you can feel comfortable interacting with and sharing both successes and failures and learning from those things that we can always do better.
13:39 – James
Lara, what do you like most about being a part of your Caring Senior Service franchise brand?
13:44 – Lara
I’d have to agree. I think that we’re very supported. I do appreciate Jeff’s vision, and he is very forward-thinking. He’s always trying to be one step ahead when it comes to industry things and I do feel that he really does try to be as supportive to us as possible.
Once you’re part of a bigger organization, I think you become just a number, and you’re not as supposed I don’t think. And so, I do appreciate that we get that sometimes and I know that we can call anytime, and we would get whatever we needed. And that’s very important.
14:33 – Cathy
One other comment about Jeff and his interest in being in the forefront of the industry, he has provided us with not only the AI insight but also his goal to perfect our proprietary system that we use for scheduling and maintenance of our data bases and that kind of thing. That has been awesome as well.
And he’s continuing to work on and improving that system on an ongoing basis. That’s been I think unique to our franchise as well. Because if we do need a change or that kind of thing he is able to meet the need versus having a big system that all the other industry is using and you have to get in line for you know improvements and changes and the ability to make the necessary changes to meet the needs of the business.
15:36 – James
Yeah. Well, it’s been impressive talking with him about some of the innovations they’ve done to be able to help the clients actually communicate with you too, which is really exciting as well.
Just curious about, you mentioned about how you’re the leader of your franchisor, one of the top franchisees within the Caring Senior System. You’ve being doing this for a while now, I guess this will be 21 years you’ve been in business, Cathy. That’s impressive in and of itself. And Lara has been a part of that for quite some time as well. How many of the people that you have working for you, caregivers or others, are still with you today, and to what you attribute that kind of leadership growth where people stay with you and continue to grow their business and what you’re doing in this industry?
16:14 – Cathy
You know, I feel like that our success has had a lot to do with consistency. The consistency of expressing what our vision is, what our goals are. Everyone is very much aware of where we come from, from the perspective of our expectations. And we’ve had again consistency within the office staff, tenured staff for many years. I think that in our industry there is often turnover within the office. And having the ability to have an administrator and a partner such as Lara for 16 or 17 years, we’ve had a marketer for 17 years. She retired a few years ago, but I truly believe it’s just about making sure that people are understanding what our expectations are and finding folks to work with us that have the same commitment to our mission and goals. And we’ve been very fortunate to have that throughout the 20+ years.
17:23 – James
That’s awesome. Tell me about referrals a little bit. I would imagine in your business in particular a lot of your business probably comes from referrals from existing clients who like the care they’re getting. What kind of things do you do to get referrals from your existing clients, and how have you found that helpful for expansion of your business?
17:38 – Cathy
Honestly, I feel like the doing what we say we will do is what helps us to get referrals from our clients. I would say probably oftentimes within a year, we might get as many as 30% of our business from our exiting clientele. And then we also have referral sources in the home, the home health agencies, the hospice companies that we work with closely. They see that we’re committed to what we do and, again, if we tell them that we’re going to be there, that we’re going to staff the case, we’re going to be there. If I have to go staff it myself, you know, even today I would do that if I needed to. But I have an awesome field-focused care staff that are also very committed, and they do understand that when we say we’re going to do something we’re going to do it. And I truly believe that is the secret. Do what you say you’re going to do and prove that they can trust you to do what you have committed to do.
18:48 – James
That’s great. On the marketing side, Lara, what have you found to be the most successful way for you to get in front of your clients and to help them see your services that actually want to hire you guys to be their care provider?
18:58 – Lara
My care managers they go in there, and I found that most of the time when they go in, well both my care managers have lots of experience. One of them has been in this industry for over 20 years and then one of them she was a caregiver for me for 3 years and then promoted into the office. But then she has pretty much been a caregiver her whole life because she helped take care of her mom who was disabled from the time she was 8 years old. So, it’s just in her blood. And so, when these ladies go into the home, they have just the innate ability to go in and sit down with people and for one listen to what they need.
But then also help them through this process of a lot of times these family members, these clients, most of the time have a lot going on when they’re calling us and a lot of times don’t know exactly what they need. So, by listening and talking through the different scenarios, they’re able to really just suggest and help and solve their problem. Typically, by solving their problem and making suggestions and just being compassionate really is how we get our clients. And just building that relationship right out of the gate. And typically, if we don’t get a client, it normally comes down to the cost. We may get beat out by a dollar or two, you know, and then a lot of times they’ll call us in a few weeks because they’re not happy with the company they ended up going with. So, you know that does happen a lot. I mean it’s just all about listening and understanding the need of the person.
21:03 – James
I love that. Well since you guys both started this business, what has been the most memorable experience you’ve had working with a client or working together as owners that’s been just a memorable thing for you that you really look back on with fondness or you’re really grateful to be a part of this business and that you chose to be a part of the Caring Senior Service franchise?
21:20 – Lara
I can say we have a lot of memorable experiences. We had a client pass away it was not last October but I think it was 2 Octobers ago, and he was with us from right after I came on board with my mom. We took care of him for 14 years.
21:42 – Cathy
16 years.
21:44 – Lara
Yeah it was a very long time. And just watching him and his journey with us from the very first day we started with him and just how over the years the ups and the downs and just his journey. I think that has been one of the most memorable things for me working with this company.
22:11 – James
That’s awesome. How about you, Cathy, what memorable sticks out to you that you look back on with fondness and gratitude that you chose to be a part of this franchise?
22:18 – Cathy
You know, there’s so many. As Lara says, there’s so many different memorable experiences. It’s hard to choose just one. It’s really the relationships with our clients. And if I miss something more than anything for so long, I knew every client. I knew them well. I worked with them. I was always capable of going in and assisting with their care if needed, and I think probably just the relationships that I’ve built over time with so many of our clients it was just each and every experience, each and every relationship was unique but so awesome for the most part.
23:03 – Lara
And I will say too you know the ability to help our staff in times when they struggle is also a neat thing that we’re able to do. We have a gentleman that we still get letters from and that’s neat.
23:23 – James
Yeah. Also, for the opportunity for the both of you to work together too. I think I kind of sense that from talking with both of you how much you enjoy working and being together. You’ve kind of done that throughout your entire lives because some people don’t do very well working with family. You guys obviously seem to have it figured out, so how has that been for you to be able to work together as mother and daughter and growing the business together?
23:43 – Cathy
I can’t tell you how great it is to have a daughter such as mine. She’s a special individual as well being willing to give up her own interest in interior design to join me in this endeavor over the years. You know, in my opinion, I owe a lot to her for that experience. And so, she’s got such an incredible work ethic that it’s just amazing to not have to worry that things are not going to be taken care of. So having been able to step aside, I’m not sure I would have been able to do that had it not been for her being there. And besides she is an only child, so we’ve always been very close. Thankfully the business has not really changed our relationship in many ways other than she has a family as well and so we’re just all a part of the same happy experience in life.
24:54 – Lara
Yeah. I mean we’ve had our moments you know over the years. I mean it hasn’t always been, you know, but I will say that it’s been minimal. There’s been many less of those than more, so it’s been good.
25:11 – James
I can tell by just talking with both of you that you have a really close bond and you really enjoy being around each other and you’re really supportive of one another too which is awesome. Because that doesn’t happen for all businesses and that you guys have figured that out so well together, I think that’s a great testament for both of you and how you’ve built your business and care about the people that work for you as well so that’s awesome. Congratulations on your successes with that.
So, for someone listening to this, why would you say being a part of the Caring Senior Service brand would make sense for them? If they’re considering joining a franchise, why should they consider Caring Senior Service as a franchise opportunity to be a part of?
25:42 – Cathy
If they’re looking for a franchise to join, if they are interested in this type of work, I don’t know, you know, I have many friends who have also been a part of other franchises and organizations and looking back on it, the support, the insight into the business, the ability to grow and to have one thing that Jeff does do and this franchise has been very good at in the recent years has been asking for the franchisees needs and experiences. They ask each and every year, we get together as owners and we have the opportunity to share with him what our goals are, how they have supported us or not, you know as far as giving them the feedback that they need to be the best support they can be for us. And I really appreciate that. I don’t know that other organizations do that as well as they do. I think the information is as good as the owners provide to them, as far as what they need to be able to meet our needs, and they have in recent years been awesome in getting that information from us and then trying to implement it.
27:11 – James
That’s a great insight. Lara, do you have anything you want to add to that?
27:14 – Lara
No, I don’t think so. I think she pretty well covered it.
27:17 – James
Yeah, well just in conclusion then. What are you guys most excited about implementing in the year ahead as you continue to grow your business and serve your clients, and also continue to work with the caregivers that work as part of your business? What are you both most excited about implementing in the year ahead?
27:34 – Lara
I think just continuing to push the AI system that we’re trying to get in place and just watching it help improve our business. We have a marketer that we’re going to be training and getting some systems in place for her. And she is very excited, and she is young, and I think she is really going to take the ball and run with it. And I think she’s going to do really well. So just watching her develop over time I think is going to be exciting. Those are the 2 things I’m excited to just see kind of take place.
28:18 – Cathy
I think maintaining our culture, maintaining an ongoing desire to serve the growing senior community that is in our area that is one of the fastest growing senior communities in the nation. So we have a great opportunity to serve and that is our desire to ensure that the folks that need our service are able to obtain it and that we’re able to meet their needs fully.
28:52 – James
Absolutely. Well, it’s been an absolute pleasure to chat with both of you. Congratulations on your successes that you guys have had as you’ve been growing your business. I can tell from both of you that this is a very important calling. You enjoy the work you’re doing. There’s an opportunity to be had for this business for sure because of people aging in this country and with different demographics there’s definitely a lot of opportunity in this space for sure. So, thank you so much for taking time out of your busy days to share your story, your experiences, and your successes with us. We really appreciate it.
29:17 – Lara
No problem.
29:18 – Cathy
Thank you. It was our pleasure.