Adeline Thomas

I attribute my success to sacrifice and reinvestment. I made the choice to not pay myself for years while building this business - every time I was cutting nurses' checks and home health aides' checks, I wasn't getting paid myself. It wasn't easy, and some might think it was dumb, but I chose to take what would have been my pay and reinvest it back into the business. I'm proud of that because I don't know if other owners would be strong enough to make that kind of sacrifice. I built Elderly Savior Home Care completely from the ground up without any big contracts, using literally my own income to fund everything. I started in one room in my house and worked as a one-man show, doing everything from door-to-door marketing to visiting doctors' offices. It was hard work, but that willingness to sacrifice and reinvest is what got us to where we are today.

I would tell young women entering healthcare and business to get their education and never stop learning. Knowledge is something that can never be taken away from you. I'm not afraid to learn - I've joined workshops, coaching programs, and training sessions because I always feel like there's more to gain. Even after building a successful business, I'm going back to school for my second bachelor's degree in nursing because I want to bring more to the table and be able to step in where needed. Don't take shortcuts, especially in healthcare where we're handling people's lives. Build yourself from the ground up and get that hands-on experience. I worked my way up from being a home health aide to owning my own company. Also, be passionate about what you do - if you're going to be in business, make sure it's in a field you actually care about. When you're in business in an industry you're interested in and have a background in, it's so much stronger than trying to do something you have no passion for. And finally, don't be afraid to make sacrifices and take risks to build something meaningful.

The biggest challenge in home care right now is definitely the shortage of nurses. It's a huge issue, especially in New York and New Jersey. Even though nursing is an important field, they're making it so challenging to become a nurse, and with AI and technology, a lot of people are looking for quicker paths - they want to build a business from the ground up in one year instead of going to school for 4, 5, 6, or 10 years. A lot of nurses are also choosing to do travel nursing or work at facilities instead of home care because of the pay and benefits. That's actually one of the reasons I'm going back to school for my nursing degree - I'm hiring nurses and paying them good money, and I thought, why not get the degree myself so I can step in when needed? On the opportunity side, home care is becoming very broad now. More healthcare workers are leaving the stressful facility environments where they have 10, 15, 20 patients at once and coming to home care where they can focus on one patient at a time. There's also a growing need to keep patients in their homes instead of constantly going to hospitals, especially elderly patients who want to age in place. The pandemic actually opened up opportunities for smaller agencies like ours because the bigger, established organizations stopped taking new admissions and started reaching out to us for contracts. Another opportunity is that not many home care companies in our area provide skilled nursing - most just focus on personal care and companionship - so offering both gives us a competitive edge. We're also looking at expanding to other states and eventually franchising.

Family, faith, and hard work are my core values. I'm a church girl - my stepfather's a pastor, so faith is a big part of who I am. I serve as a youth leader and help with the church's finances. Family is incredibly important to me. I'm a mom of two - my son is in college and my daughter is in 11th grade - and I'm married. When you're a business owner, you can kind of marry your business if you're not careful, so I make a conscious effort to pull myself away and spend quality family time, especially on weekends. I have to remember that I have other responsibilities outside of the business. I also value accountability and continuous growth. I work with a coach who holds me accountable as a leader because even though I hold my workers accountable, I need someone to hold me accountable too. Otherwise, you get so swamped with operations that you don't have time to think clearly and strategically. I believe in learning and gaining knowledge - it's something that can never be taken away. I'm not afraid to join workshops and programs to keep growing. Integrity and bringing value are also important to me. When I hire people, I don't want seat fillers - I want people who bring something to the table and help us get to the next level. I expect that from my team, and I hold myself to that same standard.