Vivian Dyck

I owe my success to hard work and determination. I started this business by walking door-to-door in senior places, getting up early in the morning just like a job and going all day long from one place to the next, volunteering everywhere. People think maybe something fell on my lap, but no, it was hard work. I didn't sit on my ass. I worked two, three jobs when I first came to this country and helped bring all my siblings here. My emotional attachment to this work comes from the fact that I was a home health aide myself, so I understand what my caregivers and clients are going through in a way that someone who just chose this profession for financial reasons wouldn't.

The best career advice I've ever received is to be patient. It's easier to be patient, you know.

I would tell women entering this industry that it is a very good career, caring for the most vulnerable people in our society. It's a rewarding career. You know, so you do it wholeheartedly, and you will be rewarded in life.

Right now, the biggest challenge in my field is that it's been very slow getting clients. Everybody is complaining. We are out there with flyers and brochures, and I'm volunteering in senior centers, letting them know they can call me anytime. I volunteer at senior center festivities and help with anything, even helping a particular senior having problems in the bathroom. But despite doing all that, from January to now in April, we have not received one new client. It's been very slow. We have our flyers out there and I've written in the papers, but the calls just aren't coming in like they used to.

The values most important to me in my life are to care for the girls on the field, you know, the girls that are caring for the elderly. They are my priority.