A Higher Standard of Care: Pete First on BrightStar’s Mission in Home Health | Nursing Home Series | Senior Care

Anthony Codispoti : Welcome to another edition of the Inspired Stories podcast where leaders share their experiences so we can learn from their successes and be inspired by how they’ve overcome adversity. My name is Anthony Codispoti and today’s guest is Pete First, Chief Development Officer at BrightStar Care. BrightStar Care is a respected provider of in-home care services providing both medical and non-medical care with over 400 locations across the U.S. They are known for their commitment to delivering a higher standard of quality and compassionate care. Since 2002, BrightStar Care has helped countless families through skilled nursing, medical staffing, and senior living solutions. The organization has received multiple awards for excellence and remains the leader in home health care.

Additionally, it earned the Enterprise Champion for Quality Award for requiring all agencies to achieve joint commission accreditation. Pete initially joined BrightStar Care in 2018, having initially served as Senior Vice President and Vice President of Franchise Development at the company. With over 20 years of franchise development experience, he also has held roles at Windmark Corporation and Windham Worldwide. Pete played a critical part in BrightStar Care’s strategic growth and continues to ensure the company remains at the forefront of compassionate care. Now, before we get into all that good stuff, today’s episode is brought to you by my company, Add Back Benefits Agency, where we offer very specific and unique employee benefits that are both great for your team and fiscally optimized for your bottom line. One recent client was able to add over $900 per employee per year in extra cash flow by implementing one of our innovative programs. Results vary for each company, and some organizations may not be eligible.

To find out if your company qualifies, contact us today at addbackbenefitsagency.com. All right, back to our guest today, the Chief Development Officer at BrightStar Care. Pete, first, I appreciate you making the time to share your story today.

Pete First: I’m happy to be here, Anthony.

 Anthony Codispoti : Appreciate it. Okay, so Pete, it looks like you come from a background of building up franchised operations. How did you first get your start in that umbrella?

Pete First: Yeah, it really started right out of college. So I had a professor in college who sort of became a mentor after graduation, and he connected me with a company that did that was a franchise or and sort of started started that way. And I really got hooked on it when I started working with entrepreneurs and people that wanted to get into their own business and do their own thing, taking them all the way through that discovery process into actually opening up their location. And then what really got me was watching them get their family involved and open up more locations, just see how these entrepreneurs come in. And they’re very nervous in the beginning, and it’s a huge life change and big investment. And just to see them flourish, I was I was into it. I mean, I just I just love that that fact and seeing seeing them succeed.

 Anthony Codispoti : So you were hooked pretty early on. So how did the the opportunity become available at then Brightstar? You kind of shifted from the other franchise operations you were working on into this home health care space?

Pete First: Yeah, so I was working, you know, in on the retail side with Winmark. There’s that’s a great company by brands, do some really great things with with on the retail side.

And I spent 13 or 14 years there and had a really good run and just was looking for something else and something different and something in a different industry. And I had known about Brightstar that a great reputation. The founder, Shelley Sun, you know, was well known in the franchising world and had an opportunity to interview and become a part of the company. And it just it was the right fit, you know, Brightstar, the mission that we have and what we’re doing with serving seniors and, you know, in that vulnerable population just it just resonated with me. And it felt like this is another way to be involved with franchising, but with a brand that really every location that you open makes a difference. And so I was able to get connect with with Brightstar and it’s just been a great fit since then.

 Anthony Codispoti : So tell us about the services that you offer. We kind of touched on them in the intro there, but let’s hear a little bit more about it.

Pete First: Yeah, so I mean, we’ve got five revenue streams. That’s one of the biggest differentiators with Brightstar and other brands out there. So, you know, we’ve got companion care, personal care, skilled care, medical accounts, national accounts, and then staffing as well. So we can go in and staff facilities if they need that. So there’s a lot of different avenues for our franchises to go and a lot of different areas that they can thrive in. The biggest thing that sets us apart, there’s two. One is the nurse led care.

So all of the cases that we have, all the clients that we have, we’ve got nurse oversight on everything. And that gives us, you know, there’s nobody else out there that does that. It’s an investment that the franchise has to make. But it’s great. And it separates us from everybody else. And it’s a really big differentiator for the national accounts programs that we run. They love to see that. And then our footprint, of course, across the country with 400 locations now, provides a great foundation of service for the national accounts to utilize.

So really excited about where that’s going. You know, one of the things we did with national accounts, once we had our footprint where it is, we’ve got a central intake. So instead of a national account having to call 350, 400 different offices to get service, they call one phone number, and then we work that out through the system. So that’s been evolving over the last couple of years. And it’s been a great thing for our franchisees. But the core business really is taking care of moms, dads, grandmas and grandpas.

 Anthony Codispoti : The national accounts, is this where the staffing comes into play? Or what is that?

Pete First: It can be staffing. It can be long-term care insurance. It can be VA. It can be catastrophic injuries that are 24-7 cases, workers’ comp type situations. So all of those would fall under that type of an umbrella.

 Anthony Codispoti : Can you give us an example of a national account?

Pete First: Well, we work with, yeah, we work with TriCare on the VA side. And some of the long-term insurance companies that you would be familiar with, we like to keep these rather close to the vest. So can’t name any of the names, but they’re names that you would recognize in the healthcare industry for sure.

 Anthony Codispoti : And the advantage is, like you were saying, since you guys have such a huge nationwide footprint, they can establish a relationship with you. And then, you know, in most locations where they need the services, you’ve got folks there to support them. Exactly.

Pete First: Yeah, that’s the key, is that we can, you know, they have so many cases that they need to get discharged and they need to provide service for. And if they know that they can call us, and we can handle that in five, six, 10, 20 different markets, you know, that’s an easy call for them. And, you know, the service that we provide being that higher standard, they know what they’re getting as well because of the consistency across the network with the nurse led care.

 Anthony Codispoti : Yeah, explain a little bit more about what that means. You say nobody else is doing nurse oversight on the cases.

Pete First: Yeah, it’s each franchisee does, we do require a director of nursing. They’re either on a part-time basis to begin, but then as they grow, they become a full-time part of their team. And they do oversee each and every client, all of the conditions, all of the needs that are that need to be provided for the service in the home. So they’re looking at all of that, and then they can see the changes in condition too. So, you know, through our software and through the mobile application that the caregiver has in the home, we’re able to monitor that and make changes and reach out to the, to the providers themselves when there’s a need for a change or some kind of a change in condition.

So being able to provide that, it’s an extra layer of comfort for the families, but it’s also an extra layer of comfort for the caregivers because they know that there’s someone there who they can go to and is helping them with that case.

 Anthony Codispoti : And is this part of what makes that a higher standard? And I’m doing it in quotes because a higher standard, I understand, is a registered trademark for your organization.

Pete First: Yes, so that does separate us because we know we’ve got some level of oversight on every single client that we have in the system.

 Anthony Codispoti : And the staffing piece, yeah, that one is unusual for home healthcare companies. You’re not typically in with that model providing staffing at third-party services.

Pete First: Yeah, and that really, really was very prevalent during COVID, where we were providing staffing not only to hospitals, but to nursing homes, to retirement communities, senior living communities, all of those types of things. We also provide staffing in schools for nurses in various school districts. So there’s a lot of different avenues that that can go. But yeah, staffing was a big part, especially during COVID.

 Anthony Codispoti : So Pete, when somebody chooses to become or shows an interest in becoming a franchisee at Bright Start Care, why are they doing that? What are they getting from your opportunity that maybe isn’t available to them somewhere else?

Pete First: Yeah, I think, you know, most of the franchises that we have come in, they’re coming into the business because they’ve had some sort of experience with home care, or have had a family member who has had, where they’ve heard about somebody who’s had home care. And many times it wasn’t that great.

You know, they weren’t happy with it. So what we’ve done is really, you know, worked very hard to provide something different than typical companion care or personal care. That’s why we, you know, we have the Directive Nursing as part of the business and part of the brand standards. So we’re able to provide more in the home for that. So they’ve, as a franchisee, they have access to all of that. And then of course, all the training that goes along with it to bring them to bring them into the fold.

And it’s continuous training as we go. And then having the National Account Opportunity, you know, this is business that we’re bringing to the franchisee that their salesperson isn’t out there trying to get. These are calls that are coming in that we can filter right back to the owners.

 Anthony Codispoti : And so what are you guys looking for in a franchisee? What’s the qualities, characteristics, the background?

Pete First: Yeah, the big thing is they don’t necessarily need to have a health care background. So that’s not a requirement. You know, their nurse will handle the health care side of it. What we’re looking for really is somebody that is looking to really build a business. So it’s not somebody, sometimes in franchising, they have owner-operator type franchises where, you know, you’re not necessarily in a position where you’re building out a huge network.

You know, what we have with price is the ability to do that. Our system-wide average location does about 2.4 million. And our largest location does upwards of 12 to 14 million. So there’s, you know, these are large organizations that people are able to build. So we love to have people that have that managerial background. They’re probably coming from corporate, a corporate setting where they’ve had a lot of them, you know, several employees that they’ve managed.

So that’s good. We want somebody that wants to make a difference in their community. You know, that our brand is really mission-driven. And we are making a difference in each one of the communities that we enter. So having that type of that type of drive forward. So we’re not necessarily, this is a great business when it comes to the economics.

And we have, the demographics are pushing more and more seniors into our space every single day. But you’ve got to have the heart too. And so, you know, we want our ideal franchisee has that combination of the business acumen, but also the heart for the business and the why for why we’re doing this.

 Anthony Codispoti : So not necessarily a background in healthcare, not necessarily a background in having owned a business previously, but it’s certainly helpful to have had some managerial experience where you’re overseeing a team, multiple teams of people.

Pete First: It does help for sure because you’ve got, if you think about one of our largest franchisees, I talked to him, had a call with him a while back and he said, I really, you know, run two different businesses. I run my home care business the day to day, but then I also run a business that involves all my employees and my staff because you’ll have a lot of part-time caregivers. And, you know, being an employer of choice because caregivers can come and go to, you know, work at various agencies that go work in the hospital.

There’s a lot of different options for them. But having, you know, having the stickiness of keeping your employees and keeping really good ones and having that type of a culture really has been beneficial to our, to our owners. And that’s what we try to work with. And we’ve got, you know, we’ve got a reaching for the STARS program that is directly developed for, for our owners to interact with their caregivers because most of them never come into the office. You know, they’re always on site at someone’s home, so trying to keep that connectivity with the, with a large staff, you know, there’s various tools to do that. And the successful owners really do a great job with it.

 Anthony Codispoti : Can you say more about that? Because I imagine that has to be really difficult, you know, for folks that are accustomed to working in a more traditional office environment where you bump into each other at the water cooler, you know, maybe there’s a happy hour once a week or, you know, a team lunch. Yeah, there isn’t a central location here. I’m going to this home, you’re going to that home, you know, we’re not really meeting and sort of building that, that team culture, that environment. How do you handle that kind of a thing?

Pete First: Yeah. So, so reaching for the STARS is a really cool program. So it’s an, it’s, it’s like an app that we have that our caregivers use, and they can earn STARS and earn points for various things. And it’s, you know, kind of like a scorecard. And so people are interacting with that. There’s a chat function where they, the caregivers can communicate with each other. And it’s just another way to keep, to keep everybody connected.

And it really came to be, and it’s really, it’s getting even bigger now, but, but during COVID when for sure nobody was coming into, you know, into the offices. But it’s just a great tool. And, and the employees appreciate the recognition with that. And it just keeps that, that keeps everyone connected. And then they can earn rewards, they can earn gift cards, they can earn gas cards, you know, whatever the particular, the owner wants to set up. But that’s all for, you know, for various accomplishments along the way. So it’s, it’s a pretty cool thing.

 Anthony Codispoti : Yeah, that sounds really interesting. I’m curious to hear other strategies that you guys have tried and found success with that help with both recruiting and retaining employees. Because like you said, they’ve got other options. It’s easy for them to work for another agency or, you know, to go work in a hospital. How do you, how do you find the good folks? And when you’ve got them, how do you keep them coming back?

Pete First: Yeah, our recruiting function is always on. So we’re always recruiting. And we always want to continue that process. So we’ve even switched some of our national advertising from focusing on, focusing on bringing in new clients to focusing on bringing in new caregivers. And kind of the, we want the best of the best is sort of the, you know, the theme of those types of ads.

So our, we have those on a national level, then we also have them for the franchisees to use locally via social and other, other avenues. But we’re always, always on, always recruiting. One of the things that we do as well that folks really, really like is we’ve got a national nurse of the year award and a national caregiver of the year award. And, you know, we send out the nominations that come in. We have a whole team that goes through the nominations.

Excuse me. And it’s, it’s, we, we couldn’t pay enough marketing dollars for the comments and the heartfelt stories that we get about our caregivers from the families that they’re serving with. And so, you know, we have at our annual convention, annual conference, we have those awards given. So all of those folks that are nominated, they come in and we send a video crew out from a marketing team that shoots the videos in their, in their homes and interviews the families and the caregiver.

And it’s just awesome. So there are things like that that people are really, they see it, they want to strive for it. And it’s just a great way to, to show, you know, how much we care about what they’re doing and how much of a difference that they make with the families and then be able to show that sometimes when they’re in the day to day of it, they may not see it, but these are caregivers, they become part of the family. And, and it’s, it’s that connection that they love. And, and, you know, one of the reasons that they love working with BrightStar.

 Anthony Codispoti : Yeah, hearing you talk about that, Pete, it kind of strikes me that you’re, in a way, you’re serving two masters, right? Like you’ve got marketing campaigns, because obviously you’re looking for new clients, new patients, you know, how can you help more folks at the same time to be able to help those folks, you’ve got to recruit great team members to come in. And so it’s really interesting to hear about how you’re, you know, you shift some marketing dollars from one to the other, because you kind of have to have a balance there, right? If you’ve got too many clients and not enough people to serve them, you got people who are unhappy, if you’ve got, you know, too many people to serve and not enough people that need serve, you know, you’ve got people over here that want more hours, it’s kind of like a little bit of a balancing act.

Pete First: Yeah, you’re absolutely right. And so we try to try to balance that out. And, you know, we have some, some local marketing requirements for our franchisees and not just in advertising, but we’ve set aside a percentage that goes towards, towards recruiting. So to make sure that that’s an always on, on function.

 Anthony Codispoti : So, Pete, you’ve obviously achieved a certain level of success that others would aspire to. Not everybody who enters the franchising space, you know, is kind of reached the level to, to where you are. Did you look back, what would you say are some of the key decisions or actions that have helped you kind of propel your, your career?

Pete First: Yeah, I think for me, just on like a personal level, I started off in franchising, and then I, then I took a, and then I started, I tried to do something on my own. And I started a company and I was like 22, 23 years old, somewhere in that range and had, you know, didn’t know what I was doing, but thought it sounded like a good plan.

And we gave it, we gave it a shot and, you know, it was, was, you know, undercapitalized and not in a situation to help grow it. But it was with a company in Japan, and it was a great experience and learned a lot from it. But what I, what I learned really was that I needed to be back on the other side. I love working with and bringing in the entrepreneurs versus me maybe being the one myself. So that was sort of the, the game changer for me that really set me back onto this is where I should be. You know, this is the type of industry I love and, and this side of it, helping people get into the business and, you know, live out, live out their entrepreneurial dream is really where I wanted to be. And so that kind of pushed me back to, to, to franchising and I’ve loved it ever since.

 Anthony Codispoti : You know, I’m glad that you shared that because I think, you know, there are folks listening right now who, you know, like, Hey, I want to, you know, get to where Pete is either in the same industry or a different industry. And, you know, what I take from your story there is it’s oftentimes really good to try on different hats, right? To find the one that really fits, you got to try on a, you know, sometimes a lot that don’t fit. And it sounds like you kind of found that pretty quickly, like right out of college, you started franchising, like, Okay, that’s cool. Like I’m going to go put on a different hat, see how that fits. And it didn’t fit so well. This other area is where, you know, my calling really is.

Pete First: Yeah, that’s, that’s, that’s really true. And that’s it. It didn’t take long to, to, to figure it out. But I just, you know, there’s just something about working with the working with people that have that really want to be a part of, of what you’re doing and being a part of the brand that you’re with, and helping them, helping them achieve that. So, you know, there’s, there was a lot of learning along the way, trying to do, to do things on my own, that I could take in, because I could relate then to the, just some of the initial decisions that, that the folks that I’m talking with, and visiting with about becoming an owner can relate to what they’re going through. You know, there’s, there’s, it’s a huge life decision that they’re making to sell a good size investment that they’re making as well. And then they’re committing their time to this. So, it really helped relate to, to everybody that were bringing into the system.

 Anthony Codispoti : So Pete, at Bright Star Care, you guys earned something called the Enterprise Champion for Quality Award, which required each location to receive this Joint Commission accreditation. Can you first explain what this award is, and then why it’s such a big deal?

Pete First: Yeah, so this is, this is the top accreditation that, that you can get in healthcare. So, so it’s similar to, or the same as the large hospital groups like Mayo Clinic, Cleveland Clinic, you know, they know the Joint Commission accreditation, they have that same seal of a gold, gold seal. So we’ve had that every year since it started back in 2013. This is something that Shelley, our founder knew was going to be important. And it has been because our national accounts understand what that is. But then also our caregivers understand what that is. So they, they look in there, they are looking at various opportunities within home care and other companies. And they say, hey, Bright Star, they have this, they have Joint Commission accreditation. And that, that’s a, that means something to them. And they know that they’re coming into an opportunity with a company that takes that very seriously. And, and, and all of the franchisees need to get to that standard.

This is also important with our national accounts. So they understand that, that we are, that our franchisees are really going through the necessary surveys and education, and all the checks and balances that are required to attain that accreditation. And they, it’s a comfort level for them as well. So they know we’ve reached that, that higher standard.

 Anthony Codispoti : Would I be correct in assuming that this is a pretty big lift, especially when you’re, you know, you’re, obviously you’re focused on growth. You’ve got 400 locations, you’re looking to continue to expand. You know, you’ve got growth on the mind, but like, you’ve got to reach a certain standard with all 400 locations over here.

Pete First: It is. And it’s a, it’s a brand standard for our, in our franchise agreement that they, that they attain this. We work with them to help them through that. We have, you know, there’s mock surveys, there’s all kinds of things that you can do to prep for it, but it’s a lot of work and it is a financial commitment too. So, but that’s, but those are the type of franchisees that we’re attracting to, because they want to be a step above and, and be at another level above that, that kind of that sea of sameness, you know, everybody’s kind of the same out there. This is where we can rise above that with the joint commission accreditation as a, as a big differentiator. It really helps them in their, in their sales process too, with families.

 Anthony Codispoti : I like that. Not only is it driving a higher level of care, but on the back end, it has this really powerful marketing effect. Absolutely. Yeah. So as you think about some of the different growth strategies that you guys have employed, Pete, to get, you know, to 400 locations, what would you say has been the most effective one?

Pete First: Well, you know, we made a commitment. So to a couple of others, there’s two ways to look at it. So we’ve got the growth story with the franchise as far as the locations that we have. And then we have the growth story with our franchisees. And, you know, there are two separate paths when it comes to marketing and advertising and things like that, but they’re both accomplishing the same thing. So, you know, on the franchise development side, we made a commitment to really doubling down and almost tripling down on our advertising and marketing and really worked hard to expand into social and in order to reach new people and new potential franchisees.

So LinkedIn has been a big thing for us as far as our growth for new owners go because we can look at specific backgrounds and specific industries. We can look at, you know, if you fall in healthcare, there’s lots of changes. There’s lots of movement within high level, C level folks in various hospital organizations all across the country. And so we attract those. We’ve got, you know, hospital administrators that are coming in, we have doctors.

We do have folks that have that higher level of medical background that come to us. So, you know, really doubling down and focusing on that and investing in our advertising because we know that the more markets we get into, the more families we can serve and our franchisees are doing a great job with that. So on the franchisee side for our owners, we’re always looking for new opportunities for them. So something that’s really growing now is infusions and medical and hospital at home. So, you know, things that normally had to be done in a clinic and normally had to be done in a hospital, now we can do those in the home and we’re really at the forefront of that. So that’s driven a lot of new growth, new growth and new excitement, you know, for our owners.

They’ve got something else they can focus on and many of them are hiring just infusion nurses that are handling all of that for them and it’s become almost a separate line of business. So, but it’s, you know, something new and we’re constantly looking for ways that we can tap into that. The more hospital at home continues to grow, we’re right there and ready to take that and do that business. So it’s a huge opportunity in front of us.

 Anthony Codispoti : Are you saying hospital to home or hospital in home?

Pete First: Hospital in home, yeah. So there are many opportunities where somebody’s coming in for off of a surgery and doing rehab, we can do all of that in the home. They need some additional care, you know, so all of the equipment and anything necessary for that is set up by the hospital, but then we’re able to provide the caregiver and the staff in the home to take care of that. So it’s something that’s continuing to grow and we’ve had some great success with that already and we just know that there’s, you know, the cost savings for the hospitals and for everybody involved is tremendous. So it’s gonna be something that can continue and we like to be in the front of things. So we were one of the first to get going with that. It’s been a success and we’re looking forward to continuing to build that.

 Anthony Codispoti : And you’re talking about different kinds of infusions. Can you give an example of an infusion that couldn’t be done in the home before and now that’s a possibility?

Pete First: Yeah, it’s all types, but it’s just taking it into that different setting. So instead of somebody having to come in for chemotherapy or something like that that’s on a regular basis where they’d have to go into a clinic to do that each time, now we can do that in the home.

 Anthony Codispoti : Wow. It’s surprising now that you say it, it’s surprising to me that I’ve never heard of that before because these are difficult treatments, right? You want sort of like the advantage of being at home, if you’re gonna be a little uncomfortable, a little sick, like, you know, that it seems just obvious. So yeah, it’s surprising that this hasn’t become more popular soon.

Pete First: Yes, it’s just taking some time, you know, so it’s taking some time and taking the right partners to be able to, they’re comfortable knowing that you’ve got the right nurse, you’ve got the right company, like a bright star that you can work with to help provide that.

 Anthony Codispoti : Pete, you know, growth comes from challenges oftentimes. I’d be curious to hear about a serious challenge that you’ve gone through, whether it’s personal or professional or a combo of the two. How you got through that and some lessons that you learned?

Pete First: Yeah, there’s, I think, when we look back with our type of business and not only with the services that we provide, but also working on the franchise development side to bring in new owners into the network, COVID played a major factor in everybody’s lives. But if you think about how everybody reacted during COVID, nobody wanted anybody to come into their home at that time, so we needed to work through that.

Everybody sort of hunkered down and then the family, it became a situation where the families tried to take care of mom or dad and realized that they can’t, they’re not trained for it, it just doesn’t work that way. So being able to gain that comfort level back for our franchisees to have them, you know, come into the home and be comfortable knowing that they’re properly equipped. We had a, Shelley, our founder, did a massive campaign to get PPE and made sure that we had had PPE for all of our franchisees when a lot of people couldn’t get it.

It was a lot of calls internationally and all across the country to source this, but to make sure that we had it available for our owners. So, you know, doing that, we found ways to get new business during this time. And some of that was with the staffing that I mentioned earlier, but we were also a part of the Johnson and Johnson trials for the vaccine. So we did the clinical trials for that, provided the nurses for that and had, you know, felt like we were doing a big part in finding a way to the other side of COVID and our franchisees played a big part of that. So that was a challenge for sure and it impacted, you know, so many people.

And then on the franchise development side, you know, we had to change our entire process because we, you know, we’re a brand that is very personal. And it’s, you know, we, when we look at franchisees, we always wanted to have, we had everybody come into, you know, our office outside of Chicago for Discovery Day and get a chance to meet everybody. And, you know, everything that we did was in person. And then just like everybody else, we had to flip the virtual and trying to, trying to get the same feel for a potential franchisee virtually versus in person.

It took some finesse and it took a little bit more, I would say more touch points along the way to be comfortable that this is the right candidate for us. Then it did when we were in person because, you know, you missed out on the side conversations, like you mentioned earlier, the water cooler, you know, you missed out on that with the talking with the candidates between sessions. So we changed everything along those lines to go virtual.

Our conferences, again, we love having those in person and we have two of those a year. And so those, those changed to virtual. So the goal with this was just making sure that we continued to care for the families that we had and then kept the connectivity with our franchisees and them with each other to be able to get through that and came out of that. You know, Shelly, our founder, she was named one of the top CEOs by Glassdoor during COVID for her response and all of the things that we did. And she did specifically as a CEO at the time. She’s our founder, our executive chairwoman now, but was instrumental in helping our franchisees with PPE, with the loans and things like that to keep the businesses going. So tons of activity behind the scenes in a really difficult situation, but I think it made our team stronger. So like our executive team and our staff at our support center made us stronger and helping our owners get through that as well.

 Anthony Codispoti : You know, we’re not that far removed from COVID, but as I talk with people, it’s interesting to me how many folks have sort of forgotten or repressed the just absolute uncertainty, especially during the early days, weeks, months. We didn’t know if when a vaccine was coming.

We didn’t know when we might be able to get back to some semblance of normal. And, you know, for business owners and for business leaders like yourself, a particularly large organization with lots of franchisees, that uncertainty just compounds because you’re not just sort of worried about, you know, you yourself, it’s like all of these other entrepreneurs that you’ve kind of helped set up in their businesses. Was there, you know, in the early days when there was so much uncertainty and you didn’t know when people were gonna be comfortable, you know, having you come back into their homes, was there any worry, was there any sense of this, we might not survive this because a lot of businesses didn’t.

Pete First: Yeah, I mean, from our, we all made a commitment and we took a reduction in pay during that time from the corporate location. So we, all of our entire team during that time because we wanted to be committed to the franchisees. And so we did that on our end and then we really communicated a lot.

So communicate and over communicate during that time period. Now we do quarterly town hall calls, but before we did, we would do weekly calls or monthly calls with all of the franchisees to make sure that we’re just communicating everything that we know at that particular time because there were all different recommendations coming out and things were changing. And as we progressed through COVID, you know, the timeframe for, you know, the timeframe for being contagious was changing and you know, the isolation period times were changing. And so trying to make sure that our franchisees had all of that information at the right time. So we did just a ton of communication during that time period to keep everybody together.

 Anthony Codispoti : If you had to recommend one resource, call it a book, a podcast, a course that was helpful to you that could be helpful to others listening. What would that be?

Pete First: Yeah, so we use EOS, Entrepreneurial Operating System. I don’t know if you’re familiar, I’m sure you are, but we’ve been using that really early on. So that was something that was embedded into our organization right away.

Our franchisees utilized it as well. I noticed just a huge difference when I came in and started, you know, getting involved and, you know, being involved and seeing the meeting cadences that we have, everybody’s accountable to things every week. You know, the very common situation that occurs in meetings is these same topics come up every week and they just keep getting kicked down the road. This system for us really worked well where those things that needed to get done were getting done and problems were solved.

So, you know, during COVID, I think that that was really important because we had a lot of things that needed it get accomplished in a short amount of time and making sure that everybody was accountable to that. And I also like the way that it builds out, you know, it builds out your plan. You know, you’ve got your quarterly plan, annual, five year. You know, so for us, that’s been a great tool and our franchisees use it as well.

We get them started with it, right when they come through Discovery Day, they get the books and we want them to start to get involved with that because that helps us when it comes to supporting them too, when we know what their meeting cadences are and, you know, the system that they’re running. So, so that’s been a big one.

 Anthony Codispoti : Yeah, UOS, very common, very popular in the business community, entrepreneurial operating system, first introduced by Gene, you know, years ago. And kind of a nice framework for businesses to, you know, use their operating system, you know, making sure that you’ve got the right people and the right seats, making sure that, you know, you’re setting your goals on a regular basis and that, you know, you’re staying laser focused on them and that you’re reviewing them at the appropriate times to make sure that you’re on track. Yeah, sounds like it’s been pretty helpful. Absolutely. Yeah. Any daily practices, rituals, habits that have become really important and helpful for you?

Pete First: Yeah, I think the, you know, I like to, there’s always got to be some sort of a time period where you just have some clarity and just take a break from all of the electronic media that we have coming and we’re getting emails, calls, texts, you know, pretty much all day long. But just, you know, kind of starting the day out, just sort of planning what your day is going to look like, just in a quiet setting. I don’t like to look at emails right away, even though it’s almost impossible not to.

But, you know, I try to give it a little bit of time to kind of, you know, just get clear on set for the day, knowing some of the things that I want to get done and working on those. You know, our industry too changes rapidly. So I find that, I mean, one of the things that I do check all in the mornings or whatever is any of the industry updates, you know, to find out, you never know where the next opportunity is going to come. So I always like to hit on the, you know, industry, the short briefs and the publications that come out. Quick reads and knock those out right away and then get into the day.

 Anthony Codispoti : And so how do you find these industry updates, specifically for your industry?

Pete First: Yeah, for us, so Smart Brief has them. And then in the franchising world, they’ve got, the IFA is a great resource, the International Franchise Association. So they have their daily briefs. And then there’s on everything from, you know, development to legal to, you know, you name it, they cover it all. So I look at that. I look at a lot of the senior living.

So like Nick and senior housing news and some of those publications as well, just to see, I mainly look at headlines and see if that’s something that could apply and zip through it and see if there’s an opportunity there.

 Anthony Codispoti : You made the point that, I’m sorry, go ahead.

Pete First: Yeah, it’s all about learning, you know, for, it’s, you know, when I think about, you know, how I got here and it’s really being a sponge. You know, there’s so many, there’s so much to learn about healthcare in particular from where I came from on the retail side, totally different. So just grasping as much of that as I can and learning as much about it as I can, wherever that opportunity is, whether it’s going to a conference, you know, a publication, going to the International Franchise Association, going to their events, you know, all of that comes into play and is really helpful.

 Anthony Codispoti : You made the point that you never know where the next opportunity is going to come from. And, you know, at a national level, you guys have some of these national sales accounts where you’re able to send opportunities to your local franchisees.

But for that local franchisee, aside from those, where are they most likely to find client opportunities? Are they sort of, you know, knocking on doors one by one? Are they trying to establish relationships with different care providers who might be kind of good funnels for that?

Pete First: Yeah, it’s more the latter. So they’re working with hospitals, they’re working with nursing homes, really working closely with discharge planners. So if, you know, discharge planners have a stack of files on their desk that they need to find care for. And if we’re able to go in there, and one of the things that we always tell our franchisees is just say yes and we’ll figure it out. You know, we don’t want to be the person that says no, because if you say no too many times, they’re not going to ask you again.

So we want to always say yes, and then let’s figure out how to get it done. So that kind of that mentality is really a lot of our franchisees to grow. And it’s helped find some of these new opportunities, like infusions and things like that, that are coming out. But, you know, being that owner, and you know, since they’re all individually owned and operated, they’re able to give that caregiver the comfort that they’re working, you know, you’re working with the owner of the company here locally. And they can build that relationship and they become their go-to person. And so that’s really what the goal is there. So they’re looking at all of those types of providers to help them with the referrals and be their referral sources.

 Anthony Codispoti : Pete, sometimes mistakes end up becoming our greatest teachers. What’s a moment either with Brightstar earlier in your career that seemed like a setback at the moment but actually helped move you forward?

Pete First: I think we can go back to my venture into being on my own in a business. I think that’s really for, you know, that was kind of the eye-opener for me. And I think that I know that changed my whole trajectory and put me back to put me on this path, which I can’t even imagine doing anything else.

You know, so it’s just so much fun and get to meet so many people along the way. You know, what seemed like at the time, you know, you’re, when you know it’s not working out, I mean, it’s not a good feeling. And you kind of wonder what’s gonna be the next move here and how is it all going to shake out?

But just, you know, taking that next opportunity and getting back into franchise development and then staying with it, you know, and knowing that that’s where you wanna be and have an opportunity to grow within one company and then take that, you know, and take that to Brightstar was really an opportunity that I couldn’t pass up, but it would have never happened if I hadn’t taken the leap on, you know, and made the, I would call it a, I would call it a learning mistake. But it was the best kind. But it wouldn’t have happened without it. So that’s kind of the foundation.

 Anthony Codispoti : So aside from leaving your own entrepreneurial venture and coming back into the franchising world, what would you call maybe your best decision ever in your career path?

Pete First: Yeah, I think, you know, working with, working with Brightstar has been, it’s really a different, it’s kind of hard to explain. Everything that we’re doing has just such a purpose and an impact on the families that we’re serving in the communities, you know, knowing that we’re making a difference and seeing that all the time is just huge.

So I think that the best decision was to, was really going with Brightstar because of that. So it’s just from a, you know, just from your own personal development and personal feeling about what you’re doing and you’re, you know, how you’re impacting things. And I know that my role is the front end of bringing a new owner that’s going to be able to provide that service and communities we’re not in yet. It’s very satisfying.

 Anthony Codispoti : Whether it worked out or not, can you think of a particular innovation that you tried to introduce here at Brightstar and what you learned from it up or down?

Pete First: Yeah, I think, you know, from our standpoint, it’s really being working and expanding and exploring other opportunities for advertising and for marketing to find new franchisees. So we have the traditional avenues, you know, our website, we’ve got, we do a lot of paper-click advertising. We tripled our investment in that. So that was a risk that kind of was out on the limb for to make sure that that delivered. So, you know, but I felt good about it. I knew that we weren’t maximizing our reach with the investment that we have. So I was confident going in and wanted to up that budget and increase that, you know, put to a sizable amount every month.

So, and it’s delivered, you know, so we’ve been able to do that. We’ve tried other things in the advertising world where, you know, we’ve done some investments in some shows and some various conferences to generate new owners and that hasn’t worked. But we know, I’m never against trying it. And that’s one of the things that we’re, I’ll always say to any of the agencies that we work with or anybody that we’re working with as a third party, we’ll be your test, you know, we have, I’m happy to test a campaign, test a different way for PPC because you never know. It’s, what we do know is we’re not gonna know if we don’t try it. So I always wanna give that a shot.

 Anthony Codispoti : Well, I’ve talked to several other folks that are in the franchise world and a number of them report that, you know, the online ad campaigns that they’ve tried have not been successful. So the fact that you guys are so willing to try, you know, hey, a different campaign, a different approach, you know, maybe a different platform, I think speaks to the success that you’re having, so that willingness to go out there and experiment.

Pete First: Well, we really dig into it. You know, sometimes you get the, with pay-per-click, sometimes you get into that set it and forget it kind of thing. And we really dig into the numbers and dig into the stats and, you know, we’re zeroing in on markets. So as some of our larger markets that are more costly to run those ads in, start to fill up, we move that budget over to another market that we wanna hit or peel some advertising dollars off to a specific area where we know we’ve got a national account that needs a franchisee. And so then we’re able to really target that. So that helps too, but it’s having that data and being able to understand it and work with the provider to target those ads where we really need them has been helpful.

 Anthony Codispoti : What’s one thing you wish more people knew about your industry?

Pete First: You don’t have to have a healthcare background to be in it. And the, anybody can be a franchisee. I mean, and not just with Brightstar. I mean, there are so many great brands out there. I mean, I’m an advocate of franchising, obviously in general, but with us and with our industry, it’s continually growing. You know, the demographics obviously point towards a long, you know, tailwind here of growth within home care and more and more people wanna be in their home.

So, you know, that’s something that is true now and it’s going to be true all the way through. You know, that’s the most comfortable setting for them. And we can provide the safety for that and the peace of mind for the families that they know mom and dad are being well cared for while they’re at work and they have a life that they need to live. And we take that whole concern off of their plate. But the opportunity is there. I mean, if you have the desire to, it’s hard work.

We’re not gonna, we don’t sugarcoat that. I mean, this is hard business and it’s definitely hard work, but the satisfaction of what you’re doing in your community, anybody can do that. And we’ve got the model and the system to support them in this endeavor and we’d love to continue to grow. And we plan to do that. We’re at 400 now, we’ve got another 40 plus in the pipeline to open and have some very lofty goals for this year too. So expect that to continue.

 Anthony Codispoti : Exciting. Pete, I’ve just got one more question for you. But before I ask it, I wanna do two things. For everyone listening today, I know that you love this show. Pete’s been a fantastic guest, shared lots of great advice and information. Take a moment and just hit the follow or subscribe button on your favorite podcast app so you continue to get more content like this. Pete, I also wanna let people know the best way to either get in touch with you or to continue to follow your story or the Bright Star Care Story. What would that be?

Pete First: Yeah, so I’m on LinkedIn, so Pete first, I’m LinkedIn. And then also pete.first at brightstarcare.com.

 Anthony Codispoti : Great. So last question for you, Pete. As you look to the future, what are some of the most exciting changes in your industry that you’re looking forward to?

Pete First: Yeah, I think we touched a little bit on it, but more and more of the hospital home, so more care being that that’s hospital level care being provided in the home, but then technology too. So there are a lot of companies now offering monitoring and different types of devices in the home that will continue to evolve.

I think we haven’t, there are some really, there are some good ones out there now. And we haven’t tapped into those directly for our franchisees yet, but we know that monitoring will be a part of that. So I think that that’s an area, and technology in general with wearables and things of that nature, there’s going to be so much advancement there that that’ll be a big part of the future in home care.

 Anthony Codispoti : Terrific. It’ll be fun to follow the advancements that are coming. Pete, I want to be the first one to thank you for sharing both your time and your story with us today. I really appreciate it. My pleasure, Anthony. Thank you. Folks, that’s a wrap on another episode of the Inspired Stories Podcast. Thanks for learning with us today.