Meet an Owner: Renee Concialdi

Renee Concialdi had built a successful career before becoming a Right at Home owner in 2015. She spent over twenty years working her way up the ladder in corporate America, before ultimately becoming a Vice President of Client Services and Operations.

Although she had achieved many big goals during her corporate career, Renee felt she wasn’t being challenged enough once she reached the top. As a result, she started researching other career options.

“I was looking for something more compelling and rewarding,” said Renee. “Towards the end, my autonomy was being lost, and the corporate structure was changing; I just wasn’t learning as much from those around me anymore, and I wanted more.”

A Professional Search For Right at Home

Once Renee knew she wanted to leave her job, she began networking with greater intention and researching all her options.

“A friend eventually told me that I should be a business owner, and it was like lightning had hit me. It really made me think because I had to wrap my head around the concept of owning my own business; it wasn’t something I had considered,” Renee said.

Renee worked with a business broker who used a profiling process to help narrow the field for her; from business profiling to personality profiling, the broker found three viable options to present to Renee.

“The first opportunity he told me about was Right at Home. Hearing the name, it was like lightning hit me again,” Renee said. “I knew it had to be home care because I had grown up with a parent with a disability, and I had been in a family caregiver home all my life.”

Despite feeling drawn to Right at Home, Renee still went ahead and researched all three business opportunities. Without fail, throughout the whole process, something still kept calling her back to Right at Home.

“I knew from the get-go that it was going to be Right at Home,” she said. “I was so impressed with how they clicked along during the acquisition process and how we were given information. The other two options didn’t even come close–my heart really sat with Right at Home. It was a no-brainer.”

Taking Over a Resale Territory

Renee’s first purchase with Right at Home was one existing territory: a resale of the Right at Home Pasadena. Although the business was already up and running when she bought into it, there was still much for Renee to learn as a new owner.

“I had to sit with every person and learn every job,” Renee recalled. “I had to learn all the state requirements and how to comply. I went to legal seminars and tapped into Right at Home’s support system to learn best practices. It was like jumping onto a moving train.”

Now that she’s got her feet planted on solid ground when it comes to the inner workings of the business, Renee has developed a nice routine for keeping everything afloat.

“I usually take a look at my calendar the night before to figure out where I need to be for the next day,” said Renee. “We’ve done a lot of work in our communities, and I go to chamber meetings, speaking events, and generally show up at various places within our communities.”

Since she spends so much time outside of the office, Renee has made it her mission to build up a dependable leadership team over the years. As a result, much of the work she does in the office revolves around mentoring her team.

“I’m there to help problem solve in unique scenarios and handle questions that come up. I’m always looking at business health and always strategizing about growth and development, pre-planning for the next quarter or the next year. I love to be strategic and tactical, but I don’t want to live in the details of the tactics, so I built a team who can execute day-to-day, and I just lend them my support.”

Expanding the Territory

Renee knew she eventually wanted to grow beyond the Pasadena territory but wanted to give herself time to understand the business before focusing on expansion. When she was ready, she purchased the neighboring territory of San Gabriel, and during the process discovered that another neighboring territory–West Covina–was available for resale as well.

Renee decided to purchase both of them.

It was a big undertaking, but she credits the systems that Right at Home put in place for their franchisees with making it a bit easier for her to find success with the fast rate of growth.

“I knew going with Right at Home was the equivalent of buying a recipe book,” she said. “They have great relationships with their franchisees; they value and support them all the way. They’ve provided me with all kinds of tools, techniques, and playbooks.”

Some of the resources Renee has found most useful include the playbooks for office staff frameworks and access to marketing tools.

“Visiting corporate and seeing how their office was structured inspired me to model my own offices to reflect that because it’s so beautifully done,” said Renee. “And whether you need to get business cards, brochures, or the signs for the outside of your buildings, all of it comes from corporate resources.”

Success For All the Right Reasons

With all three of her locations operating smoothly at this point, Renee is focused on advocating for seniors and the disabled within her community, and the wider world.

“I’m on the HCAOA and serve on a policy committee now and really love the network I’m creating there,” Renee said. “I’m also in two performance groups with Right at Home, one here in California and one that’s more geographically diverse. It’s been wonderful connecting with the other owners on a variety of topics–everyone I work with is just stellar.”

It’s been nearly a decade since Renee left her corporate job to pursue something more compelling, and she certainly found it with Right at Home.

“If you’re going to be an owner of your own business and be your own boss and an employer of others and also provide care to a community, you have to have something compelling that you’re passionate about to keep you going.”

To learn more about Right at Home and why it can boast of unmatched support not found anywhere else in the senior care industry, visit: rightathomefranchise.com.

SPONSORED BY:
Right at Home
Right at Home is in five countries and has over 700 operating locations providing in-home care services to allow seniors and people with disabilities to retain as much independence and dignity as possible. Learn More