We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Carrie Wooden a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Carrie, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. So let’s jump to your mission – what’s the backstory behind how you developed the mission that drives your brand?

Our organization’s mission is to offer guidance and emotional support to anyone that may be going through some form of a transition within their life. Life is filled with swift transitions. These transitions can occur at any point in an individual’s life. While working as a Case Manager, I saw a need to assist families with coordinating their loved one’s transition from one home to another when they were no longer able to live alone. There was also a need to assist families with preparing their homes to accommodate their loved one’s newly diagnosed medical conditions. Alzheimer’s Disease is unfortunately a condition that runs within my family. My family had to care for my Great Aunt who developed Alzheimer’s Disease. My family worked together to ensure that her healthcare needs were met at all times. However, not everyone has a large family that is willing to care for them or assist them with their care. While working as a Registered Nurse, I often heard families stress about who was going to assist their loved ones with care or who was going to assist them in moving into an assisted living facility for safety reasons, who would assist in cleaning out the home and getting it ready to sale. There were some families that wanted their loved ones to continue to reside in their lifelong estate. The families just had no clue of where to go and what to do to assist them with their loved ones needs. After hearing the same needs over a period of time, Transitions of Life, LLC was formed to assist families with relieving their stress. Transitions of Life, LLC offers move management coordination and provides families with referrals to assist with their individual family needs.

Carrie, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

My name is Carrie Wooden. I am from Mobile, AL currently living in Hoover, AL. I obtained my Bachelors of Science in Nursing from Samford University in 2006. I later obtained my Masters of Science in Nursing with Emphasis in Leadership in Health Care Systems in 2017 from Grand Canyon University. I have worked a Registered Nurse for over 15 years. I am also a Certified Case Manager. While working as a nurse, I saw the stress that families experienced when learning about a loved one’s critical or terminal diagnosis. There were so many concerns and needs expressed by families. They were frustrated, worried, and unsure of where to go and what to do when they were told that their loved one could no longer live alone. The families voiced concerns about not having anyone to assist in cleaning out their loved one’s home and what to do with all of their belongings. There were others concerns voiced such as how to get a living will drafted, who would be the point of contact to discuss getting life insurance, who would be a great realtor, who could assist in helping safety proofing the home prior to discharge, and etc. There was just an overwhelming number of emotional responses from families.

After hearing these concerns, Transitions of Life, LLC was formed. Transitions of Life, LLC offers move management coordination services for individuals that may need guidance on moving themselves or their loved one to another location. Our organization assist with coordinating local and long-distance moves, decluttering, space planning, assisted living coordination, estate sale coordination, donation coordination, nursing concierge services and post hospitalization discharge home preparation. Our organization will work with each family to discuss their needs. We love to meet our clients and get an in depth understanding of their needs. We offer a list of referrals for Estate Attorneys, Relators, Financial Advisors, Life Insurance Advisors, and etc. We are here to think of the things that will benefit each families’ need. If a family would like to relocate their loved one into a smaller home or into an assisted living facility, our organization will come and assist the family with assorting the loved one’s belongings assisting them in deciding what they would like to keep, donate, or dispose. We will even move the requested belongings to the new residence and set up the new home. If a loved one has passed away, we offer home clean out coordination services to bereaved families. We will coordinate staff to remove unwanted items and will even coordinate donations to the charity of their choice. We will also assist in getting contractors to repair the home prior to putting the homes on the market. If a family decides that they would like for the loved one to reside in their current residence, our organization will assist in getting the home safety proof. We have several contractors that will come into the home and build ramps, install safety bars in the restrooms and throughout the home as needed, and install taller toilets. We try to work within everyone’s budget and be able to provide them options that will best fit their needs. If the loved one is still able to care for themselves but needs some oversite with weekly or monthly medication refills and/or a weekly wellness check, our nursing concierge program has proven to give families that no longer live in the same area of their loved ones a sense of relief. We are set apart from other organizations because we have a strong background in healthcare and Case Management that allows our Transition Specialists to critically think about things families may need. We are one stop shop that strives to assist all our client’s needs.

Our organization takes pride in assisting our clients with great integrity. We are a culturally competent organization who values everyone’s thoughts, beliefs, and practices. We are very proud to collaborate with multiple non-profit organizations as well as multiple small businesses. We love to support local small businesses in any state. We welcome the opportunity to speak anyone that is interested in any one or all of our services. We offer move management coordination services to anyone that would like assistance moving. Please reach out to us today for a free 30-minute consultation.

How did you put together the initial capital you needed to start your business?

While lying in the bed one night, I spoke with my spouse about my desire to start this organization. He was fully supported the idea and provided me with the funds to secure a business attorney. After speaking with my business attorney and developing a strong business plan, I was to work with my accountant on estimated total costs for the business. This then gave me the opportunity to develop a financial plan. I was currently working a full-time job. I really did not want to take out any loans. After lots of praying and contemplating, I decided to go pick up a local contract at a local hospital. Due to the pandemic, there was a huge need for nurses to assist. I worked several shifts a week pulling 20 hours in a day sometimes. I was determined to not take out any loans. After working two jobs, I finally had enough money to cover my overhead expenses and obtain business insurance for my organization. After announcing my new business venture, I had an overwhelming response from former colleagues, family, and friends offer to volunteer to help me. through their generous love and support, I was finally able to start accepting contracts that allowed me to start seeing residual income. I feel so blessed to have such an amazing support system . It was through their kindness of volunteering that help me establish my organization. I am forever thankful for each and every one of them.

We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?

There have truly been so many different lessons I have learned throughout this process. However, one thing that I had to unlearn was that I could do everything by myself. I understand the value of teamwork but when it is your vision you want to ensure that it is represented properly. I became very overwhelmed working two jobs, being a mother, and managing my own business. At one point I had gotten seriously like 15 inquires for consultations. My daughter had two sporting events that required travel and my son was being honored at school. I wanted to ensure that every inquiry got a timely response. I got in a corner and cried for about 15 minutes due to the stress. It was at that very moment I realized that I could not do this alone. I had to build a team that I trusted with my vision. Thankful for my support system I was able to hire someone to assist me.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.transitionsoflife.net/services
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Transitionsoflifellc
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/transitions-of-life-llc/

Image Credits
Photo Credits: Danny Austin Photography Logo: Iron City Social  Makeup credit to my MUA Nadia Tellis