We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Joyce Logan. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Joyce below.
Joyce, appreciate you joining us today. We’d love to hear the backstory of how you established your own practice.
In April 2016, I was affected by a company downsizing after 24 years of service. The layoff certainly came as a shock, and I felt grief for many months. I initially accepted another position within the company out of loyalty and ease, but ultimately ended up turning it down, as I knew it wasn’t the best fit. I was then faced with a life changing decision. Do I stay in the same industry or pursue entrepreneurship? I took some time to reflect and assess all my existing skills and talents. Asked myself, what do you really love to do? How can I take my skills and talents into a new line of work? Having studied social work in college and a career in the same field, I recognized I love helping people and making a difference in their lives. I enjoyed helping my mother-in-law find a senior community as well as others. I knew it had to be something that would incorporate all of that. After reflection on my personal experiences and what was most rewarding to me, I came up with the idea of starting a senior placement company. I immediately shared the idea with a friend who ended up being the co-founder of the company. We both did a lot of research, studied the marketplace, and wrote a business plan before we established the company. Once the company was established, we reached out within our inner circle, attended many networking meetings, attended trainings non-stop.
Running your own business comes with lots of perks and challenges. It is so important to do something you love and are passionate about, as it will make the rough days’ worth it, and lead to a great sense of purpose, accomplishment and success.
Joyce, 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?
Back in 2011, I had received an emergency call that my mom and stepdad couldn’t live by themselves anymore. My sister and I had less than a week to put their house on the market, pack up and relocate them from Atlanta to Ohio. At that time, they both suffered from dementia and had a myriad of health concerns. Since then, my stepdad and mother have passed, both in Alzheimer’s communities. It was a very stressful time, but I learned so much about senior living options and the process of looking for the perfect solution for your loved one.
Then, in 2012, after the passing of her husband, I helped my mother-in-law, Ruby (our company namesake), move from Honey Grove to Plano to be closer to family. At first, I went online, filled out electronic forms and was suddenly flooded with emails and phone calls. After pouring through the mountain of phone messages and emails, I decided to do my own search. After all, we knew Ruby the best and we really wanted a more personal touch in our search. It was worth it, as we were able to find the perfect place for Ruby…a community that she enjoyed and could call home until she passed February 2020.
Friends of mine learned of my research and experience with Ruby’s placement and they reached out to see if I could help them. Turns out, this was something I really enjoyed doing and I was good at it. It was then that the lightbulb went off…I wanted to help families navigate the array of 900+ senior living communities in the DFW Metroplex, with a more personal, hands-on approach. If you haven’t done this before, and most people haven’t, it is often very stressful and overwhelming. Thus, Ruby Care was born, providing free assistance to seniors and their families.
Ruby Care Senior Living Advisors is a woman owned business that provides a boutique white glove service that brings clients and their families together at no cost to them. We set ourselves apart by not only following best practices for the senior living industry, but offering confidentiality, honesty, respect, and unbiased placement options. We take the time to meet and understand the needs of our clients and their families, then use our expertise to narrow down choices to set up tours and accompany the tours with them. Our clients really appreciate having an advocate with them to help make sure all their questions/concerns are answered and help to remember details about each community seen. We are there for them every step of the way making sure they feel comfortable with their decision. Ruby Care can connect families with appropriate community resources (i.e., movers, packing, elder law attorneys, etc.) Once settled in at their new senior community, we follow up to ensure that everything is still going smoothly. We know each family and person is special and has their own unique circumstance and story to tell. Our Ruby Care team members’ have the ability to listen and understand each client’s individual needs, while providing our expertise in a compassionate and dignified way, makes all the difference.
How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?
The beginning of Coronavirus March 2020, things changed on how we met with our clients and toured communities. We went from face-to-face meetings to Zoom, FaceTime or front porch meetings, while following CDC guidelines. During our discovery time to find out client’s health needs, budgets, desired area to move, and interest, if we found that it wasn’t a good time for our clients to move, we recommended alternative options possibly home care/home health. It was a stressful time for families in deciding to move their loved ones, knowing they may not get to visit with them but also knowing they were having a hard time caring for them at home. I understood what families were going through, my mom was in a Memory Care community in Ohio. She broke her hip in Feb 2020 and had dementia. Not only was it a challenge for her but for our family who wasn’t able to visit. Just think she went from able to walk on her own to now forgetting she can’t walk, communicating with folks with mask and being secluded to her room for the most part.
The communities were amazing in how they showed their properties and services during this time. They got the staff more involved; residents gave live testimonies on how well they are taken care of. We also found that there was not a uniform and Mandatory COVID-19 polices on all private pay senior living communities, so we were in contact to get up to date information which was changing daily/weekly. We found ourselves asking different questions in addition to our customized questions. We were asking about their safety requirements, have you had any positive cases? Do you have proper PPE? Do you offer training to all staff? What type of screening are you doing for employees as well as essential services? Who is considered essential services? Do you keep the same aides and nurses with the same residents?
What are your dining services guidelines…some are having meals delivered to the rooms while others can pick up meals? Is housekeeping offering enhanced cleaning? Are you accepting new move in’s, what are you move in process…are movers or family members invited in the community.? How are you communicating with the family, emails/zoom?
During the heighten time of Covid-19 we found most of our placements were people that had health needs that the families couldn’t handle at home. Families become more comfortable moving their loved ones in Senior Living communities September 2020, when Governor Greg Abbott directed the Texas Health and Human Services Commission to expand visitation options for eligible nursing, assisted living, and intermediate care facilities, allowing up to two essential family caregivers who will be provided necessary training to allow them to safely go inside a facility for a scheduled visit, including in the resident’s room, to help ensure their loved one’s physical, social and emotional needs were being met.
What do you think helped you build your reputation within your market?
We live by the words of Harvey Mackay “You can’t buy a good reputation; you must earn it.” It takes time and effort to build a positive reputation, Ruby Care understands the hard work it takes, and that it’s an ongoing process. Maintaining a positive reputation increases customer loyalty, builds confidence with colleagues and respect as a leader in the industry. While it’s important to build a brand it’s more important to be transparent and be yourself, people want to do business those they trust and like. We’ve practiced the following guidelines to build our reputation over the last five years:
1. Networking, we participate in industry events, join professional groups and boards, engage in public speaking events, and donate time to charities. We often hear people say, “how can you be everywhere all time?”
2. Exceed in Customer Service. We strive to provide good and professional services by exemplifying three qualities: professionalism, patience, and passion.
3. Put a face to your name. In person meetings builds long term relationships and trust which leads to word-of-mouth referrals.
4. Do what you say you’ll do and act with integrity. Follow up is key to earning trust. You will a earn reputation as reliable and dependable person.
5. Build an online presence through social media, blogs with quality content. This helps people become familiar with your brand, which leads to building trust. Always, reply to comments and queries in a timely manner.
6. Give back to your community. We give back through donations and volunteer work to organizations that are industry related as well as others that are near and dear to our hearts.
7. Treat employees/colleagues like customers. Always, listen, nurture, respect, respond in a timely manner and involve them in decision making processes. Offer work life balance. A professional reputation travels how you treat employees, then the best come knocking at your door without advertising when you have open positions.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.rubycaresenior.
com - Instagram: https://www.
instagram.com/rubycarellc - Facebook: https://www.
facebook.com/rubycarellcsla/ - Linkedin: https://www.
linkedin.com/company/ruby- care—senior-living-advisors/ - Twitter: https://twitter.com/
rubycarellc - Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/
biz/ruby-care-senior-living- advisors-plano