Tell us about what it was like in that moment for you.

Well, it was literally a moment.

I was watching the fire all day long that day, and I was positive the whole day that it wasn't going to come anywhere near us because our property had no trees.

We'd recently expanded our wrecking yard And there's a giant lake behind us.

So we thought, you know what, it's just going to go by.

And I just spent the day keeping my grind.

As soon as we saw those flames come, start coming down over that mountain, we were like, okay, the very most important things.

Do you think that there was enough warning and enough protection in place?

Mm.

Um, just, just from the need of childcare.

I have...

I had two children at the time, and I really, I just didn't like how they were being cared for in the childcare centers they were at.

I didn't feel comfortable when I'd go to work and have to leave them there.

And I said, "Okay.

Well, looks like I'm gonna have to be the one to take this task on." And so even that setting really, you know, I didn't know it at the time, was really setting me up to be an owner-

You address that need, and wouldn't you know it, clients will come to you because that needed, it needed to be addressed.

Can you break it down? What exactly do you mean by that?

I think from even in my 20s, and I didn't realize this, but As a caregiver, you develop executive skills every day.

You know, problem solving.

That alone.

The problem solving is so crucial because you're quick on your feet.

The crisis management.

you know, again, it does go with the problem solving, but it's just being quick on your feet and not panicking, uh, remaining calm, jumping right into leadership, uh, you know, developing proper communication and, and build, building trust, uh, within whatever atmosphere you're working in, you know, it's just, it's crucial.

So what do you see to, or what do you, I guess, how do you like build that? Is it just like pushing yourself? Oh my goodness.

Can you break it down?

What exactly you mean by that? I think from even in my 20s, and I didn't realize this, but As a caregiver, you develop executive skills every day.

Problem solving, that alone.

The problem solving is so crucial because you're quick on your feet.

The crisis management.

you know, again, it does go with the problem solving, but it's just being quick on your feet and not panicking, uh, remaining calm, jumping right into leadership, uh, you know, developing proper communication and, and build, building trust, uh, within whatever atmosphere you're working in, you know, it's just, it's crucial.

And, um, Again, I think these are a lot of first-generation entrepreneurs and founders bring a lot of that resilience already because you just don't have a choice.

So what do you see to, or what do you, I guess, how do you like build that? Is it just like pushing yourself? Oh my goodness.

Absolutely, and if there's someone listening now that feels like their business might be a little bit messy behind the scenes, where would you recommend that they start first? Would it be systems or people or technology? What would be the first step to clear that up?

I wouldn't say always start with technology.

Technology, um, can, it can speed up the confusion if you still, if you haven't taken the time to first build the infrastructure correctly, and you know, I've, I've had that happen as well.

Um, I think you should first like, s- first you should just start with the process, like mapping out how something should work effectively.

Like, take the time to learn how should it effectively work.

And then, you know, and I mean from start to finish, whether, l- let's say client acquisition for example.

From the start of the referral to the intake process to the staffing of the client to the first day of services, what, what needs to happen through each of those steps? You know, map that out.

So what are some of the most important back-end systems every growing care or service business should really have in place?