Founder's Story - Award-winning entrepreneur, TEDx Speaker and Podcast Host | Ep. 11 with Dr. Cortney Baker Founder of KidsCare Home Health

Episode Date: April 17, 2020

Dr. Cortney Baker is an award-winning entrepreneur, host of the podcast Women in Business: Inspirational Stories of Women Entrepreneurs, TEDx speaker, author to more than one best selling books and a nationally recognized authority on women’s. Please visit Pix11 or Fox5 San Diego for more details. Our Sponsors:* Check out PrizePicks and use my code FOUNDERS for a great deal: www.prizepicks.com* Check out Rosetta Stone and use my code TODAY for a great deal: www.rosettastone.comAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Welcome to Inspired by Her, the podcast that will give you the inspiration, motivation and tips for success from some of the top executives, CEOs and influencers from around the globe. With your host, serial entrepreneur and named one of the most influential Filipina in the world, Kate Hancock. Hi everyone, I have here Courtney Baker. She's TEDx speaker, podcast host. I need to learn from her a lot. She's been giving me a lot of tips. CEO of Kidscare Home Health, author. She's been featured in Facts News, Forbes, and Have Post. Hi Courtney. Hey, how are you, Kate? I'm doing well. I'm so excited for you to be here. Well, it's good to see you again. I know you were on my show a while, probably about a year ago. So yeah, that was like, well, for anyone who doesn't know you, can you briefly introduce yourself? Yes. So I am Dr. Courtney Baker.

I am the owner and CEO of Kids Care Home Health. We are a pediatric home health care agency that does private duty nursing and speech therapy, physical therapy, and occupational therapy for little kiddos with disabilities. And we're in three states, Texas. We have seven locations, Colorado, we have three, and Idaho, we have one. So we are in 11 cities and three states. And yeah, it's quite the journey. So we have about 700 employees now. And it's been fun. I've been on this roller coaster for God, almost 20 years. Wow. Well, I can't really wait to deep dive into your story. I know you have such an interesting story. I can't wait to hear all about it. Well, I can't wait to just dive in with you and just chat. Yeah. So, oh,

so Courtney, where did you grow up? I grew up in a small suburb of Dallas called Cedar Hill. It was just a small little quaint country town. I remember when we got our first McDonald's, it was a huge deal, but maybe that's showing my age. Okay, so what kind of kid are you in high school in high school high school was kind of a rough time for me um high school i was just on top of the world my freshman year um and my sophomore year, I, my sister was who I took care of, she had multiple sclerosis. And I would help her walk, and I would feed her and bathe her and I'd help her like talk and things like that. So I really took care of her. And when I was a sophomore, I was 16, she died. And so then I gained, like, I didn't know how to deal with all the loss and adversity. And so I just started eating constantly, like everything in sight. And probably from my sophomore year to my senior year, I gained probably 40 pounds.

And it didn't help that I worked at a restaurant that had the best rolls ever. And so I would just like work and just eat. And then I got my first boyfriend. I figured I would like really start taking control of my life and, um, got my first boyfriend and then I got pregnant right away. So I was a senior in high school when I got pregnant with my son who, um, you know, I got pregnant and we broke up and he married his ex-girlfriend four months later. And I had my son six months after I graduated high school. So I became a single teenage mom

on Medicaid and food stamps. And I was a waitress at, you know, 19, 19. Wow. So, um, that's a story and I'm sorry to hear about your sister. Um, thank you to you. How did you end up building your company? So I went to school when my son was two. I'd gotten married to my first husband, and he was from Illinois. So we moved to Marion, Illinois, and I started school when Landon, my son, was two. And then Matt and I got divorced probably a year after I started school. So I, God, it's so long ago. I put myself in school, got my doctor, my master's degree in communication disorders and sciences, which is just fancy for speech pathology. And, um, then moved back home to Dallas and brought the hottest guy I could find on campus with me and my husband now. And, um, and I started working in the school district as a speech pathologist and I absolutely

hated it. I had a caseload of 83 kids and I was just like, I loved the kids, but I could not, um, I just could not feel like I really was where I was needing to be. And then I started doing pediatric home health and I was like, oh my gosh, this is amazing. This is my true calling. And, but I quickly realized that if I worked for someone else, then I was going to be undervalued my whole life. And so I basically was like, you know, 28, I knew everything because, you know,

who doesn't when they're 28 and, um, decided it was right after September 11th that I was pregnant with my second child. And I said, my exact words were, I can do this shit myself. So I just had no idea what I was doing, but I just launched and opened my own company. And that was 17 years ago. Wow. So how did you come up with that name? Kids Care? Oh my gosh. So I knew that I wanted to incorporate what we did. So kids, and I knew I wanted to focus on that we were care. And I looked at some of the other company names and they just didn't have a really good ring to them. And I was like, what about kids care therapy? And that's what we started as because we only did therapy. We didn't do nursing services. And so I was just like, yeah, kids care, all one word, nothing crazy spelling, just kids care therapy. Perfect. And it wasn't taken. So I

was like, hell yeah, let's do it. Wow. Wow. Wow. So bring me back to your first location. Where is that at? And how did you end up picking that? Our first location in business. So I had a partner when we first began and I, have you, have you seen the house? It was her house we started in. Have you seen it? No, no. Oh my gosh. I wish, I don't know if I can do this. I don't know if I can show you, but you want me to try?

Yeah. Yeah. Let me try to pull it up and see if I can show you. It was her house and it was less than ideal to start a business in, but it worked. I mean, it was all we had. So I, we set up camp there and people would stop and do interviews and yeah, we just started growing from there. Wow.

Wow. I know it's and kate when you see this like you'll just be like amazed that and that we we had a little humble beginnings let me just say that oh i can't wait and how much initial investment how much did you put in? So my dad had given me an investment of $10,000. And then on top of that, my partner, who I had for about two years, she put in $2,500 and I put in $2,500. So we had $15,000 and that's what we started Kids Care with. Wow. Wow. Are you still a partner with that initial part of the company?

No. We parted ways. We had just ethical differences. That's all i can say um and it just was not i didn't know her very well honestly um let's see can you see that yes yes wow okay so that's that's where we started yeah i don't know if that if people can see that, um, on the screen, but yeah, that, that was our first, first little office. And we were there for about a year. Wow. Wow. Yeah.

So, um, do you remember your first sale, your first year sale? I do. I had, when I worked at a pediatric company before, I had about 18 patients. And when I said like, look, I'm leaving, I'm going to start my own agency. And they were like, there were 10 of them that said, well, wherever you go, we're going with you. And so they actually followed me to kids care. And then from there, we had this harebrained marketing idea that was like, okay, we're going to print on, this was our big marketing budget. Um, cause we didn't have one and we, we printed on pastel, like, you know, if you go to staples or whatever and you can get the package of pastel colored paper. Yeah. So we printed flyers on that pastel paper and passed it out. Like put it,

you know, how you'll have people go to order door and like wrap with rubber bands and passed it out. Like put it, you know how you'll have people go door to door and like wrap with rubber bands and wrap it around your doorknob. That's what we did. That's what we did. And we, it was so funny. Cause like we had two cordless phones at her house and, um, the, the phones would ring and we were like, oh my gosh, that's a referral. Holy shit. That's a referral to turn the TV off, you know? And it was like, it was a, it was so exciting. So she would get the referral and then I would be out doing therapy and then I would run

the kids eligibility for for their insurance when I got home it was just this crazy setup but yeah and then we hired our first employee when we were right around a year old like our first office employee when we first got our office wow what happened after that first location? How did you end it up? Did you rent a regular office or are you in retail? Tell me that transition. So we bought, um, little, like rented a little space in this office complex and it was three offices and it had a tiny, tiny, tiny reception area. And we hired this receptionist named Belinda and she came in and I remember she was making eight, was it $8 or $8.50 an hour. And she was so excited.

No benefits, no PTO, no nothing else. Cause that's all we had. And she came in for her first day and she was like all dressed up. I think Belinda was like 21, if even that. And, um, she came in all dressed up and she walked in and I was wearing scrubs and I was sitting on the, in my little office, you know, and I went and met her and I was like, Hey, are you Belinda? And she said, yeah. And I said, Oh good. I'm glad you're here. You see that box right there? That's your chair. We're going to build it. And so we spent her first day building her chair. And I kid you not, Kate, she is still with me after 16 years. Wow. Well, you're doing something. You're doing

something right for her to stay with you. I love her. And I told her, I was like, you know, you, you're going to retire here. I mean, you don't have an option now because I know where you live. Like it won't end well. Okay. So you started with that second one after that house of your first business partner. When did you realize, like, I really got something here going on? What was that moment? Um, well, I knew our secret sauce was really going to be treating our employees well, because I knew other agencies in the Dallas area. And I was like, if I would just treat the employees well, that's our competitive advantage. And how hard is that? That doesn't cost anything.

And we just started getting like therapists being referred by other therapists and, and patients being referred by physicians and just like the word started getting out. And I was like, wow, this is so cool. Like how it was just like being kind, like how hard is that? I really wanted it to be our culture to be like Chick-fil-A as opposed to Taco Bell. Gotcha. Wow. Wow. Wow. You said your secret sauce, aside from treating your employee right, what else really worked for you? We were at a point in our second year where we had a therapist who committed a Medicaid fraud and six figures, like $100,000 of Medicaid fraud. And she knew it and we knew it. And we were just like, you know what? We, no matter what, have to do the right thing. And we could sweep this under the rug. That's an option, but it's not the option that we're going to take. And we called the Home Health Care Association and the regulating

department and OIG and turned ourselves in and said, look, this is what happened. What do we need to do? And I knew in that moment, like they could come in and shut us down. I mean, that's a possibility. I don't know how they react to those things. But I knew that if at the end of the day, people had entrusted me with their license and livelihood, and I had worked my ass off for my degree, and I wasn't going to compromise it. And so I think making the right decision, even when it's hard is, has also been, um, our secret sauce being ethical. Wow. Wow. And not everyone's like do that. No, no, no. Um, But I know that that's our reputation. I mean, that's even one of our core values.

Our core values are care, commitment, accountability, results, and ethics. And we make all of our decisions based on those four principles. That's wonderful. So what have been the biggest challenges you've had to overcome? Personally or professionally? Professionally. Professionally. Um, that, um, was a hard one in the beginning. Um, and then, you know, honestly, Kate, I look at entrepreneurs in two camps. We're either builders or sustainers. And I'm a builder. And I got to the point where I, it was like 2009. And, you know, I'd been in business for six years, seven years at that time.

And I was just like, or no, I'm sorry, it was 2012. And I was just like, I'm bored. You know, doing the daily things just did not fill me up. And so I decided at that point that I would enroll back in school and get my doctorate degree and not so much for me as who I was then, but I was doing it for my 19 year old self who felt like, you know, there wasn't, she wasn't capable of more. So I did it for her. Wow. Wow. Wow. That's powerful right there. So Courtney, what's the highest honor or award you've ever received? In 2016, 2017, I received Texas business woman of the year. And then last year I was also named one of the top 100 leaders in healthcare.

That's so those two. Yeah. Those are massive. Yes. Yeah. So what was One of my deepest motivations? Yes. You know, okay. I think as women, we receive so many mixed messages, you know, be beautiful, work hard, be sexy, don't compete. You know, it's like, which one am I supposed to listen to? You know, I mean, and I just, my motto, the one quote that I love is in a world of rhinestones, be a diamond. And whatever that looks like for you, how can you, as a woman, as a woman of Christ and a woman who my spirituality and faith is very deep to me, how can I show up in the best version of me that I can. And how can I be a diamond no matter what the world says I am, you know? And that's one of my deepest motivations to show those who, I mean, we have 700 employees

and the world around us. And like, how can I be me and be a proud version of who I am showing up every single day? Wow. Wow. Amazing. So what scares you the most about this current situation? Oh gosh. Um, the current situation is really you know kate we the media sells a lot of like their their goal is to sell and get ratings and i think that there's a lot of stories they're not focusing on that could calm people down. Like how many people have gotten and, you know, lived through this?

Or how many people really who maybe have passed away but had underlying conditions? Or, you know, and there are, I know people in healthcare, there are empty hospitals all over the place. This is, yes, it is very real and it is scary, but is it as big as we are being told? I don't know. I don't think so. I think that we also have been given a gift in the fact that right now we are seeing a lot of people come together and rely on their faith and be support systems to others and show up in a way we've kind of lost as humanity. Yeah.

Yeah. Yeah. It's hard times. Yeah. And I think for me, it's like the fear of what's gonna happen the fear of the unknown like when are we gonna be out of this but it's scared for me yeah um yeah so is your business affected so far are Are you still open? You're into healthcare. Are you considered essential? We do telemedicine visits and it's been, I mean, there have been some challenges, but we basically pivoted in the course of three days and rolled out. I mean, the one thing that I can say is that I have been so blessed with such an incredible

team. My executive leadership team is incredible. And I mean, they look at things tactically and say, you know, how, here's the problem. What can we do to be the solution in a problem? And that's been really key for our, our company to maintain, um, keep it together, honestly, you know, I mean, some visits have been down some, um, but overall we're doing pretty good. So what do you, did you use your own, um, apps or what or what tools are you using? Are you using Zoom to do the therapy online? So all of our therapists have, they're on digital devices.

So they do their visits on a, it's kind of like an iPad. So they do their visits on those. And then the parents, if they didn't have a computer or didn't have a phone or didn't have any kind of technology then we have shipped those out to i mean we ordered a bunch and shipped those out to the parents and um so they're doing them on virtually like this on through zoom oh wow so how how long normally is the therapy like for one-on-one um is that 30 minutes an hour it depends it just depends on what the kid will be able to call you know um what they can stand but yeah it's typically like 30, 45 minutes that we do our visits.

That's wonderful. And I saw that you do coaching for women. Can you tell me more about that? Absolutely. So after I got my doctorate degree in organizational leadership, I found research that says that we are, at the rate we are going, we are more than 100 years away from gender equality at the C-level. And that just pissed me off. I have two little girls who are not so little, they're 12 and 16, and I was like, that's not good enough for them. And that's not good enough for me. And that's not good enough for future generations.

And so I have taken my, you know, almost 20 years of being an entrepreneur and my life lessons and experiences and business knowledge. And I am pouring those into other female entrepreneurs who have service-based businesses that need guidance. And I'm helping them scale. Wow. Yeah. I saw some beautiful, amazing testimonial how you've helped them grow their company. That's fantastic.

Thank you. It's been so much fun. I can't think of more about that. it's been so much fun i love it it's i could imagine i love how you're so passionate about women um that's just we need each other we need each other to help you know we need it's crazy like we don't get funding as much as compared to the male ceo and the data there's only like 1.7 percent of women in the u.s that could reach over a million dollar revenue so you doing that we need we need to break that numbers absolutely we do and you know i don't know the statistics on women getting funding and why they're not um why they're turned down

in that but i feel like if we know our data and can go in and speak the language of numbers, then that number would totally be different. I really feel that like, if we can go in and instead of talking about, um, you know, the, the passion and the excitement of the business and say, okay, here's my data, here's my revenue, here's, you know, like really have hard data, then that would help us. Yeah, absolutely. So Courtney, what have been the most influential experiences in your life? Well, when I was in school in orientation for my doctorate, I was asked, like we were tasked with writing our 80th birthday toast. And I was sitting there and I was just like, oh my gosh. And it was basically like who you are now as an 80, you know, who, what would they say if you were to be 80 right now?

And I was just like, oh my gosh, that is not what I would want anyone to say. You know, I was drinking a lot and, um, I really wasn't showing up as the mom that I wanted to be remembered for. And that was in August. And I shit you not Kate, a month later on September 18th of 2012, I had a stroke in two places and had a seven What? Yes. I was 37 years old. Wow. And I woke up from that after my surgery and I was just like, you know what? This, this is, this is real. You know, that I could have died as that person, you know, and because 50% of the people who have the strokes that I did died before they even get out of surgery. And so I took that semester off to heal and then resumed coursework again in January of 2013. And it took me a while, but then in 2016, I happened to ask my, at that point, she was eight, my eight-year-old daughter. I said, what's one thing you would change about mommy if you could? And she, without a beat,

without skipping a beat, she said, you you drank too much wine and I was just like okay that's it and so on May 30th of 2016 I took my last drink so I have not had a drink for almost four years coronavirus and all well congratulations so you're just drinking does that diet coke diet diet diet pepper yeah that's that's my my vice yeah yeah i can't that changed my life yeah wow that's amazing uh i can't believe I missed you in Macau. We were in the same place, but I didn't get a chance to see you in person. I know, across the world at that, you know? How crazy, and I was looking for you, and it was like I just kept missing you. Yeah, well, I can't wait to see you one of this. I know, when all this blows over, we'll have to go take a trip to your hotels yeah

are you going to bali i'm not it's my daughter's birthday that weekend and i want to be here for it she'll be 13 oh that's that's big yeah okay so Courtney what advice would you give to an aspiring entrepreneurs seek help get guidance from people who have been there before who can help shorten your learning curve absolutely without a doubt you don't be too proud to ask for help that's that's amazing I wish I've done that in the beginning i could probably save myself a lot of money in error yes especially us we're embarrassed to ask for help because we don't want to be judged but like people are actually willing to give their advice and willing to help you.

Yeah. Yeah. If we just humble ourselves and say, I don't have all the answers, I've never done this before. So why would I think that I should know what to do? I'm going to ask somebody who knows. Absolutely. Absolutely. And Courtney, how do you want to be remembered? Oh gosh. How do I want to be remembered? As a spitfire who, you know, as a spitfire with, my friend once called me an eminem she said you're really hard on the outside but you're a softy on the inside and uh i i think that's that's probably a good i don't

want to be remembered for an eminem but just a soft spitfire wow that's really good well thank you so much for your time. I really enjoyed our conversation and thank you for sharing your story. Well, thanks for having me. It's so good to see you again. See you. Well, thank you so much. And Courtney, where can they find you for anyone who wanted to, um, to use your services as a business coach, where can they find you? Sure. You can email me at it's Courtney, no U. So C-O-R-T-N-E-Y at CourtneyBaker.com. Well, thank you everyone for tuning in and stay safe. Yes.

Bye Courtney. Bye. Bye. We hope you enjoyed the show. Bye Courtney. Bye. Bye.