Healing Hearts and Building Bridges: Nurse and Engineer Couple Franchise with Seniors Helping Seniors

Windy and Floyd Webb have always enjoyed giving back and supporting others. The couple’s favorite way to give back is to serve on short mission trips, helping solve problems in less fortunate communities around the world while sharing their faith. They’ve been to Africa four times with Cindi’s Hope Academy and made three trips to Central America to support building water wells in communities in need of clean drinking water with Living Water International.

With her background as a nurse, Windy has developed a passion for helping seniors. Before moving to Kingwood, Texas, she had a meaningful friendship with an older woman in her church community. She would visit and spend time with her at her assisted living community, drive her to church, the grocery store and doctor appointments.

“I've always had a heart for seniors. When I worked in the hospital as a nurse, I enjoyed taking care of them. I loved hearing their stories and getting to know them,” she said.

When pursuing the franchising business opportunities, Windy was naturally drawn to the Seniors Helping Seniors philosophy of connecting seniors who can help to seniors who need help.  She and her husband, Floyd, look forward to offering care services to seniors in their Kingwood territory.

Floyd has a background in engineering and shares Windy’s belief that giving back to the community is important and rewarding. He was drawn to the Seniors Helping Seniors’ model of building relationships between caregiver and aging seniors.

“The thing that made me most interested in Seniors Helping Seniors was their drive to build a closer connection between the caregiver and the care receiver by having a smaller age gap, which makes it a little easier for that connection to happen,” he said. 

The two are excited to foster those relationships and make a positive impact on the quality of life of the seniors in their area.

1851 Franchise spoke with the Webb’s about their journey into franchising and their plans for the future.

1851 Franchise: Frame your personal story for us. What did you do before franchising, and how did you decide franchising made sense for you?

Windy: I'm a registered nurse by trade, but I've been a stay-at-home mom since 2008. My daughter's a sophomore in college and my son's a sophomore in high school, and it was just time to do something a little different. I wanted an opportunity to make a positive impact on my community.

I've always enjoyed working with seniors. When we lived in Colorado SpringsI attended a small community church and provided companion-like care to an elder lady of our church. (similar to services offered by Seniors Helping Seniors). I would take her to the grocery store, go with her to doctor's visits, and just sit and visit with her. I really enjoyed it and I wanted to provide those services to a wider group of people who can benefit from them.

Floyd: For about 30 years, I've been engineering in the oil and gas industry, designing compression stations and pipelines, working in both engineering and construction. I knew franchising would be a great option for me to start a business because I could be entrepreneurial, but still have some guidelines to follow. 

1851: What was your perception of franchising prior to becoming a franchisee, and what do you want people to know about franchising now that you are in it?

Windy: I knew absolutely nothing going into it. It’s nice that there are lots of steps that are predetermined for you. I didn’t realize how many steps there would be, but I’m learning to do all sorts of things I’ve never done before and I appreciate the support from the corporate team.

I’ve never been an employer before; always an employee. I’m learning all the aspects of owning my own business and the franchisor has given a lot of insight.

1851: What made you pick this brand? What excites you most about this company?

Windy: We looked at lots of different brands and considered some home service brands, but when it came down to it, that industry didn’t allow us to make the impact that we wanted to make for our community. That’s when we decided to start considering in-home care brands. When I watched the presentation video from Seniors Helping Seniors and heard about the founder’s relationship with Mother Teresa and heard about how the team really wanted to show love to the clients — take care of them with dignity and respect so they could have a good quality of life in the later stages of life — I was hooked. I knew this was the path I wanted to walk down.

Floyd: The thing that made me most interested in Seniors Helping Seniors was their drive to build a closer connection between the caregiver and the care receiver by having a smaller age gap, which makes it a little easier for that connection to happen. They can relate to one another a little more easily. 

The corporate team with Seniors Helping Seniors is a really caring group. When we had our interviews with the franchisors and all the franchise owners, this is something I noticed and appreciated.

1851: What do you hope to achieve with your business? What are your plans for growth? 

Windy: We hope to make a positive impact in our community by providing care for seniors in our territory and giving them a better quality of life. Maybe in the future we’ll branch out, but our territory is a very large area to cover so we’ll start with that for now.

1851: What is the one thing about your story you want us to know?

Windy: I've always had a heart for seniors. When I was a nurse, I enjoyed taking care of them. I enjoyed hearing their stories and getting to know them. My mom is 72, and my grandmother was my caregiver growing up, and I had the opportunity to help her out when she needed assistance as she aged. It’s so important to give back to our community and to help seniors to live the best lives that they can with quality at the end.

1851: What advice do you have for other people thinking about becoming a franchise owner?

Windy: Make sure you know all of the supporting relationships you’ll need to make your business run. Take into account that you need to be willing to be flexible, as well. It’s a fluid process with a lot of change and the need to adapt. I’ve learned so much already. 

Floyd: If you're going to become a franchise owner, make sure that you look closely at your franchise agreement and understand all aspects of it; there are a lot of parts to know. Know what you're getting into and be confident that you're going to do fine. It'll be a learning curve, but thousands have gone before you and there will be thousands after you. 

Make sure you do your financial diligence to know what your investment is going to look like over the course of the first six to eight months, so that you have enough financial backing to support you during that time. 

ABOUT SENIORS HELPING SENIORS:

Seniors Helping Seniors® franchise system was founded by husband-and-wife duo Kiran and Philip Yocom. Kiran, who grew up in India, later worked to advance humanitarian efforts alongside Mother Teresa. After Kiran moved to the U.S. in 1995 and married her husband Philip, the Yocoms felt called to provide loving care to seniors and to cultivate an exchange of gifts at every generational level. Together, the Yocoms founded Seniors Helping Seniors® in-home services in 1998, opening the brand up to franchising in 2006. With a mission to be the most respected and rewarding homecare provider in the U.S., Seniors Helping Seniors® locations stand apart from competitors as the only company that prioritizes hiring active seniors to provide care services to their less-active counterparts. Seniors Helping Seniors® service aligns caregivers and care recipients based on the abilities and needs of both by offering a wide range of care services. Seniors Helping Seniors® network has grown to 200-plus locations, 125 franchise partners in 30-plus states and international markets. For more information on Seniors Helping Seniors® in-home care, visit seniorshelpingseniors.com.