Gregory Brewer, owner of Right at Home in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, will be the featured guest in an upcoming webinar, where he will reflect on two decades of business ownership in the growing in-home care industry. Brewer will join 1851 Franchise Publisher Nick Powills to share his 20-year journey with Right at Home and offer insights for prospective franchisees in an upcoming webinar on Thursday, July 31, 2025 at 4 p.m. ET.

Ready to start your franchise ownership journey? Join us on Thursday, July 31, 2025 at 4 p.m. ET, for our upcoming webinar. Sign up for the webinar here.

Brewer’s journey into franchising began in 2003, when he was working as a Vice President for Sara Lee Corp. and conducting an internal survey to determine which services employees valued most.

“When we tallied the results, the number one service that people wanted was in-home aid services for older adults,” Brewer said. “Management of the corporation had no clue that’s what employees wanted.”

Soon after, the corporation disbanded. Brewer and his wife decided to stay in North Carolina, where they had relocated, and began considering their next move. That's when Brewer realized the need for in-home aid services.

 “My wife’s two grandmothers in New Jersey had developed dementia,” he said. “My grandmother in the rural part of Virginia developed Alzheimer’s, and we knew how our parents were struggling to provide them care.”

They began researching business opportunities that aligned with those needs. Right at Home stood out.

“We researched and found Right at Home and connected with the philosophies of Allen Hager, the founder and the leadership there at the time,” Brewer said. “We visited Omaha, Nebraska, and as they say, the rest is history.”

The Brewers opened their Right at Home location in 2004 and leaned on the brand’s proven support model to guide them. “We bought the franchise for a reason, and that reason was because we did not have a roadmap of how to do this,” he said. “We had no knowledge of home care.”

Brewer says they succeeded by following the Right at Home system closely and by building strong relationships in their local community. “People have to know, like, and trust you,” he said. “They can’t like and trust you if they don’t know you.”

That approach has earned their team a strong reputation and consistent praise from clients.

“The central theme would be when people respond to us and say, ‘If it were not for your caregivers and your team … we don’t know what we would have done,’” Brewer said. “Mom or Dad had a stroke. The family works. They couldn’t be with Mom or Dad to give them care, and your team stepped in to make it happen.”

That kind of feedback, he says, has kept them motivated year after year. “We look for that response because we kind of know it now,” Brewer said. “We know that if we do these things, they’re going to walk away happy about it.”

About a third of their referrals now come from past clients as word-of-mouth continues to drive the business forward. “There’s still a need,” Brewer said. “Just because the patient refuses initially to accept it … nobody aspires — let’s be honest — nobody aspires to need help like that.”

He points out that as the client base has aged, their adult children — who once arranged care for their parents — are now becoming the ones in need of assistance. “They are now generally from their mid-70s to mid-80s,” he said. “Whereas 20 years ago, obviously, they were in their mid-50s to mid-60s.”

The biggest challenge, Brewer says, is helping people recognize when it’s time to accept help.

“Most of us believe that in our minds we’re at least 20 years younger than what we actually are,” he said. “You’re still viable. You just need a little bit more help than you needed back then. And that’s why this industry is growing.”

Register here to hear Brewer’s story and learn more about the Right at Home franchise opportunity.

If you're interested in taking the next step in making a difference in your community as a Right at Home franchisee, visit https://rightathomefranchise.com/.