2019 has been a year of expansion and growth for Nurse Next Door. We previously highlighted our first franchise location opening in the state of Indiana by the Williamson family (you can check out their story here). We’ve got exciting news! Nurse Next Door is now open in the state of Idaho! Married couple Coleman and Jenny McNear are proud to bring the bold pink home care franchise brand to their community in Boise, Idaho. They say, “When deciding what direction we wanted our lives to go we knew we wanted to be helping the people of our community. The drive to help people is what keeps us going and motivated to being the best we can!”
Did you know that Jenny comes from a franchise family background? Her parents had previously owned a Great Clips franchise for two decades and she had admired the support that a franchise has. Read on to check out their story and what’s in store for seniors in Boise!
Could you tell us more about your past experiences?
Jenny: My past experiences including graduating from Portland State University with a degree in Theater Arts with a performing emphasis, this is how I met Coleman. After we moved to Los Angeles I soon realized that performing was not what I wanted to do. I spent some time working in restaurants while Coleman flushed out her career ideas in the social services field. When I had the opportunity to come back to Boise to help my parents sell their Great Clips franchises after 20 years, Coleman and I sat down and thought about us finding a franchise that would tie her passion for service with my expertise in business from growing up in a franchise family.
Coleman also graduated with a theater degree from PSU but she soon moved into the nonprofit world. She’s worked as a soccer coach for underprivileged youth, as a behavioral specialist for students with special needs, as a program coordinator for an independent living program for former foster and homeless young adults, and as a case manager helping connect clients with services. She got a second degree in communications and had a brief stint in law school to become a child advocacy lawyer before deciding she was most suited for the field rather than courtroom. She is a sponge when it comes to knowledge and she is going to be a great Care Designer for her clients and staff of caregivers.
Could you tell us how you found out about Nurse Next Door? What drew you to our brand?
Jenny: When Coleman and I started thinking about becoming business owners we looked at all different types of businesses, we narrowed our search down to home healthcare because of Coleman’s background in social services. She has always chosen her career choices around helping others. When we saw the Bold Pink image, we were hooked! It isn’t our personal style but we knew that it popped and it pushed the status quo of what home healthcare is traditionally. Looking further into the Nurse Next Door brand just proved over and over that this is a company that has clear goals on how to help seniors and make their lives better. Our diligence in confirming we were making the right choice was almost painful to hear the lack of what other companies offered.
You’re entering the business as a couple–how did you both come to the decision of purchasing a franchise?
Jenny: Deciding on purchasing a franchise rather than opening our own stand-alone business was a no brainer. My family owned Great Clips franchises when I was growing up, and seeing the support that a corporate team can offer and having a name brand that customers recognize and feel comfortable with is pretty special. The brand image will also be a great asset when it comes to marketing our home care business. Also, after knowing Coleman for 12 years, I knew she’d want someone to be comrades with, which can be hard as an owner, but with a franchise we can fill that with people at HeartQuarters or other Franchise Partners, we couldn’t just be out their having no one to bounce ideas off of or share our experiences with.
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Tell us more about your location/community in Boise, ID!
Coleman: The Treasure Valley is a true gem of a community, that being said, shhh, we don’t want everyone to know this. Our population is around 700,000 and the U.S. Census Bureau has said Idaho is the fastest growing state in the country, we’ve grown by 2.2% and this migration to Idaho isn’t new, we’ve been booming for a while now. The state projects that 100,000 new residents will move to the area by 2025. With rising property taxes and cost of living in California many of those transplants are retirees, upwards of 20% of new residents come from California. We have a mild climate with four seasons, lots to see and do, access to great outdoor activities and scenery, low crime rate and low costs comparatively. Boise is a great place to live.
Boise has so much to offer. We have great outdoor recreational activities. Hiking in the foothills is minutes away from everyone, walking on the Greenbelt along the Boise river, surfing in the Whitewater park, floating the river, not to mention the small day trips, such as: skiing at Bogus Basin, hot springs, camping, snowshoeing, chopping down Christmas trees in the forest and swimming in a nearby lakes. We have lovely parks, a botanical garden, nature center, birds of prey center, natural history museum, art museum, Shakespear festival, zoo, farmers’ markets and science museum, just to name a few. Our downtown and surrounding areas are booming with new restaurants, breweries, wineries and cider houses. Our community calendars are jammed packed with activities every weekend from the Basque festival to rodeos, from Art in the Park to Treefort music festival, from Spirit of Boise to Boise State Football (Go Broncos!). We have it all!
You got to train with one of our biggest cohorts at HeartQuarters. What was it like?
Jenny: Foundations training was great, I couldn’t imagine it any other way. I’m so glad we had a class of 11 people representing 5 new locations. I felt truly grateful to get so many answers to all the questions I had never thought to ask. The biggest thing I took away from the week was that we got this! I felt well prepared to talk about Nurse Next Door and the services we offer. And if we don’t always ‘have it’, I felt confident in who to turn to for help.
How will you be delegating various tasks?
Jenny: For the most part, this is Coleman’s show. She is going to be taking the lions share of hiring, community events, keeping in touch with referral sources and Care Designing. My job is going to be raising our daughter and working on bookkeeping, payroll, client bills, social media and keeping us organized.
What are you most excited about for the launch of your business?
Coleman: We are most excited to meet our clients and caregivers. They are the heart of our business and why we chose this line of work. We want to be one of the top employers in the Treasure Valley, offering benefits other home healthcare agencies can’t even imagine. In turn, we want the best of the best caregivers to treat our clients better than any other home healthcare agency. We are looking for rave reviews on how we are making lives better and helping the seniors of the Treasure Valley age happier!
What would you say is your biggest strength and what is one thing you think will require you to step outside your comfort zone?
Jenny: Coleman has so many strengths that are going to make Nurse Next Door a huge success in Boise. She is a master at chatting anyone up and what better way to spread the word that Nurse Next Door is here than to talk about it all day long. She has a lot of confidence in what we can offer and isn’t afraid to pop the question to get someone the help they need. Because that’s really what we are all about, helping people get the help they very much deserve. It’s not sales when a person needs help or knows someone who needs help that’s just common courtesy to offer a helping hand.
This is why I’m the one sitting behind the desk, I don’t have a big outgoing personality that can talk to anyone. But I’m learning and have surprised myself in telling people about our new business venture. I even felt comfortable talking to folks at a networking lunch for healthcare providers here in the Treasure Valley. I know that time is already on my side to overcome my hesitations about opening up, the more I learn the more comfortable I become.
What does Happier Aging mean to you?
Jenny: To me Happier Aging is being able to do the things you love and avoid the things that make you sad. Seems pretty simple but so many times I’ve heard of people getting stuck in a rut because of disability or circumstance and it’s not good. That’s no way to live. If a person can just open up a tiny bit there are a world of possibilities. Going for a walk along a river, tasting something that you put your best effort into baking, learning that knitting is much prettier admired than made by me, going through old photos and putting them into a book, taking a scenic drive, calling an old friend just to say ‘hi’. The big things are fun to do and look forward to but it’s the little things everyday that make life happier.
What do you love doing in your free time?
Jenny: My biggest priority is family time. I really enjoy spending time doing a family dinner or outing. We like to try new restaurants, float the Boise River, attend neighborhood events (Coleman hosts a yearly water fight that every age, young and old, get involved in), swim and cook hot dogs over the fire at my parents house, and the list goes on, variety and new experiences are key. I also really love to throw pottery, one of my dreams is to convert the end of our tandem garage into a small studio. Right now I don’t have an outlet or time to practice my art but it’s always on my mind of how I can make my dream a reality.
Show Jenny, Coleman and the Nurse Next Door Boise team some love by liking their Facebook page!
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