FINDING A SENSE OF PURPOSE IN ENTREPRENEURIALISM
What does it take to run a successful business, aside from hard work, persistence and a few sleepless nights? For Chloe Hamilton, the answer lies in the passion and dedication of her and her team. “You need to find intrinsic reward to have a greater sense of purpose around what you’re doing,” says the founder of Warm Embrace Elder Care, a family-run business providing homecare services for seniors in the Waterloo region of Ontario.
Purpose was the easy part for Hamilton, a BMO Celebrating Women honouree in the category of Expansion and Growth in Business. Watching her mother, Brenda, who is now director of finance at Warm Embrace, care for her ailing mother alerted Hamilton to a real need in the community, one she was determined to fill. With no homecare services available where Hamilton’s grandmother lived, every move in the matriarch’s caretaking narrative – from apartment to retirement home to long-term care and to hospital – brought a drastic decline in her health. “It was a really unfortunate trajectory,” says Hamilton. “Years later, we thought about ways to provide the service to families that we would have wanted for our own grandmother.”
Ultimately, the goal of Warm Embrace is to help people stay in their homes, filling in care gaps where needed. But caretakers also offer supplemental support for those in long-term care and other facilities. They provide an emotional, social, one-on-one connection, says Hamilton.
Having recently celebrated its 10-year-anniversary, Warm Embrace today boasts an ever-growing clientele and roster of caregivers dedicated to meeting the elderly’s needs. In 2017, the company posted 50-per-cent annual growth for the three previous years, and it has averaged 50-per-cent growth since inception.
That success isn’t just a testament to business efficacy or diligence. It’s also about going above and beyond. “It’s about truly caring about the clients and integrating in the community,” says Hamilton, who volunteers as chair of the Waterloo region’s elder abuse prevention council.
An exceptional team, including sister Avery, who heads operations, is vital too. “We hire for heart and soul,” says Hamilton. “You have to truly care. It’s not a job, it’s a calling.”
“If I just wanted to make money, I could have chosen a hundred other industries,” she adds. “You need to be in this because you’re passionate about exceptional care and about people being treated with the dignity and respect they deserve. It isn’t an easy industry, but it’s very fulfilling – if you’re in it for the right reasons.
IT’S NOT A JOB, IT’S A CALLING. IF YOU FOCUS ON THAT, CLIENTS FEEL IT.