Home Instead Senior Care provides quality, non-medical care to seniors by helping to enhance the lives of aging adults and their families. They strive to be an expert resource in the community for all senior-related issues, but specialize in 1:1 care that is provided by their professionally trained CAREGivers. Vicki Castleman is the Director of Franchise Operations with Home Instead Senior Care.
How did you get started in the business? – I was introduced to the business when my own mother became a CAREGiver following her retirement from her primary career. She shared so many heartwarming stories about how much she enjoyed her time with her senior clients that I started to research changing careers—and eventually I did! My mom recently retired (again), but provided care to seniors for 11 years at Home Instead Senior Care!
Tell us a little about your family. – I’ve been married for 20 years to Scott and we have been blessed with two sons. We are the proud parents of teenage boys, Connor and Parker.
What do you see as one of the biggest turning points in your life? – Leaving a long term career which left me unfulfilled personally to instead join a company that was driven by a meaningful mission. There is no comparison to doing work around something you strongly believe in. It’s true that you never work a day in your life if you do something you love! I’ve never looked back on my decision to change careers.
What is your favorite thing to do on a day off? – I love to go to estate sales or treasure hunting at thrift stores.
What is the most unique or interesting thing about you that most people probably don’t know? – When I was pregnant with my first child, my husband and I hosted a foreign exchange student from Germany. We had fun parenting a teenager as we prepared for the birth of our own child. We still are in touch with our exchange daughter today. She actually is getting married in May and I hope to travel to her wedding in Schreisheim, Germany to join her on her big day.
What are you the most proud of? – My children! It is so rewarding to raise productive and kind young men of character. It is also fun to see their lives develop into their own. You hope that along the way that you’ve given them enough love and direction so that they are confident in the decisions they make and that they can truly be “themselves”.
Which talent would you most like to have? – I wish I was artistic. I have zero talent with art. Trust me; you don’t want me on your Pictionary team.
If you could choose any other profession to be successful in, what would it be? – Real Estate. I’ve always enjoyed looking at homes and think it would be a fun career that mixes personal relationships with one of the most important purchases an individual makes in their lifetime.
What is your favorite book or the last good book you read? – The Five People You Meet in Heaven by Mitch Albom. It was probably one of the first books I read after losing my father and it has always made me better able to manage his passing.
What is your favorite movie? – The Notebook
What is your favorite local restaurant? – I love Thai food and highly recommend Taste of Thailand! I enjoy their orange curry chicken–yum!
If our readers would like to contact you, how should they do so? – By phone at (402) 498-3444 or (402) 932-4555; or visit www.homeinstead.com/100.