Our first annual national conference last week was a huge success! A sincere thank you to each and every franchisee, employee and caregiver who made it to the conference at Big Cedar Resort—I firmly believe we have the best team in the industry.
The three day event incorporated panels and roundtable sessions on best tips and practices of successful networking, effective management, administration and training techniques, plus focus groups for recruiting, advertising, social media and care coordination. Special presentations from industry experts and guest speakers were also heard.
The event gave me the opportunity to bestow top franchisees and caregivers with prestigious awards. Among them, Lake Mary, Fla.-based owner Tammy Iuso was named Franchisee of the Year, based on her ability to exemplify FirstLight’s Culture of Care and its service-oriented operating system, maintain highest measurements of client satisfaction, and achieve highest revenues for the last 12 month period.
Over the past year, Tammy has shown extreme dedication to her business, earning the highest achievements as a single territory owner. It was a hard decision, with so many deserving owners, but Tammy proved herself and exceeded our expectations as a new franchisee.
Additionally, Maria Wichmann was named Caregiver of the Year, which acknowledges the highest level of service, care, compassion and resourcefulness in providing care to FirstLight clients. The Caregiver of the Year and Franchisee of the Year awards are reserved for exceptional performance and positive contribution to the system.
Maria demonstrates empathy and compassion toward those receiving care by her concern and commitment to professionalism. She is a leader to all caregivers by offering suggestions and encouragement to others and even her supervisors to reinforce our Culture of Care, which is already an industry leader in client satisfaction.
The outcome of the event was an accurate reflection of FirstLight’s continued efforts to provide the highest quality and professional care to seniors and their families. I’m already looking forward to next year’s conference! Keep up the fantastic work! Stay tuned for photos from the event.