Miriam Allred (00:47)
Welcome back to the Home Care Strategy Lab. I'm your host Miriam Allred. Today in the lab, I'm joined by Spencer Roth, the Chief of Staff at Cypress Home Care Solutions and also the co-founder at SmartAutomations.care. Spencer, welcome to the show.
Spencer Roth (01:04)
Awesome. Thanks, Miriam. I'm excited to be here and talk to you today.
Miriam Allred (01:08)
Likewise, you were on a webinar yesterday. I am guessing this is your first podcast, is it?
Spencer Roth (01:15)
Luckily, I work with a guy who's into the podcast realm, so I got to guest appear for a short one, but this is definitely my first lengthy podcast feature that I've gotten to do.
Miriam Allred (01:26)
Awesome. I know you do a bit of public speaking at this point with all the success that you're driving. So this shouldn't be too uncomfortable or out of the box. And like I said, dude, it's just a conversation you and me. Let's let everyone get to know you a little bit before we jump into the topic. What is your background pre-home care? What were you up to before you got into the family business?
Spencer Roth (01:46)
Yeah, so pre home care, I worked for a big health insurance company for a handful of years, got to do a variety of things there, but really on the innovation side, they were really forward thinking organization and I got to work on some really, really cool projects, helping manage these projects and programs, which interestingly kind of run like their own business within a business. So, but they were all called something reimagined. So they were all trying to really revolutionize the thinking of how we were doing things and.
⁓ Really got to work with great, brilliant minds who were rethinking the healthcare realm. And I think a lot of that's really parlayed into the work that I got to do at Cypress in terms of rethinking how we're doing home care and bringing the operations into the kind of 21st century.
Miriam Allred (02:31)
And more specifically, was your background in like project management or what was kind of your day to day in your wheelhouse?
Spencer Roth (02:37)
Yeah, project management big programs where, you know, there were like 15 to 20 little projects that all roll up a part of a big program and making sure that, you know, everything's working together flowing seamlessly and we're hitting milestones and getting to our end goals at the end of the day.
Miriam Allred (02:57)
Okay. And so your father and uncle, maybe uncle started this home care company. And so you grew up in and around the business, but what was it like stepping into the business? Like, do you feel like you had a good sense of what home care was and is, or when you walked into Cypress, did it feel very different than I guess what you expected?
Spencer Roth (03:20)
So yeah, my dad and my uncles ⁓ started the business over 30 years ago. ⁓ Obviously, my uncle Bob runs the business today. You know, I grew up around it, but I don't think I really comprehended really what Cypress was. wasn't until I got to see my grandfather towards the end of his life receive ⁓ care from Cypress, and I got to know the caregivers. And the more I spent time here in Phoenix, I got to really understand what it is that Cypress did.
⁓ I really got to really appreciate the value and the respite that it could provide for our families. And, it's kind of that time that I was spending here led to me getting involved a little bit. I ended up spending a week here, just kind of learning what Cypress did, ⁓ spending time with different staff members and, eventually got involved part-time, just helping out here and there. And, you know, next thing you know, I'm working full time. I'm there every day and.
It's really cool to see and be much more connected to the end impact and the end goal of what we do every day. Obviously, it was great work that I got to do within a big organization, but I love that we are so close to the work that we deliver and the care that gets delivered every day out here in Phoenix.
Miriam Allred (04:36)
Think back to your first few
days and weeks. What were some of the things that surprised you most? Again, walking into home care kind of for the first time after having gone through the experience with your grandfather, what surprised you? What stood out to you?
Spencer Roth (04:50)
I mean, I think the number one thing that stands out to me is the caregivers and the quality of people that they are, but also the work that they do. I mean, when you think about it, they're walking into a stranger's home essentially every day or nearly every day when they go and start a new case. And that can be quite a daunting task. And then as well, when you look at operationally, home care seems so simple, but it is yet.
one of the most endlessly complex things that I've seen from all the logistics of getting people where they're going and making sure your bases are covered, you're complying with rules and regulations. So ⁓ when I first stepped in, was like, wow, this is really, it's quite simple. But the more and more time I spent, the more I realized the complexity of the work that we do every day.
Miriam Allred (05:43)
And you and I were talking
about that before we got on about you're working with lot of home care companies across the country now and you're getting a look at operations of other home care companies and home care is home care, but the application, the execution, the operations vary drastically company to company. And so even, you you're looking to Cypress versus what other people are doing. It's so fascinating to see that, like you said, it's so simple, but it's also so complex at the same time.
Spencer Roth (06:09)
Yeah, everyone's really operationally a snowflake. They're all very unique in how they do it. And the interesting thing is, right, there's no right or wrong way to do things. And I think there's a lot of people creating a lot of great outcomes. And it's really cool that everyone can put their own spin on it. And at the end of the day, it's the people that make this work possible and the trust that they build with their caregivers and their clients.
A lot of that uniqueness comes from the people that work within all these operations across the country.
