Compassion That Grows Beyond Care with Tasia Drayton

SPEAKER_1 (0:05)

The Bliss Business Podcast, the show about empathy, connection, and consciousness in business. Today's episode is brought to you by Zero Company, your paid search, social media, and programmatic ad experts.

Stephen Sakach (0:19)

Welcome back to the show, everyone. I'm Stephen Sakach here with my co-host Tullio Siragusa and our special guest who we'll introduce in a moment.

Some businesses begin with market opportunity, others begin with a deeply personal experience. In home care, the difference a business makes is often measured in moments that never appear on a financial statement. There are things like a caregiver offering patients or a senior feeling respected and receiving the attention they need to maintain dignity and independence and a family finding relief. So building a business around compassion brings an important challenge. How do you grow, remain profitable, and reach more people without losing the human connection that makes the service meaningful? Today, we are exploring balancing profit and social responsibility through the lens of Compassionate Connections Home Care and Tullio introduce our special guest today.

Tullio Siragusa (1:20)

My absolute pleasure. Today, our guest is Tasia Drayton. She's the founder and CEO of Compassionate Connections Home Care. Tasia began her career as a certified nursing assistant, where she witnessed firsthand and how patients understanding and personalized attention can transform someone's experience of care.

At just 24, she found a Compassionate Connections, growing it into an award-winning organization serving families and veterans throughout Central Florida. Today, she's expanding that mission through franchising, creating opportunities for other entrepreneurs to build businesses rooted in Compassionate Service. Recognized as a 40 under 40 honoree and businesswoman of style, Tasia brings together the perspective of a caregiver, entrepreneur, a mother and a growing franchise leader. Tasia, welcome to The Bliss Business Podcast.

Tasia Drayton (2:17)

Thank you so much for having me.

Stephen Sakach (2:20)

Tasia, so your journey began long before Compassionate Connections existed when your grandmother experienced a stroke, and you saw the impact of Compassionate Care firsthand. How did those early experiences shape the kind of business you eventually wanted to build?

Tasia Drayton (2:39)

When my grandmother had the stroke, she had one for a few summers straight, and each time I would pretty much spend the summer with her at the rehab. It inspired me to want to be a physical therapist. Every time we went back, the team remembered me and my family, and it just showed me what it looked like when people truly cares. When I graduated, I became a CNA, and I worked in different care environments. I saw what it looked like working in an environment where the call light's on too long, and they're labeled difficult, and nobody wants to go in there.

Then I actually went back and worked at that same facility, and the same staff was still there. The culture was just really good, and it had a big impact on me when it comes to true caring, a caring environment and how it can affect everyone around you.

Stephen Sakach (3:39)

So, yeah, so you saw like the culture that your grandmother was being cared for, and then you went to work, and you're in a different culture, right? And you're like, oh my, this is not getting, obviously, very disconnecting culture, not caring about it.

Tullio Siragusa (3:58)

Did not.

Stephen Sakach (3:59)

Oh, go ahead, Tullio.

Tullio Siragusa (4:00)

I was gonna say, I mean, you founded the company at 24, just 24 years old, that's impressive. On top of that, you had a newborn. You had firsthand caregiving experience and a vision for something better.

I'm curious to know what gave you the courage, first of all, to begin, and how did that experience change your understanding of leadership, stepping into leadership so young?

Tasia Drayton (4:26)

Well, me and my friend made a pact the year that I started everything, that we wanted to start a business that aligned with our passions. My father was pushing me into entrepreneurship. I was thinking about starting a cleaning company, but I am not the most passionate about cleaning at all. I did some more research on this particular business on a home care agency, which I didn't think was possible. I didn't think it was feasible, but I did research and I was in a very unhealthy work environment at that time. It just kind of pushed me like enough is enough. I just kind of went out.

I was still working for about two years as I continued to build my business. I started it with $250 and I was like, I'm just going to figure this thing out.

I was my first caregiver and then I just built off of that.

Stephen Sakach (5:28)