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Intro: Broadcasting live from the Business RadioX studios in Houston, Texas. It’s time for Houston Business Radio. Now, here’s your host.

Trisha Stetzel: Hello, Houston. Trisha Stetzel here bringing you another episode of Houston Business Radio. I’m really excited about the guests that I have on today. LaQuita Mason, who is the administrator for ELife Home Care. LaQuita and I have something in common. She is also a veteran, which is amazing and I can’t wait to dig into the details around her business. So she is the healthcare administrator with a master’s degree in Health Care Administration, concentrating in long term care, and symbolizes excellence in the health care business. With over 18 years of broad experience, including a decade of duty in the United States Air Force, her path is defined by extraordinary accomplishments and a profound dedication to excellent care. Welcome to the show.

LaQuita Mason: Thank you so much. So we’re so grateful to join you and just so appreciative for having us on today.

Trisha Stetzel: Well, I am really excited to have you. So you and I got to meet at a veterans event that I was representing the Veterans Chamber at, and I’m so glad you showed up because we have so many things in common. Right. It’s I wasn’t involved or engaged in that space and I am now. And so just getting the message out there and really bringing in amazing people like you who are running businesses and have a decade of experience in the United States Air Force. So I gave a brief introduction of you. I’d like to know a little bit more about your background. So what can you share with us?

LaQuita Mason: Yeah. So that was really aging me. I thought about that. It’s been years. It’s been 18 years. And so it’s really starting to age. But I always tell everyone that I feel like healthcare chose me because when I was sitting in that basic training room and I opened the package and it said, um, air medical evacuation technician, I thought, what is that? It’s a really fancy long. You know, the Air Force uses these really fancy terms. And I thought, what is that? And it’s really led me on this amazing journey. I started out as a medic in, um, in a clinic setting, and then I eventually went into critical care and worked in emergency settings, and I worked in the ICU, and I was able to deploy over five times while I was in the Air Force. And I worked, um, in one of the largest and one of the most busiest ers at that time, which is Balad, Iraq. I actually was privileged to be there twice. And so that’s a very, very, um, sentimental place for me. I really had to grow up professionally and personally. And I just, I treated a lot of my experiences to that encounter from the very first trip, um, in Balad, Iraq. And so after, um, returning, I became a flight medic and deployed a couple times as well. And I just felt this desire that I was supposed to do something, something different. And I felt that while I was privileged to take care of one of my family members, which was my aunt with my mom’s twin sister, and I was also privileged to take care of my dad as well.

LaQuita Mason: And it was one of the most vulnerable moments in their life. And I just have come to believe that home is so much greater than a brick and mortar. It’s something that is sacred. It’s a sanctuary. And so I just remember both of them that were in they were at those stages of being end of life. And they said, can you take me home? I just want to go home. And I started to have this burning desire. And at that time I was still military, and I just felt like through my heart to serve them. It’s almost like God was giving me these ideas that this is where you’re supposed to be. And I couldn’t run from it. So I thought like, oh, I’m gonna do all these different things. But it would just keep coming back up. And I just felt like, this is something that I’m supposed to replicate to hundreds and thousands of other family members, because when we think about home, it’s our heritage. It’s a legacy. And for me, I felt like it was such a privilege and it makes me almost emotional thinking about it. Um, because I got to be there in some of the most sacred moments of their life and times of where I wasn’t able to see those things.

LaQuita Mason: I got to learn things about them that others may not have gotten to experience because I was there during those vulnerable moments, and it just created this zeal and this passion. And so sometimes if you talk to some individuals that I’ve worked with in the past, and I’m going to wrap this up, they would probably say, like, Lupita is really, really, really intense. She’s really passionate. And it’s really because every single time, it doesn’t matter who the individual is, I always am reminded of the faces of my aunt and my dad and those moments. And I said, I never, ever want to become callous or forget why I do what I do. And so it’s really something that is so personal for me. Um, the Air Force says that there’s a there’s a core value that says excellence in all we do. And I have really taken that on as a core value in my personal life and my professional life as an administrator, because I just am so fortunate to believe that God has allowed me to be in this moment and with this particular gift, to not only lead, but to also serve. And I want to make sure that I do it well. And so that’s how we birth a life and and that’s how we’re here now. And it’s been over a ten year dream. I started to feel this burning desire. And we were finally able to acquire an acquisition last September.

Trisha Stetzel: Well, congratulations. It sounds like this was meant for you and the place that you should be. And I got, uh, goosebumps as you were talking through that and understand, uh, that space that you’re in. I spent a lot of time volunteering in nursing homes, uh, with my my dogs. I have animal assisted therapy dogs and spent a lot of time there. I moved my mom in with me, uh, many years ago, and now I’m caring for my grandmother, who is in a memory care facility, so.

LaQuita Mason: Well, bless you.

Trisha Stetzel: And I have so much in common. It’s it’s undeniable that we needed to meet each other when we did. I’m really.

LaQuita Mason: I didn’t know that part because, you know, I used to be an administrator in a long term care facility for about five years, and I wish we would have had individuals coming in to bring animals because our our residents would have loved that. Oh my God, that would have been just so refreshing and nurturing for their souls. So that’s a beautiful, beautiful service that you are providing.

Trisha Stetzel: Well thank you. And you know, there were people at the facilities that the only reason they would get dressed and get out of bed that day was because we were bringing the animals. You know, it wasn’t about us, it was about the animals. And, you know, just to see their faces light up and be able to enjoy that unconditional love that pets can give. Yeah. So amazing. So yes, we have.

LaQuita Mason: A.

Trisha Stetzel: We have a whole nother conversation to have.

LaQuita Mason: I I’m sure there was no call that day. There were no incidents because everybody’s so excited about seeing those pits. And so that’s just beautiful. I’m sure the administrator and the staff appreciated that.

Trisha Stetzel: Yeah they did. Let’s dive a little bit into for those who may not understand what home care is. So what is that service that you’re actually providing?

LaQuita Mason: That’s a really good question. And so what I will say, and I’ll kind of be really quick about this because there’s a lot of numbers that’s involved. And when you think of home care services, there’s 1 or 2 things that you’re thinking of. It’s either field services or non-medical services. And what we currently provide are non-medical field services. And you don’t think about it because you do it voluntarily every day. All of us. Right? We get dressed, we put our own clothes on. We never think about it. Um, we prepare our own meals, we go shopping for ourselves. If some of us are prescribed medications, you know, we’re taking and we’re administering those medications ourselves, or let’s just say, for instance, you just really have no one that’s in the home. There’s no one in the community. All of your family is kind of dispersed throughout the nation, and you just want that companionship. Those are the services that we offer. And so we do that because the truth of the matter is, is that our baby boomer population, they’ve been a different breed of people their entire lives, and they are becoming one of our largest groups of individuals to ever be a part of a generation. Right. And they’re expected to be even larger in the next couple of decades than more of the children that we’ll have.

LaQuita Mason: And so the truth of the matter is, is that one out of five individuals will need these services, and two out of five of them will have multiple comorbidities, which means maybe they have cognitive limitations, maybe they have functional limitations that will require someone, such as our services, to be able to come in, to have a caregiver, to be able to provide them with the things that they will want able to do voluntarily. And the truth of the matter is that I’m a millennial, right. And I’m sure there are some Gen Xers and also Gen Zs that eventually they will be, um, the ones who are looking for these sorts of services for their loved ones, whether it be their parents, their siblings, their great grandparents or grandparents. And the truth of the matter is, is I would like to say that everyone has the flexibility in their schedule to be to be able to provide in-home care services. And so that’s where we come in, and we’re able to provide those income, those in-home care services that your loved ones would want, able to do independently and also able to do those services safely.

LaQuita Mason: And so that’s really what we focus on, is making sure that your loved ones are safe, safely able to get the same services that they once were able to get independently. And so, um, and that, you know, that’s ADLs two activities for daily living is another term that you may see like ADLs. And the thing is that they’re coining this term, the silver tsunami. I don’t know if you’ve heard of it. Just that’s what they’re called. They’re coining, um, the babies, you know, the baby boomer generation. And it’s probably why you’re starting to see so many, like, assisted living facilities all over the places. Um, because they’re preparing health care is really preparing to be able to have these structures in place. Um, as our baby boomers continue to age and want to age in place, and they’re really like, I tell some of the baby boomers that’s on services, I’m like, you guys are more high tech than I am. Like, you know more about technology than I do. They want the, you know, the retail, um, services. They want the virtual, uh, uh, telehealth services. They want to do everything in the convenience of their homes. And so we want to be able to meet that need.

Trisha Stetzel: That’s amazing. I was thinking about so my grandmother, who’s 93, still uses a tablet and like facetimes and. Yeah, so she does pretty good with with technology. Probably better than me in most cases. I hadn’t heard the term silver tsunami, but that’s going to be stuck with me. I’m going to remember it’s very interesting. The service that you provide is so important. I know when I was doing my volunteer work, one of the things that I read about seniors is they fear losing their independence more than they fear. End of life. And that’s huge. Uh, so being able to, um, stay in place and have someone who can provide that type of service, like what you’re doing, is so important for them to continue to feel that independence that they’ve had their entire lives. It’s a strong group of people, I’m telling you that that silver tsunami. Yeah, very.

LaQuita Mason: Very much so. And, you know, the truth is that they are a generation that they’ve experienced a lot even, you know, obviously the boomer generation, the parents, their parents experience even more, um, that World War Two generation. And so they are very strong willed individuals. And it just reminds me of what America was built on, right, is that we have people who are very strong willed and we pin that, lose this. We can’t we cannot lose our foundational principles. And that’s one of my main reasons why I really enjoy being around the senior populations, because I get the it’s almost like I’m getting this free life coaching, um, from them. They’re filled with so much wisdom, and so it’s such a great honor. It truly is to be able to allow them to continue on with their strong will and also have a sense of dignity. Right, because everybody wants to have that sense of dignity.

Trisha Stetzel: Yeah, absolutely. So this is probably a really good time for me to ask you to share, like a testimonial or even a story of someone that you’ve worked with in this particular space.

LaQuita Mason: Yeah. Thank you so much for allowing this time for testimonials. Um, you know, the truth of the matter is we had a situation to where a family member was in California, and they were having some issues with logistics of getting, um, their mother transferred to California. And so we did a lot of things at once. It really wasn’t a part of what we do, but because we wanted to make sure that there was an ease of transition and to make sure that there’s no stress, because the truth of the matter is, none of us want to be up. We can’t even function appropriately and do our jobs well. If in the back of our minds we feel like the person that we love and the person that’s been there for us the most, that they’re not being taken care of. And so what we did was we created a plan to where we’re essentially in that home nearly 24 over seven of the day. And, um, and it’s been very challenging. But the peace of mind is knowing that one, the sun was in California, that there’s no stress. It’s funny. I don’t even hear from him at all. Sometimes I check in and then I say, hey, are you still there? Like, are we still going through the process? It’s like, well, you guys are doing such an exceptional job.

LaQuita Mason: You know, I don’t feel like I have to call and check in on mom. And so I just, you know, he was so grateful because he felt like he had gone through so many cycles of different agencies. And the truth of the matter is, it’s thousands of home care agencies that are out there. And I always tell people we’re not selling retail. This is not money that we really are privileged to go in and to the sanctuary of one someone’s home, and two, that we really are taking care of human beings and they need the human touch, they need that empathy. And so I think he was just so at ease. He even said it. He said, you know, I was so at ease with you guys that I had almost forgotten, um, that I needed to call and follow up. And so, um, it was just a blessing to hear and know that he had entrusted us to that level. And so I think that that’s one of the highest testimonies is when we can have somebody that truly trusts us and sees us as their family, to know that we’re going to do the right thing.

Trisha Stetzel: Wow. That’s amazing. Let’s talk a little detail around e life. Who are you supporting? What neighborhoods are you in? What part of town, and how can people find you if they want to learn more?

LaQuita Mason: Yeah. So, um, we are our headquarters are located in Cypress, Texas. However, we service six regions throughout the Houston, and I’ll just, uh, list all of the regions. And so if anybody’s listening, you have questions, you can always give us a call. Um, our number is (832) 614-3029. And those areas that we’re currently covering is of course Pierce County. And we cover, uh, Fort Bend, Galveston, Liberty, Matagorda, Montgomery, Waller, Austin. And so Walker and there’s one more Brazoria that we cover. And so that means that we’re covering as far as north is, is Willis, and then as far south as, um, Galveston. And we’re going out to places like Channelview. So we cover all over Houston anywhere that you can think of, we’re covering it. Um, I am first to say, if we don’t have the support or the staffing to support that, I am so connected with different resources because of my background, that we’re willing to make sure that your family member has the right resources and is connected with the right caregiver and home care agency is amazing.

Trisha Stetzel: So you’ve said something that’s saying to me, Matagorda and Brazoria, because I tell you, I have looked for services in home care services, like when we go out of town so that somebody can come in and make sure mom is okay. And it’s like crickets trying to find people who support this area out here. So that makes me really happy. Oh.

LaQuita Mason: That’s exciting, that’s exciting, that’s exciting.

Trisha Stetzel: Oh, yes. Okay, so E-life has a website and let’s tell people where to go. And then if you’re on social, let’s, uh, direct them that way as well.

LaQuita Mason: Yes. So we’ve made it really easy. Um, and it’s just Eli Compare.com. You can find us online. You can just search Eli Homes here. Um, and then as far as socials, you can find us on Facebook under Eli Homes here. You can also find us on Instagram on Eli Homes here. You can also find us on LinkedIn at Eli Homecare at Will. And again, I always tell everyone, if you’re unsure about services, just give us a call in. One of our senior managers will be more than happy to come out to provide an assessment so that we can determine what services your loved one will benefit from.

Trisha Stetzel: Okay, I love that I can. Your heart is so big, and I love that you’re working in this space and you’ve always worked in this space. Just now it happens to be with silver haired people instead of right. Yes, I love it. Yes. So one last question for you before we wrap up our talk today is what impact do you hope to make in the home care industry? Marquita a really.

LaQuita Mason: Really good question. And I think it kind of goes back to what I was saying earlier, that home is so much more, you know what I mean? And I just truly believe that our goal is to make sure that we preserve the sanctity of our, um, seniors and not just our seniors, but also those who have disabilities, right? Even if it’s a child or teenager with disabilities, um, can make sure that they are thriving in familiar environments. And not only, like I said, to be able to replicate the personal care that I was privileged to be able to provide for my own loved ones. So it’s one thing when you provide the services, right? But it’s another thing when you’ve been on the other end of the table as far as being the caregiver for your family members. And so you know how vital and how important it is to be able to give this exceptional quality of care. And so my goal is to really, really make sure that the same things that my family members, they desired in their heart and we were able to give them that I’m able to replicate and give that same thing over and over and over again. And so our overall aim is obviously to provide that specialized care, but most important, to make sure that it’s quality care. And I know that that’s kind of cliche in healthcare, but that’s the truth of the matter is, is that I am the administrator, that you can call me any time of the day. And I want to make sure that we make things right.

Trisha Stetzel: I yeah, you and I need to spend so much more time together. I’m just saying so much more time. I’m so glad, absolutely, that there was something that brought us together. And you were meant to show up at that event, and I was meant to be there. And I can’t wait to spend more time with you and really, um, not just talking about your business, but how many things we have in common. I think it’s amazing when we open up our hearts, and that energy that’s out there just attracts the magnets, right?

LaQuita Mason: Just like I love it, I love it, it’s amazing.

Trisha Stetzel: Okay, so we’ve got everything out there. If people want to connect with you E Life Home Care, they can find you on social. They can also go to your website. Uh, your telephone number and contact information will all be in the show notes for anyone who wants to pick those up. I can’t wait to have you back. We’re going to have to find another thing to talk about. I feel like, I don’t know.

LaQuita Mason: We it’s just such a beautiful experience with you today because and I agree, I just believe that it’s divine connection for sure. It’s been such a blessing to have connected with you.

Trisha Stetzel: Well, thank you for being on the show today. I really appreciate your presence. I appreciate what you’re doing in the community, and I know and can feel the difference that you’re making even in this home care space, because it is an important, um, area. It’s an important industry for all of our aging parents and grandparents and the people that we take care of to have quality care, uh, like Eli. Home care gives.

LaQuita Mason: You. Thank you so much.

Trisha Stetzel: Yeah. Thank you for being on. And that’s all the time that we have for today’s show. Join us next time for another exciting episode of Houston Business Radio. Until then, stay tuned, stay inspired, and keep thriving in the Houston business community.