Stop Waiting for January: Strategic Growth Planning – Steve “The Hurricane” Weiss
Release Date: 09/30/2025
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On Death and Dying in Home Care Part 1 – Gabrielle Pumpian and Nicole Soares
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Gabrielle Pumpian returns, joined by death doula and end-of-life consultant Nicole Soares, for a profound conversation about the one thing every home care agency deals with but few are prepared for: death. They explore a common operational mistake: failing to align a caregiver's duties with a client's core values, leading to disengagement and a reduced schedule. Nicole shares her powerful personal journey that led her to become a "one-stop death shop," while Gabby reflects on the costly mindset of viewing a client's passing primarily as a revenue loss. The discussion offers actionable advice...
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The "Frankenstein's Monster" Team That Forced a Culture-First Fix – Victor Hunt
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Victor Hunt, the passionate CEO and co-founder of Zingage, joins host David Knack for a long-awaited conversation. Victor opens up about the critical hiring mistake from his first startup: prioritizing raw technical skill over team cohesion and culture fit, a misstep that almost broke the company. He explains why this "Frankenstein's monster" approach to building a team fails and how it informed his "culture-first" philosophy at Zingage. Victor shares the only two traits he now looks for in every hire and dives into the underrated genius of home care owners, who are often overwhelmed by...
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John "Moz" Mozdzien, a Navy veteran and co-founder of Veterans First, joins host David Knack to share a costly hiring mistake—but not of a person. He "hired" a flawed understanding of VA benefits, leading to a $10,000 loss on his company's very first case. He opens up about the specific rule regarding surviving spouses that they misunderstood and how this "hard fail" became the foundation for a 99.9% approval rate today. Moz reflects on how the crisis forged an unbreakable bond with his business partner, built on pre-existing trust. The conversation also covers the underrated power of...
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Hiring the Wrong Person Taught Me About Building a Better Team – Becky Reel
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In this re-released episode of Home Care Hindsight, host David Knack sits down with Becky Reel, founder and CEO of Reel Home Care Consulting and former owner of a top-rated home care agency. In their conversation from 2024, Becky vulnerably shares the story of her biggest hiring mistake: bringing her nanny into the office during COVID-19. She details how she overlooked numerous red flags, which led to a toxic work environment and significant business disruption. From this experience, she learned invaluable lessons about the importance of thorough reference checks, truly listening to her team,...
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Stop Waiting for January: Strategic Growth Planning – Steve “The Hurricane” Weiss
Home Care Hindsight
In this returning episode of Home Care Hindsight, host David Knack is joined by Steve “The Hurricane” Weiss, founder of Home Care Evolution. Together, they dive into how home care agencies can finish 2025 strong and hit the ground running in 2026. Steve emphasizes the importance of using September–October to audit your business, tighten referral relationships, and prepare for seasonal surges (like elective surgeries leading to more home care referrals). He shares how to create an orthopedic specialty program to stand out from competitors and walks through the patient journey for better...
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The $100,000 Partnership Mistake I Was Too Stubborn to Quit – Clayton Foutch
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In this episode of Home Care Hindsight, host David Knack is joined by Clayton Foutch, a home care veteran and founder with over 18 years in the industry. Clay opens up about the costly mistake of stubbornly pursuing a major partnership that was a poor strategic fit for his company's "Four Seasons" vision. He shares how his refusal to listen to his team and cut losses earlier resulted in a significant financial and reputational hit. Clay also dives into the importance of revenue diversification for stability, the collaborative nature of the home care industry, and how to thoughtfully...
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What I Wish Every Home Care Owner Knew – Steven Gonzales
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In this episode of Home Care Hindsight, host David Knack is joined by Steven Gonzales, CEO of HealthView Home Health & Hospice, to demystify the world of home health. Steven breaks down the core function of home health, its role in the care continuum post-hospital discharge, and the critical financial challenges driven by payer mix and Medicare Advantage. He shares invaluable insights on how home care agencies can become essential partners by understanding clinical needs, tracking client payer data, and focusing on true care coordination. Steven also looks to the future, discussing...
info_outlineIn this returning episode of Home Care Hindsight, host David Knack is joined by Steve “The Hurricane” Weiss, founder of Home Care Evolution. Together, they dive into how home care agencies can finish 2025 strong and hit the ground running in 2026.
Steve emphasizes the importance of using September–October to audit your business, tighten referral relationships, and prepare for seasonal surges (like elective surgeries leading to more home care referrals). He shares how to create an orthopedic specialty program to stand out from competitors and walks through the patient journey for better outcomes and higher revenue.
The conversation shifts to goal setting, with Steve explaining the difference between bad (vague) goals and SMART, measurable ones — including a real-world success story of a client who achieved a 50/50 payer mix and increased billable hours by 20%.
Finally, Steve and David discuss how to grow VA service lines responsibly, avoid overreliance on government payers, and improve caregiver retention by focusing on higher-hour “total care” clients.
Lesson Takeaways:
1. Plan Now, Not in January: The best time to plan for 2026 is now. Use October to audit your last 12 months, set SMART goals, and identify the tools and support you’ll need to hit them.
2. Focus on Total-Care Clients: Caregiver retention improves when you prioritize clients with 40+ hours per week. This creates stable, full-time work that caregivers stay for.
3. Be “Five-Mile Famous”: You don’t need a huge marketing budget—just consistent local presence. Network weekly, host lunch-and-learns, and build referral relationships within your community.
4. Morale Matters: Invest in your office team with regular morale-building activities. A strong internal culture trickles down to caregivers and clients.
5. Decide and Execute: Indecision is a growth killer. Research, sleep on it, then commit—even a wrong decision is better than no decision at all.
Timestamps:
00:00 - Introduction: Steve "The Hurricane" Weiss returns to the show
02:30 - The summer slump is over: How to hit the ground running this fall
05:00 - The Q4 opportunity: Why elective surgeries spike and how to prepare
07:15 - Building a specialty program for orthopedic patients
09:45 - The caregiver's role: From PT appointments to at-home exercises
12:10 - Steve's planning mantra: Why you should plan for 2026 now
16:25 - A lesson from the UK: The power of diversifying your payer mix
19:15 - Growing your VA line wisely (and why 20% is the sweet spot)
22:05 - The caregiver retention secret: Focus on "total-care" clients
26:30 - Advice for new owners stuck in the recruitment/scheduling cycle
31:00 - How to be "Five-Mile Famous" in your local market
33:45 - An inspiring client story: Scaling after two heart attacks
38:10 - The "hot list" system for keeping caregivers engaged
41:00 - The office culture fix: Why morale-building is non-negotiable
42:15 - The #1 thing holding owners back: Indecisiveness
43:50 - Steve's win: Invitation to the Home Care Millionaires Bootcamp
Quotes:
Steve Weiss: “You can recover from a wrong decision, but you’ll never recover—and you’ll never grow—if you don’t make a decision at all.”
Steve Weiss: “Be five-mile famous. You don’t need to know everyone in the world—just everyone who can send you a patient.”
David Knack: “You’ve got to create a little FOMO with your caregivers. Share the success others are having so they want to be next.”
Steve Weiss: “If you want to grow strong, make sure your office staff culture is strong. It trickles down to everyone.”
Resources:
1. Home Care Evolution: https://homecareevolution.com/
2. Connect with Steve “The Hurricane” Weiss on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/steve-hurricane-weiss-13996b2/
3. Connect with David Knack on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/david-knack/
4. Powered by Zingage: https://zingage.com
5. Watch Episode on Zingage’s YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@Zingage
6. Home Care Millionaires Bootcamp (Houston, Nov 19-21): https://homecareevolution.com/houston-2025-boot-camp-page/