What does it take to manage elite athletes, lead global humanitarian work, and build a thriving healthcare business? Meet Dr. Michelle Rankine—a Jamaican-born leader whose career spans the U.S. Olympic Committee, the New York Jets, and her groundbreaking work as an Obama Fellow with Oxfam, all grounded in a powerful commitment to servant leadership.
Now she’s channeling her high-performance mindset into compassionate caregiving. As the owner of multiple Right at Home and Fastest Labs franchises, she’s redefining home care, especially for those with dementia.
In this conversation, Dr. Rankine reveals:
- How her Jamaican roots shaped her identity and leadership
- The surprising performance lessons that transfer from sports to healthcare
- The pivotal crisis that led her into the home-care industry
- The AI tech reshaping senior care without invasive cameras
- The “pre-crisis” conversations every family should have—think personal assistant, not caregiver
Dr. Rankine’s journey shows what happens when courage, purpose, and servant leadership collide. Tune in to learn how to make your own “Boss Leap.”
Music courtesy of Dealer’s Choice Sound Recordings, Inc.
Music artist: djezi
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Watch the episode here
Listen to the podcast here
Servant Leadership In Action: From Olympic Sports To Home Care Entrepreneurship With Dr. Michelle Rankine
Welcome to Boss Leap. My name is Dr. Sylvia Morris. I’m here with my awesome co-host, Dr. Angela Walker. Our guest is the definition of purpose and performance in motion. From her early days in Jamaica to managing elite athletes for the US Olympic Committee, interning with the New York Jets, and leading humanitarian initiatives as an Obama Fellow and Oxfam Conference Officer, she has built a career that bridges excellence, empathy, and impact.
As the owner of Fastest Labs and Right at Home franchises, she is channeling those same high-performance principles into entrepreneurship and caregiving. We’re diving into her journey, her leap from sports to service, and how she is channeling leadership on her own terms. Before we get into our conversation with Michelle Rankine, we are going to talk about watering ourselves. Angela, how are you watering yourself?
I loved her analogies in terms of taking care of plants. As we talked about in this episode, I am in a family situation. I’m trying to take care of my mom and get her through a health scare.
Life is lifing.
Life is truly lifing in its fullest effect. I am reminded by people who love me, like you and my family, to literally water myself. I get a text on a regular basis, “How are you watering yourself?” I’m doing that by remembering to drink the water because you know I start with my coffee. You have to have the coffee. Unfortunately, in a hospital or rehab facility, there is limitless coffee. At least I’m getting that, but trying not to get too much. I am trying to remember to eat healthy because again, there are not always the healthiest choices, particularly when the cafeteria is closed, and so remembering to do those things for yourselves.
That vending machine.
It is eating healthy, but also trying to stick to my routine. Number one is trying to get some sleep, which has been difficult. When I’ve had the opportunity, remember to put the phone down and sleep because if I’m not at my best, I’m not going to be at my best to help with my mom. One of the things that Dr. Rankine mentioned is walking it off. No matter where you are, if you’re in a hospital, if you’re in rehab, if you’re at home, or even in an enclosed space, you can walk. If you can get outside and get a little bit of vitamin D, it is getting some of my walk in. That’s how I am watering myself right now. I’m also maintaining my prayer in the morning and my meditation as best I can. How about you?
I love that for you. You are doing all the things.
I’m trying.
You’re doing. What does Yoda say? “You do or not do,” or was it “Try or do?” Anyway, the Star Wars reference.
That’s why I don’t know. As bad as it sounds, I was not a sci-fi kid.
I love when Dr. Rankine talked about resting during the storm, but your question for me was, “How am I watering myself?” I do tend to send you text messages. “Have you fed and watered yourself today?”
It’s heard. It’s received right at the right time.
I always hope that it’s not annoying. Nonetheless, I have been drinking water. As we would say in the hospital, I was a little volume down, so I’m trying to get my water intake together. Also, we had a bit of a cold snap here in the Atlanta area. It was in the 20s when I woke up in the morning. I did not get my walk for two days. The third day I went out, I saw one of my walking buddies. We’re going to say hello to Miss Jerry and Charlie the dog. I saw Miss Jerry.
She says, “I haven’t seen you in a few days.” I was like, “It’s too cold.” She’s like, “Charlie and I were out.” There’s nothing like old lady shade. I love it. I can’t wait to be one of those old ladies shading people. I say all that to say that it’s for me, walking, as you will read shortly from Michelle talking about walking and walking things off. When I start my day with a walk, my day is automatically better. Water and walking are how I have been watering myself.
They are powerful W’s. Thank you. I appreciate you sharing. Again, I appreciate everything that you do to lift me. I’m so happy that we have a guest who will certainly give a lift to our spirits, in that what she does from a servant’s heart is invaluable. She has so much salient information to share. Without further ado, we give you Dr. Michelle Rankine.
Michelle Rankine, welcome to Boss Leap.
Thank you so much. I’m excited to be here with you guys.
We are so excited to have you. Is there something in particular before we get started that you want to leave our audience with?
The biggest thing that I would love to leave the audience with is that no matter what leap you’re taking in life, make sure you experience those moments and feel through it. What I’ve learned in my years of entrepreneurship and even pre, I sometimes was moving so fast. I didn’t feel it. I didn’t always experience every moment. Celebrate your wins. Celebrate your failures, too, because there is a lesson to be learned. With all of that, sit and focus on the feelings that you have for each of them. One of the biggest things that I’ve learned is to always reflect. Sometimes, that reflection is daily in my journal. Sometimes, I have to reflect on the trends that keep occurring.
We’ll stop there, and we’ll bring you back for another. That was amazing. All of that, you want to leave our audience? That was amazing, very sage advice. I am feeling everything that you said. Thank you for that.
Thank you.
Jamaican Roots & Resilience
Let me ask you. We can hear a little bit of an accent that you had. We know that you immigrated to the US from Jamaica. We’d like to know how the Jamaican background shaped your identity, values, and even your approach to leadership, which we’ll get into.
Celebrate your wins—celebrate your failures too, because there’s a lesson in both. Share on XIt has completely shaped everything about me. I came to the States when I was about nine. Even though my parents migrated here, I was still very much connected with my identity being Jamaican. I remember my experience in school, where everyone was like, “What is she saying?” I remember my mom saying, “Don’t sound too Jamaican today.”
How do I not do that, Mom? I am Jamaican.
She said, “They’re not going to understand you.” I always used to get frustrated having to repeat my words constantly. It was the best lesson for me because one of the things that Jamaica shows you is that I always like to mimic the garden, it’s rooted. I said feelings before because sometimes, we forget how deep our roots are. For me, knowing my family history and the legacy in Jamaica, we’re very prideful.
I was always rooted in that. You come from a strong group of people. We see that resilience right now. With Hurricane Melissa, there is such hardship right now. The biggest thing is resilience. When you think of Jamaica, most people are excited and happy. That is part of our roots. Our roots are no problem. There’s absolutely nothing that you can’t say, “There’s no problem right now with that.”
How is your family?
My family is well. The hurricane hit the western, what they call the breadbasket of Jamaica, where all the farms and a lot of the economy or a third of the economy is. My family lives in Kingston. Originally, Hurricane Melissa was to hit Kingston. It’s devastation. I’m actively helping, donating, and telling people to donate because it’s going to take a lot to recover from a Category Five.
We’ll take the opportunity. If you had a reader who wants to donate, is there an avenue that you would recommend?
Yes, Food For The Poor, and support the Jamaican government. They are actively helping. You can go to the Prime Minister’s website and donate there, and then to Food For The Poor. Food For The Poor has been very active in Jamaica for years. They’re building homes and getting necessary supplies out to those who have been affected.
Lessons From Elite Performance/Focus
Thank you so much for sharing that with our audience. You have had a very storied career, in that you’ve worked for the US Olympic Committee before the London Games. You interned for the New York Jets. What lessons have you learned from elite performance that helped guide you?
I always get asked that question. When it comes to sports, it seems it is glitz and glam. For me, it’s just people. I always kept in perspective, even on a game day. Everything is so busy behind you, and you have to be focused. That is the only thing with working in those environments. You guys are in healthcare. You have to be so laser-focused when you’re in your flow. As an athlete and as someone working outside, you have to know when you’re in your flow. My biggest thing is not to get caught up in the busyness of the outside, but I’m helping people, and people are helping me. It’s that exchange every day, even in a very glitz-and-glam environment.
You have to be laser-focused when you’re in your flow and not get caught up in the busyness of the outside world. Share on XI have to ask. In the London Games, was Usain Bolt at that game?
Yes.
Can you give our audience an idea of how you got to that point? What was the trajectory to that?
My family is very rooted in sports. My grandfather was the first from the Caribbean. He owned a sports store in Jamaica. He was the first person to have a contract with Adidas, and the first Black man to have a contract with Adidas.
That’s big.
He did that. He also started the first women’s netball team. He’s one of the founders of creating that sport on the island.
What is netball? I know basketball. I know volleyball.
Netball is a British sport. The only difference with basketball is that you don’t dribble. It’s just passing the ball. It’s very big in British colonies.
That’s a new one for me.
I’m like, “Why don’t you want to bounce the ball?” Forgive me for that question. It’s something about the court that is shorter.
It’s shorter, and the rim is lower. There’s no net.
It’s called netball.
My grandfather, bless his heart, had me in all things sports. I used to sit ringside to go boxing matches and learn all about boxing and learn all about track. For me, I always felt, “This has to be what I have to do because that’s what Grandpa told me.” That’s what I did. I was always a great spectator. I was a good athlete. I always felt like I had to live the legacy through him in that way. I’m doing something different. I’m happy that I learned those foundations. It started because of Grandpa. We call him Pancho.
Is your grandfather still living?
No, he’s not.
Sorry to hear that. It is a lovely story about how he made such an impact on you, though. It’s part of your roots, as you would say. You also had a time as an Obama fellow and worked with Oxfam, which definitely shows your deep commitment to service. I would love to know how those experiences influenced you to lead and truly how you define your success now.
Transferable Skills & Fearlessness From Service
I’ll start with Oxfam. For those who aren’t familiar with Oxfam, it’s an NGO out of the UK. My project was specifically in empowering women to become farmers, finding women farmers in Latin America, expanding their ability to farm, and giving them leadership skills, funding, and opportunity with the private markets. One of the big things we were able to do in some of the countries we were servicing in Latin America was a buffer fund. What that meant is a lot. Many people who are farmers sell their goods and get paid. When you want to work with the Hilton, the Hilton is going to give you an invoice. It’s going to say net 30.
Or 60.
It could even be 90. You have to have a department to chase that money. For the farmer, they’re not willing to do those exchanges.
They can’t afford to.
Day to day.
Not at all. We were able to put them into pods with the local coalitions and be able to give them a buffer so they would give us the invoice, and we would pay them. That showed me in that element. I know nothing about farming. I may kill any plant that you give me. It showed me that the skills that I have in other assets are totally transferable. I was in my early 20s when I did that. I said, “There’s nothing I can’t do because I’m now in farming.” That made me feel like it empowered me. I have the skillset to move from one element to the next. The opportunity with the Obama fellowship showed me the elements and essence of grassroots marketing because we went door to door. I was in New Jersey, Iowa, and Colorado, doing canvassing and campaigning.
That was hard. I didn’t like going to someone’s door and asking for things. I would bring water to the campaign all day. I have somebody staying at my house. That’s hard. Kudos to you.
You’d led right to my point, fear, because in my head, I was like, “Why not?” They do teach you that there is nothing to fear in knocking on someone’s door. They are just humans. I’m actually not here to talk politics because I’m not a politician. I’m here to find out what’s important to you, and know more about you, and you to learn from me. That was all the canvassing that we did. It wasn’t to be a specialist on what was happening or what his thoughts were.
It was that I’m Michelle, and this is who I am. I’m supporting him. I can tell you my why, but I would like to know what your concerns are. I was having those opportunities going into barbershops. I did a lot in Newark and New Jersey. I used to be at the train station, talking to random people. I make sure to stop when I see someone doing that now because I remember the feeling, especially in New Jersey and New York. In Texas, they’ll say hi.
Yes, that’s what we do here.
It’s real for New Jersey and New York. You could have fallen out. They’re not going to look your way. That was a wonderful experience for me before taking the leap into entrepreneurship. There are many doors that I knock on, that I could have a feeling of fear, and I don’t because this is just a person that I’m trying to get to know.
That experience taught you the value of being fearless, but I sense that you grew up as a fearless child, with everything that I’m hearing and all the accomplishments that you’ve had. I may be wrong. I’d like you to correct me if I am. If not, tell me where you think that came from. You talked about your roots, but was there anyone in particular or anything that you saw growing up that showed you that anything was possible?
Yes, my mother. She said, “We’re going to go to America now.” It was due to the fact that I had a lot of health issues. As a child, if there was something to fall over, I would fall over it. I was one of those accident-prone, always in the hospital, broken arm, broken leg. When you’re able to have a challenge happen, even as small as breaking your arm, you learn a different level of empathy. I learned that very young. For me, growing up, I had a neighbor. He had Down syndrome.
He was my best friend. Having him as a best friend and knowing his limitations always kept me in play mode. For me, that’s something that I always try and keep in mind, even as an adult. There is something to play and have a light spirit about. That was my childhood. I always see even today, when I’m talking to girlfriends, I’m like, “We can’t take this so seriously.” There is something to laugh about and be lighthearted about.
Tell us then, how did you take the leap from sports and philanthropy to healthcare and being a franchisee? What was the thing that said, “This is a time for me to leap?”
The Pivotal Leap Into Healthcare/Franchising
It’s so much easier to connect the dots backwards. The most pivotal point was my brother’s accident. It was crazy. I got my dream job, and then my brother’s accident happened. I had been offered by the IMF to be the Director for Sports for Change for Latin America.
That’s the International Monetary Fund.
They have a division that helps with sports. I didn’t even start the job. I just got the offer, and my brother’s accident happened. I was at a point where I’m like, “What do I do? I can’t take this job. David’s accident has happened.” I chose my brother. I continued the role that I was in. Doing that, I kept leaning back. I need to be in healthcare. It was a gut feeling. To others who know me, they thought I was stark crazy. “You’ve been doing sports. That is you the whole time. What do you mean you want to get into healthcare? You don’t know anything about healthcare.” I always had a servant heart. That has always been me.
It was a gut feeling. To people who knew me, it seemed crazy. They said, “You’ve always been in sports—why switch to healthcare? You don’t know anything about it.” But I’ve always had a servant’s heart. That’s who I’ve been all along. Share on XI feel that the moment of my brother’s accident opened the door to show me about home care. I technically always knew home care. I never saw it as a profession. I also have parents who didn’t want me to do what they did. My mom was a caregiver at night when she was working multiple jobs. My aunt was a caregiver. I remember going to homes as maybe eleven or twelve. She would say, “You can’t leave the kitchen. You sit down. You do your homework.” She would be watching someone. In my head, I’m like, “Wait, I always had that exposure.” All through high school, I was a candy striper, always in the hospital.
I remember those days.
I loved it. I did it even in grad school. I volunteered at the University of the West Indies Hospital in Jamaica when I was doing my graduate research. I always had a servant heart. Right at Home or home care agencies, when I looked at it, I was like, “I can do this.” I led with faith and said, “I think I can do this.”
Our audience knows you have three Right at Homes, the home care agency, correct?
Yes.
You’ve also purchased Fastest Labs. Can you tell us about that?
Utilizing Genetic Testing In Dementia Care
I got into Fastest Labs during COVID. During COVID, there was such a need for tests. I’m passionate about following models. I was like, “Do I do this all by myself?” I said, “No, let me see if there’s a franchise model.” I saw Fastest Labs. What it does actually complements my Right at Home business in two ways. 1) All of my employees get extra screen drug testing through Fastest Labs. It scares people. It’s like a tactic to remove those who feel they’re going to pop dirty, because I say, “Go to Fastest Labs.” They’re like, “You’re not doing it in-house?” That has heightened our ability to hire better.
2) It helps with the care level. As you know, I focus on dementia care. I’m a certified dementia practitioner. One of the biggest things with dementia patients is that they can’t voice how they feel, how medications react with them. Within the lab, we do PGx testing, which is pharmacogenetic testing. That gives us the ability when we onboard any patient to do a test. They know how these medications react with their DNA, what they would have adverse reactions to, and what they don’t.
We call them SIP reactions.
That’s the cheek swab. It’s non-invasive. We get this full report. What also helps is that generally, when we have families, we’ll do it for the patient and the family. What it also shows is the gene, if you have the APOE gene for dementia. It’s very interesting to me when I have the data. There are patients who are difficult. I see they have E4 from mom and dad. I’m like, “That is the dementia gene, and they have it from both.”
They’ve had an early onset. When I talked to the families and got their full history, they’ve been having these issues, presenting with early dementia in their late 40s. They had the gene. The families then test. For me, Fastest Labs allows me to provide better care in regards for my Right at Home clients. That’s how I focus it. We do other things as well. We do paternity tests and all the other things.
Let’s go back a little bit to the dementia testing. Are there family members that say, “I don’t want to know the results,” or how do you have the conversation around, “We have this information. We can’t necessarily do anything.” There are maybe one or two therapeutics out there. I don’t know. I don’t have all the data for that. How do we use this information? My second question is, does this information then sit somewhere with insurers, as far as getting life insurance? How is all this handled?
In my elements, these are all private pay. It technically impacts your insurance. I have to get their full consent to do the test. What I do find is that I’ll have many conversations where they will test their loved one because they understand the benefit of what it’s going to do for their care to know how these medications are reacting. I’ll get a couple of calls with them, saying, “I don’t know if I want to know if I have the gene.” I had one specifically where it was E4, E4. He already knows he’s going to have a 50% chance. He was like, “Do I want to know if I have a 100% chance that this is my trajectory?”
I got a call from him every evening for at least a week, going through that process. I told him, “When you’re ready, you’ll know. If you don’t want to know, that’s fine.” I have to have their full consent. What this test does and what I tell people to do is keep it in your phone or keep the document where, anytime there’s an emergency, you have it. What it goes through is any medication you’ll ever take. You could have an incident in the hospital, and you bring it to your PCP. If there is medication you’re taking that can be changed, and there’s an alternate, go for the alternate because it’s going to have a better reaction for you. I always tell them, “You bring it to your PCP. Your PCP will go through it. Keep it with you in the event you ever have a hospitalization, so you know these are the medications that you can and cannot take.”
As we said, you’re doing fascinating things. It seems to continue to build. We don’t talk about ages here. You’ve lived a full lifetime in your years thus far. Tell us what you consider maybe your biggest boss leap so far, some defining decision or experience that changed everything for you.
Hearing that question is hard. Honestly, the biggest boss leap moment for me is when I took an opportunity while doing my PhD to not be paid. That is the biggest boss leap. The reason why I say that is because, as I mentioned, the other things that I’ve done in the past, you find who you are when no one else is looking. I had an opportunity to help a girlfriend. She lived in Washington, DC. She started a nonprofit called Dream Jamaica. I was in Jamaica doing my research at the time. She said, “Michelle, I need someone to bring this to life.”
You find out who you are when no one else is looking. Share on XI was like, “Sure, I have an education.” We built a whole plan and the curriculum, and then executed it for the kids. We mimicked Upward Bound, but for Jamaica, because that didn’t exist. It was taking the ideas that exist and implementing them. We had it at the University of the West Indies. We would get a bus to get the kids. These kids, their success ratio, we have kids in MIT. We got kids in Princeton. These are kids who would never have the opportunity to be able to get to that.
Also, we had tons that now know how to navigate to get tertiary level, locally. That has been my biggest boss leap. I did that when I was 23. They’re all professionals now. They’re attorneys. They call me. That for me has been a rewarding boss leap. I was doing my doctorate. Most people may not say I’m going to do something when it’s not paying you for your work or to fall back and do it full-time. That is my biggest boss leap because those kids always constantly say, “That was the best experience in my life. That summer was the best experience.” That is what I hold true.
Showing kids what is possible pays off exponentially, particularly for kids who otherwise would not have an opportunity to see, hear, feel, or taste what’s actually possible. That’s beautiful. We should all be striving for that, no matter where we are in life. It is to continue to pay it forward and to give back. Thank you for sharing that.
Right at Home is, as you’ve talked about, healthcare. It’s a home health agency. How do you use your experience from sports in your leadership skills or leadership style for Right at Home?
I will say one thing. We’re not home health. We are home care.
Tell us the difference between home health and home care.
Home health is prescribed by a doctor’s orders. That is paid by your insurance to do skilled care, which is the OT nursing. Home care is considered what they say is non-medical care. It can be continuous, from a one-hour visit to 24/7 care. We’re helping with activities of daily living, which is inclusive of a shower, a bath, eating, grooming, and everything they need, which families normally do for their loved ones, but probably not trained to do so, and needing a professional to do it.
As Michelle knows, and Sylvia knows, at this moment in time, I recognize your business as being invaluable because, unfortunately, I’m in a situation where my mom has had a stroke. Not only do I feel the gravity of all the potentiality of what that means for her, but it’s also what it means for the family and how we move forward. We’re in a state of unknowing because we’re not quite sure how well things will progress and in what direction. I can only say that speaking to you and to the people who are reading, it is invaluable the type of service that you provide. You know about the hospitalization. You know about follow-up care.
It is what happens when the patient comes home, or has to go to a skilled nursing or assisted living facility, and those sorts of things. There are still needs that have to be met. As I have found out, your services even extend to those situations. It’s not just somebody being at home. We’ll talk more, but I cannot express how relevant your services are right now. We live in a sandwich generation between our kids and our loved ones. This is an area that we don’t talk about enough. People always say that in our communities, we take care of our elders, but are we always taking the best care of them? Having experts in the field like you and seeking guidance can be very helpful, not only to the patient but to the patient’s family. I am grateful for what you do.
No problem.
Michelle, can you share with our audience what your usual clients are, who they are, what they look like, and how you work with them? If you could give us a little snippet of that.
It falls into three different categories. When I look at clients, most of my clients are going to be those with cognitive impairment of some sort, whether early to late.
Some sort of dementia, we’re going to use that as a broad term.
Yes, dementia for sure. That is generally one bucket of patients. The other set of patients that we help a lot are those with a lot of comorbidities. They have multiple diagnoses, like COPD and CHF. They may have some cognitive impairment. They may have had a recent fall. That’s all a storm together. They’ve had a fall, and they may have had a stroke. It’s a whole lot happening back to back to back. One of the things that ends up happening is everyone likes to think their person is okay, but we really don’t know. Healthcare at this moment in time is a black box of a plain methodology. We crash and then we try to fix backwards, versus being proactive of saying, “I know what’s happening.” We don’t want to challenge our parents to have the hardest conversations about what the truth is.
How do we have conversations with our elders? In my experience, you have the conversation. You continue to have the conversation. You make recommendations about moving to a place where maybe there are no stairs, or maybe you can have meals. You talk until you’re blue in the face. They don’t want to move. There’s a crisis. We all have to jump to act. Can we back up? How do we then have better conversations with our elders? It’s a long process to get them to see what may be the benefits of a ride at home or moving closer to those things.
Proactive Strategies For Elder Care Conversations
Intervention has to start way early. That’s the only time I’ve ever seen it work successfully. These are tips, but we already know everybody is different. There are different levels of stubbornness.
Old people are going to be old people.
They got their ego right here. I don’t need that. If you can find examples of where it works, for example, you mentioned a great thing. They may live in a huge house, but they can’t manage this house. We’ve done it a couple of times with some clients. I’m like, “Let your mom go on a little vacation in a one-story and spend a week with her. See if she doesn’t have that experience differently.” It is taking those moments of respite and giving them a taste of what it could be, not committing, not saying this is what it is and what you could, but giving them a taste of it. Also, reframing what it is is key. I always tell people, “Tell your mom, would she like a personal assistant?” Do not tell them you want caregiving because that means I’ve lost my independence.
That’s genius.
You frame it as a personal assistant. “She’s here, Mom. I need an assistant. I have one. This is going to be your personal assistant.” When they hear those words, “Okay,” because the personal assistant is going to be there. They’re more willing to take that feedback from the personal assistant and not you. Diverting those hard conversations to the people you have in your life that they trust is the second part of that conversation.
It is doing a little intervention, giving them a taste of it, rewording it for them to understand it, and then having the opportunity of either having conversations with their wealth managers, their attorneys, or their physicians to also reiterate what that looks like on the other end. I don’t mean a scare tactic, but you have to give all those pieces. We’ve done it a couple of times with some people. The daughter is like, “It worked.” This is a six-month to a year process. This doesn’t happen overnight because when the plane crashes, there is no turning back.
It’s woulda, shoulda, coulda.
Living it now, I love all of those ideas. I’m probably not in the best frame of mind other than to say our best bet is for us right now to start mapping out our own desires and letting our friends and families know, because we’re in this situation where we can educate each other. Make your advance directives, your wills, and all of those things. Put all of your intentions out there. I tell my kids frequently, “It’s okay. Whenever it’s time, I am going to be a willing participant.”
I know what I want is not always going to be in their best interest. They definitely will want to take care of me. There’s going to be a time where sometimes we’re going to have to give up some of the control. It’s valuable to have these conversations. I love the personal assistant, how you’re framing it, and maybe the vacation where you can show them a smaller environment. Those are great ideas. I know people are taking notes right now.
Future Of Home Care: Audio AI Technology
What do you see on the horizon for Right at Home and along the lines of home care? What are the trends? Where do you expect things to go?
Right now, the trend is technology. With the AI boom and all that, specifically of what we’re doing right now in my office, we’re going to be launching a product. Every person would be able to have 24/7 virtual care.
If you fall, how is virtual care going to help you? Yes, I’ve fallen, and I can’t get up. Help me understand that.
We’re going to be using an audio AI technology. We talked about the whole control issue. Can seniors see cameras? Yeah, right. They’re not going to be down for that. They see lights.
I don’t even like Siri or Alexa listening to me.
This looks like when you have young kids and you put the little thing in the socket.
Like a baby monitor?
No, not that. It is in the socket to cover the socket.
Yes, the light socket.
You put it in it. That’s how it looks. It’s that small. It doesn’t light up. It’s something plugged into the socket, small, like a little cube. This cube is not to listen in like Alexa. It’s health monitoring. Key trigger words. If you say things repetitively, if you fall, it sounds the same. It speaks every language. It’s picking up your pattern, the pattern of when you make noise, when you wake up in the morning every day, or when you say, “Did I take that medicine? What did I take? Was it the blue pill?” It’s picking up the trigger words. It’s not automatically listening.
It’s going to give you full reports, so you know what you don’t know. That is where most of the trend for home care will be, because home care, having a caregiver, is very expensive. We were having this conversation, Angela. Having that access is going to be key because now, as a child caring for your loved one, data can’t lie. The data can’t lie. “This report says, Ma, you’re waking up at this time.” Having that conversation to let them know it’s in there versus not is going to be different. Having the information there is crucial for you to know. Getting them on board slowly with it after you know the truth is key.
The data can’t lie; having information is crucial. Share on XMichelle, you mentioned the part that was poignant to me in terms of an independent, fiery, stubborn, elderly parent who wants to live on their own. Most of them, at least my mom was, are interested in the devices that you wear around your neck, like Life Alert. I can absolutely see this being something that at least my mom would have been willing to have. What you mentioned is that even a fall, I would have been alerted at that moment. Sylvia and I have seen patients who are down for days or so. Is this available now, or do you foresee it coming in the near future?
I’m going to have it in a month. It’s available now.
Is it commercially available, or do I need to go through Right at Home?
You have to go through whoever is the home care agency. You have the option to either have the home care agency monitor it, or you can say, “I don’t want to pay Right at Home for services. I can monitor it myself,” but you have an app that’s connected to it. It’s going to alert you that anytime there’s a fall, it’s listening for that.
It’s artificial intelligence, so it’s learning, but then who ultimately owns the information? When they do the next iteration or they create the next thing, how? You can hear I’m a little paranoid about giving away my data. I don’t like giving away my data, but it’s great.
I totally understand. I have people. I’m talking about it. This is more invasive than that. If you have a phone, if I can say, “I want essential oils,” I’m not going to see essential oils pop up on my phone. This is ten times more invasive than that. What I’m going to be talking about, specifically as I’m launching more of this product, is for people to understand that this is preventative because even though you could have a Life Alert, and I’m going to tell you right now, seniors don’t like wearing it.
They take it off. It’ll be in the kitchen. They fall in the bathroom. “I took it off. I didn’t like it.” All the time.
We need something because I can’t tell you how often I get those calls. It breaks my heart that someone has been on the floor for days. That’s disheartening.
I was going to simply ask in the final few moments. Tell us what else we should be thinking about when it comes to home care for our elders, if there are only three things that we can do right now.
The biggest thing is starting the conversations early. If you go to my website, I have a guide that guides you through that questionnaire on how to have those conversations with an aging adult. I also think it’s important what Dr. Walker mentioned in regards to that planning later. There is a great nonprofit organization called Start the Conversation. It starts with end-of-life planning, how those questions could be asked, and who needs to be involved in that family planning.
One of the biggest things is preparation and knowing. I always suggest that if in a perfect world, your mom or your dad needs to know where. “Mom, we need to know. What hospital do you want to go to? If there’s any event where something happens, which hospital do you want to go to?” Let’s start there because that’s going to be helpful for your care and who your doctors are. I want to know, “If you needed to go to rehab, let’s go see which rehabs you want to go to.” Do not wait until the hospital is pushing you out and you have no choice in the matter of the rehab you can go to.
Choose a home care company. Who do I trust to be alongside this journey? It is what Dr. Walker was mentioning. I’m usually in the home, but truly, people hire me to be an advocate in the hospital and the skilled nursing facility because they are not set up for one-to-one care. What most of us do is sit at the bedside, being there, loss of sleep, loss of income. We’re rotating shifts when someone else can be that advocate for you.
Planning that out with your loved one, “Mom, in the event, let us go toward and pick our top three.” That is what should be done early, and having the conversation. It is leading with, and I love Brené Brown, “To be clear is to be kind.” When you’re dealing with seniors, or even myself, if someone sells me something and they frame it in a way that I understand it, I will buy it. Frame things in a way that they understand. We’re speaking to a totally different generation. Speak in a way that they can understand.
Even if you don’t have the resources to employ a home care agency, I still think it’s important to have the conversations around what hospital you want to go to, what your wishes are, and where all your stuff is, meaning the deed to the house and all of the things. This is an important conversation. Thank you for sharing that with our audience.
No problem.
One of the biggest things is just preparation and knowing what to do. Share on XOn a lighter note, we’re talking about all the high-pressure work that you do and your high-performance environments throughout your entire career. We’d love to know what self-care looks like for you now and how you maintain balance as this business leader and phenom that you are.
It’s never that you got it together. I’m going to tell you that. It is never that. I removed that pressure from me a long time ago. I’m like, “Wait, I thought I had it all together.” It’s a fluid thing. As I mentioned earlier, I can kill something well. If you gave me a plant, I might not do well. I’ve invested in this AI garden. It has somehow died. My number one thing that I remind myself, I have a little sheet. I could send it to you guys. It’s called Tending to My Garden. With Tending to My Garden, I have four things on there.
What do I do to water myself every day to fill up my cup? To be quite honest, anytime I get highly stressed, there is nothing that I can’t walk off. I put on my shoes, and I go take a lap because that gives me good dopamine and good clarity. I can walk off any stress. Even if I step out of my office, I’m going to walk down the street. I don’t care what the temperature is. I’m going to walk and come back. That is my self-care, especially in a high-stress environment, taking moments for myself.
The second thing is wearing the gloves, which is me creating boundaries. I was always a person who struggled to say no, because I wanted to be all things to all people and say, “Yes, I can do that.” There’s nothing wrong with saying, “Not right now,” or “No, that’s not something I can do right now.” That was very hard for me. It’s something I consistently work on. It’s creating my boundaries. My other option that I always have to constantly do is how am I feeding my soil? For me, that’s journaling. I take some time for myself to reflect every day. I could have had the hardest day possible, but there was something that gave me a little bit of joy. I have to look at that and not the other.
The final thing is storms. For any thriving garden, there’s going to be a storm. There’s going to be rain. It’s not all going to be sunshine. I have to realize that the storm is going to happen, but I can make it through it. I was thinking about it when I was journaling. I said, “Wait, I like storms because when storms come, I rest.” I have been finding that when those storms come, take that time to rest because there’s a reason why the storm happens. It doesn’t last for long, but take that time to rest.
Self-care is especially important in a high-stress environment. You need to take small moments for yourself. Share on XI received that.
That’s it, ladies.
This has been like three episodes in one. You have given us so much valuable information. There is so much to think about and even actionable steps to take. Your episode is going to air during National Caregivers’ Month, and I can’t think of a better way to end the month. I have to add. I’ve already mentioned what you do is invaluable, but being on the other side of the healthcare arena right now, there are so many people, as you mentioned, in a rehab environment, or even the hospital. There are so many people who give and give and give. We say that you need an advocate in the hospital because they can’t give one-on-one care, not because they don’t want to, but because the system does not allow them to.
I have been so blessed. My mom is so blessed with so many beautiful souls that are giving and giving and giving. You see that they would want to be there 100% of the time to care for you. The value for a caretaker of having a break and someone who can actually maybe step in if I need to do something or work, that’s where your company comes in. I wanted to mention that. Thank you so much for taking the time to be with us, and for the people who are reading to have a resource. Along those lines, is there anything that you would like to share with our audience here that maybe we didn’t mention, and ways that they can reach you?
The one thing that I do want to say is access. If you know you don’t have the resources to get caregiving, there are free resources. You might be a veteran. Any agency that’s contracted with the VA can walk you through those steps. Right at Home, we can do that. I also think it’s important that if you get connected with your community, there are different avenues that can provide free care. It’s different for every state. It’s different for every county. An area agency on aging is nationwide. In every state, they use that grant money differently. In some of my counties that I serve, it is actually one-to-one care. That is a great resource.
Ask the questions, specifically if you end up in a hospital or get connected to the senior centers. All these resources and nonprofits are out there. Make a call. Call your local county and keep calling. You’ll find out where those resources are. Sometimes, it’s not all blatant, but I know for myself, I have a list. Anytime someone calls and they can’t afford my services, I give them those options. I always want to make sure that you don’t get discouraged. There are opportunities for access to it. The best way to reach me is through our website, www.RAHDFW.com. My handle is @Michelle_Rankine_PhD on Instagram, Facebook, and LinkedIn. Always drop me a message. I’ll always reach out.
Thank you so much, Michelle Rankine, for sharing so many valuable pearls around care at home and your awesome journey. You definitely do have a serving heart. At Boss Leap, we thank you. May you be well.
Thank you all.
Thank you. May you be well.
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Sylvia, what an incredible conversation. From her Jamaican roots to the global stage of sports and entrepreneurship, our guest reminded us that excellence isn’t just about performance. It’s about purpose, compassion, and courage. Her journey from managing Olympians to building businesses that care for others is the perfect example of what it means to take the leap to trust your vision, lead with heart, and leave a legacy that matters.
I can’t imagine a better guest for this moment in time, particularly in my life.
It is very timely.
As you know, it is Caregivers’ Month. Tell me what pearls you were left with.
Every now and then, we have a guest who surprises me in wonderful ways. I learned something from all of our guests. Michelle Rankine, in particular, right out of the box, talked about being laser-focused in your flow. I like that we highlighted the fact that there is a flow. I think of it as the energy of the moment. Some people think of it as spirit-led and their steps being ordered. When you’re in the flow, and you know it, I can be grateful that I am in that flow and welcome the continuation of said flow. Knowing that even when it ends, because things ebb and flow in life, I can always return to the flow. I love that.
Also, she talked about the importance of starting conversations with our elders. You and I both are caregivers. Having these conversations with our elders is not always easy. The steps that she gave us are going to be invaluable to our audience. Finally, she reminded me to listen to my gut. We don’t put enough emphasis on listening to our gut. I’m not saying going willy-nilly with what you feel like you want to do, but being very intentional about the process and the preparation, and then being still and listening to our gut. What were your take-homes?
So many. I loved her entire take on how to approach the elders because it’s so pertinent to me. One of the things that actually came to mind now, when you were talking about starting the conversation, sometimes, that part is for you as well. Even when you have someone who is very set in their ways, they have their absolute plan, and they may not budge to the position that you think they should take, knowing that you have made the attempt and had the conversations more than once can also give you peace of mind.
We can start planning, too, because a storm is going to come. Who do we need to call? Do we have access to their bank account? There are some steps that we can start doing and planning, even if they don’t want to move.
That’s right. That’s exactly it. Those things have happened. I loved how she approached the idea of a personal assistant. Who doesn’t want a personal assistant? Maybe one or two personal assistants. It’s not as if you’re being deceptive. It’s true. That’s essentially what they’re doing. She talked about the importance of watering your garden. It sounds like she does a good job of that. As you mentioned, we talked at the top of the hour about watering ourselves literally and figuratively.
What stuck with me in the very beginning of the conversation was the value of your roots. I will say that I don’t know personally a friend from Jamaican roots who is not deeply rooted and proud of where they’ve come from. I love that. I want my kids to feel that. I see the value of continuing to pour into your family and your friends. Be proud of where we’ve come from. Be proud of how strong and resilient we are as Black Americans, as African-Americans, and as people. Continue to grow and fly. Bring others up behind us.
It is irrespective of what may be happening outside of our communities or what may be what people are trying to inflict on our communities.
There was so much that we had. We would love to share more from Dr. Michelle Rankine. Hopefully, you have received something that might be of value either in your own life or for someone that you know. We would love for you to like, share, and subscribe. You can find us on all streaming platforms. You can also subscribe to YouTube. Our website is BossLeapPodcast.com. On any of these, you can send us a message. Certainly, if there’s something that you’d like to hear and share, we would love to hear from you. Until we meet again, may you be well.
May you be well.
Important Links
- Fastest Labs
- Right at Home
- Dr. Michelle Rankine on LinkedIn
- Food For The Poor
- Dr. Michelle Rankine on Instagram
- Dr. Michelle Rankine on Facebook
- Boss Leap Podcast on YouTube
- Boss Leap Podcast
About Dr. Michelle Rankine
Michelle Rankine originates from the vibrant island of Jamaica, boasting over two decades of diverse experience spanning education, sports, and healthcare. Renowned for her unwavering commitment to delivering exceptional customer service and dependable support, Michelle continuously strives for excellence in both her professional and personal endeavors.
Her academic journey is marked by remarkable achievements, culminating in a Ph.D. in Higher Education from the University of Denver, complemented by a master’s degree in Sports Management & Pedagogy Administration, and a Bachelor’s Degree in Kinesiology from Purdue University.
Driven by a profound passion for entrepreneurship, Michelle embarked on a transformative path, propelled by a desire to make a meaningful impact within her community. Faced with life-altering circumstances following a tragic accident involving her brother, who was diagnosed as paraplegic, Michelle transitioned her entrepreneurial aspirations into action. This pivotal moment led her to acquire a franchise with Right at Home, where she has since flourished, currently overseeing three franchises. Additionally, Michelle expanded her entrepreneurial portfolio by acquiring a Fastest Labs franchise in 2022.
Michelle’s journey brought her to McKinney, Texas, where she found her calling with Right at Home. Drawing from her rich educational background and extensive experience in higher education and sports, Michelle harbored a long-standing dream of owning her own business and making a positive impact on others’ lives. Having served as a caregiver for various family members over the years, Michelle intimately understands the physical, emotional, and spiritual challenges that families face when caring for their loved ones. Guided by a philosophy rooted in compassion and integrity, Michelle remains dedicated to consistently advocating for her client’s well-being, ensuring that she always does right by them.