Welcome back to Care to CEO, the podcast where everyday caregivers transform into confident care entrepreneurs. In this episode, Crystal Smith - Mother, former CNA, Black Woman CEO, and City Councilwoman - digs into the real, often untold truth: women of color, especially caregivers, are not the underdogs. In fact, they’re uniquely built for business leadership.

Crystal shares her inspiring journey from managing a multigenerational household to founding her own care business and winning a city council seat. She unveils how the so-called "soft skills" develop through a lifetime of caregiving, like resilience, resourcefulness, and emotional intelligence. These are actually women's greatest business strengths. Crystal tackles the realities of impostor syndrome, being underestimated, and turning adversity into advantage.

Get ready for actionable insights, hard-won wisdom, and a strong message: those everyday skills you use to care for your family and community are the very building blocks of a powerful entrepreneurial legacy. If you’re a caregiver or a woman of a minority considering entrepreneurship, this episode will leave you feeling seen, equipped, and empowered to just start, because your story, your strength, and your leadership matter now more than ever.

Timestamps:

00:00 Innate Leadership in Adversity

03:57 Leadership Rooted in Compassion

07:23 Recognizing Undervalued Soft Skills

10:41 Empowering Entrepreneurs of Color

14:28 Entrepreneurial Journey: Triumphs and Trials

17:58 Mentorship for Marginalized Communities

21:28 Overcoming Imposter Syndrome

25:12 "Embrace Trial and Error"

26:31 "Just Start Your Journey"

Care to CEO - Podcast Show Website - https://caretoceo.com/

Crystal Smith - https://www.crystalsmithandco.com/

TopHealth - https://tophealth.care/

Welcome back to another episode of Care to CEO, the show where caregivers and everyday people get the inside scoop on building confident, sustainable care businesses. In today’s episode, host Crystal Smith — a care business owner who’s seen it all — is here to dig into the often overlooked, “unsexy” essentials that keep your business alive: finding the right team, setting up effective systems, and keeping your own sanity intact.

Crystal shares her candid journey, from the early days of hiring just to fill shifts (and the chaos that followed), to learning why empathy, flexibility, and communication matter more than credentials when building a staff that truly cares. She talks openly about the hard lessons she learned trying to do it all herself, how she finally mastered delegation, and the digital tools and systems that now let her step away from the business without missing a beat.

Whether you’re just starting out or feeling overwhelmed by the demands of your growing care business, this episode is packed with actionable advice, practical tools, and real talk about what it takes to survive — and thrive — in the care industry. If you’re ready to build a business that won’t fall apart when life gets messy, you won’t want to miss Crystal’s insights on staffing, systems, and the heart of successful care leadership.

Timestamps:

00:00 Screening for Values Beyond Resumes

06:55 Empathy in Action

08:45 "Collaborative Problem-Solving and Integrity"

13:26 Transition to Britco System

15:48 "Systems Restore CEO's Peace"

19:06 Empowering Staff Through Teamwork

24:33 "Set Up Access Care Early"

28:04 "Care Business Survival & Mentorship"

28:58 Gratitude and Farewell

Care to CEO - Podcast Show Website - https://caretoceo.com/

Crystal Smith - https://www.crystalsmithandco.com/

TopHealth - https://tophealth.care/

Welcome back to Care to CEO, the podcast where caregivers become confident care entrepreneurs. In this candid episode, “The Ugly Truth: The Hardest Parts of Running a Care Business,” host Crystal Smith pulls back the curtain on what it really takes to build and sustain a care-based business. You’ll hear Crystal’s raw reflections on staffing nightmares, staying compliant, emotional burnout, and those moments when everything seems to fall apart at once. She shares personal stories, like the unforgettable day when staff quit, clients threatened to walk, and her own child fell ill, and reveals how she found the resilience to keep going.

From learning the critical difference between hiring hands and hiring hearts, to the ongoing challenges of compliance (“the license is just the wedding, compliance is the marriage”), Crystal gets real about the emotional and organizational tolls of entrepreneurship. She also opens up about the importance of self-care, learning to ask for help, and forging strong boundaries to avoid burnout.

Whether you’re just dreaming of starting your own agency or are deep in the trenches, this episode is packed with advice, hard lessons, and the encouragement you need to stay in the game, even when it gets messy.

Timestamps:

00:00 Entrepreneurship: A Heartbreaking Calling

04:14 Overcoming Crisis with Resilience

07:32 "Heart Over Skills in Home Care"

12:31 Organizing: Key to Legacy Building

14:58 Embracing Self-Care and Balance

19:15 Boundaries Bridge, Protect, Empower

20:43 Rethinking Boundaries as Bridges

25:42 Learning to Delegate with Love

28:52 Clutter Reflects Mental Health Struggles

31:06 Challenges of Building a Business

34:59 "Embrace Solitude in Business"

38:34 Networking for Success

41:46 Breaking Cycles, Empowering Women

46:40 Strategic Thinking Reflection

47:30 Coping with Leadership Stress

Care to CEO - Podcast Show Website - https://caretoceo.com/

Crystal Smith - https://www.crystalsmithandco.com/

TopHealth - https://tophealth.care/