By Thomas A. Parmalee
At 15 years old, Kyana Wilkinson wasn’t thinking about entrepreneurship, health care leadership, or owning a business. She was watching her father battle Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, commonly referred to as ALS.
The experience of seeing hospice and home care professionals support him in the place he was most comfortable — the home they shared — would quietly, but permanently, redirect the course of her life.
“That was the first time I had any kind of home care experience coming into the home,” she said. “It changed the trajectory of my life indefinitely.”
Today, Wilkinson is the owner of a SYNERGY HomeCare territory serving Plainfield, Naperville, and surrounding Illinois communities. As luck would have it, her agency serves an area only about 90 minutes away from where she grew up.
After filing lots of paperwork, getting licensed and scaling up, she’s looking forward to opening her doors and start serving customers this spring.
That will simply be the next step in a journey that began more than a decade earlier as a frontline caregiver.
Finding Her Passion
Wilkinson didn’t start her career in health care.
A year after her father’s diagnosis, he died – and initially, she pursued a career in retail, working as an HR director at Toys “R” Us. But the pull toward health care, shaped by her personal experience, proved too strong to ignore.
“I think I was already headed toward health care— I wanted to be a doctor, or an OB-GYN — but the experience with my father definitely changed where I ended up,” she said.
In 2013, she took a pivotal step: joining SYNERGY HomeCare as a home care aide.
“The owners put value into us,” she said. “It didn’t pay the best, but it was very rewarding. I was inspired by how they treated their caregivers.”
That early exposure to both caregiving and leadership culture became foundational. Wilkinson went on to earn her nursing degree, eventually stepping into roles across long-term care, acute care and hospice. She later completed an MBA in health care management and built a career in clinical leadership, including managing hospice teams and scaling census across multi-state operations.
“In a lot of ways, my experience beginning as a home care aide and even back to an HR manager at Toys R Us, has prepared me for this exact moment,” she said, reflecting on her journey. “Being a caregiver is somewhat innate if you care about what you’re doing and how you make others feel. I’m grateful for the experience and resources to become a franchise owner, I appreciate every experience that has brought me to this exact moment, good or bad.”
Why Home Care
Despite her success in clinical leadership, Wilkinson began to feel constrained.
“Working in health care leadership, my experience was kind of limiting in how much we could lead from the gaps we saw,” she said.
Home care, by contrast, offered something fundamentally different.
“There is a nice touch you can add — you are in their home,” she said. “You can be more creative in how you deliver the care people need.”
She also recognized a broader industry shift:
“With how health care is turning, more care is being done in the home. High-acuity patients are being sent home,” she observed.
That realization along with her early experience at SYNERGY sparked the idea of starting her own agency alongside her husband, Bailey Wilkinson.
“When we thought about business ownership, we kept coming back to that experience,” she said.
Choosing the Franchise Route
Wilkinson evaluated multiple options, including launching independently. Ultimately, she chose the franchise model.
“I did think about starting on my own,” she said. “But in this sector, you want as much support as you can get.”
Her due diligence process was rigorous:
“The SYNERGY website was very extensive, and after reaching out to their liaisons and reviewing the franchisee information — it just stood out,” she said. “I felt like it was my best choice.”
She points to the balance of structure and autonomy as a key advantage.
“There’s a lot of support, but also a lot of work on our end,” she said. “You’re still building something of your own.”
The Reality of Getting Started
Wilkinson officially launched her business in November 2025. She is now gearing up to pen.
“It’s a long process. There are a lot of moving parts — licensing, learning the platform, financing and onboarding. You have to make sure you’re abiding by all the laws,” she said.
Her early operational structure is lean but intentional: She is leading marketing and clinical oversight, her husband is focusing on data analytics and operations, and she’s hired an office manager to focus on administrative tasks.
“Between the three of us, we have a three-end approach,” she said.
As for being in business with her husband, they’ve embarked on business ventures together before, and she’s not worried about this one affecting their marriage. “You have to remember to put your business partnership hat on,” she said. “It seems cliché and corney, but communication is key.”
For new operators, she emphasizes preparation — especially financially:
“Definitely get yourself a financial adviser to walk through that process,” she said. “Leverage your resources.”
Translating Hospice Lessons into Home Care
Wilkinson’s experience scaling hospice operations provided critical insights that translate directly into nonmedical home care — particularly in areas such as growth and communication.
“There’s more of a sales component in hospice,” she said. “You have to be able to convince people this benefits them.”
She frames home care in both emotional and economic terms:
“My grandmother lived alone and fell so many times,” she shared, adding that the family may have opted for home care if it had been financially within reach.
Operationally, she plans to focus on two essentials:
- Education-driven sales: Helping families understand value.
- Customer service responsiveness: Delivering what clients need, when they need it.
“I look forward to working as an owner and the challenges and experiences that will bring as we continue to hire caregivers, market to potential clients and in the community,” she said.
Where Operators Fall Short
Wilkinson is candid about common industry gaps, which include accountability and quality control.
As an agency owner, she intends to address problems as soon as she sees them. “Don’t sweep things under the rug,” she said.
Her experience as a registered nurse is something she’ll highlight, she said.
“I’ll be looking over every care plan, addressing what’s key to each and every person,” she said.
That emphasis on individualized, detail-oriented care will be her competitive differentiator in a crowded market.
Building a Culture Caregivers Stay For
Drawing from her early experience as a caregiver, Wilkinson wants to be intentional about culture-building from day one.
“I want to have lunch with all the new hires when they first come in — get to know each and every one of them,” she said.
She will also implement structured recognition programs, such as:
- “SYNERGY shout-outs.”
- End-of-year awards.
- Incentives like gas cards.
- Ongoing appreciation initiatives.
“I want to make sure they feel valued,” she said.
Advice for New Home Care Entrepreneurs
Wilkinson’s guidance to aspiring operators is both practical and mindset-driven:
- Leverage your network.
“Don’t be afraid to reach out and call on others in the field for support,” she said.
- Communicate relentlessly (especially with partners).
You want to stay on the same page and be sure you are working together to promote each other’s interests, she said.
- Stay grounded in purpose.
“You have to be true to yourself and value yourself,” she said.
- Recognize the opportunity.
“Health care is a service industry,” she said. “If you’re of that mindset, it’s very rewarding —you’re helping people.”
A Mission Rooted in Personal Experience
Her father, who worked for many years as a longtime salesman for Hostess, remains at the center of her journey.
In his final days, he gave her something she carries with her every day.
“With ALS, you lose the ability to speak … Toward the end, he said ‘I love you’ in a very weak breath,” she said.
She reflects on that moment often, as he was not a man to often share his feelings.
She’s also grateful for the support of her mom, who she said has “been with me every step of the way, praying with me and encouraging me.”
She also noted she has two little boys who have been very supportive.
Her father’s memory drives her mission as a home care owner: to expand access, elevate quality care and ensure more families can experience care where it matters most — at home. “I think my father would be very proud of me; I carry him with me every day,” she said.
For an industry built on compassion, Wilkinson’s story is a reminder that the most effective operators aren’t just building businesses — they’re carrying forward deeply personal reasons for doing the work in the first place.
“I’m excited and look forward to being a leader in the home care space,” Wilkinson said. “I hope to use my talents to educate others about homecare and be a voice for specific populations who need support, especially clients with ALS, Parkinson’s disease/ multiple sclerosis and more. I am also excited to learn more from my peers who are already in the homecare space as we use new platforms to manage operations.”
