Dr. Michelle Rankine’s journey to owning three Right At Home franchises that have made over $15 million came from a personal tragedy. Her younger brother was in a car accident and became a paraplegic -– forcing her family to confront a situation they never envisioned.

“Imagine you’re 21 and living what you thought was a normal life, getting ready for graduation, and now you are a paraplegic,” she tells BlackEnterprise. “That was devastating for my brother and family.”

Dr. Rankine and her mother decided to be his caregivers, but they quickly learned that caring for a loved one can come with challenges, and it’s not always something your loved one wants.

“One of the things about caring for your loved one is that there are boundaries with that,” she says. “As a paraplegic, you aren’t able to use the restroom or activities of daily living. There are some boundaries in regards to what you want your family involved in or not.”

Dr. Rankine and her family saw a significant change in her brother’s engagement after moving forward with his social worker’s recommendation of home care. The onboarding process of getting her brother home care sparked her interest in assisting others with what can be challenging for families to navigate. The owner met with her family, walked them through the process, and handled her family with care that left a mark on her big enough to want to pay it forward for the next family in need.  

Owning A Franchise That Has Made More Than $15 Million Without Experience

Dr. Rankine has no medical or healthcare background and decided owning a franchise was the best option for entering the industry. She now owns franchises across Texas: Collin, Denton, and Tarrant Counties.

While investing in a franchise provides a blueprint for people starting their entrepreneurial journey, the road to success still includes some challenges. 

“For myself, one of the challenges is the picture that you begin to have of what you want versus the actual divine delay that needs to happen,” Dr. Rankine says.

She adds that she had to change her perspective on what it means to be successful.

“Success [in the industry] is “offering services and giving opportunities to your caregivers to make sure they have the training because that’s my product and service,” says Dr. Rankine. “You want to be successful really quickly … as a microwave effect, and really, it’s a crock pot. You have to really let the lessons sit and savor.”

With her three franchise locations in Texas, she has made over $15 million over the more than 10 years she has been in business. She tells BlackEnterprise she takes great pride in being a Black franchise owner –- especially regarding addressing the health disparities among Black and Brown communities.

Filling The Gap For Minority Communities

Dr. Rankine aims to mitigate health disparities in minority communities by educating people on healthcare and helping families develop a contingency plan for home healthcare.

One misconception she’s tackling among these communities is that families think they must care for their loved ones alone. 

“Our default to that is not to reach out to a third-party company, but going through church. We’ll seek church community before we actually hire someone. We have made an active effort to reach out to a lot of churches to start having the conversation on preparing for care,” she adds.

In many instances, insurance and Medicare are not enough for extra services such as home healthcare, even though the benefits outweigh community care. According to Dr. Rankine, care in a community setting puts loved ones at risk when others in the home are sick, for example.

The average cost of a home health aide is $33 per hour. Dr. Rankine is having these difficult conversations with people and families about being financially prepared and investing in long-term care insurance.

“The rewarding piece [for me] is giving solutions to a family,” she says. “I’ve always loved to be a fixer of some sort, and I’ve always enjoyed giving back in other ways.”