Stephanie’s Light Shines Brightly As a Home Instead General Manager
When Stephanie Dodson was a teenager, she remembered visiting her grandmother in Amarillo, Texas, where she was a memory-care nurse. A facility resident, whose social-graces filter had been decimated by a dementia, noticed Stephanie’s early 1990s puffy hairstyle and casually asked her if she had forgotten to brush her hair.
“It hurt my feelings,” Stephanie recalled. “I thought at the time I’d never be able to work with seniors. But now I am totally connected with seniors and have been for many years. I have been a caregiver at heart all along, and that strong tendency has spanned all ages. When I was young, I did a lot of babysitting, helping family and friends. Most of my grandparents did not live near us while I was growing up, so we did not have much of an opportunity to take care of them.”
Fast-forward more than 30 years, and you can easily see that Stephanie has been a highly successful Home Instead® franchise General Manager in Lubbock, Texas, since October 2016. She has thrived despite the additional monstrous challenge presented by the COVD-19 virus pandemic since February 2020. Even worse, Stephanie’s husband of 24½ years, 47-year-old Jason Dodson, died unexpectedly July 15, 2020.
Lubbock franchise co-owner Tracy Baugh speaks so highly of Stephanie: “She is truly deserving of the spotlight we want to shine on her despite the fact that she is so humble and perhaps uncomfortable with the attention. But we want everyone to know how outstanding Stephanie is. She is one of the smartest and strongest people I know. My husband Terry and I would not know how we’d run our franchise without Stephanie. We would not make any major decisions without her input. She handles the day-to-day operations. We rely heavily on her because she does so much. It’s hard to put into words the value she brings to Home Instead.”
Tracy’s second take on Stephanie: “We have a strong sense of team because of Stephanie. There is cross training, and all of our bases are covered. She is good with people and good with her words. She speaks thoughtfully and measures her words. She is even-keeled. She can diffuse challenging situations. She’s a true diplomat who wants to hear both sides of an issue. She builds bridges, and that is apparent with her network of relationships professionally and personally.”
Tracy’s third take: “In addition to being our General Manager, she is our franchise Administrator, which is a key legal role when dealing with the State of Texas regulations. That includes the myriad of COVID-19 procedures, documentation and compliance. Stephanie really worked hard before the pandemic. When COVID-19 got started, it made her job so much tougher, and it was tougher for all of us. When you think of COVID-19 and every other aging challenge our clients face, you know Stephanie is mindful, attentive, compassionate and truly attached to them. She thinks of them first and foremost and wants the very best for them. It’s easy to see she feels the same about our CAREGivers.”
Senior care unexpectedly grew on Stephanie years ago and captured her heart. When asked about that awkward day in Amarillo at the memory care unit, Stephanie smiled. She also smiled when she recalled one of her jobs before Home Instead. Stephanie had joined a new property management company that was responsible for the full spectrum of senior housing, including independent living, assisted living, skilled nursing and memory care.
“I wanted to be placed in only one area, independent living. I told my manager I couldn’t do assisted living management because I was not comfortable with it. But she forced me anyway because she wanted to challenge me and help me grow. As a result, I flat-out fell in love with seniors. It was so different from working in commercial leasing where I had managed apartments and shopping mall property for about 10 years in a job that served me well. With seniors, I felt fulfilled so much more. With assisted living management, I got attached to the clients. They depended on me and trusted me.”
Stephanie first joined Home Instead in 2010 as the client care manager because the demands of her assisted living management job had encroached on her family time.
“I spent too many hours while managing the assisted living. My heart was in it. When we had staffing issues, I couldn’t leave the building. There just wasn’t enough help,” Stephanie said. “One day, my son, who was very young at the time, climbed into my lap and said, ‘Sometimes I need you when you’re gone.’ My husband was doing a great job with our two kids while also holding down a job, but my son touched my heart. I needed to be home with him and our daughter more. It was a no-brainer to take the Home Instead position.”
There was the day when Stephanie’s world stopped, when she unexpectedly lost her husband. Stephanie experienced a deep sorrow while maintaining her perspective. “With the pandemic, people are dying. CAREGivers get sick. People lose their income. Then I lost my husband. I thought to myself, ‘What’s happening?’ I had some serious conversations with God,” she said.
Quoting from “The Footprints in the Sand” poem that references a faithful person’s dependence on God, Stephanie said: “During my walk with God, I noticed the one set of footprints during the times when He carried me.” She added: “On a personal level, your faith gets tested. I learned a lot of things about myself during our family’s personal tragedy. I needed self-care at home and work. I also needed to stay on top of my priorities. I needed to offer grace and receive grace. I am thankful for the people at Home Instead. I try to be thankful for every sunrise and every sunset. It’ll be OK,” Stephanie said.
Tracy explained what she saw: “It was a heck of a tough year for Stephanie. She is a remarkable person who had to be strong for her kids and manage her own grief. Their son Carson just graduated from high school, and he was a varsity football player whose father didn’t get to see him finish his high school career. Her daughter Caitlyn is a nurse who is getting married in October, a little more than a year after her father died. She doesn’t get to have her daddy walk her down the aisle. Your heart aches for her and her children during each of those special days. It’s evident Stephanie has a deep faith that everyone can see.”
Stephanie is pragmatic … and wise.
“If the pace is too much, I’ll pull in the reins but keep going. Seniors need us. We’re dedicated to them. There are times when we have challenges. In the morning, we get up and get after it. We hope there is relief from the pandemic soon. With COVID-19, we thought at first that it might be a rough three months trying to ride it out. It has gone on for a year and a half. Two years will be a lot for everyone. We are lucky at Home Instead to have a responsible team,” she said.
Describing how her responsibilities as a busy Home Instead General Manager have taken unique twists and turns, and what she sees for the future, Stephanie said: “I’d say my job has changed a lot in the last year and a half. My time is divided differently. I have further developed my leadership skills. I enjoy our Home Instead team. They are incredible. I love them and the effort they give. I’d say I absolutely am staying in the same direction I’m going. But as I have learned, none of us has a lot of control of our lives. I pray God leads me to wherever I need to go.”
