Co-Owner, Dillon Rice

Dillon pops in and out on his grandparents regularly to check on them. Dillon’s parents have been living abroad for his father’s job as a corporate lawyer, and Dillon said: “It is not easy for my parents to come back, especially during the pandemic. I have tried to help out where I can. At the very least, I’ve paid attention to what’s going on.”

Dillon grew up in Houston, but he also has lived abroad in several other countries while his father continued his career. Dillon moved back to Houston for his high school years and graduated from Foster High School. His occasional family caregiving stints helped fuel his passion to help others. In fact, “care, duty and service” are key words for Dillon, who has used those dominant personality traits to focus on his work career after he graduated from the Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi with a bachelor’s degree in business and a Master of Business Administration (MBA).

His college years corresponded to those of Pietro, and they became good friends while pursuing their education. “Pietro and I had the same thought processes when it came to wanting career fulfillment. For me, it is an honor to serve others, society’s most vulnerable, and I know Pietro feels the same way,” Dillon said.

When asked if he ever envisioned owning a Home Instead Senior Care franchise, Dillon admitted, “This was not on my radar originally. One of the original Home Instead Senior Care-Victoria co-owners, Chris Baughman, was the key. He is a close family friend. Chris and I have had a good relationship for 15 years. He and Stephanie Niles started the Home Instead franchise seven years ago.”

Dillon and Pietro had talked about making a career of service to others. Dillon added: “Home Instead Senior Care is an outstanding network for that, and owning a Home Instead franchise is a great career move for us in all respects.”

Discussing goals, Dillon said, “It will be a ‘crawl, walk, run’ method because of the transition. One of our biggest goals for the first six to 12 months is to get a foot in the door as a referral partner with the larger hospitals in the area. Of course, we want to grow. It is all well and good to allow yourself to think about that, but we need to work on keeping CAREGivers and recruiting more of them. We hope to focus on Victoria-area colleges. We want to tap into a potential working relationship with their medical-field programs and target those students.”

The 27-year-old Home Instead franchise co-owner also understands what his company’s clients face with physical challenges, Dillon spent eight months in physical therapy to overcome a back injury. “To a certain extent, I can relate to a senior’s plight, whether it is seeing my grandparents’ struggles or working on my infirmity. I’m still working things out medically and need to continue. I’m someone who can empathize, and I just want to help others,” he said.

Dillon and Pietro are determined to ensure their Home Instead Senior Care franchise maintains and follows its primary mission, which is to provide quality, affordable in-home care services to seniors.  They are dedicated to maintaining the highest standards of care for all clients by providing a positive, rewarding, and stimulating work environment for CAREGivers.

Dillon is available by phone at (361) 433-0330 or by email at dillon.rice@homeinstead.com