Meet Our Team

Bob served 4 years in the US Army - one year serving in Iraq. Upon completing his service, he obtained his degree in Business from the University of Nebraska at Omaha.

Bob started his tenure with Home Instead in 2006 at the Global HQs in a technical capacity but was attracted to the operations division of the organization. He fell in love with the culture and the mission of enhancing the lives of seniors and their families. After managing a team supporting and serving hundreds of franchises across North America, Bob and, his wife, Makalla invested in their own franchise right here in Phoenix. His primary functions he oversees in the business include Client Care and Marketing.

He has always loved his time with older adults dating back to when his grandmother lived in their family’s home in high school. He saw, at that point, how stressful it was for his mother managing a household along with being the primary caregiver for her own mom who suffered from Parkinson’s. Despite the stress, the level of fulfillment from those years of being able to allow her to remain home was one of the most gratifying periods of his mom’s life.

Bob and Makalla have two beautiful girls that keep them busy outside of work. Bob loves time with his family, college football (Go Huskers!), NFL, and baseball as well as time with friends.

Makalla Fritz, along with her husband Bob, is the proud co-owner of the Home Instead in North Central Phoenix. Prior to dedicating her career to senior care, she was a high school counselor and teacher for 15 years. She earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Spanish from Iowa State University and her Master’s Degree in Counseling from the University of Nebraska at Omaha.

Coming from Nebraska, she is grateful to be serving the aging population in the beautiful state of Arizona. Makalla has always had a passion for serving others, especially those who are in need. Working with seniors, their families and the wonderful team of caregivers is a privilege for Makalla.

Other than her Home Instead baby, she is also the proud mother of two sweet daughters. She loves to spend time with family and friends and travel whenever awarded the opportunity.

Ariel originally started as a Caregiver for Home Instead in 2020. After so much positive feedback from clients and family members and the office being impressed with her character and skill, she was promoted to Client Care Coordinator in May 2021 and is now the Service Manager. Ariel choose Home Instead because she loves helping people as it has always been a big part of her and her upbringing. Being a mom to three little kids and growing up in a big family, she always had someone to care for and loved it. In her time as a Caregiver, she loved hearing their life stories and seeing all the things clients have done in their past. Ariel has an extensive history in customer service from working in a municipal center and as a lead bank teller. She’s loved all of her jobs but, by far, working as a caregiver has definitely topped them all! Ariel lives in the North Valley since moving here from Chicago in 2019. She lives here with her husband and three kids in addition to what she calls a mini zoo that includes a dog, cat, and snapping turtle!

Carrie has been in the patient care field for 25+ years. Her background is in retail pharmacy and, most recently, mobile primary, palliative and hospice care. Her role with Home Instead will be assessing new patients, developing plans of care, and connecting families to other healthcare related resources that allow an aging adult to stay to have control over their journey whether that is to stay at home or live in a community setting. Outside of work, Carrie is busy with her amazing kids and all of their activities.

Julie’s role is to ensure all Care Professionals, regardless of experience are trained the Home Instead way. She provides a mix of classroom style training, online curriculum, and on the job training experiences to ensure we’re providing a consistent experience for our clients and families. The training program Julie has developed involves hundreds of modules that provide an employee a lot of confidence to perform well under pressure. On a personal side, Julie love the outdoors, traveling, adventure, and family. working beside you all!

Nikki’s background includes experience in a mental health and substance abuse clinic as an administrative assistant and hiring coordinator. She supports our team by recruiting and identifying the best candidates to become Care Professionals. Nikki does an amazing job of keeping up with client demand and ensuring our 100% staffing guarantee is met.

On a personal side, Nikki was born and raised in Phoenix and absolutely loves living in the desert. She is married to her high school sweetheart and they have two teenagers. For fun, Nikki loves doing crafts with her daughter and watching movies with her son. She loves spending time with her in-laws. Have you heard that before?! She enjoys farmers markets, trying new restaurants, true crime and documentaries and traveling as much as possible. When the weather is nice, Nikki is either boating on Lake Pleasant or enjoying her time in Rocky Point.