The other day I was sitting in the chair with my hairdresser Cheryl, getting my coily, frizzy Gen-X hair situation handled.
While my hair was processing, Cheryl was processing something heavier — the recent loss of a friend and her stepfather, a veteran who had been living with dementia for more than a decade.
Two decades in senior care myself, conversations like this tend to drift into the deeper stuff.
That’s when Cheryl started talking about industry standards.
When she went to cosmetology school, the requirements were serious:
• 1,600 hours of schooling
• A written exam
• A final practical test on a real human being you brought in
You had to demonstrate your skills on a live person to earn your license.
Today?
In many places it's closer to 600 hours and a written exam.
We went from testing on real people
to testing on mannequin heads
to sometimes no practical testing at all.
Which made me think…
Why are we diluting the standards of entire professions?
Healthcare Did the Same Thing
In senior care, I’ve watched something very similar happen with home care agency caregivers.
When I started in this business more than 20 years ago, agencies usually required two years of experience before someone could be hired as a caregiver.
Then the labor shortage began.
Two years became one year.
One year became six months.
Eventually it became something closer to:
"Do you have a beating heart and want to do personal care? We'll train you."
And now families are often paying $45+ an hour for home care through agencies.
Costs are rising.
Experience levels are shrinking.
Expectations are exploding.
The AI Expectation Problem
Then Cheryl told me something that made the whole conversation click.
She said and her fellow seasoned and experienced network are exhausted by clients bringing in AI-generated videos.
Someone walks into a salon in the video with jet black hair…
…and walks out an hour later platinum blonde.
No damage.
No chemistry.
No biology.
Just instant transformation.
And Cheryl and her colleagues have to explain why that’s impossible.
That’s when she said something that stopped me cold.
“We’re protecting the integrity of their hair.”
Integrity.
And then it hit me.
What she was really saying was:
“We’re protecting you from something you don’t even know could damage you.”
The Word Missing From Care Decisions
For years when families call me in crisis about a parent, I give them the same advice:
When things feel overwhelming, focus on two things:
Comfort
Safety
If those two things are in place, the rest usually starts to fall into place.
But after my conversation with Cheryl, I realized something else belongs on that list.
Integrity.
Because we are living in an era of:
• diluted standards
• confusing care models
• layered referral systems
• rising costs
• unrealistic expectations about how quickly things can be “fixed”
Families entering the senior care system don’t just need options.
They need professionals who will protect them from things they don’t even know to ask about.
Why I Created Next Best Home
I created Next Best Home because families deserve clarity when navigating care, housing, and financial decisions.
Not pressure.
Not hidden agendas.
Not a maze of referrals.
Just guidance grounded in experience and integrity.
Because the right professional isn’t just offering a service.
They’re doing exactly what Cheryl does in the salon chair.
Protecting you from something you don’t even know could damage you.
Learn more:
Helping families navigate care, housing, and financing decisions with clarity.
