Today we’d like to introduce you to Britttany McCleary.
Hi Britttany, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
When people ask how we ended up in home care, the answer is simple: it wasn’t part of our original plan.
My husband, Matt, and I were both teachers. I began teaching in 2009, and education was the career we thought we’d spend our lives pursuing. Matt, however, has always had an entrepreneurial spirit. Even while teaching, he was constantly exploring business ideas and looking for ways to build something of our own.
When COVID changed the education system, everything changed for us as well. The stress, uncertainty, and demands of teaching during that time made me realize I needed a different path. I came home one day and told Matt, “Go figure out what we’re going to do.”
That conversation set us on a journey we never could have imagined.
We started by working with the Small Business Development Center, which eventually connected us with a franchise consultant. We explored dozens of opportunities—many centered around education and children—but after spending our careers in that field, we knew we wanted something different. We wanted to build a business that allowed us to make a lasting difference in people’s lives while serving our community.
When we discovered Assisting Hands Home Care, everything clicked.
We immediately connected with the company’s values, leadership, and mission of serving others with compassion and dignity. We knew home care would be challenging because it is, at its heart, a people business. Caring for clients, supporting families, and investing in caregivers requires patience, compassion, and a genuine love for people. That challenge was exactly what drew us to it.
Our faith has been the foundation of every decision we’ve made. We believe our caregivers are the hands and feet that serve our clients every day, and our role is to support, encourage, and equip them to provide exceptional care. We strive to love people well, serve with excellence, and be a trusted resource for families throughout our community.
God has blessed that mission far beyond anything we could have imagined. Over the past four years, our company has grown rapidly, expanding into multiple locations while remaining focused on the same purpose we started with: serving others. Within our first year, we became the largest Assisting Hands franchise in Texas, and today we continue to grow while staying committed to faith, service, and excellence.
Looking back, what began as uncertainty during one of the most difficult seasons of our lives became an opportunity to build something far more meaningful than we ever expected. We didn’t just find a business—we found a calling.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
One thing people often see is the growth. What they don’t see are all the mistakes that got us here.
Starting this business was anything but smooth. I joke that I live in a world of sunshine and rainbows. I genuinely believed that if you worked hard, loved people, and did the right thing, everything would naturally fall into place. Running a business taught me very quickly that the real world is much more complicated than that.
Neither of us had ever owned a business before. I came from an education background, with a business undergraduate degree but no real-world business experience outside of teaching. Matt had always been entrepreneurial and had a natural gift for marketing, but even together, we had a lot to learn.
We’ve made more mistakes than I can count. We’ve hired the wrong people, built processes that didn’t work, underestimated challenges, and learned some very difficult lessons along the way. But every mistake forced us to improve. Every obstacle pushed us to create a better system, become better leaders, and build a stronger company.
Today, many of the processes we rely on exist because something went wrong at one point. Instead of seeing failure as the end, we’ve tried to see it as education. Those experiences have shaped who we are as leaders and have made our business stronger than it would have been if everything had come easily.
Looking back, I wouldn’t say our success came from getting everything right. It came from being willing to learn, adapt, stay humble, and keep moving forward. Through every challenge, our faith has remained our anchor, reminding us that growth often comes through perseverance, and that every setback can become an opportunity to serve people even better.
Appreciate you sharing that. What should we know about Assisting Hands Homecare Burleson Mansfield?
Home care allows older adults, veterans, and individuals with disabilities or chronic illnesses to remain safely and comfortably in the place they want to be most—their own home. At Assisting Hands Home Care, we provide non-medical assistance such as personal care, bathing, dressing, meal preparation, medication reminders, companionship, transportation, dementia care, respite care for family caregivers, and support for those recovering after a hospital stay. We have a special passion for serving our nation’s veterans, helping them navigate available benefits and access the care they have earned through their service. Beyond our home care services, we founded a nonprofit dedicated to ensuring that individuals in our community have access to the durable medical equipment (DME) and care they need, regardless of their circumstances. More than helping with daily tasks, we strive to preserve independence, dignity, and quality of life. We believe every person deserves to age with respect, and our caregivers have the privilege of becoming trusted companions who provide not only exceptional care, but also comfort, encouragement, and peace of mind for the families who love them.
Do you have any advice for those just starting out?
If I could give one piece of advice to someone starting a business, it would be this: don’t panic when you make mistakes. Every entrepreneur makes them, and almost everything can be fixed. We have a saying in our company: **”Fall forward.”** Every challenge, failure, or setback is an opportunity to learn and improve. Focus on doing the next right thing, one step at a time. There is no finish line in business—there is always another process to improve, another person to serve, another lesson to learn, and another opportunity to grow. Enjoy the journey, celebrate the small victories, and remember that success isn’t built by never failing; it’s built by continuing to move forward with faith, humility, and perseverance.
Pricing:
- Free Care for Veterans
- starting at 28/hr
Contact Info:
- Website: https://assistinghands.com/105/texas/mansfield/
- Facebook: Assisting Hands Homecare Mansfield
