Belina Calderon-Nernberg’s journey to entrepreneurship started in her native Bacolod City in the Philippines. Growing up in a country where culture dictated that children are expected to take care of their parents as they aged, Calderon-Nernberg was instilled with a sense of duty and responsibility toward her elders.“My mom continues to inspire me and I see her in every smile that we get from those that we take care of every single day,” Calderon-Nernberg posted on her company website. “Nothing compares to family taking care of family, but we are the next best thing.”The West Hills resident is founder and chief executive of 1Heart Caregiver Services, a business she has managed to franchise in multiple locations in California and Nevada.The evolution of 1Heart Caregiver Services developed after Calderon-Nernberg relocated to the United States in 1991, initially living in Van Nuys. About 10 years later, she and her then-husband founded L.A. Jobs Employment Agency.“A lot of my clients would be Asian Americans and immigrants who came to the U.S. through employment (visas),” Calderon-Nernberg said.The prototype version of 1Heart Caregiver began under a different name — California Medical Resources — in 2004, which she ran with her former husband. However, after a divorce, the company folded in 2008 and she started anew with 1Heart Caregiver.Running her own business has brought a sense of empowerment.“I had spent years studying the market, studying to make sure it works before you start franchising, the right people to train,” Calderon-Nernberg said. “It’s an ongoing process.”In the elder care sector, the pandemic year turned out to be full of surprises.“All these facilities practically closed the doors; that was a huge blow to us,” she said. “We thought, ‘What are we going to do now?’ Even the franchisees were calling the corporate office and asking, ‘What are we going to do about this?’”Meanwhile, she noticed, “a lot of our competitors stopped going.”“The first thing I did call a meeting with our franchisees because we have to be consistent,” Calderon-Nernberg said. From there, a plan evolved that included utilizing the internet.“We continued with our visits virtually and through email,” she said. “The goal was to stay connected.”The strategy worked.“They saw we were consistent,” Calderon-Nernberg said. “Executive directors, after a few weeks, said, ‘Hey, we need more co-workers. Who’s left to help out?’”Follow the CDC guidelines and health procedures, Calderon-Nernberg’s caregivers were able to safely resume their work. “Initially, we did not let them handle COVID patients,” she said. “Later, surprisingly, many of our workers were brave enough to take them on.”The work volume eventually ramped up by the third quarter of last year as “there was more need for our services,” she said. “Demand is still going up.”That need has resulted in more franchisees. With two locations that are company owned, Calderon-Nernberg’s franchise network has grown to nearly a dozen sites. She said that, in total, 1Heart Caregiver employs roughly 110 people.“This year, we’re shooting for 25 total (locations),” she explained. “We just had two franchise location signings.”Indeed, on June 28, a brand new 1Heart Caregiver Services site will open in Santa Clarita, Calderon-Nernberg said, while another location will open in Burbank this summer.With her industry experience, Calderon-Nernberg has become adept at determining the qualities and criteria of a good franchisee. She said that the operator must have “a compassion to help the seniors” and is not just interested in the money. She said the person also must have entrepreneurship and leadership qualities.“If you have an employee mindset, this is not going to work,” she said. “They have to have management skills and the determination to succeed on their own.”Also, financially, “they have to be liquid for the operations of the company,” she said.Despite being a single mom with three kids when she started the company more than a dozen years ago, she was able to rally and tackle “a lot of headaches” balancing family life and managing caregivers. She credits her team of professionals for helping her establish the business.“If it were just me, it wouldn’t grow to be what it is today,” Calderon-Nernberg said. “I’m very fortunate to have a good, dedicated team. This is their company, too.”– Michael AushenkerBelina Calderon-Nernberg1Heart Caregiver ServicesBusiness: In-home caregiving agency.Headquarters: TarzanaLocations: Tarzana, Anaheim, Beverly Hills, Los Angeles, Newport Beach, San Diego, San Francisco, San Gabriel Valley, Santa Barbara, South Bay, Westlake Village, Las Vegas(844) 814-32781heartcares.com