Dawn Harsch

Updated: Nov 11, 2021

Founder, President and CEO of Exquisicare Senior Living

Episode 96: Serving a Bigger Purpose with Dawn Harsch

Dawn Harsch is a registered nurse by trade, an entrepreneur, and the creator of 3 long term care homes called ExquisiCare Senior Living and received numerous awards for her work, one of them being Edmonton's Top 20 Future Business Leaders.

She takes pride in serving our seniors who have earned the right to have the finest level of care and attention possible.

Dawn chimes into supportive living for seniors and what's next in the evolution of ExquisiCare - Edmonton's most caring and professional boutique provider of residential, supportive living accommodations and care for the elderly.

From a student to a guest, I want to welcome Dawn Harsch to The Inner Circle.

Let's dig in!

What You’ll Hear in This Episode:

2:41 - We start talking about how Dawn is, how she and her nurses have dealt with the COVID outbreak and some issues, what they are doing to protect patients, how they are working with the most fragile, long term care, how is her population and how crazy the process has been.
9:11 - Managing so much stress can have a high impact on our lives. Dawn talks about the most significant challenges in her life, the business, and how the journey has been like during these last months.
11:02 - Let's talk about life before business, a little of Dawn's personal story, having health issues at a young age, and dealing with it.
23:30 - Dawn explains why she opted to become a nurse if she had a bright entrepreneurial path, what was about it that attracted her so much.
28:10 - She finished her MBA and wrote the business plan for ExquisiCare, but something was missing. Dawn met the love of her life; with his aid, everyone who looked at the business plan was amazed by the value, so the business began.
33:19 - After being initially told that she wasn't going to become a mother, she and her partner got an egg donor and got the biggest blessings of her life.
36:51 - They launched the business leveraging whatever they could. From an entrepreneurial standpoint, Dawn describes what it is, also discusses what ExquisiCare is, how it works, and what's its goal.
43:03 - Dawn is ready to launch her 3rd ExquisiCare home, she reveals how it will be and the challenges she anticipates, also how her homecare business originated and what it is like to be part of an entrepreneurial family.
47:10 - Making mistakes is how we improve; Dawn talks about the mistakes she has made, the takeaways from them, and what's next in the evolution of ExquisiCare.
51:51 - Having so much love to give and caring so much for people can be fulfilling but also really stressful; Dawn explains how she manages it.

Quotes:

"We should not be institutionalizing our parents."
"We know it doesn't work; there needs to be a transformational change of senior care; residential models are what we need to be moving towards."
"You gotta work hard."
"I've always been that person that always says I'm fine, I'm fine."
"I was so sleep deprived."
"He believed in it; he said, You know what, this is your passion, you've always wanted to do this."
"It will force you to do what you need to do, what you were put on this earth to do."
"Family can be made in multiple ways, and I just see it as the greatest gift."
"I believed that I could make this happen."
"We are here to respect and love and give them dignity and honor their family."