A new agency, built with purpose

When Haley Davis launched her Always Best Care agency in October 2024, she wasn’t just starting a business. She was building something deeply personal.

“It’s the first time that I’ve run my own business at this scale,” she explained. “And the nature of assisting people at a very vulnerable time has been a great experience.”

With a background in operations and logistics, including leadership roles at Amazon, Davis brought a systems mindset into an industry that often runs on unpredictability. That combination of heart and operational rigor would prove critical.

From zero to 45 caregivers

In just 18 months, Davis grew her agency to 45 caregivers, a pace that’s almost unheard of in home care. Her approach? Always stay ready.

“You always want to have capacity for any client that calls at any time,” Davis said. “So you need a good mix of always recruiting and being strategic with shifts.”

That means balancing caregiver preferences (nights, weekends, mornings) with client demand, while continuously building a pipeline of talent. But growth is about numbers and trust.

“We’re transparent with caregivers around the hours that we think we’ll be able to give them,” Davis explained. “And then from a sales and marketing side, you have to ensure those caregivers have work.”

That transparency extends beyond scheduling and into the community itself.

“Be present in the community, talk to everybody, and throw small events that aren’t costly for a newer agency,” Davis said. “It’s about having a passion for it and having people take a chance on you.”

The Baltimore mentality: flexibility that works both ways

Caregiving attracts people who need flexibility, but that flexibility can be difficult to manage at scale. Davis calls her approach “the Baltimore mentality.”

“You have to understand where your caregivers are coming from,” she said. “Their concerns are childcare and transportation. They think about things in a different mindset.”

Instead of resisting that reality, she builds around it.

“I always have a plan and a backup plan to avoid dropped shifts. We’ll offer rides, incentive pay, or whatever it takes to make the shift work,” Davis explained. “We do everything as an agency to remove every barrier possible to them being successful.”

That mindset keeps shifts covered and builds loyalty. “When caregivers show up to work, do a fantastic job, and get good customer reviews, they get a pay bump.”

Competing for (and winning) talent

In today’s market, caregivers have options, and they know it. Davis knows they can go to other industries and make a certain amount of money. With Viventium, recommended to her by a bookkeeper based on its seamless integration for payroll, she can provide incentives that make caregivers stay.

“Offering benefits through Viventium like TapCheck instant pay allows me to be the kind of employer of choice when there’s so much competition out there,” Davis confirmed.

Access to earned wages, clear pay visibility, and consistent payroll processes are significant differentiators. With Viventium, Davis has built a compensation experience that meets caregivers where they are, financially and emotionally.

Payroll that works for home care

Before launching her agency, Davis had no payroll experience. But with Viventium, she quickly found her footing.

“It’s extremely user-friendly,” she said. “I probably do payroll in about 30 minutes, an hour tops,” Davis said. “Even with 45 caregivers and office staff, it can be that quick.”

That efficiency matters, allowing her to focus more on scaling and less on administrative tasks. “If I can continue to do payroll in a small amount of time, that lets me go build the business versus working in the business,” she explained.

Beyond speed, Viventium has helped Davis build trust in an industry with alarmingly high turnover.

“With Viventium, the paycheck lists out exactly what day and what hours they worked and at what pay rate,” she said. “It lets them verify where they’re at.”

The result is very minimal calls on payroll. Caregivers can access pay stubs, W-2s, and earnings instantly, creating a level of clarity that reduces confusion and reinforces confidence.

Seamless onboarding and integration

Beyond payroll, Viventium has simplified hiring and onboarding, two critical functions in a high-growth agency. “Everything can be done before they even get in the door,” Davis said. “It’s very easy and very streamlined.”

New hires can complete paperwork, upload documents, and get oriented through a clean, intuitive experience. “It’s not cluttered. It’s not noisy,” she added. “It makes it really easy for the caregiver to sign on.”

Even better, Viventium integrates seamlessly with the systems she already relies on.

“Being able to complete the shift schedule in WellSky, download it, and export it into Viventium, that’s the reason I chose it,” Davis said. “As we scale, this is the differentiator.”

Like any new system, there were learning curves. But when Davis needed help, support was there. “The customer support team is fantastic,” she said. “If I have a problem, I just pick up the phone and call.” And that responsiveness has made all the difference.

A payroll solution built for growth

At its core, Davis’s success comes down to the alignment of the right mindset, the right systems, and the right support.

With Viventium handling payroll, onboarding, and pay transparency, she’s been able to focus on what matters most: her people.

“It truly is a tool that lets me build the business,” she said.

And as Always Best Care continues to grow, it’s clear that when caregivers feel supported, they show up. And when they show up, everything else follows.

“If I can spend less time on payroll and more time building my team, that’s everything. And that’s exactly what Viventium allows me to do.”