HomeWell Owner Spotlight: PJ Ortiz
By Grace Styron
In this Q&A, we spoke with PJ Ortiz, owner of HomeWell Care Services in Bellevue, Washington. As a dedicated husband, father, and former aerospace engineer, PJ brings a unique combination of talents and expertise to his business. Today, he is passionate about providing exceptional service and being a trusted resource for families throughout the Bellevue area, while showing his children the value of serving others and his community.
Q: What was your career journey leading up to HomeWell?
PJ: I spent 20 years in aerospace before joining HomeWell. I graduated from college as an aerospace engineer and started working at Boeing in 2006. I stayed at Boeing for over 16 years and worked across many different engineering and supplier management roles and programs, including a six-year expatriate assignment in South Korea. My last three years in aerospace were with Blue Origin as a Director in Supply Chain supporting rocket, rocket engine, and lunar programs.
I was motivated to start a HomeWell franchise by wanting to create and build something meaningful for my family and community. I have three boys, and I think it is important for them to see me take a chance and commit to something different. As a working parent, I also understand how providing care for loved ones can be stressful to balance with full-time work and after-school schedules.
Q: What was it about home care that stood out to you? Did you have a personal experience that drew you to this industry?
PJ: I watched my mom raise a family, work, and talk about how much she was looking forward to retirement. Unfortunately, right when she retired, both of her parents’ health started to decline, and my mom spent her first three years of retirement as a part-time caregiver for my grandparents. I saw how this created stress for my mom and delayed the start of her golden years.
I am excited to support both clients and their extended families to demonstrate our commitment to trusted care and true compassion. Bringing comfort to clients and peace of mind to families is at the core of what motivated me to join this industry.
Q: What skills, experiences or personality traits do you bring that will help you succeed as a HomeWell owner?
PJ: My aerospace background exposed me to fairly significant and complex problem-solving, system design, operations management, and people management. I believe this experience will translate directly to building a home care agency, and I look forward to applying my systems engineering background as much as possible to standardize, measure, and simplify as much of the in-home care process as possible while keeping quality care and customer satisfaction our priority.
Q: What would you like your agency to become known for among your clients, caregivers and community?
PJ: I would like my agency to be known as a good place to work because people are treated fairly and clearly see themselves aligned with—and will share in the success of—the agency’s priorities. I believe this will translate into higher quality care for clients as we aim to deploy and retain caregivers who can see themselves staying and growing with our agency.
This will create a compounding effect, and over time, the community will understand and come to appreciate the culture we have built within our HomeWell agency. Our culture will be what differentiates us from other in-home care agencies as we build, strengthen, and grow community partnerships.
Do you want to build a business that supports your local community like PJ? At HomeWell Care Services, our franchise owners are equipped with helpful resources and support to assist them in achieving their entrepreneurial dreams and helping those in need experience happier, healthier lives.
Take the first step today by downloading our easy-to-read Franchise Kit. This is a starter packet for all potential franchise owners to learn more about the overall investment opportunity, HomeWell’s ongoing training and support, and how we address the needs of your specific market.
