As the founder and president of Heartland Caregivers, Inc, I screen hundreds of applicants for household and estate positions each year. I know how important it is to feel familiar with the background, experience and values of those you bring into your home. It is my hope that by sharing something of myself and what is important to me, I can give you the same sense of well being about doing business with me that we strive for when placing an estate employee or caregiver in the homes of our clients.

I started my company 20 years ago as a small nanny agency; because it was something I could do from home, while caring for my new baby and three young stepchildren. Because my offices are located in Missoula, Montana and we serve clients nationwide, I chose to develop the most careful screening process possible from the very beginning - Then as now, I felt that dealing with the well being of babies and children was a serious responsibility. Several successful years later, I expanded into full household and estate placement. As many of my original clients grew in property and wealth, they found themselves confronting more complex staffing needs and they contacted me for help. Like many of us these days, some also had aging parents who needed help if they were to continue to live independently in their own homes, so our senior companion program was developed.

I have insisted since the beginning on the same process of extensive interviews, comprehensive checking of all references, as well as criminal background and DMV checks. To their credit, the wonderful applicants we represent said 'bring it on' and have willingly subjected themselves to our scrutiny. Heartland prides itself on representing highly qualified caregivers and estate professionals who have nothing to hide and appreciate the high level of trust and responsibility our clients are placing with them.

Heartland Caregivers, Inc is now one of the largest domestic placement services in the country. As its founder, I am grateful to the many amazing people who have created wealth and beauty for themselves and then trusted in our ability to find them the right people to care for their homes and loved ones, keeping their lives working in a peaceful and efficient manner as they pursue their dreams. We are known for our thoroughness-- something both a true domestic professional and a wary home or estate owner can understand and appreciate.

I grew up in a middle class home in Southern California, where both elegance and entertaining occurred on a regular basis. My father, once a world-class track athlete, was a successful food broker during my growing up years. My mother was both a talented homemaker and a gracious hostess. She returned to work after we were raised and was an executive assistant to a bank president for many years. The only daughter of four (a Virgo), I grew up in a busy family where excellence and attention to detail were valued and expected.

It is my experience with my own family that makes screening companions to seniors especially close to my heart. My mother, who lived a long and full life, required such help in recent years in order to stay in our childhood home. I know first hand the difficulty of persuading a parent to accept such help. But what a wonderful bond she and her caregiver formed. Parents do not want to burden their children with their infirmities as they get older, yet they need someone to lean on. A live-in caregiver is by far the best solution.

I graduated from the University of California at Santa Barbara, planning to become a high school teacher and later return for my Masters in Counseling. In my twenties however, the intrigue of travel and a desire to see the great world we inhabit seized me, so I took a job as a recreation specialist for the U.S. Army in Germany. This led to more travel, including an opportunity to work on a kibbutz in Israel. After two years overseas, I returned to my birthplace of Southern California more worldly and much wiser. I took a position teaching high school and coaching the girls' track and drill team (the latter won first place in CA competition that year) but the travel bug had bit.

Pan American Airlines (now defunct) was then a glamorous way to see more of the world. Those were the days of six-course in-flight dinners and every time you got off a Pan Am flight, you were in another country. Still a luxurious mode of leisure and business travel, it was a far cry from the 'toss-them-peanuts' flights we experience today. I grew in sophistication and learned firsthand what comprised fine service. Over the years, I substitute taught in Missoula, Montana high schools and later served as director of skier services at Snowbowl, our local ski area. I also worked as a free-lance writer and edited regional magazines and newspapers. I especially enjoyed writing for a business magazine that focused on interviews with successful regional business owners. Perhaps it is the writer in me-the investigative reporter that I once was-- but I still feel it is important to truly examine the lives and work histories of those I represent. I believe my love of research shows in the screening of our Heartland applicants.

My husband is a rancher and we live on the family ranch in Missoula, right on the edge of the city, but surrounded by rolling hills that support our livestock. Our son is now grown and an integral part of Heartland as is his wife.  I am pleased to say they are both honorable, hardworking and disciplined and do honor to our family business. During his growing up years, I was a teacher's aide in his elementary classrooms and coached Minor Boys Little League for five years. When he was in high school, I volunteered at the writing lab and judged state speech and debate meets. My role as a parent has always been an invaluable guide for me when placing nannies and caregivers at Heartland. My bottom line with any nanny or caregiver is whether I would have felt comfortable entrusting them with the well being of my own child or that of a vulnerable family member.

It has always been a little harder to do the job right, but isn't that true of anything in life? I have never believed that merely offering my clients a candidate's resume was worthy of earning a fee. I absolutely do not want to place someone who is misrepresenting themselves and so I go the extra mile to assure both myself and my clients that they are getting the kind of thorough, diligent attention to detail that Heartland is known for. I seek clients and applicants who can have mutually respectful relationships. I expect our clients will provide salary and benefits in a fair and reasonable manner to those who provide for the sanctuary that is their home. The finest candidates in the country are registered with Heartland Caregivers because we have always been known as an agency with a firm grasp on the industry of private service. We also have co-brokering relationships with other agencies both here and abroad.

Whether you come to Heartland as my client or as the person I screen and find work for, the most important thing you need to know is this: Truth is my goal in all things. I take great pleasure in helping employer and employee find each other. I understand the complexities of wealth and a demanding lifestyle, as do the high quality applicants I represent. I believe the knowledgeable, work-oriented professionals that can be found through Heartland are dedicated to completely easing the stress of high profile/high-income lives. In my own business, I have carefully selected a staff that embodies the same standards of integrity that I insist upon in myself.

A beautiful home and an important lifestyle require the most professional, competent and loyal staff one can find. I pride myself on being able to present our clients with the very best domestic staffing options available, allowing you the freedom and peace of mind to pursue the destiny that is yours.

Karen Walker Ryan
Founder and President of Heartland Caregivers, Inc.