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This article was originally published in Franchise Dictionary Magazine, September 30th, 2026
Compassion Leads to Franchise Ownership
Before becoming a franchise owner with BrightStar Care® last year, Katherine Scirto Mooney enjoyed a successful career in early childhood education, living and working in several major Northeast cities. However, she often thought about owning her own business and felt a strong desire to return to Texas.
“I’m a people person; caring for people is my strength,” she said. “I loved my time in the classroom, and I loved living in New York and Boston, but I missed Texas. I missed the community there. It was time to be close to family and friends again.”
Mooney’s return to Texas proved especially meaningful when her father, a well-known meteorologist in Tyler, Texas, suffered a stroke not long afterward.
“By the grace of God, he is fine and had a beautiful recovery, but his care was a challenge for my mother,” Mooney said. “She accepted very little help. I thought often about what we could have done differently.”
That experience ultimately led Mooney to explore franchise opportunities.
“When searching for business opportunities, home care continuously came up,” Mooney said. “It was a good fit because of my background and people skills. Once we narrowed it down, BrightStar began to immediately stand out from the rest.”
A national private-duty home care and medical staffing franchise with more than 440 locally owned and operated locations nationwide, BrightStar Care employs more than 16,000 caregivers and more than 5,700 nurses. It has also been repeatedly recognized by the Joint Commission for its devotion to the highest standards of quality and safety in home care
BrightStar Care’s key services include companion and personal care, which focus on daily living tasks such as bathing, dressing, grooming and light household chores; skilled nursing, which includes medical care at home, medication management and infusion nursing overseen by registered nurses; and medical staffing for corporate healthcare partners, hospitals and assisted living facilities.
“It honestly was the skilled nursing piece that made BrightStar unique,” Mooney said. “Tyler is a haven for retirees, and that type of care is sorely needed here. Healthcare is a competitive market, but there are no other companies offering those very important services.”
After signing on in June 2025, Mooney’s franchise was fast-tracked and launched in October. She said the benefits of working with the brand were evident from the start.
“The whole process was so organized. There were coaches and boot camps, and clinical leadership was accessible every step of the way,” she said. “The template is easy to follow, and there are best practices in place that really simplify launch.”
For Mooney, the most fulfilling part of ownership is the ability to provide meaningful services alongside her husband Josiah, and raising her 5 children, all in the town where she was raised since she was 5.
“I’ve been given the opportunity to take care of parents and grandparents for some families that I know and love,” she said of her work in Tyler, population 115,000, and Longview, population 83,000. “The more we grow, the more families we interact with and the more dignity we are able to provide for this aging generation.”