SERENABROCK

Serena Brock, FHTM Founder/President, Paul Orberson and Haley Brock

Serena Brock, Nominated for Mecklenburg’s Top 50 Most Influential Women

In life, I believe that each of us evolve learning from one experience to the next. As an entrepreneur, I firmly support the other local business owners and make every attempt to better our community and its people through volunteer and supportive efforts. There has never been one particular “mentor” or individual that I have looked up to.  In fact, I am so fortunate to have had many people in my life who have made a difference for me, including: My momma – one of the hardest working ladies I have known. Always smiling, always accommodating no matter what was going on. My daddy, who taught me the importance of always being your best and learning to recognize that not everyone comes with the same motive, support, honesty and commitment. The many CEO and CFO’s, who over the years of writing and producing annual reports, I was blessed to watch, listen and learn from. My attorney clients today who provide an invaluable service protecting the interests of our aging population in such a volatile economy. My caregivers who lend their skills and compassion to taking care of our medically fragile infants and seniors. My children, who finally gave purpose to why I push as hard as I do. My husband, who devotes his time to supporting and caring for the special needs children in our community. He is a patient and caring man who life is fulfilled being a dad and through helping others. The less fortunate – of all ages and situations, who have always held a place in my heart and have encouraged my motivation to participate and recruit others to assist in times of need. And, lastly, to a new friend: the most humbling, hard working, intelligent and successful man I believe I have ever met. I really believe that everything in life happens for a reason.  In fact, another dear friend added to this statement by saying, and you will know what that “reason” was within 3-4 months. I was recently introduced to a new company, Fortune High Tech Marketing, (FHTM). The President/Founder, Paul Orberson, is without doubt one of the most incredible individuals I have been privileged to know. His “give back” nature is true, honest and is equal to my philosophy in life.  Having the ability to help so many people through FHTM is the best position I have ever held. I have the utmost respect and admiration for this man and hope that others will see that there still are some really good people in our world who believe in spreading good around, in giving back and in being there for others.

For over ten years, Serena Brock has been working with attorneys in multiple areas of practice.  More recently, she has been at the forefront of the estate planning, Medicaid Planning and Elder Law industry, teaching about home care and growing a law practice.

As a successful entrepreneur, Ms. Brock has built and grown many of her own companies, as well as client companies. Currently, she is the CEO of Avenue HomeCare, a skilled and non-skilled agency offering service in 13 counties in North Carolina; Avenue Home Health Care (AHHC), a national home care agency that has established relationships with elder law, estate planning and Medicaid planning attorneys across the country for the facilitation of in-home care as it relates to the VA Aide & Attendance qualification and benefits. Brock MacNeill, her national marketing/advertising agency, was recruited to bring its business to the USA from her native Canada, over 11 years ago. Today, its tremendous success is shared with partner, Liz MacNeill and has continued to see enormous growth in its now, 17 years of business. This agency has effectively leveraged law firms and healthcare/home care agencies through its strategic marketing and consulting services. Serenabrock.com, a media site that advertises and is main referral source for clients and her own companies, continues to generate enormous online hits. In 2009, her newest venture, Fortune High Tech Marketing offers Ms. Brock the best of all worlds:  helping and teaching people how to make money and build wealth even in today’s economic downturn.

Today, a compelling and much sought after speaker, Ms. Brock lends her expertise and support on a regular basis to organizations such as NNEPA (The National Network for Estate Planning Attorneys), MPS (A National Membership Organization that trains attorneys in Medicaid Planning, Strategic Marketing and Practice Efficiency), NAELA (The National Association for Elder Law Attorneys), PDHCA, Elder Law Answers, various presentations for SOFA (Society of Financial Planners) and state Estate Planning Councils. She currently also serves as a member of The North Carolina Government Affairs Committee, advocating for government funding and support, governance of national agency licensure, and agency ethical/quality care; The Board of the North Carolina Guardian ad Litem Foundation; The Lupus Foundation; World Orphans Day - Global Click Program; and her own Foundation which hosts an annual Christmas Open House, raising money and gifts for the children of DSS (Family and Children’s Services).

For more information or to contact:

Serena Brock
serena@brockmacneill.com

www.avenuehomecare.com
www.brockmacneill.com
www.serenabrock.com

From Beautiful Phoenix and the Private Duty Home Care Association Leadership Conference!

How to Effectively Build a Synergistic Relationship Between a Home Care Agency and an Attorney.

There are many areas of law.  When considering how to increase your agency through the effective building of professional relationships with attorneys, wealth advisors and trust officers, consider the following:

1.  Those attorneys who are a vital referral source for all home care professionals include the following:

a.   Elder Law and those certified to practice have the designation “CELA” or Certified Elder Law Attorney
b.  Estate Planning Attorney
c.   EP/ELA who specialize in Medicaid Planning
d.  Real Estate Attorneys
e.   Attorneys who work with Special Needs or draft SNTs
f.   Family Lawyers
g.  Personal Injury Attorneys
h.  Attorneys who work with high net worth or those who are dually licensed: CPA, CFP, wealth advisor, insurance agent.

There are times older adults and or their families meet with estate planning/elder law attorneys and raise often complicated eldercare issues.

1. in home vs nursing/AL care
2. personal service contracts and the implications
3. caregiver education and training
4. legal and care quality issues of hiring a personal friend vs a licensed agency caregiver
5. healthcare directives
6. in home care assessment to determine true needs

What does an attorney or wealth advisor want from you?

1.  An educator – someone who can assist and enhance the client counseling process with accurate information as it relates to in home care vs nursing home care.  What differences are there today and in the near future?  What are the considerations?
2.  A mutual referral source.  (materials, clients)
3.  An ability to provide valuable introductions.
4.  A co-presenter.
5.  An agency, owner or leader who share the same ethical, and quality professional values.  If you lean on the edge of unethical practice in any way, shape or form…DO NOT even consider approaching an attorney unless you want to face legal implications.
6.  Potential to build care assessment network.  (i.e. VA)
7.  Community Liaison

How do you approach these professionals successfully?

1. Research the attorneys in your geographic area
2. Select 2-3 and research the attorney and their firm
3. Put together a package geared at their firm, client base and the attorney themselves i.e. introduce yourself/value of your agency/history/awards, acknowledgements/accreditations, etc. and provide clear, concise client educational materials
4. Highlight your value and your network of opportunity you can provide them. How you can effectively enhance the client counseling process, name drop i.e. D/C planners, DONs, LTC/AL Administrators, Community Network
a.  i.e. these days, business is difficult but we still have an obligation to assist those who are aging.  Please allow me to introduce myself  -  how together we can enhance the client process - services that we both independently offer, etc.
b. provide copies of and information that you have. You may want to produce pieces that are specifically created for these attorneys and their clients.
c.  Offer network opportunities and furnish copies of upcoming meetings that they may attend alone or are welcome to attend with you
d. When can we meet?  I will call your office in a few days to schedule an appointment to come into your office.  You are welcome to visit ours, as well. Look forward to working together, etc.
e.  CLEAR sheet on HOW YOU CAN HELP THEM. i.e.
a.  Referrals- our clients often come to us without proper planning including no advance directives, living will, etc.  We are looking to partner with a firm who offers the same level of ethical and quality service and who will offer our clients the peace of mind they need.
b. Dual Presenter – in today’s economy and the fear of losing your valued assets, we are looking for an effective EP/ELA to speak to our groups of aging clients.
c.  Resource Materials – you hand out ours and we will hand out yours

In the Chinese calendar, each year has a symbol. It is made up of animals and mythical beings, each having a description of the animal or being’s temperament and likeness. For Avenue HomeCare, this year was the Year of the Angel and for 200 children with Family and Children’s Services, this was the year that wishes came true and dreams became reality.

The employees of Avenue HomeCare raised money and bought Christmas gifts for 200 children that would not have otherwise had a gift to open at Christmas. Keeping the true meaning of Christmas alive gets exceedingly harder for more and more people. Giving has become a commodity that most cannot afford, but those who have hearts bigger than their pocketbooks find the means to give. A Christmas gift to a child that knows they may not see a shiny red box with a bright green bow under a tree trimmed with lights that twinkle and dance in the dark, is more than just a gift, it’s a sign that they have not been forgotten and abandoned; something that so many of them feel.

The Year of the Angel
People who give in the year of the Angel are compassionate and bringers of joy. They have the tendency to create smiles and make eyes twinkle. They have large hearts and love the pure joy of giving to others. Angels love making the world a little better, one smile at a time. Angels are not compatible with Scrooges.

Years of the Angel: 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019…etc.

ONE ANGEL CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE

This year, is especially important to us. During such trying economic times, so many are affected and challenged, not only personally, but as a community. Right at home, this year, many children will have to go without the simple joy of a Christmas gift.

Please be an Angel for our cause…

With your help, we can be a group of angels ~ bringing smiles and support to many little faces! We have a list of 200 DSS children that need our generosity during this magical time of year. Please stop by our office and pick a child from our angel wall or make a monetary contribution of $1 or more to go towards a gift for a child. Be the magic and love you see in Christmas ~ be an Angel.

Donations can be made between the hours of 9 a.m. and 5 p.m., Monday through Friday at
1230 W. Morehead St., Ste. 110, Charlotte, NC 28208
or email serena@brockmacneill.com for additional donation information.

Welcome! So many of you have anticipated the launch of this site as much as we have! How exciting! This site is meant to be a fun resource of information for our visitors. It is also our opportunity to share with you some invaluable information as shared by our many clients, friends and colleagues. Not only will we feature guests but we will welcome your comments, suggestions and information that you wish to share! So please, take a look around, we are sure that you will enjoy it!

All my best,
Serena

As the holidays approach many of us want to spruce up our homes but don’t necessarily want to spend a lot of money.  Here are a few tips on how to get that “new” look without breaking the bank!  Paint…this is an affordable weekend project that can transform a space instantly.  Look for warm colors that are inviting but most of all that you love. Your home should reflect who you are so try to find a color palette you can work with that will also work well with the other areas of your home.

Pillows, these are my absolute favorite!  What a great way to get instant change and color with out making a long term commitment.  If at all possible try to stay away from small pillows that don’t make an impact.  Look for at least an 18” or larger depending on the scale of your furniture.

And lastly, lamps; lighting is one of the most under rated design elements.  Having proper lighting coming from three different levels can instantly change the feel of your room!  Spend some time looking for the right lamp…it can definitely pay off!

Have you ever taken pictures with a fairly wide angel lens and noticed that the vertical lines seem to be bending toward a point in the sky?  Or perhaps it’s the opposite and they are headed toward a subterranean point.  Most point and shoot cameras come with a zoom feature that allows you to zoom out to include more in the frame.  The farther you zoom out, the more likely this phenomenon will occur.  The simple cure is to make sure you hold the camera level.  That’s all it takes.  Of course, you could use this to your advantage if you want to add more dramatic effect to your photos.  Try zooming out, hold your camera at knee level, and shoot up toward your subject.  People will appear to be VERY tall.

Using your flash outdoors can be very helpful in certain situations.  You may think that on a bright sunny day, you have all the light you could possibly want.  And that’s true most of the time.  But when your subject is standing in a backlit condition, the camera’s light meter will become confused and cause the subject to be too dark.  Adding flash to the mix will balance out the exposure.

If you are lucky enough to live in areas where snow is present over the holidays, it can present some special challenges when photographing outdoors.  Many times images of nice white snow will have a bluish cast to them and will have a cold feel to them.  If your camera has an exposure compensation feature or a manual exposure mode, then use it to force additional 1 or 2 stops of light to reach your sensor or film.  On more advanced cameras that have a white balance feature, you should try setting it to a lower temperature.  Both of these techniques will have the effect of making the snow look more natural.

How many times have you seen a photo of someone where their head is in the exact center of the photograph and they are surrounded by vast amounts of nothing?  This is a common mistake made when composing shots of people.  There are two things to keep in mind.  First, place your subject off-center.  Follow the rule of thirds and place the subject’s eyes 1/3 from the left or right of the edge of the frame, and 1/3 from the top or bottom of the frame.  This adds interest to the composition.  Second, move in close.  If you have a zoom feature in your lens then use it to fill the frame with your subject’s face.  If you don’t have a zoom lens, then zoom with your feet!  Be sure to get in close with group portraits too.  The closer you are, the more detail you will see in the faces of your subjects and the more interesting they will be.

Red eye is a common occurrence when using built in flash.  Even though some cameras have a “red eye reduction” feature it doesn’t always eliminate it completely.  Red eye occurs when the camera’s flash bounces off the retina of the subject’s eyes directly back at the lens.  The phenomenon is not unique to humans.  It can occur with animals as well but may be a different color than red.  The best way to prevent this is to use an off camera flash.  Unfortunately most point and shoot cameras don’t support this type of flash so we are stuck with dealing with the devilish looking eyes with image processing software.  There are a number of software packages available that make eliminating red eye a snap.  Many of them are free such as Google’s Picasa.  Simply upload the image to your computer; open it in Picasa, click on the remove red eye icon and it’s done.