About this episode
Nakaa Clark, owner of Cali Care Transport in Southern California, took her first call in August 2024 and now runs 10 vehicles, with two brokers accounting for maybe one or two trips a month. She skipped state Medi-Cal and Medicare certification on purpose and built on private pay and facility work, driving up to 45 minutes to walk in with coffee and oversized business cards seniors could actually read. Her crew wears bright pink, her son's idea, and she scheduled on Google Calendar until October 2025.
Key takeaways
- Clark registered the company in January 2024 but did not take a call until August. The first trip was a 45 minute wheelchair run for a friend being discharged.
- Two brokers send maybe one or two calls a month. She skipped Medi-Cal and Medicare state certification deliberately and built the book on private pay and facility referrals instead.
- Pink uniforms were her 16 year old son's idea after he argued dark colors are wrong for hospital hallways. Facilities forget the company name and call them the pink crew.
- She hires drivers with no experience and rides along the first two weeks. One hire with six years at another company could not unlearn their methods and did not stay.
- Scheduling ran on Google Calendar from August 2024 to October 2025. Her first dispatcher, who cold messaged her on Instagram, got trip entry down to under two minutes.
Chapters
- 0:00 The Founding Story of Cali Care Transportation
- 1:12 Starting Out: The First Wheelchair Trip in 2024
- 2:54 The First Gurney Transport & The Emotional Realities of NEMT
- 5:04 Building Direct Relationships with Healthcare Facilities
- 8:08 The Anti-Broker Strategy: Winning Private Pay & Facility Contracts
- 9:29 The "Pink Crew": How Unique Branding Helps You Stand Out
- 11:16 The True Entrepreneurial Hustle of a 24/7 Business
- 18:14 How to Hire and Train Compassionate NEMT Drivers
- 22:12 Overcoming Scheduling Chaos & Hiring a Dispatcher
- 24:36 Scaling Operations and Pricing with Bambi Software
- 26:04 Growing to 10 Vans & The Future of Cali Care
