Despite being encouraged by her high school counselor to follow a completely different career path, Carolyn Thurston was determined to help others by becoming a nurse. By Cindy Charette

Despite being encouraged by her high school counselor to follow a completely different career path, Carolyn Thurston was determined to help others by becoming a nurse. Being a world traveler at an early age, stemming from her father’s service in the U.S. Air Force, Carolyn had the opportunity to see how seniors were cared for in different parts of the world. This led to her intrigue with the older population and an interest in the home-care arena. Early on, through a vision she shared with her mother and biggest supporter at the time, Carolyn was certain she would have her own business one day, and it would be named Wisdom.

Carolyn’s vision came to fruition in so many ways, as the CEO and founder of Wisdom Senior Care, established in 2005; Wisdom Health Academy, established in 2012; and Wisdom Business Owners, which has been offering franchising opportunities since 2016. Carolyn’s husband, Charles Thurston, joined Carolyn in 2007 and serves as COO/CFE for all three businesses.

As a husband-and-wife team coming up on 30 years of marriage, their business roles have had to grow and mature. While Carolyn is the creative visionary, Charles’ expertise lies in operations, franchise development, sales/marketing, and anything to do with people. By putting their gifts together, everything works, and they enjoy sharing ideas. Charles said: “That’s why we got married in the first place. We love being around one another, and we can work together and have fun.” Carolyn added: “As husband and wife, we have the same goals that we’re working toward.”

The Thurstons’ daughters also are actively involved in Wisdom, fulfilling the generational legacy of the business. Jasmine Thurston has taken over the corporate office and is growing into becoming the next CEO of Wisdom Senior Care, while Moriah Thurston is the administrator of Wisdom Health Academy, a North Carolina state-approved nursing school.

Additionally, Carolyn’s sister, Angela McLean-Taylor, joined the Wisdom Senior Care team while looking for a way to help her community. Initially in the position of scheduling manager, she communicated to the caregivers and clients daily. In doing so, she learned that some caregivers were facing difficulties in their personal lives, which sometimes made it difficult to do their jobs.

With Angela’s experience as a minister and missionary, she found herself listening to these caregivers, offering encouraging words, and praying for them. “We realized that, in order to help the seniors stay happy in their homes, we needed healthy caregivers,” Angela said. “We wanted to provide a resource – a place where caregivers could reach out and receive the support that they may need. As a result of that, we came up with the idea of this foundation for Wisdom, our caregivers, and the community.”

Wisdom Missions Worldwide, a 501(c)(3) foundation, was established in January 2022, with Angela as the executive director. The foundation addresses issues related to Wisdom clients and their families, caregivers, and even franchisees, with plans to help others as far as they can reach.

Cindy Charette

Contact: 919-615-0020, wisdomseniorcare.com/franchiseopportunities, Charles Thurston, 919-949-1367