Dan Roberge
Hello, Iuliana. How are you? We've known each other for a long time. You were at People Care. You're the CFO Now. How long have you been there? What do you do every day?
Iuliana Constantin
Oh, that is actually a difficult question, Dan. Sometimes I don't want to even tell people how long it's been. It's like 15 years now. Yes. It's been a crazy journey. If you think about the time when we met. The beginning. I was the controller of that time. So People Care has been growing. We had so many opportunities and challenges. I grow with People Care as well.
Dan Roberge
Yeah. Because, I mean, were you originally four homes when we first met? Or were you always seven? Was it four?
Iuliana Constantin
No, no. When I started we had two, and then People Care was just opening London long term care, and probably that was a time when we met with London. I think so. Just after.
Dan Roberge
Yeah. And you're now the CFO, and you're in charge of a lot of stuff. New build. So what's been going on lately?
Iuliana Constantin
So with this opportunity, as we know, Ministry of long term care, they have this commitment with new builds, redevelopment. We did have a few older homes, and we did rebuild all of those. So we had five projects that we completed so far. And looking forward, we have one brand new home that's going to open this summer. We have two more in the ground and then yeah, we are planning for a few more in the future.
Dan Roberge
That's amazing. And so what do you do? What's your role in the new build planning and so on? Like what do you do specifically for those?
Iuliana Constantin
So I feel like this day I'm more like a cheerleader for my teams. You know, the construction developer is complex. It takes so much, so many partner skills department. So we do start, like we do have a development construction department now, having so many projects we needed to have the right talent. Also finance, it's you know we need to make sure now the formal works we have now the numbers are all okay. And it's also the other piece with those big projects. It's having the right partners, you know. And I learn over those years that selecting those right partners sometimes can be difficult. And yes it's working with our team to make sure we are aligned. We know exactly, and we are clear in what we need to deliver, when we need to deliver. Make sure that the teams are working together, and we are efficient.
Dan Roberge
Yeah. And you know what I liked about you the first time we met, was you always know what you want, and you're very clear about communicating it. So if a vendor lets you down, it's not because you didn't warn them of what you needed.
Iuliana Constantin
Well, and sometimes, you know, we've been growing. And as a company grows, the pattern is to grow with us. And not every company would like to grow. Or maybe they are capable of growing outpaced. And we need to be successful. We cannot let our teams down. And then we need to see, maybe we need different partners. Yes, those are difficult conversations. Unfortunately, they need to happen.
Dan Roberge
Yeah, exactly. And so now what? You've learned so much in this role now, because you're doing so many different things. What's a big takeaway that you would tell somebody else who wants to do what you do at other companies. What do they need to know, and character they need to have?
Iuliana Constantin
This is a very good question. First thing that comes to mind is having the right teams, investing in those teams, in their leaders. If you have strong leaders, you are aligned. We are clear in expectation. Things are happening. And I think it took me a while to learn some of the lessons. But if I'm thinking back over the last three or four years, I think that is the bigger learning. I wouldn't be here. We wouldn't have all those achievements without those amazing teams that I have back in the office, and without their commitment, dedication, their hard work. So I think that would be the first thing for me.
Dan Roberge
Amazing. Well, I know that you are a really big asset for People Care, and your team must appreciate you, because you guys are growing, and you're doing a great job. So thank you very much for talking to me. It's been great to catch up.
Iuliana Constantin
Thank you so much, and it's been a pleasure. Thank you.
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