Today we’d like to introduce you to Eric Thornton.
Eric, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
I’ve always had a heart for giving back and a passion to help my community. I am born and raised in Atlanta, GA growing up on the south side in Riverdale, GA. I attended school in Atlanta from preschool to 8th Grade thereafter, I moved to Decatur and attended Southwest Dekalb High School. I was blessed to have great parents and although they divorced when I was very young, they afforded me and my sister a great childhood.
I wasn’t the best student, but I had some amazing teachers that saw leadership potential in me and encouraged me to push hard in the pursuit of greatness. This led to me becoming the vice president of Future Business Leaders of America (FBLA) as a senior in high school. When I began to research colleges and due to my early experience of the Morehouse mystique through attending the summer sports programs and learning the rich heritage, it was an easy choice for me. During my college years, I was able to win the trust of my colleagues and became class president. I was later initiated into Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Incorporated (Psi Chapter), served in various leadership positions and created my first marketing/promotions business. I graduated from Morehouse College in 2007 with a Business Administration degree (concentration: Finance) and secured a job with Macy’s Corporate in New York right when the great recession was unfolding. After graduating, I worked with Macy’s for two years before transitioning back to Atlanta where I pivoted my career and became a banker with Bank of America.
After working with BofA, I was recruited by Wells Fargo and earned my Series 6, 63, 65, and 7 licenses which led to me being promoted to Regional Bank Premier Banker. After four years with Wells Fargo, I was recruited to SunTrust, now Truist, where I was offered a Vice President Premier Banker role. I worked specifically clients deemed as high-value and was able to account for over $50 million in investment referrals in four years. While working for SunTrust/Truist, I invested in learning to become a Full Stack Web/App developer through Georgia Tech’s Professional Education Program.
Although I’ve accomplished a lot, there was something missing. I always knew I wanted to make a difference in the underserved and especially the developmentally disabled community. I also knew that I wanted to become an entrepreneur and use my leadership skills to positively affect the community in a way that I couldn’t while working for a major bank. I had to step out on faith and take a risk and I did so by opening a home healthcare company–FirmCare Life Sharing. My company has an emphasis on helping developmentally disabled children and seniors in low-income communities within and around the metro Atlanta area as well other cities within the state of Georgia. Not only do we help many families with our services, but we were also able to provide some of these services free of charge through the Georgia Pediatric Program (GAPP). When the Covid-19 pandemic took us by storm in 2020 it changed our lives in unimaginable ways.
As we navigated through the pandemic, I started to explore ways for FirmCare Life Sharing, a budding, cutting-edge healthcare company dedicated to the public health of our community, to help in any way possible. We were able to rise to the occasion in September 2021 and became a CMS certified CLIA approved company, enabling FirmCare Life Sharing to provide Rapid & PCR testing services to our communities. We were able to step up to the plate when the Atlanta University Center Consortium (AUCC) needed to provide testing services to the entire faculty, staff, and student body of Morehouse College, Spelman College, and Clark Atlanta University. We developed the standard operating procedures and have conducted over 40,000+ tests and counting since September 2021. It is truly an honor to help the community that raised me and means so much to me. To date, we continue to grow and look forward to assisting with testing services around the country.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
It has definitely not been easy. Throughout my life, I’ve had setbacks. Early in my career while attempting to manage too many obligations, I lost my job at Macy’s in New York. That was tough, but I made the decision to return home and start over. When in banking, I didn’t pass the licensing and series 6/63/65 exams on the first attempt, but I persevered because I was determined to reach my goals. FirmCare Life Sharing was started in 2018 while I worked a full-time job as a Vice President at a bank, cared for my father who was ill at the time, and as my wife was pregnant with our beautiful daughter. I had to navigate learning a new business model, but my passion, tenacity and faith carried me through every challenge and disappointment.
Great, so let’s talk business. Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
FirmCare Life Sharing is a cutting-edge healthcare company with a passion for serving families and individuals of all spectrums. We are licensed by the State of Georgia through the Department of Community Health and Medicaid programs Georgia Pediatric Program (G.A.P.P), Community Care Service Program(CCSP), and SOURCE. We are dedicated to providing our clients with the highest quality testing, and home healthcare services.
FirmCare Life Sharing service capabilities:
- We’re able to build and execute customized Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) for mobile Covid-19 Rapid & PCR Testing sites.
- Create, build, train, and staff local healthcare professional teams to administer/perform testing.
- Provide our own PPE and quality control testing protocols.
- We have staff with over 40 years of experience in quality control, laboratory management, and test administration locally, nationally, and internationally.
- We have developed and currently manage Covid-19 Rapid testing for the entire Atlanta University Center (Morehouse College, Spelman College, Clark Atlanta University) student, faculty, and staff weekly.
- Administered over 40,000 Covid-19 Rapid Tests and counting since September 2021.
Do you have recommendations for books, apps, blogs, etc?
I am blessed to have amazing family, friends, mentors, and a network of entrepreneurs that are invested in my success. I want to thank my wife Orie Thornton, my mother Marilyn Maycock who is the Director of Testing Operations, dad Erwin Thornton, and one of my best friends & mentors Brad Giles for introducing me to the home healthcare business.
Favorite Books
– Bible
– As a man thinketh
– Richest Man in Babylon
– The Science of Getting Rich
– Money: Master the Game
– The Art of War
– The Mis-Education of The Negro
Favorite Podcasts
– Earn Your Leisure Podcast
– David Shands – Social Proof Podcast
Favorite Resources
– Healthcare Gameplan
– Ian Dunlap Master Investor Stock Club
– Morning Meetup – David Shands
Contact Info:
- Email: info@firmcarelife.com
- Website: www.firmcarelife.com
- Instagram: @firmcarelife
Image Credits
Credit FirmCare Life Sharing LLC for all images.
