July 10, 2012
In 2007 Barth Holohan was awarded the St. Louis Business Journal‘s 40 Under 40 Award for his growing business, Continuum. In the spirit of celebration of our 10 year anniversary, we’d like to invite you to read about the early years of our company. Though years have passed since this article was written, the mission and dedication of both Barth and Continuum remain the same!
If you have not had the opportunity to read the article, here is the full text:
When Barth Holohan was growing up, he owned a landscape business and had many senior customers.
He said he enjoyed talking with them and was struck by the kinds of lives many of them had lived. That inspired him to use his free time to volunteer in retirement homes.
“Mostly I enjoyed the wisdom and experiences that they would share,” said Holohan, 34. “I could see that many of them felt lonely and isolated, but they had a lot of experiences to share. I discovered many of them were alone because their spouse and friends had died, and in some cases their family lived out of the area. A lot of people didn’t have the support systems that they needed.”
Nearly 20 years later, Holohan still owns a business, but instead of landscaping, he now takes care of senior citizens. As founder and CEO of Continuum in St. Louis, his No. 1 mission has remained helping those who have difficulty caring for themselves, he said.
Holohan created the company, which provides in-home assistance to seniors, in 2002. The first services offered included companion care, transportation and meal deliveries.
The business has quickly grown as more people in the area have reached older ages yet want to stay in their own homes. Continuum has added services such as care management assistance, nursing assistance and bill payment. It has more than 150 employees after only four years of existence. Holohan declined to disclose revenue but said its growth is projected to be 100 percent for 2006.
“He is the most dedicated person I know,” said Cathy Pasierb, director of care for Continuum. “He keeps everyone in the business focused on keeping the customer No. 1. He’s successful because that always comes first.”
Holohan began his career as a health-care consultant for Ernst & Young. But he said he missed the direct interaction with seniors he had when he volunteered in retirement homes, so he returned to school, focusing on gerontology and obtaining master’s degrees in social work and business administration from Washington University. Holohan worked in retirement communities before founding Continuum.
He serves on the boards of directors for The Long Term Care Ombudsman Program and the ALS Association. He also has mentored a student through an entrepreneurship program at the University of Missouri-St. Louis. In addition, he serves on the Gerontology Advisory Committee for the George Warren Brown School of Social Work at Washington University.
Text taken from this page.