Reflecting on 20 Years

As we welcome October, Heartland CPR celebrates 20 years in business.  When this business was conceived two decades ago, we called it Custom Training Solutions.  It came as a result of Brian, EMS Chief for Edmond Fire Department, coming home with an idea to keep his wife busy who had recently become a stay-at-home mom.  She had recently left a stressful management position to spend more time with her family, the family relocated from the country to the suburbs, and adjusted to live on a single income.  He got so many calls at work looking for AHA training that it seemed like a niche existed that wasn't being served well or consistently.  Initially we began teaching classes in our Surrey Hills home.  The intention was always to return to "a real job" once all the kids were in school and no longer needed her home.  Around the time that happened when the baby went off to elementary school, so much traction was being made that we had to carefully consider if abandoning what we had built was really what we wanted to do as we had so many return customers that wanted us to hang around...and even expand our offerings to include ACLS and PALS.  

We expanded our offerings, knocked a wall out to create an office when our oldest left home and continued to grow.  Next we built a larger home in a different neighborhood, specifically for the purposes of teaching classes; every detail of the floor plan was chosen so that our home could double as a training space.  That was a dream come true...until nine months into this arrangement, our HOA got involved and shut it down due to traffic generated and parking in our culdesac.  This unanticipated hiccup forced us to find office space since so many were still counting on us, bringing their friends, and recommending us like crazy.  Several large employers and schools had also gone so far as to choose us as the only trainer they trusted to certify their employees/students.  Finding what's known as a small business incubator, we moved our classes to NW 10th and Council in early 2011.  We added additional instructors besides Ginger and Brian.  Continuing to grow and grow and having the unexpected walk in customer with our sign hanging, we soon outgrew this space so renovated and moved into a much bigger space in the same business as we rang in 2015.  As that area deteriorated around us and the building sold to a very uninvolved landlord, we began looking for solutions again.  We found a nice space in a much better area near NW 122nd and MacArthur and moved there in late 2020 as COVID was running rampant and business was slow anyway; we quickly outgrew that suite and moved to a much larger suite in the same complex in late 2022.  This one gives us room to grow and we feel fits our needs perfectly with both a large and small conference room so we can host two classes at once.  We of course also travel to our customers who want to train their staff together as a group, so we have a staff of 16 instructors currently...many of whom are paramedics, EMTs, nurses, etc in their primary position, teaching for us on the side.  Most of our instructors started out as customers or were intentionally sought out based on a recommendation of another member of our team.  We carefully select every instructor and then treat them like family; we feel that gives us the cream of the crop and the best of the best.  Our customers seem to agree since we have some that have been with us most of the past two decades bringing their friends and colleagues, recommending us to employers and others in need of training.  

We've even added some classes at the request of our customers...PET Project (pet emergency training/pet first aid + CPR), PREP for ACLS & PALS for those needing a little help preparing for those advanced disciplines, and FA+CPR 4 Dummies (non-certification training for those that want to learn what to do but don't need costly certification).  We constantly upgrade our equipment and stay well ahead of mandates and ratios, even introducing a "female" manikin we conceived before the market had one available.  Our office is decorated with antique medical and fire equipment, somewhat resembling a museum of sorts.

We're not the cheapest and we will never try to be.  Quality training is what we stand on.  We have overhead and a full support staff.  That assures our customers that we're still around when someone can't figure out how to get their eCard a year from now unlike those instructors offering cheap classes that aren't compliant or saving money by issuing a Word document instead of the costly eCards required for legitimate training.  Times are tough for all small businesses right now and ours is no exception, but we'll either do it right and offer our customers exceptional customer service or we'll exit the market on top.  Want to experience the difference?  Book a class for your workplace or join one at our place soon!

#womanownedsmallbusiness #womanowned #smallbusiness #shopsmall #aha #americanheartassociation 

- Ginger Davis
Heartland CPR, llc
405-603-6666
www.HeartlandCPR.com