Getting to Know You: Vincent Marchetti, Founder of Home Care Angels

Vincent Marchetti has had a long and accomplished career. A veteran of the medical device industry, Vincent has recently launched a new home care business with the aim of providing exemplary home care service to senior citizens, as well as people living with disabilities.

Originally from San Antonio, Texas, Vincent Marchetti attended Central Missouri State University, now known as the University of Central Missouri, in Warrensburg, Missouri, where he earned a Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration. It is a point of pride for Vincent that he entirely self-funded his tuition and living expenses while in college by working in local restaurants during the summers and full-time during the school year in the university’s cafeteria.

After graduating, Vincent went to work as a sales representative with Colgate Palmolive servicing grocery stores in multiple states, including Kansas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, and Missouri. In short order, he was offered the role of Sales Trainer in charge of instructing new hires, and moved to Tulsa, Oklahoma. Recognizing his efforts in training new employees, Colgate Palmolive once again promoted Vincent, this time to National Account Manager, and relocated him to Grand Rapids, Michigan in 1989.

In 1991, Vincent moved to Boston, Massachusetts, first joining a small, up-and-coming medical device company called Medi-Tech, and then a Fortune 500 company with more than 36,000 employees called Boston Scientific. At Boston Scientific, he specialized in selling medical devices that opened blocked blood vessels and organs from the inside of the body using wires, catheters, balloons and stents, before being promoted to Field Sales Trainer. He was also responsible for teaching operating room protocols for these devices to the staff at client hospitals, as well as medical ethics, company policies, and how to comply with all necessary government regulations. During Vincent’s ten years with the company, no one else trained as many new hires. He was named Boston Scientific’s Sales Representative of the Year in 1994. In that same year, working closely with the president of the company, Vincent redesigned the training program in conjunction with the University of Virginia Medical Center.

Boston Scientific later purchased a leading interventional cardiology company with the intent of incorporating its products into their repertoire. However, no one in the new division knew the products or market space as well as Vincent, so he transferred to the cardiology division in order to create a new peripheral salesforce. In his first year in this new position, he once again earned the distinction of Sales Representative of the Year.

In 2000, Vincent Marchetti re-evaluated his professional goals, and after careful consideration, decided to venture into the world of startups. As a first step, he took a sales role with a medical supply company called Novoste based out of Phoenix, Arizona. Vincent was then recruited by Lumend, another startup specializing in medical equipment, in 2002. In his first year with the company, he won Sales Representative of the Year and was then promoted to a supervisory role in an expansion territory. Lumend was acquired by Johnson & Johnson in 2004, whereupon Vincent accepted an offer with a new firm called Metronic. At Metronic, he was promoted several times, first to Sales Trainer, then to Regional Sales Manager. In 2008, he began working closely with two of his former colleagues to develop a new product for people suffering from chronic sinusitis, forming a company called Entellus Medical to market and sell the product. That company was later acquired by Stryker. From there, Vincent Marchetti accepted an offer from Acelity, serving as Regional Vice-President where he oversaw a $125 million in business units and managed 115 people.

In 2013, Vincent decided to capitalize on his 35 years of experience and start his own medical distributorship called Advanced Life Sciences with the goal of marketing independent product lines consistent with the many lessons he had learned throughout his career. Some of the products and services marketed by the company included in-office stem cell injections, ideal protein medical-based weight loss, pathology testing, hereditary cancer testing, women’s health testing, online direct-to-consumer specialized prescription pet medications, and pharmacogenomics lab testing.

Armed with all this experience, Vincent Marchetti is now concentrating his efforts on developing his latest startup, a home care company called Home Care Angels, alongside his beloved wife Lana. The company is headquartered in Coronado, California.

What do you currently do at your company?

Currently, I’m the Founder of a home care agency, Home Care Angels in Coronado, California. I developed the company from the ground up with my wife Lana. We’re launching in 2023, and our mission is to better serve those in our community in need of quality home care.

What was the inspiration behind your business?

My father had Alzheimer’s disease and lived in a memory care center toward the end of his life. My mother has several health issues, including early onset dementia, and lives in a nursing home in Necedah, Wisconsin. She’ll soon be moving to a VA (Department of Veterans Affairs) facility in Tomah, Wisconsin. My father-in-law has stage four prostate cancer and my mother-in-law still works full-time as a hairdresser in Muskogee, Oklahoma. These examples from our own lives inspired us to create a more affordable and effective alternative to assisted living facilities.

How do you measure success?

I firmly believe success is all about hard work.  When you’re in the sales sector, hard work, the ability to develop relationships, and being an expert in your products’ niche are the biggest drivers for success.

What are some of your favorite things to do outside of work?

I spend a good deal of my recreation time on my road bike, and walking my dog along the bay or ocean. My wife and I are active members of Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Coronado, California. I am also a Fourth Degree Knight in the Knights of Columbus, which is a fraternal organization rooted in the Catholic Church and charged with building better husbands, men, and fathers based on faith rather than culture.  We raise money for Casa de Los Pobres shelter in Tijuana, Mexico, Father Joe’s Village in San Diego, and The Million Meal Project, among others. We raise funds through chili, spaghetti, and soup dinners, as well as an annual free throw shooting contest.

I also serve on the Avenue of Heroes Hometown Banner Committee, a service recognition program sponsored by the City of Coronado. The inspiration for Coronado’s Avenue of Heroes came spontaneously when two Navy SEALs were moved to their final resting place in the city. As that happened in real time, news spread quickly and the local Rotary Club passed out American flags to passersby. Schools in the city were dismissed and teachers brought their students to line Fourth Street to honor the fallen service members. As the procession approached the San Diego-Coronado Bridge, just beyond the tollbooth in the center divider, a lone Navy SEAL stood for hours at attention, saluting as he waited for the passage of his comrades. At that moment, it was clear Third and Fourth Streets were already an Avenue of Heroes, and the program was officially created. Honorees can be living or deceased, and each family is honored at a biannual ceremony and then their banners are suspended along Third and Fourth Streets, which are the main roads in and out of Naval Air Station North Island. 

How would your colleagues describe you?

I think my colleagues would describe me as adaptable, progressive, generous, inclusive, kind, and energetic.

What is one piece of technology that helps you the most in your daily routine?

Definitely my iPhone! From podcasts to radio to reading the news, it’s always the piece of technology I use the most.

What has been the hardest obstacle you’ve overcome?

Stepping away from a solid career then starting my own company called Advanced Life Sciences brought with it a series of unforeseen obstacles. Up to that point, my medical career from 1991 to 2013 included positions helping launch several disruptive startup medical companies, as well as working for three major medical corporations. After some soul searching and analyzing my options, I decided to start my own medical distributorship and capitalize on my 35 years of experience. However, I had never been the sole creator of a new business before. I thought I knew everything, but I quickly realized how little I actually knew. So, I surrounded myself with other people experienced in the areas I wasn’t. That’s how I overcame the obstacles I encountered at the outset of the enterprise.

Who has been a role model to you and why? 

My father, Vincent Marchetti, Sr. has been the biggest role model in my life. He served the public through a long military career, as well as in public service as an elected official after he was discharged. He inspired me to do a lot of volunteering. I helped my daughters start Youth Sports Angels International when they were growing up. This organization provided used sporting equipment for children in Central America. I have also been involved with my college alumni foundation and a handful of other nonprofit organizations that inspire me. One organization I’m currently involved in is called The Hometown Banner Program. It’s a military service recognition program sponsored by a local municipality. Twice a year, the city recognizes nominated local veterans with a formal ceremony and then their banner is displayed along the main street leading to the Naval base for six months.

What is one piece of advice that you have never forgotten?

Volunteer work, irrespective of how much time is invested or what specific efforts are supported, can positively transform a person’s life. It also carries with it the self-gratification naturally achieved through committing acts of altruism.

What is one piece of advice you would like to leave our readers with?

My advice is to network early in your college career and be disciplined in following up with any prospects, both personally and professionally. This advice is applicable to anybody no matter what the industry and no matter what stage they are at in their career.