“It was a humid summer evening and I was leaving my shift as a CNA,” writes entrepreneur and CEO Nicole Pecku in the introduction to her book, The Ultimate Guide to Establishing a Profitable Adult Family Home. An elderly patient confined to a nursing home for months with no family visiting had whispered to her, “I’m so tired.” In that moment, Pecku writes, “I felt the weight of our broken health care system pressing down on both of us. I realized we need to reimagine healthcare as a compassionate, patient-centered practice that honored the dignity and humanity of every individual.”
As a hardworking nursing assistant, single mother, and college student, Nicole Pecku had no idea at that time that she was laying the foundation for an award-winning and multifaceted career in health care administration. “I have spent more than 20 years working in healthcare,” she notes, “beginning as a CNA and eventually moving into leadership, business ownership, mental health services, adult family homes, consulting, and community advocacy.” She owns both Pecku Anchored AFH & Agency, providing residential care for individuals needing assistance in their daily living, and Anchored Consulting & Services, where she helps others start or strengthen their adult family home businesses. As if two businesses were not enough, she also is the founder and president of the AnchorHER Glow Foundation, a new nonprofit organization she says is a movement “focused on helping women heal, grow, and become empowered emotionally, socially, and financially.”
Nicole Barnett Pecku knows how important transformational opportunities can be to those who are struggling. In 2008, she was accepted into the UW Odyssey Project, a jumpstart humanities course for adults facing financial barriers to higher education. At that time, she was a single mother of daughters ages two and three, struggling to envision her future. “Odyssey meant so much to me because it gave me more than education. It gave me confidence, exposure, community, encouragement, and the ability to see possibilities for myself that I may not have been able to see at that stage of my life. Odyssey helped me understand that my circumstances did not have to determine my future.”
When she looks back at her life, Pecku views Odyssey as “one of the building blocks of everything that came after it. It helped plant the belief that education was possible, growth was possible, and my circumstances did not have to determine my future.” After Odyssey, Pecku earned her bachelor’s in Healthcare Administration followed by a master’s degree in Healthcare Management with emphasis on Organizational Leadership. She used both her educational knowledge and her lived experience to create businesses and write a book. “One of the accomplishments I am especially proud of is becoming an author. I wrote a book on how to establish a profitable adult family home sold on platforms like Amazon and Barnes & Noble.”
Pecku acknowledges in her book and in speeches she gives that success did not come easily. “Before any title, before any recognition, I was simply a woman trying to survive while carrying the weight of responsibility, expectations, and dreams bigger than my circumstances.” She notes that she, like many women, experienced times where she questioned her worth, “battled anxiety, poured endlessly into others, and silently carried emotional burdens while still showing up for everyone else.”
Nicole Pecku’s leadership in the health care field has led to several recent awards, including a 2026 “40 under 40” Award from In Business. She reflects, “Being named a 40 under 40 honoree is a reminder that purpose, perseverance, and faith can open incredible doors. From caregiver to healthcare entrepreneur, author, and community advocate, this milestone reflects years of dedication to serving others while building businesses that create impact. I hope my journey inspires women to dream bigger, lead boldly, and never give up on their vision.”
Pecku entreats women to believe in themselves, never quit, and heal rather than hide. “To the woman reading this who feels stuck, overlooked, exhausted, or uncertain: You are not behind. You are not too late. You are not too much. Everything you’ve survived is preparing you for the woman you are becoming. Your story matters. Your voice matters. Your healing matters. And one day, the very things you cried about will become part of the testimony that inspires someone else to keep going. Never underestimate the power of a woman who decides to heal, evolve, and believe in herself again. That woman becomes unstoppable. That woman becomes HER.”
What does she do when not running her businesses and serving as a consultant for other entrepreneurs? She treasures being a devoted mother of three (Serenity, Destiny, and Emmanuel), a woman of faith, and an adventure-seeker who enjoys solo travel to other cultures. Now 40, Nicole Pecku says her story is still being written as she enters one of the most powerful chapters of her life.
To others feeling they will never achieve success, she says, “Stop looking at the entire staircase. Sometimes when you look at everything standing between you and your dream, it feels impossible. But you do not have to accomplish everything today. You just have to take the next step. And your life does not have an expiration date for becoming who you were meant to be.”
