13. Where Do Senior Living Founders Come From?

How old is the typical Senior Living entrepreneur when they launch their business? What fields did they work in before launching that prepared them for taking the entrepreneurial leap? Are there any commonalities in their educational backgrounds? SLCP tries to answer these questions by taking the ASHA 150 Largest Providers list and pulling in research from past interviews, official company websites, newspaper features, and more.

0:06 Why I was uncomfortable posting during the pandemic

0:50 Intro

1:25 Methodology and why sample sizes differ

2:24 How old were the founders when they launched their companies? (Min, Max, Average and a few anecdotes)

4:15 Are founders getting older? See graph on the website (http://seniorlivingconceptspodcast.com/2022/03/28/13-where-do-senior-living-founders-come-from/ ) or the podcast’s LinkedIn Page

(Notes: 1- From a small sample size of 40 founders it appears that the average founder may be older at launch than in previous generations. There are some biases though since this is only looking at the current largest companies so there’s inherently a bit of a lag in capturing recent founder data)

4:30 What were the professional backgrounds of these founders?

8:00 Random fun backgrounds I wanted to include (athletes, a musician, and serial entrepreneurs)

9:12 Education Trends (Or lack thereof)

9:52 Wrapping Up

10:30 Why the past doesn’t necessarily predict the future in a changing industry

Episode 8: Anthony Ormsbee-Hale, VP of People Operations at Civitas

Anthony Ormsbee-Hale explains his start in the industry, talks employee retention, and offers advice to the next generation of Senior Living leaders.

Show Notes:

0:57 How did you end up in Senior Living?

2:40 How did your Community Relations experience impact your perspective of the industry?

4:27 How did you become an ED so quickly, and what challenges did you face as a young leader in your community?

6:33 How did you win over the team?

8:30 Can you explain what your job is like?

12:15 How do you make employees want to stay?

13:30 What is the goal for the Texas Assisted Living Association’s Young Professionals Network?

17:00 What advice do you have for the next generation of Senior Living leaders?

20:00 Parting words of wisdom

Episode 7: Greg Bearce, HumanGood Chief Regional Officer and USC Professor

Greg Bearce explains how he entered Aging Services, highlights the learning curve he faced, offers advice to newer senior living professionals, and explores higher level topics like the HumanGood rebranding.

Show Notes

2:00 How Greg Bearce entered the Senior Living industry

5:10 How to learn about the industry as a young professional

8:10 The importance to keep learning

9:40 How his MBA has aided his career

12:35 How to evaluate and distinguish high performers

15:55 What skills does Greg look for in new hires

18:40 What were some unexpected challenges resulting from the HumanGood affiliation?

23:45 How did HumanGood successfully implement a new culture amidst change

25:30 Parting advice for the next generation of Senior Living professionals