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Breaking Dementia Stigma: Maley Hunt's Innovative Approach to Senior Care Leadership · The Inspired Stories Podcast

0:04
Welcome to another edition of the Inspired Stories podcast,
0:08
where leaders share their experiences so we can learn from
0:11
their successes and be inspired by how they've overcome
0:14
adversity. My name is Anthony Codaspodi,
0:17
and today's guest is Maely Hunt. She serves as the Chief
0:21
Operating Officer and Residential Services
0:24
Administrator at Livewell, a not-for-profit agency committed
0:28
to providing high quality services for individuals living
0:31
with dementia. Founded in 1992, Livewell offers
0:36
assisted living, skilled nursing care, and Wellness programs
0:40
designed to support people and their caregivers, all while
0:44
working to reduce the stigma surrounding dementia.
0:47
Melee leads a team of over 240 employees, creating dementia
0:52
positive communities and guiding care for those living with
0:55
cognitive changes. She holds a Master of Health
0:59
Administration from The George Washington University and is a
1:02
licensed nursing home administrator in Connecticut.
1:06
With a background in long term care leadership and a passion
1:09
for HealthEquity, Melee has focused her career on
1:12
destigmatizing aging and improving dementia care.
1:17
And we're going to learn why I've been wrong in using the
1:20
term memory care. Now, before we get into all that
1:23
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2:05
All right, back to our guest today, the COO and Administrator
2:09
of Livewell, Maely Hunt. Thanks for making the time to
2:11
Share your story today. Absolutely.
2:13
Thank you for having me, Anthony.
2:16
OK. So mainly before we talk about
2:18
how you got your start at Livewell, specifically what
2:22
first drew you into the senior care industry in the first
2:25
place? Sure.
2:27
I think like a lot of people in their careers, there's a piece
2:30
of intentionality and then there's a piece of kind of
2:33
stumbling into it. And so when I was in college, I
2:39
was exploring the field of healthcare and I was trying to
2:43
figure out what was next for me. I realized that being a
2:46
practitioner was, was not my bandwagon.
2:49
Being a nurse or doctor, they are very important careers and,
2:53
and they were not synergistic with my strengths.
2:56
But when I took a Health Administration class one day, I
2:59
realized there's a whole number side to healthcare that growing
3:02
up, you don't consume because you're not paying the bill,
3:05
you're not thinking about the insurance or whatever challenges
3:09
might face between you getting you and getting the healthcare
3:12
that you need. And so as I'm sitting in this
3:14
class, I had a light bulb moment and then I started to look for
3:17
internships. And finding an internship in
3:21
Health Administration can be pretty challenging, especially
3:24
if you're an undergraduate. A lot of them are for people
3:28
that are in master's programs or connected with universities that
3:33
have fellowships. And so I, I looked around quite
3:36
a bit and my mom kept telling me my friend Trish works in a
3:41
nursing home. You should totally call Trish
3:44
and and get an internship. And I was very determined at the
3:47
ripe wise age of 20 to say I don't need my parents help to
3:51
get a job. That's not how the world works.
3:54
Believe it or not, I come to realize network or no work is
3:57
absolutely the way to get a job. But Long story short, I'm in a
4:03
grocery store and Trish calls me and she says, come work for me
4:05
this summer. I'll, I'll change your mind on
4:07
nursing homes and believe it or not, I walked in that first day
4:11
and I came across a vibrant community where people lived,
4:15
worked and visited and I came across some of the most
4:19
dedicated leaders. And it was a woman dominated
4:24
field in getting to meet people from leading age from
4:28
Connecticut Central networking and, and different pieces like
4:34
that. And so from that first summer, I
4:37
stayed in senior care for all of my internship opportunities and
4:41
got a certificate in long term care as part of my masters, All
4:44
from somebody taking a chance on me when when I was starting out
4:48
and deciding to change my mind on what it could look like
4:51
inside of a nursing home. Yeah, I appreciate that story.
4:54
And I had to laugh, particularly at the network or no work
4:58
statement. I went through something similar
5:00
in high school. First time I wanted to get a
5:02
job. My dad, my grandfather, you
5:05
know, I had a lot of friends in the community and hey, we could
5:08
help you out. No, no, no.
5:09
I'm going to do this on my own. You know, I'm 15 years old.
5:12
I don't have a resume. Like why?
5:13
You know, take, take the hell. You do and it has like dog
5:16
walking on it like. So I ended up getting a job at a
5:21
fast food restaurant on my own, feeling very proud of it.
5:25
Show up the first day at work and the general manager calls me
5:28
back 'cause she recognizes my last name.
5:30
My dad was her dentist. Her and my grandmother used to
5:34
work together as seamstresses. And so I got more hours, I got
5:40
more shift work right away just because of that.
5:44
And it was like, here it was, I was trying to run away from the
5:46
thing and it was there all along.
5:48
I should have just, you know, taken the easy path.
5:50
So, and it sounds like something kind of similar for you.
5:52
Well, and I don't think it's necessarily the easy path.
5:55
I think it's you have to have that rapport and those
5:57
relationships and be courageous to step into them.
5:59
And I think the more than we can lend a hand to the next people
6:03
and be that person when the tides are turned is so, so
6:06
important and something I try to keep doing and keep remembering
6:10
Trish when I think of students sending me emails and things
6:14
like that. Very good.
6:16
You kind of remember how somebody you know paid it
6:18
forward to you, helped you out at a time where it would have
6:20
been tough for somebody in your position to really get an
6:22
internship and now you're able to return that favor to other
6:26
young up and coming professionals.
6:30
So Mail, you actually started at Livewell about five years ago,
6:36
which aligns with the start of COVID, a particularly
6:41
challenging time for everybody, but really in senior care.
6:46
What motivated this career change during such a turbulent
6:50
time? I think we're on a theme here,
6:54
Anthony, because networking definitely comes back into play
6:57
on this one. I was working as an executive
7:00
director of an assisted living when COVID started and in the
7:05
spring and around March and I was a part of Hartford
7:07
Healthcare, which I was very lucky to be a part of such an
7:10
organization with such resources during during the pandemic, they
7:14
were helping set up the field clinics.
7:16
They were ahead on the testing, different things like that.
7:19
And so working there, I had an, A nice kind of bubble of
7:24
resources and I was really fortunate in that piece.
7:28
However, COVID was still will still hitting hard all of our
7:31
communities. And we were having daily calls
7:35
seven days a week about what the status was, who was positive,
7:39
what the spread was like, how different areas of the health
7:42
system could help one another. And so things, things were
7:46
moving along in a certain fashion and I had my, my
7:52
personal life, I was engaged that year and was planning to
7:56
get married in, in June of 2020, a great time to get married.
8:02
And so my, my husband and I end up eloping because we didn't
8:06
want to have the wedding without my parents there and, and things
8:09
like that. And so the day after my wedding,
8:13
I get a phone call from Livewell and from a coworker that I had
8:17
known from a previous role saying, what are you up to?
8:21
Are you busy? And it's kind of funny to be
8:23
able to say, well, I'm at work and I got married yesterday.
8:28
And so I'm talking to Heidi, whom I still work with.
8:31
And she said, well, we're looking for a chief operating
8:33
officer, would you be interested?
8:35
And so I wasn't looking. I was very satisfied where I was
8:38
at. And however, when somebody calls
8:41
with something interesting like that, especially early in your
8:44
career and thinking maybe I do need to try something different
8:47
and get more experiences, I said, why not?
8:50
So in addition to to getting married and having my instant
8:55
family, I also started interviewing for this position
8:59
remotely and then had an in person interview during COVID,
9:03
which was was funny if you had seen it, because we did most of
9:07
it outside. So that we had the privilege
9:09
that I didn't have to wear a mask, even though everybody else
9:11
was wearing a mask. And The funny thing was Fast
9:16
forward about 2 1/2 years after I've worked for a live well, we
9:20
finally stopped wearing masks every day.
9:22
And I think that's important for people to recognize is that in
9:24
nursing homes, people got really excited that COVID was over.
9:29
It was not over for so many people.
9:31
And it was really hard for us to to see that in the community and
9:35
then not have that support all the time on why we were still
9:38
doing that. But finishing the second-half of
9:41
someone's face with a mask, I had to relearn so many people's
9:46
names because you finish their chin in in your imagination, and
9:51
then everybody takes their masks off and you get to see their
9:53
beautiful smiles. And it was just, it was like
9:57
getting to come home again to another new community.
10:00
But definitely a tumultuous change during a tumultuous time.
10:03
The the mask thing I have, I have to laugh at that because
10:05
it's so true. My youngest, my oldest son
10:08
started kindergarten at a school.
10:09
And so there was drop off. You know, we get to, you know,
10:13
see the teachers from afar, but right only from here up.
10:16
And you've got an idea in your mind and you had no idea that
10:19
you were sort of painting a picture of what they look like.
10:21
And when the mask eventually came off, it was like who is
10:24
that? You almost had to kind of like
10:26
do this to cover them. Now I recognize.
10:30
But you can tell someone's smiling, so you picture what
10:33
their smile looks like. And I mean, it's even better in
10:35
in person once the masks come off.
10:37
But what an interesting time to interview and into accept a
10:42
position without ever having seen someone's whole face,
10:45
right? Interesting.
10:47
So you said that 2 1/2 years after the start of COVID, you
10:53
guys were able to stop wearing masks and it sound, I think the
10:58
comment that you made was when it felt like COVID was over for
11:01
everybody else, it was still going on for you.
11:04
Can you explain more what you mean there?
11:07
Well, I think I, I remember back to the, the winter of like 2020
11:10
to 2021. We were very fortunate at live
11:14
well through 2020 because the leadership here before I started
11:18
that I have to give credit to is they were very early adopters of
11:22
let's get everybody in a mask. They're not mandating it yet,
11:24
but that makes sense even though we don't know a lot about
11:28
things. How do germs travel?
11:30
And so by stopping visitors, stopping masks early on, the
11:35
population that we serve at live well, everybody has a diagnosis
11:38
of cognitive change in dementia at the at the time it now it's a
11:43
little bit different in growing and including more people.
11:47
But people with dementia, the idea of keeping a mask on or
11:51
understanding why it's there or not to touch it or to wash your
11:55
hands after you touch it, that's a whole nother level of
11:58
variables. And so it live well.
12:00
What we did throughout 2020 was if we can do more as the team
12:05
that's here to keep people safe, then the people that live here
12:08
are essentially in a bubble of more of safety, so to speak.
12:14
And so then they are not having to wear masks because most
12:17
nursing homes were trying to get their residents to wear masks.
12:20
And in some instances, I do think that actually caused
12:23
greater spread because when you add that variable and like you
12:29
don't know how to use it properly in terms of any time
12:33
you touch the outside of your mask, you have to wash your
12:34
hands because that's where the germs are.
12:37
That that's something we had to learn as everybody in the world
12:41
back in 2020. And so, so live while started
12:44
the masks, we had no cases of COVID until after Thanksgiving
12:48
of 2020. We were the last nursing home in
12:51
the state to have COVID. And with the population that we
12:53
serve, we knew that it would be incredibly detrimental and
12:57
deadly if we were to get it. And so even after that
13:00
Thanksgiving, we were testing daily.
13:02
We were, we called it Science Plus and so that that's what we
13:09
were doing through that time. And then everyone got excited
13:11
because the vaccines came out. And unfortunately we were one of
13:16
the last places to get the vaccines.
13:18
And I think if we had got them in a little sooner, maybe we
13:20
would have done a little bit better.
13:22
But we had the governor actually come out and celebrate our
13:27
community for how long we were able to maintain with without
13:32
having COVID. And then also the success rate
13:35
with how many people we had that got vaccinated.
13:38
But you get this vaccine and in the community the case is
13:41
dropped. People get excited that it's
13:43
over. However, for us, the Department
13:47
of Public Health, the CDC, they're still putting out
13:50
guidelines that anytime you have one case here are all the things
13:54
you have to do. And I have families or new
13:57
people that are moving in that didn't experience the science
14:00
plus and have that buy in. And I think this can be
14:03
extrapolated to any initiative you have at an organization.
14:06
You have those people that that lived the change with you.
14:09
And so they're thankful for the philosophy.
14:12
They appreciate what you mean when you say science plus or
14:15
whatever the equivalent is, but then science.
14:18
Plus was just your sort of protocol for, you know, how we
14:22
space how we. Exactly.
14:24
It was doing what, what's the recommendation and then what can
14:27
we do? That's one more thing on top of
14:29
the recommendation. And so it's basically we're not
14:31
just going to do what we're directed to do, we're going to
14:34
do that plus a little bit more. And so for us that was like the
14:38
daily testing or requiring visitors to test before they
14:43
come to visit. That wasn't always required.
14:46
But if we do that, that's one extra thing that we had.
14:49
And so I think by having those extra pieces, we were able to
14:53
keep people safer longer. But then you, you Fast forward
14:57
to 2021 that winter into 22, we're still having the same
15:01
challenges. We're having new variants and so
15:04
having people maintain their strength and fortitude and
15:07
resilience when everything is normal back in the rest of the
15:13
world. It was it was a challenging
15:15
time. And I think even compared to
15:17
other nursing homes that weren't doing that extra step because it
15:22
it was hard to get the buy in from families.
15:24
And we were really fortunate that we have families that live
15:28
and visit here that believe in our philosophy and believe in
15:32
what we're trying to achieve and, and support that.
15:35
So let's talk more about live Well, senior care, memory care.
15:40
We're going to get to in a moment why there's a better term
15:43
than that, but I want to understand because you guys are
15:46
a little bit different in terms of other similar facilities.
15:50
Tell us more about what you do there.
15:53
Yeah. So at Live Well, we're building
15:54
a dementia positive community. And So what that means there was
15:59
a, an article back in 2016 from The Who on dementia positive and
16:07
it was kind of taking these different pieces of dementia
16:10
capable, which is occupationally helping people with their
16:15
diagnosis of dementia. Dementia friendly, which we've
16:18
heard of age friendly communities.
16:20
A lot of people have. That's a more prevalently used
16:22
term now, which is having the greater environment that you're
16:26
living in, whether it's the police departments, grocery
16:30
stores, places that you go be friendly for your condition,
16:34
whether it's older age or dementia.
16:36
So dementia friendly and then dementia positive really takes
16:39
it to this next step of acceptance of dementia as a
16:44
disability, but also something that people still have strengths
16:47
and they're contributing to their community and that we are
16:52
listening to them and their voice on directing what's best
16:55
for them. We're not extrapolating on
16:57
behalf of another population for whom we don't have that lived
17:01
experience. And so at Live, while we take
17:05
that philosophy of dementia positivity, and it doesn't
17:09
necessarily mean that dementia is a positive or optimistic
17:13
thing, but it means that you can have a full life with dementia
17:18
and you are so much more than your diagnosis.
17:21
And so when it comes down to senior care, a lot of places
17:27
have memory care as a piece of what they offer in their
17:30
continuum. At Live Well, our competitors,
17:34
other people might describe everything that we do on our
17:37
campus as the memory care because we have that environment
17:42
throughout all levels. However, we don't use the term
17:45
memory care because it calls out what someone's deficit is or
17:49
what their weakness might be as opposed to coming from their
17:52
strengths. So.
17:55
What's the better term that I should use instead of memory
17:58
care? Yeah, So I I think it's really
18:00
just calling it what it is. And we're, we're a place that
18:03
supports people living with cognitive change in dementia.
18:06
And that might be a few more words that.
18:08
Is a mouthful. It is, but I think when we when
18:11
you think of memory care and to be a little bit antagonistic,
18:16
there are other illnesses like for example, Parkinson's
18:19
disease. If I created a tremor center,
18:23
people would be horrified and they would never want to go.
18:26
And so how do we kind of start to learn and evolve over time?
18:30
Why do you think people are so resistant to memory care?
18:34
If you heard or you were considering for someone in your
18:38
family memory care, there's a stigma around that, that someone
18:43
else is making the choice, not the person that's living there.
18:46
Maybe it's a last resort or we need to put them behind a locked
18:50
door because they're a danger to themselves or others.
18:54
But are they? They didn't commit a crime.
18:57
They are living in the reality of where their brain is at.
19:00
How can we find their strengths? By using types of therapy,
19:07
Really understanding someone's well-being, understanding where
19:10
they're at so that we can understand how to best support
19:14
them in the least restrictive environment.
19:17
And so that's what we're trying to do at Live Well.
19:20
And we're trying to make a place where people living with
19:22
cognitive and cognitive change in dementia make the choice for
19:26
themselves that they want to live here.
19:29
It's not somebody else putting someone here.
19:31
It's not somebody else making the choice for them.
19:34
But we want to go upstream enough that people are saying as
19:38
I progress in my dementia or I want to move there now to slow
19:42
the progression of my dementia, I'm making this choice for me.
19:47
So I think what I hear you saying is you're hoping to reach
19:51
people who are at the earlier stages of this so that they can
19:56
elect for themselves that, hey, I'm either ready now or when I
20:00
am ready, this is the place that I want to be.
20:04
Absolutely. In those kinds of circumstances
20:06
where they say, when I'm ready, this is the place I want to be,
20:12
I sort of envision like a, a tough moment of decision.
20:16
Like does it, how often do you see it kind of get to the point
20:20
where it's like they really need to be there, but now they've
20:24
kind of progressed to a point where maybe they forget that
20:27
they've made that election or, you know, now they've had a, a
20:31
change of heart and, and, and how do you navigate that?
20:35
I think that's a really great point, Anthony.
20:37
I think that one way that Livewell has positioned
20:40
themselves for this is what we've done in the last few years
20:45
through a campus redesign and renovation is yes, our bread and
20:49
butter has been skilled nursing and assisted living.
20:52
We've been a gold standard in the state since 1992 when we
20:56
opened. However, we're only able to
20:59
serve however many people live here.
21:02
What's before living here? And so we developed a resilient
21:06
living center, which offers courses and programs and classes
21:11
both in person and virtually for people whom transportation is an
21:15
issue or you don't live in Connecticut.
21:18
And so we can stay in touch with people from diagnosis.
21:22
And so we actually partner with local physicians, local
21:26
hospitals, universities that have people that are regularly
21:32
making this diagnosis of dementia.
21:34
And people don't always know what's next.
21:38
And you get diagnosed with cancer, you immediately walk out
21:41
of the door and you have a team and you have all of these people
21:45
and all of the steps in this this road that's laid out for
21:48
you on what's next. What's the next piece?
21:50
Now when you get a diagnosis of dementia, that road feels
21:54
ambiguous and it might just be you're doing OK, come back in
21:58
six months and let's run the tests again.
22:01
Or here are a few things that you can do.
22:03
But that concrete pathway of resources, that's what the
22:07
Resilient Living Center is trying to answer for folks.
22:10
So that you get a diagnosis. It's you need to work on
22:14
socialization, physical fitness, nutrition, metabolic
22:18
conditioning, all of these things that can help modify your
22:21
risk factors. The resilient living Center is
22:23
that for people. And so they can we have people
22:26
taking classes in that work here.
22:30
So people as young as in their 20s all the way up to people
22:34
that are over 100 years old are all taking classes and working
22:37
on their cognitive health in addition to other domains of
22:40
health in the resilient living center.
22:42
And so I think that answer of we're slowly building it and
22:45
we're starting to see some people move in whom started with
22:48
us with classes or started with us with home based therapies.
22:52
And then they're staying involved throughout that
22:54
progression and they're actually noticing for themselves when
22:59
I'm, I'm starting to lack in that socialization because I
23:02
don't drive anymore. And so if I were to live there,
23:04
I'd have this autonomy again and I would reopen that piece of my
23:08
life. And so, so that's kind of how
23:11
we're trying to address that piece by being more than just a
23:13
residential destination, but actually helping thousands
23:17
through the resilient Living Center and those courses.
23:20
Are there other centers that are doing something similar to the
23:25
resiliency center that you know, doesn't kind of require you to
23:29
be a resident there to get some of this assistance?
23:33
So you don't have to be a resident to use the Resilient
23:35
Living Center, but we have, we are, we are searching for places
23:41
that have similar resources. There are places that have
23:46
different community type centers where they're doing pieces of
23:49
this, but the ability to really build a full day experience or
23:54
work in a way where you're measuring and being able to
23:56
track the progression of your well-being and of your cognition
24:02
throughout. We haven't figured out what that
24:06
direct connection would be to to somebody else that offers that.
24:11
But if somebody that's listening does does have that, we would
24:15
love to collaborate. We're always looking for.
24:17
Partners looked for it. You haven't found it at this
24:19
point. You think it's unique, at least
24:20
in the States. Be great to find somebody else
24:23
who's doing it because you guys can put your heads together and.
24:26
Absolutely. And there there is work
24:28
happening in Korea and in Finland with Super Brain and the
24:33
finished geriatric study. And so we're trying to learn
24:36
from abroad. And we'll actually be opening
24:39
the first Finger Clinic in the United States in partnership
24:43
with Yale starting this fall and then in earnest this winter.
24:49
What is a finger clinic? What is super brain?
24:51
What is all that stuff you just talked about?
24:53
So, so super Brain and the finger clinic are are the Super
24:58
brain is in Korea and it's a very regimented program for
25:02
people to work on fitness, cognitive simulation and
25:08
nutrition and different pieces like that to help people as they
25:12
age. It's a public health answer to
25:15
the aging demographic in their country.
25:18
And it's very, very interesting. I would encourage anybody to to
25:20
take a look at what they're doing there.
25:23
And in addition to that, the finished geriatric study is a
25:27
longitudinal study that's been happening for the better part of
25:31
two decades, led by Doctor Mia Keva Pelto.
25:34
And she is coming to Yale University this month.
25:38
We're in August now. And so she'll be in the United
25:43
States and she'll be working with Yale on research.
25:47
And we recently received a grant with, in partnership with Yale
25:52
to Oprah open one of her finger clinics here.
25:55
And So what that is, is that they'll be a nurse, a nurse
25:58
practitioner that will help follow someone through their
26:02
journey of having mild cognitive impairment or a diagnosis of
26:06
dementia and taking key biomarker measures around their
26:12
metabolic conditioning, socialization, the cognitive
26:16
training, physical training and nutrition.
26:19
And then recommending based on where they're at and those
26:22
different categories, things that they can do to improve and
26:27
how much fitness to get in a week, how to eat slightly
26:30
differently to support brain health, how to do cognitive
26:35
training in a way that's actually improving your brain
26:39
functions. And we have a few people that
26:41
have been our early adopters and what we call our healthy brain
26:44
program that's modeled off an amalgamation of these programs.
26:48
And we have people who they've gone back to have their scans
26:51
done again and they've maintained their score over a
26:54
year later from when their initial diagnosis of dementia
26:58
was, which is the is is incredible.
27:01
And we? Actually have some.
27:01
People it it is unusual because instead of taking the the
27:06
diagnosis as this is inevitable and I'm going to be like what I
27:10
picture in TV's and movies, how can I take my diagnosis and try
27:15
to make a change in what that course could look like?
27:19
So traditionally when somebody gets a diagnosis, they're gonna
27:22
get and sort of reviewed, scanned periodically.
27:25
It sounds like the example you used is a year, once a year.
27:29
Kind of six months or a year depending on where.
27:31
People are at and traditionally once the diagnosis is made, it
27:35
is very normal, very typical to see a measured decline at each
27:40
of those intervals. And this two decade longitudinal
27:43
study shows that that's not necessarily the case.
27:47
Like you can slow down the progression.
27:51
But there are modifiable risk factors.
27:53
And I think the more the even more important piece is that for
27:56
for people like you, like me, like people that we know that
28:00
don't have a diagnosis of dementia, There are things that
28:03
we can be doing in now I'm in I'm in my 30s that can reduce my
28:08
risk of dementia when I AM 60, 7080 years old.
28:11
And so how are? Yeah.
28:14
So how are we going upstream? How are we focusing on getting 7
28:17
hours of sleep a night? Wouldn't wouldn't that be
28:19
lovely? Like that's what helps clean out
28:21
the toxins in our brain and lets our brain reset.
28:25
How are we getting sun everyday? How are we thinking about what
28:31
we eat in a in a different way? And it's, it's not any one
28:34
thing, but there are so many pieces and there's some great
28:37
infographics online. If you look up The Lancet and
28:40
the modifiable risk factors on these different pieces.
28:44
And hearing loss is actually one of the number one preventable
28:48
things that you can do to reduce your risk of dementia.
28:51
And in your late 30s, early 40s, getting a hear hearing checked
28:55
and if you have a challenge addressing it, because when you
28:58
can't hear, you're dissociating from the environment around you,
29:02
even if you don't recognize at what level that might be
29:05
happening. And so something as simple as
29:07
hearing aids or hearing device can actually reduce your risk of
29:10
dementia. Interesting.
29:12
OK, so here's what I heard. Get some sun exposure every day.
29:16
What is that, 1520? Minutes. 10 minutes OK 7 hours
29:21
of sleep. Get your hearing tested and if
29:25
you need it, get a an assisted device there.
29:27
And what can you do about your diet?
29:29
Like any more specifics there? I think a lot of it is based on
29:33
the Mediterranean diet and kind of everything in moderation.
29:36
I think a lot of the pieces of what we talk about when we talk
29:40
about the modifiable risk factors, there's things that
29:42
help you in other areas of your life too.
29:44
By doing these things, it's not like you're just helping your
29:47
brain, you're helping your whole person.
29:49
But how do you do it with that intention of also thinking of
29:52
your brain and mind? And so I think it's those beans,
29:55
legumes. I'm trying to eat the things
29:58
that we know we should less processed foods, but.
30:02
And I'm actually glad that you brought this up.
30:04
There's a history of Alzheimer's on my mother's side of the
30:07
family. So for as long as I can
30:09
remember, since I was a little kid, my mom has been terrified
30:13
of, you know, her eventually reaching this stage.
30:18
And, you know, even now as a grown adult, I don't know what
30:22
to tell her. I don't know how to kind of talk
30:24
her through that or, or what advice to give her for somebody,
30:27
you know, who's in their 70s that, you know, may be closer to
30:32
a time when, you know, this could happen.
30:35
I don't know any advice for me and and how to approach those
30:37
kind of conversations with my own mom.
30:41
I think it totally depends on the person, Anthony.
30:43
And and you know one person, you know one person.
30:46
We say that over and over again, but I think that I think it's
30:50
letting people know that there is something that you can do.
30:52
And instead of being afraid and just waiting for a diagnosis,
30:56
look up what some of those modifiable risk factors are and
30:59
think about what's one small change I can make today?
31:02
We call, there's a group that we work with and they call their
31:05
changes tiny but mighty. So like what?
31:07
What's a tiny but mighty change that you can make in your day?
31:10
Is it walking around the block one more time?
31:13
Is it instead of cancelling plans with that friend because
31:16
you're tired, is it getting together with them, talking with
31:19
them, reading a book together, learning something new, going to
31:23
a museum? Things that seem simple but can
31:27
have a really big impact on what that.
31:30
So new experiences and social experiences are are other.
31:34
Things because you're learning. And if you're learning, your
31:36
brain is a muscle. And so how are you working your
31:39
brain today? And so you mentioned that the
31:42
Resilience Center that you have there in Connecticut, folks can
31:46
access portions of it online. How would they do that?
31:50
Yes. So at our website livewell.org,
31:53
we have a full list of all of our courses and programs.
31:57
We do them as semesters to thrive and it's like a
32:00
collegiate model so people can build out what classes they
32:02
want. And we actually have a new
32:04
series of classes starting in September that are specifically
32:07
targeted for people that either don't have cognitive change or
32:10
have very early diagnosis, so that there are even higher
32:16
higher level connections and kind of forming those naturally
32:20
occurring peer groups for strength support systems.
32:23
And a number of the classes can be taken virtually, but you can
32:27
also have a membership if you live locally.
32:29
And we also have virtual memberships as well and are
32:33
trying to build our online library.
32:35
We don't yet have things that are asynchronous, but we're
32:38
working to develop that in the in the coming coming years.
32:42
So it'd be the kind of thing where you need to log in at a
32:43
specific time. Specific time and you're you're
32:46
doing it with other people. A lot of our classes are
32:48
discussion based and our fitness classes are like in real time.
32:53
It would be like having an instructor on Zoom.
32:58
That's what it is with with you doing those classes.
33:01
But we know that especially if we're targeting people that are
33:03
younger, the flexibility in your schedule to be able to do
33:07
something asynchronous is important.
33:09
And so if if what we have doesn't work for you now, please
33:12
keep checking back because that's definitely on our
33:14
horizon. You know, there's talking about
33:17
sort of common themes in our conversation here.
33:20
I'm hearing a lot of, you know, live well is kind of pushing the
33:24
envelope kind of at the, the forefront of, hey, what can we
33:28
do? What's, what's an extra step we
33:30
can take? And I, you know, I'm hearing
33:31
about the resilient clinic, you know, now it's online and come
33:34
back because we're going to have asynchronous options available.
33:38
You're, you know, going to be the first in the country to do,
33:41
you know, have one of these figure clinics Are are there
33:44
any, is there anything else that's sort of worth touching on
33:47
here? I mean, that's a lot in itself,
33:49
but I want to make sure that, you know, we're giving voice to
33:51
anything else cool that you guys are working on.
33:54
Yeah. I, I think that in general, one
33:57
of the things that's most exciting about Livewall is our
33:59
desire to keep doing the next thing.
34:02
And it's involving the people who have the diagnosis and have
34:08
the lived experience as our idea generators.
34:11
And I think that throughout the things that I'm sharing, a lot
34:15
of people that Co facilitate classes or come up with classes
34:18
are people who have a diagnosis of dementia.
34:20
We also have this group called the Empowering Partnerships
34:23
Network that I think now we're up to people in 22 different
34:28
states that are a part of it. And so it's people with dementia
34:32
or people who who care about people with dementia that want
34:35
to be an ally and an advocate. And it's it's a group that's
34:39
working to bust stigma. And so they have speaker series,
34:43
they have lectures, they do things virtually.
34:46
And so if in your community you want to host an event or invite
34:51
one of our speakers to be a part of it wherever you are, they
34:54
would love to share their experience and they would love
34:57
to change your mind first hand on on what it means to have a
35:00
diagnosis of dementia. And I know I'm sharing a lot
35:03
today, but there's a big piece that's missing in not having
35:06
someone with the lived experience share all that we
35:09
offer at Live Well and and share it from their perspective,
35:11
'cause I think that is our biggest differentiator.
35:16
Because there is this stigma that I've got this diagnosis,
35:19
this is the beginning of the end kind of a thing.
35:22
Or it's us speaking for someone and there are so many movements
35:25
and so much that's happened thankfully and still needs to
35:29
happen in so many areas of the world on supporting people that
35:34
are are marginalized. And if you have cognitive change
35:36
in dementia that is happening to you.
35:39
And so how can we help listen to them and amplify their voices
35:44
even more than our own when it comes to speaking about the work
35:48
that we can? Change that's interesting yeah.
35:50
So I could see that where it's like say somebody, you know, in
35:54
my family is eventually gets a diagnosis and now I feel like I
35:58
have to be their voice, right, Because sometimes they forget
36:04
things. And and so and it's got to be
36:07
really sort of disempowering to, you know, that they say, they
36:11
say it's my mother, you know, eventually, God forbid, but you
36:16
know, now I feel like I need to step in and have conversations
36:18
for her and that's. How are you trying to include
36:22
her at where she's at or have the conversations now so that if
36:26
you're acting on someone's behalf, whether it's for, for
36:29
this diagnosis or something else, that that you're genuinely
36:34
answering for that person and not for what you think that
36:37
person would want. And it's hard.
36:40
And I'm not, I'm not saying it's not hard and we struggle with it
36:44
all the time and we see family struggle with it.
36:47
And I don't have an answer for how to make that piece easier.
36:52
I think it's just having those courageous conversations
36:55
throughout your life and, and talking with your parents about
36:59
their advanced directives and, and what it means to live well
37:02
and what it means to have well-being and what is most
37:05
important to them. And sometimes it's something
37:09
different than you think. And if I can't do that one
37:13
thing, then is, is life as meaningful for me?
37:17
And, and we don't want to make that choice for someone else.
37:19
We wouldn't want someone to make that choice for us.
37:22
Well, it's really interesting. Let's shift gears.
37:24
Mainly, I'd be curious to hear more about, you know, sort of
37:28
what it's like to work there. Obviously, you came in at a
37:31
really difficult time there at the beginning of COVID.
37:34
You know, you've stayed through the end of and you're still
37:37
there and still very excited about what's going on.
37:39
How does the culture of live well compared to maybe some of
37:43
the other places you've worked at before?
37:45
Yeah. I think that culture is
37:48
something that we talked about a lot right now in in workplaces.
37:52
And then it's one thing for how it's capitalized on the website
37:56
or in orientation, but how does it come to practice and Live
38:01
Well? One thing that got shared with
38:03
me during my interview process, actually that is still one of my
38:06
favorite things about live Well is what our values are.
38:09
And so we have good gardening values because like any good
38:13
thing, they need to be nurtured and continued to water and grow.
38:17
And so our values were created with people that live, work and
38:20
visit here. They went on retreat and they
38:22
came up with six things that we want to practice as humans.
38:28
And so we have this lovely booklet of six things like
38:31
practice being human, practice self reflection, practice
38:35
connectedness, practice listening.
38:38
And so I have the privilege of delivering them at orientation.
38:41
And there's some guided meditation that goes along with
38:44
delivering values to someone the first time.
38:47
And so you sit in it and you hear these phrases like we are
38:51
all imperfect, we all have worse, we all have the ability
38:58
for it to have courage and growth.
39:00
And so then you use it like a tool.
39:02
So they're not something that hangs on the wall or hangs on
39:05
the shelf when we're having challenging moments with one
39:08
another or our Cnas are are having differences of opinion or
39:14
we have a family that maybe we are struggling to communicate
39:18
with at the same level. We'll pull out the values and
39:21
we'll try and understand where the other person is AT and what
39:24
in those values that we can share or understand and leverage
39:29
the other opinion of where's Anthony at today?
39:32
Maybe him being short with me or saying something that didn't
39:37
feel right was actually he had a really tough morning.
39:40
He had all of these things happened before it even came to
39:43
work. And so how can we try and
39:45
leverage where someone else is at to better connect as humans?
39:49
And I think that gratitude practice, that deep faith in the
39:54
values that we've created and seeing each other as humans that
39:58
want to develop and grow, whether it's the people that
40:01
work here or the people that live here and their families,
40:04
it's all the same. And our mission and and vision
40:07
to advance well-being and build resilience.
40:09
It doesn't include the word dementia in it because it's for
40:12
everybody and I've never. Seen not just but also the team
40:17
members there. Exactly.
40:18
And so that resilient living center, our employees are
40:21
enjoying it, our employees are taking classes, our employees
40:24
are working on their stress management and their sleep.
40:27
And so we incentivize our employees to do that through our
40:31
health, through our health plan. And so I think this this
40:36
commitment to the employees and recognizing that this is hard
40:39
work and yes, live while sounds like a fabulous place to work.
40:42
And I agree that it is there. There's hard days here.
40:46
We're in the human business, People are in a nursing home.
40:49
People have hard days. People come with us, they live
40:52
with us for a long time or a short time.
40:54
And then oftentimes people die here.
40:56
And that can be hard on the team just as hard as it is on a
41:00
family. And so how do you have this
41:02
culture where it's OK to be vulnerable, It's OK to connect,
41:06
and it's OK to say when you need time for yourself in a
41:12
constructive, supportive way? I have to imagine that is really
41:17
difficult in one of the reasons why healthcare was never a
41:20
consideration for me. I couldn't imagine sort of being
41:24
there, you know, for people sort of, you know, at the end of
41:27
their life and, you know, the emotional toll that would take
41:31
where that is your job. And I, I could see it being sort
41:37
of like almost forcing you into a position where you try to
41:41
become emotionally detached so that you don't have these big
41:45
emotional reactions, but and you're missing out on part of
41:49
the human experience. And, you know, if you did that,
41:52
your, your residents, your patients would be missing out on
41:54
a big part of the human experience.
41:56
Being able to have that connection with them while
41:59
they're there. I have to imagine it it of
42:03
course it's it's rewarding for the resident, but it also has to
42:05
be really rewarding for your team members And so striking
42:09
that balance. Like what does that look like?
42:11
You know, you have a resident whose past folks were, you know,
42:14
really close with them. I don't know, talk me through
42:18
like. Yeah, Livewell has a really
42:21
beautiful way of supporting people through end of life.
42:25
And so whether it's we have a musical music therapist who if
42:31
families want, excuse me, if families want, she'll actually
42:38
record somebody's heartbeat when they're towards the end of their
42:41
life and put it towards music. And so then that's potentially A
42:44
memento that can continue on. And then we also have our Cnas
42:50
and our nurses here are beyond anything I've ever seen in in my
42:55
career. And their ability to constantly
42:58
round the clock stay with someone when we know they're
43:02
getting towards the end of their life, whether family are there
43:05
or not, we are a part of their family in that moment.
43:08
And or if it's relieving a family member who's been maybe
43:12
been staying by somebody's bedside to say, I'll be the one,
43:15
I'll hold their hand while you go get fresh air and go for a
43:18
walk so that they're not alone. And all of these little things
43:22
culminate in how we support people when they leave our
43:25
community. And it's very important to us
43:29
that people enter and exit our community the same way.
43:33
So if you are coming in the front door or our South
43:36
entrance, you're leaving our South entrance as well.
43:40
And so we have this beautiful ritual where we actually play
43:46
chimes as somebody is dying and being escorted out of the
43:51
building. And then all of our staff come
43:53
down and line the hallway and the doorway all the way out to
43:56
the vehicle. And the often times the family
43:59
stays for this and the person has a quilt that we share with
44:03
with each person and they are walked and escorted out of the
44:07
building in silence. And in a reflective practice
44:10
through this particular courtyard in our community
44:13
called the Passages Courtyard. And I have had the experience
44:21
where there's a number of people whose family members have lived
44:23
here throughout the years. And they say when you're on the
44:25
other side of that, it's even more powerful than it is for all
44:29
of us getting to say goodbye and pay homage in that way.
44:33
And so I think we treat death just as beautifully as we treat
44:36
life. And I think it's, it's an
44:38
important thing and it's a tough thing to talk about.
44:41
But I think like all challenging things to talk about, the more
44:45
you talk about it, the more you can find the beauty and the
44:48
connection. And again, that humanness, it
44:50
just comes back to we're all alive.
44:52
We're all getting older. You and I are going to be an
44:54
hour older when we're done talking.
44:56
And at some point, hopefully not soon, we're going to die.
45:01
And I hope that we're surrounded by people that care about us and
45:04
love us and can share memories and mementos of what that's
45:08
like. That sounds like a really
45:11
beautiful process, Melee. That's tremendous.
45:14
Thank you for sharing that. How do you go about, you know,
45:18
from a recruiting and retention standpoint, kind of identifying
45:22
the right people to join the Live Well team?
45:25
And once you have identified them, brought them in and
45:28
they've sort of shown themselves to, you know, be cut from the
45:32
same cloth, how how do you hold on to them?
45:37
Retention in today's market and recruitment very challenging.
45:42
We have a fabulous HR duo here at Live Wild that when you talk
45:47
about these values and, and like when I think about people that
45:51
epitomize it, our HR team does. And so I think that helps.
45:55
If you don't have a team that's helping look for the people that
45:58
are your rock stars and understand what you're trying to
46:02
achieve, then you're not going to attract what that is.
46:04
I mean, I think it makes sense, but I've worked a few places
46:07
where the HR person might be somebody who I'm like, maybe
46:11
they aren't living the values. Why do we have them picking the
46:14
people that are going to then work for us?
46:16
It it doesn't work. And so we've been really
46:20
fortunate. We have a lot of longevity on
46:22
the team at Livewell. I have people that have worked
46:25
here since the doors opened in 1992.
46:30
We celebrate every year people's longevity.
46:32
And I think that that on average people, we've hired a lot of new
46:36
people with the expansion recently.
46:37
So probably our numbers are a little different.
46:40
But as of a year ago about on average people worked here at
46:44
least five years, which in nursing homes and assisted
46:47
livings in senior care in general is very high compared to
46:51
other places, especially when the majority of our population
46:54
or Cnas. And it's finding people who in
47:00
orientation our whole first day isn't anything about live well
47:05
or the direct work people are going to do.
47:08
It's about learning about dementia and what it's like to
47:12
have compassionate approaches and strengths based approaches.
47:16
And I do a values exercise with everyone.
47:19
And there have been one or two times where somebody said this
47:22
is so uncomfortable. I don't think this is for me.
47:26
And I would rather somebody be uncomfortable in a supportive
47:30
way during orientation and say I don't want to be vulnerable.
47:34
I don't want to share, I don't want to start my first day of
47:37
orientation with meditation. Doesn't mean you've never had
47:42
never had ever had to have done meditation before I'd never done
47:45
it before I came to live well, but if you're not willing to try
47:48
at that, then you're probably not willing to try it.
47:51
Some of the other things that we're we're hopeful for and word
47:55
of mouth and, and, and some really good referral bonuses for
47:59
current employees help us find people's friends and people that
48:03
they would want to work with. And so that's worked well for us
48:06
and taking great care of your employees once they're here and
48:12
having a really robust EAP program, really robust health
48:18
and Wellness program like I was mentioning, we incentivize
48:22
employees to use the resilient living center.
48:24
I did personal training this morning.
48:26
You get half off and then you actually get money for your
48:29
health savings account every time you use the gym.
48:32
And so you can end up doing things like covering your whole
48:35
deductible for the year based on how you utilize the services
48:39
here. And so when we do things like
48:41
that, coupled with annual increases and employee
48:44
recognition events, people know that they're much more than just
48:49
the next CNA on the assignment. They know that they're a part of
48:52
a team that genuinely cares about their well-being, and they
48:56
want to work here for longer. Or they'll leave, and then
48:59
they'll come back realizing that the grass isn't greener and
49:02
hopefully bring a few new people with them.
49:04
Right. Speaking of being vulnerable
49:06
Melee, I'd like to hear about a serious challenge that you've
49:10
overcome. Professional, personal, maybe
49:13
the two combined. How'd you get through it?
49:15
What did you learn? Sure.
49:17
So I think that when I think about the probably one of the
49:23
most challenging things that happened in my career that has
49:28
been carried on for me was very early on.
49:33
I actually had an employee who I was very close with at a
49:36
previous role and he had a massive heart attack at work and
49:45
I wasn't there at the time. I was off for the day, it was in
49:50
the evening. I was another assisted living
49:53
where people work 24/7. And I got the call that's,
49:57
that's, that he wasn't well and that he had collapsed.
50:01
And at the time I didn't really understand what was coming next.
50:05
And I was doing something and I, I didn't want to leave at the
50:08
time, but I said, you know what? I'm, I'm just going to go and
50:11
it's going to take me 20 minutes to get there.
50:13
And I don't know what's going to happen.
50:15
And so I get there and all the ambulances and EMTs are out
50:19
front and it's, he's in the living room and he's collapsed
50:24
and one of my other employees is doing CPR.
50:27
And I knew it wasn't good because I knew when I got the
50:33
call and I knew how long it had taken me to get there.
50:37
And I was surprised that they, they hadn't moved him yet.
50:42
And eventually they, they moved him and took him in the
50:46
ambulance and they, they pronounced him at the hospital.
50:51
But I'm, we were all fairly certain that he had passed at
50:56
work in a very public place with residents around, families
50:59
around. And in the moment, people were
51:04
still thinking he's going to the hospital.
51:06
They don't know what's going to happen.
51:07
And so we had left it like that for the day and kind of try to
51:13
decompress people, get people back to their rooms, get
51:16
employees situated for the night and then go home.
51:19
And, and I got the call when I was at home that he had he had
51:23
died and I didn't know what what to do.
51:27
And obviously I was personally distraught because this is
51:30
somebody I enjoyed working with that I had a really great
51:33
connection with and I didn't know what to do next.
51:38
And the next morning I was driving to work and I had to
51:42
pull over on the side of a rather busy Rd. because I just,
51:46
I broke down and I called my husband and I said, I don't
51:50
think I can go to work. Like I, I don't know what to do.
51:55
I don't know what people are going to expect of me.
51:57
I don't know. I can barely keep it together
52:01
because just the image of, of what had happened was so graphic
52:04
in everybody's mind. And he said, well, all you can
52:08
do is show up. And so I showed up and
52:13
thankfully appear from another community came over and and just
52:18
came and gave me a hug and said I wouldn't know what to do.
52:21
I've been in the field much longer than you and I have no,
52:25
no advice really. And so it was, it was showing up
52:29
and there was a mix of people that were angry, people that
52:32
were scared, people that were sad and partnered with EAP and
52:35
different things to try and get the resources for, for families,
52:39
for the employees family. And I think that's where I had
52:46
some some great lessons learned on things like picking sure you
52:50
have your emergency contact saved easily for all of your
52:53
employees because it took us a long time to find his wife's
52:56
phone number and simple things like that, that I think I could
53:01
have done differently in the moment.
53:02
But the biggest thing I learned from that was showing up, being
53:07
vulnerable. Showing people that you have
53:09
emotions and are upset is OK. I think in times like that,
53:14
people look to you for strength, but they also look to you for
53:17
permission to not be strong. And I've carried that.
53:22
Just show up mentality throughout COVID when there were
53:27
days where you know what, I, I, I don't want to see more body
53:32
bags today. I, I don't want to put on full
53:35
PPE to, to watch people die that, that shouldn't be dying.
53:40
I, I don't want to do that today.
53:42
And if you keep showing up, you're going to forge
53:47
connections with people. You're going to learn more about
53:50
yourself as a person and what's important to you and just how
53:55
precious life is. And so I think that my, my
53:59
message to everyone, when you're in a time where you don't know
54:03
if you're composed enough to be at work, it's OK and to show up.
54:08
And if you're working with the right people and you're working
54:10
with people that generally value you as a human, however you show
54:15
up will will be received and will teach all of you something
54:20
about yourselves and each other and and what's what's most
54:25
important in life. Wow, that's a really powerful
54:29
story, Melee. Thank you for sharing.
54:31
That big, big thing I took from that was, you know, it, we've
54:37
all been through hard times that that one is that one's
54:40
particularly difficult. But there's this natural human
54:43
reaction sometimes when something really big and scary
54:46
like that happens to sort of withdraw, right, sort of turtle
54:50
up because you don't know what to do.
54:53
This is uncharted territory. And especially in in your role
54:57
in the leadership role, people are looking to you to have some
55:00
of the answers that, you know, there there was no college
55:03
course for this. You know, you hadn't been
55:05
through it. Your Co worker from another
55:07
facility, you know, been on the job even longer had been through
55:11
this. But there's there's a lot of
55:15
value to be had. Whatever the situation is
55:19
showing up and finding that safe human connection.
55:22
And when you have that safe human connection, my experience,
55:27
you can find a better path forward.
55:32
Yeah, yeah. That's a powerful story.
55:38
Yes, definitely gives you you pause.
55:40
And I I still have the privilege of working with a few people who
55:43
I worked with there that I've hence record recruited to live
55:47
well. And so I think when you have
55:49
those connections with people, you build team members and and
55:53
friends for life because it shows how you are as a person
55:56
even more than how you work. Yeah.
56:01
And, you know, that vulnerability that we were
56:02
talking about before and that, you know, is so encouraged at
56:06
Live Well. I have to, you know, think that
56:09
that experience that you went through at another facility, you
56:13
know, it has really helped you sort of infuse that whole, you
56:19
know, people and HR system at Live Well with that it's OK to
56:26
be vulnerable kind of mantra. Yeah.
56:29
I think it spoke to me so strongly and that's part of why
56:32
I was willing to make a change in a in a challenging time and
56:35
why I've stayed so long is because cultures is so important
56:40
and we use the word very often. But when you feel people
56:44
actually living it and supporting it, it's it's unique.
56:50
What's your superpower, Meili? I, I think that my superpower
56:58
probably is thoughtfulness and gratitude.
57:05
One of my favorite things to do is connect the dots for things
57:10
for people, whether it's in their personal life or with
57:13
their kids or something that they like to do and, and
57:18
thanking people for their work. And so I try and send cards and
57:23
pep talk postcards to people at different intervals.
57:29
And one of my employees, her son is younger and he recently went
57:35
through something challenging and I sent him a postcard.
57:38
And it's those little things. I think that when you see people
57:42
and I love sending notes and getting little gifts for things
57:48
for people just to, to let them know that I see them and I
57:52
understand more about them than is at the surface.
57:55
And there's, there's twofold to that.
57:57
I think when you see your employees and your friends and
58:00
your family in a way that you can shine a light that you see
58:04
who their inner person is. People are committed to you and
58:09
people really in turn support you.
58:13
And when you ask for things for work or ask for more to get
58:18
done, or as you can tell, Livewell's doing a lot right now
58:22
with only so many leaders. We ask a lot of people.
58:26
And so when you can, can turn it back around and say, you know
58:29
what? I'm I'm feeling the energy in
58:31
the room like it's, it's 1:00. Go to the beach, go take your
58:36
kids to the beach today. Like let's be done for today.
58:39
And, and finding little things like that that you can do for
58:41
folks to read the room and be thoughtful and have gratitude
58:47
for for what they share with you each day is, is probably my
58:50
favorite, my favorite thing to do.
58:52
I. Love it.
58:54
What's a resource that you might recommend to our listeners?
58:57
Maybe it's a a book, a podcast, a course.
59:01
Sure. So I think I'll, I'll follow the
59:04
the theme here of being in tune with our thoughts and our our
59:09
emotions. There's a tool that my that my
59:12
boss here, our CEO gave our leadership team couple years ago
59:17
now. And it's called the boy, the
59:19
mole, the Fox and the Horse by Charles Mackie.
59:22
And it is an illustrated, I would say I would call it a
59:29
book, but it's so much more than a book.
59:30
It's an illustrated book. And yes, I think there is an
59:32
Apple video on it now. But this book, it follows these,
59:38
these characters and it has just these like little one line,
59:44
thoughtful statements or pensive thoughts or little riddles.
59:50
And it's when you read it with your team.
59:53
So this is how we use the book is I gave the book to every
59:56
single person on my team. We went out, got beach towels,
59:59
walked to the park down the street, put out our towels.
1:00:03
I said, find a space, unwrap the book.
1:00:05
Because to me, books are presents.
1:00:07
And so I always wrap them when I give somebody a book.
1:00:10
And so they so they open their books and they're like, Oh my
1:00:13
gosh, it's a children's book. What am I going to do with this?
1:00:15
And I was like, Nope, Nope. We're all going to read them in
1:00:17
the park in the sun. It's going to be lovely.
1:00:19
Like I booked two hours of your time.
1:00:21
You have nowhere to be. So or out in the park and people
1:00:25
are by trees. And as somebody who had already
1:00:27
read the book, it was very nice because I could kind of like
1:00:29
also watch the other people. And I said bend the corners
1:00:32
right on the pages. I also gave them post it notes
1:00:35
because I'm not like somebody who loves to write in books.
1:00:37
And I said, mark certain pages that speak to you.
1:00:40
And so then you get back together and people take this
1:00:43
book and there are so many life lessons in this book that
1:00:49
whatever season of life you're in, if you have kids, if you're
1:00:54
stressed, if you're contemplating a life change,
1:00:57
there's something in this book for you.
1:00:59
And so take a peek at the boy, the mole and the fox and the
1:01:02
horse. It's not your classic leadership
1:01:05
type book, but I think if you can read between the lines and
1:01:09
infer what it means for you in that moment, it really goes a
1:01:13
long way. And so occasionally we'll even
1:01:15
like photocopy pages and like slide them under someones door
1:01:18
if they're having a tough day. And it's created this shared
1:01:21
language for us here at Live Well, all from, from this one
1:01:25
book. And I've actually given it to
1:01:28
some people in their interview process if I'm like, not quite
1:01:31
sure where a new leader that I'm hiring is AT.
1:01:35
And so I'll, I'll give them a copy of this book or encourage
1:01:38
them to read it or let them know that we use it.
1:01:41
And the people that come back and they're like, Oh my gosh,
1:01:44
like there's this one analogy of like ducks and how fast their
1:01:48
feet are paddling under the water.
1:01:50
But on the surface, they're so graceful and it's just like this
1:01:53
great picture for we might feel like we're turning, but other
1:01:56
people don't notice or what what's what's the allegory for
1:02:00
life? And so I just, I encourage you
1:02:01
to find those useful things that are maybe non traditional
1:02:06
because they definitely can stick the most in in your
1:02:08
leadership with your teams. And so in this book there, to
1:02:11
use that duck example, there's, you know, some of these little
1:02:14
stories that are at a kid level. Yeah.
1:02:20
But, you know, grown-ups can kind of be like, Oh yeah, that
1:02:25
like, that's me or Oh yeah, like I've noticed that in other
1:02:28
people. And it helps to have it sort of
1:02:31
illustrated in such a basic way. It is and it's really simple and
1:02:37
I don't like there's some really good Nuggets in there.
1:02:39
I don't want to necessarily give away go read the book, but
1:02:43
there's just this piece of like, if you share your authentic self
1:02:45
with other people, what you what you get back in return is true
1:02:50
friendship and connection. And like that, that's where
1:02:52
we're going with it. And So what is leadership?
1:02:54
What is building a team? It's trust, it's loyalty, it's
1:02:57
commitment, it's buy in, it's believing in things that are
1:03:01
unbelievable so that we can achieve a shared goal.
1:03:05
And so we don't always need to read those classic books, which
1:03:08
I also enjoy. And I'm on my bookcase is right
1:03:11
in front of me and I see some great titles I could share.
1:03:13
But I think the one that I would never expect someone to share
1:03:17
with me that would have this impact is definitely that book,
1:03:20
The Boy. That's fun.
1:03:22
Well, make sure we'll find a link to it, put it in the show
1:03:25
notes for everybody. Yeah, how about?
1:03:27
A daily habit, ritual. Something that either helps you
1:03:31
start your day or keeps you on track.
1:03:34
It's definitely moving my body. I love to work out.
1:03:38
I love to get outside. If I wasn't at work, I would be
1:03:43
outside all day. And so I think that for me,
1:03:46
literally every single morning when I get up before I come to
1:03:49
work, I do something, whether it's walk the dog, go to the
1:03:53
gym, go for a run. And if I don't have that outlet
1:03:57
for energy, I'm a naturally very energetic person.
1:04:01
I don't participate in coffee. And so I find my energy from
1:04:07
fitness. I understand you're a former
1:04:10
collegiate athlete. Can you explain for folks who
1:04:14
are watching, not just listening today, what's on the wall behind
1:04:18
you? Yeah, so behind me I have two
1:04:20
large ORS and they were a gift from my my boss for for
1:04:25
something I did for live well and I I used to row in college.
1:04:28
I wrote it GW on the women's rowing team for all four years.
1:04:33
We had some good success in the A10 when I was there, and then
1:04:37
they've had even more success recently.
1:04:39
But let me tell you, getting up every morning and rowing on the
1:04:43
Potomac with the sun coming up and if it's cold or if it's
1:04:47
rainy, starting your day outside moving is just completely
1:04:52
different. Everybody else is still asleep
1:04:54
or not even contemplating life yet in the college and you've
1:04:57
already done the whole workout and are showing up to your first
1:05:00
class. Like maybe wrapped in ice and
1:05:03
slightly damp. But as long as you don't sit
1:05:05
next to somebody, you can still have a great day.
1:05:10
Just got one more question for you, Melee, But before I ask
1:05:12
you, I want to do 2 things. First of all, everyone listening
1:05:15
today, I'm going to invite you to pause for just a moment.
1:05:17
Open up that podcast app that you're listening to right now
1:05:20
and hit the follower the subscribe button so you can
1:05:23
continue to get more wonderful interviews like we've had today
1:05:26
with Melee Hunt from Live Well. And if you've got an extra
1:05:29
second, you can leave a review or a comment that helps other
1:05:32
folks find the show too. Male.
1:05:34
I also want to let people know the best way to either get in
1:05:37
touch with you directly or live Well, or to follow your story or
1:05:42
that of the brand. Yeah, I think I'm I'm on
1:05:45
LinkedIn, Malee Hunt and then also for livewelllivewell.org is
1:05:51
our website for Facebook and Instagram.
1:05:55
It's live. Well, CT and we have an e-mail
1:05:58
address too. If you ever have any questions
1:06:00
about dementia, cognitive change, cognitive health
1:06:04
info@livewell.org and we would be glad to be a part of your
1:06:08
journey and your next steps. Last question for you mainly.
1:06:12
You and I reconnect a year from now and you're super excited
1:06:15
because you're celebrating something big.
1:06:18
What is that one big thing that you're celebrating one year from
1:06:21
now? There's a lot of initiatives
1:06:26
going on here at Live Well. I think one thing that I would
1:06:29
be celebrating is a successful launch of that finger clinic
1:06:34
that we talked about. And I think having a concrete
1:06:38
date or already have access to those asynchronous classes
1:06:42
because to me, that's one of my biggest passions because we can
1:06:44
only serve so many people on this location or virtually in
1:06:49
real time. And I really think that what's
1:06:51
offered here can improve the lives and well-being of so many
1:06:55
people. And so I really want to open
1:06:58
that box for the world. And so I'd be really excited if
1:07:01
I had a much more concrete answer for you on that next
1:07:04
year. Love it.
1:07:05
We'll check back in for sure then.
1:07:07
Maely Hunt from Live Well to be found at livewell.org.
1:07:11
I want to be the first to thank you for sharing both your time
1:07:13
and your story with us today. I really appreciate it.
1:07:16
Wonderful. Thank you for having me,
1:07:18
Anthony. It's been a real treat.
1:07:19
Folks, that's a wrap on another episode of the Inspired Stories
1:07:22
podcast. Thanks for learning with us
1:07:24
today.