Latest / The Inspired Stories Podcast / Building Better Lives: Heather Tussing's Aspenwood Story | Nursing Home Series | Senior Care

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Building Better Lives: Heather Tussing's Aspenwood Story | Nursing Home Series | Senior Care · The Inspired Stories Podcast

0:04
Welcome to another edition of Inspired Stories, where leaders
0:07
share their experiences so we can learn from their successes,
0:10
how they've overcome adversity, and explore current challenges
0:13
they're facing. Welcome to another edition of
0:18
the Inspired Stories podcast, where leaders share their
0:21
experiences so we can learn from their successes and be inspired
0:24
by how they've overcome adversity.
0:26
My name is Anthony Kotaspodi and today's guest is Heather
0:29
Tussing, President of The Aspenwood Company, a boutique
0:32
manager of high quality senior living communities throughout
0:35
Texas, Arkansas, North Carolina and Tennessee.
0:39
Their foundation is built on exceptional hospitality, fine
0:43
dining, outstanding architecture, design, and
0:45
premier finishes. Residents can choose from
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independent living, assisted living, or memory care options.
0:52
Put simply, residents choose an Aspenwood community to live life
0:57
well, where they will encounter remarkable experiences and enjoy
1:01
unparalleled convenience every day.
1:03
They choose locations close to vibrant entertainment, cultural
1:07
and recreational opportunities with easy access to outstanding
1:10
healthcare. Heather has a long and storied
1:13
career in senior living, and we'll hear about the path that
1:16
led her to Aspenwood's front door.
1:19
Heather is an experienced president and sales leader with
1:21
an extensive background in startup and new acquisition
1:24
communities. She is focused on organizational
1:27
growth, enhancing culture, associate development, and
1:30
improving satisfaction. Now before we get into all that
1:33
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Add Back benefitsagency.com. Now back to our guest today, the
2:04
president of the Aspenwood Company, Heather Tussing.
2:06
I appreciate you making the time to Share your story today.
2:08
It's. My pleasure, thank you for
2:11
having me. OK, so Heather, let's go back to
2:13
the beginning. What first drew you into the
2:16
senior care industry? So unlike some amazing stories
2:20
about what brought you into the industry, I happened into it by
2:23
accident somewhat. My brother was a nursing home
2:26
administrator. He saw her role.
2:27
He thought it'd be great for me. So I applied and I I started my
2:31
career as a sales director in a nursing home community in
2:34
Washington Courthouse, Ohio. So a little off the beaten path,
2:39
but it was a a great opportunity.
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And then I just was able to work my way up.
2:46
So somehow somebody got me a chance to be an executive
2:48
director of a assisted living community.
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I don't know how I got hired 'cause I had 0 experience, but I
2:55
had drive and sales knowledge. I got hired that year.
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We had the turn around reward for the most turned around
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community in the organization out of 52 communities and it
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just started my career from there.
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So I just worked hard and driven and a people person and it
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worked out for me. So did you have sales experience
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before you started at that first senior community?
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I did not have sales experience, but I had worked in public
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relations. I had done public relationship
3:22
with Ohio State Fair throughout college.
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So I had public relations experience but not specific
3:27
sales experience. But they hired you as the sales
3:29
director. They did, and I got hired as an
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executive director without experience either.
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I got lucky. Got lucky or you're a good sweet
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talker? One or the other.
3:40
Yeah. OK.
3:41
So how did you first come to work at Aspenwood?
3:44
So I was recruited by an external recruiter.
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They presented me with opportunity.
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I wasn't looking at the time. I was very happy with the
3:51
organization I was with, but it was an amazing opportunity.
3:56
I love the opportunity to really drive change to, to think of the
4:00
ideas, work, collaborate with a team, and then to bring that
4:03
change to happen. So Jim Gray, the CEO and founder
4:06
of the Aspenwood Company and Bridgewood Property Development,
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he owns both. He hired me to bring change to
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the Aspenwood Company, which is both very exciting and it's also
4:17
very difficult. And there are really challenging
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times with that as well. I mean, when you start in any
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new role, there are challenges that come with that as well as
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excitement that when you're bringing change and having to
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change out a lot of people and processes and protocols, it's
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really hard. But after about a year in, we
4:34
were able to look back and like, Dang, we did that.
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And now two years in, over two years in, it's really incredible
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to see the team we formed, the collaboration we have together,
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the trust we have in each other and everything that's been
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accomplished. And then just our goals moving
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forward. Well, we always want to continue
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to be better and to do better. So give us an idea of the size
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of Aspenwood. So we have 20 communities across
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the Southeastern United States. Some are independent living,
5:05
some are ILALS and memory care combination.
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We specialize in urban infill communities, which are for
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example in Houston in the Rice Village area, Southampton River
5:17
Oaks area. We have an community opening in
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early 25 that's actually in Green Hills area of Nashville
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and it's literally on the Green Hills Mall property.
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So really just really cool opportunities that we have for
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our residents and members to live right in the heart of
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everything that's going on. And then we also have amazing
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communities that are just outside the perimeter as well,
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which are slightly more affordable than our urban infill
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type communities are. So I'm going to go back a little
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bit to the beginning girl from Washington Courthouse, Ohio,
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which I know a little bit because it's not too far from
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Columbus where I live, small town.
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And I think you were being a little bit modest when you were
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like, oh, I, I got lucky along the way.
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I don't know why somebody hired me, but I think there's more to
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the story there. How you go from small town girl
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to big time corporate exec there.
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There's something that happened here in the middle, like talk us
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through this. It's honestly just, I think it's
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just a lot of hard work. It was a lot of long days, a lot
6:20
of reaching out to family and friends to come help me with
6:23
their project. But it was really just, and a
6:25
lot of support for my family as well to help me get where I am
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in my career. But it really was just a lot of
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hard work and a lot of different roles.
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And also working for organizations that give me the
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opportunity. They give me a hard task to
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accomplish. And once I completed that, they
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would give me another stepping stone to a different role with
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an organization. So for example, one organization
6:44
I was with just one month. So I have 11 years and I think I
6:49
had six or seven different roles within that organization,
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starting there as an executive director, not my first Ed role,
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but starting as an executive director and working my way up
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to throughout the roles. You know, I was a regional, I
7:00
was vice president, acquisition and community startup.
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I did training, created new programs as a regional so, but
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when I ended my time there, I was the VP of the AL portion of
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the organization and then from there on I went to be a COO of
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an organization and VP of sales at the same time.
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So I think it's really just hard work, working hard and not being
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ashamed to, to speak up when you have your accomplishments.
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And also be it be willing to speak up when you make mistakes.
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Because I think anybody that's successful in their career has
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made mistakes as well along the line.
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And anybody who says they didn't, well, either it's not
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truthful or they're, they have some sort of magic.
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But I think it's important to own your your success, but also
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own your mistakes that help you get success.
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Yeah, So what? I heard you say many times there
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was hard work, hard work, hard work, hard work.
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Somebody would give you a new project.
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I'm going to guess a lot of times you didn't know what you
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were doing at the beginning. You just, you rolled up your
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sleeve, you asked some questions, you got your
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fingernails dirty, and you figured it out.
8:03
Yeah. A lot of it honestly, as I think
8:06
back or even like Facebook memories will come up and like
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the I saw one over the weekend and it was like I just returned
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home to Florida after 11 straight days of travel and it
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was my 11th week in a row of traveling.
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So it's just one of those things I think where you look back or
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one time I opened three communities in two different
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states in a 2 month period of time and I did a lot of it by
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myself. And so it's just like you look
8:29
back and you're like, how did I do that?
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But that's how you get through hard things.
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You just get through it. And then you look back and you
8:36
learn so much through it. And you have you just build
8:39
better. You're better.
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You're better because you did it.
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Not that you would always do it that way, but you're better
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because you did it and you learned from it.
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Have you developed any kind of coping mechanisms is the right
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term to sort of help you through some of those more challenging
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projects and and those like really busy times?
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Definitely. I've learned that no matter how
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busy you are, you have to make it take a little bit of me time.
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And that's something different for everybody.
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And it doesn't have to be a huge deal.
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I mean, it could be working out. I wear an aura ring to
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prioritize sleep. So it could be prioritizing your
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sleep. It could be making a couple
9:15
phone calls to family members or it could be just doing your skin
9:19
care routine. Like it doesn't have to be
9:21
anything extravagant, but it has.
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I've learned that when you're so tied up in things and traveling
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multiple days or multiple weeks in a row, you have to find some.
9:29
You have to have some assemblance of normalcy because
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otherwise it's like you're working so hard.
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What are you working so hard for?
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If you don't have any, any of the things that you enjoy in
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life? And so, and it's, it's a time
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being too. It's a, it's a fleeting moment.
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And so I think as as I've grown in my career and learned that
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those hard times, there's a brighter side on the other side
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of it. But even during those hard
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times, you have to take some time for yourself.
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Even if it's 10 minutes a day, you have to do something for
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yourself. Where's your happy place?
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What would be your first choice? My happy place is on a boat in
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Sarasota, FL. All right, I've got beautiful
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beaches down there. Yes, beautiful, beautiful water.
10:08
So when you first came into Aspenwood, you talked about a
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number of changes that you implemented.
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How, how was it that you identified these changes?
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What were some of them? Why?
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Why were they so powerful? Sure.
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So first, I, I just came in and assessed and evaluated and
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looked and what processes and systems do we have?
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What could we do better? What team members were on board
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with with change and which team members were not on board with
10:33
change? Which team members had the
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capacity to do what we needed them to do?
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And some people were great individuals, but they might have
10:40
been promoted slightly above what was their comfort zone.
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And so it was really looking at all those and then forming a
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plan of what need to happen first.
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So really just going through that list and making, making
10:53
those changes. And it took me, it took a full
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year to definitely get everything in place that we
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needed. And then the next year was
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really a growing year for us as a team forming together and then
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also as an organization, we grew.
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So in March of this past year, so about a year and a happened
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in my tenure, we actually grew by number of communities by 63%,
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which is crazy. So talk about hard time.
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So we took a, we opened one luxury community in Charlotte.
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I'm an urban info project. This is really exciting.
11:29
We took over management of a community here in the Tanglewood
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area, a very luxury community in the Tanglewood area of Houston.
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So we have two communities in Tanglewood now.
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And then we also Co purchased and managed 4 communities in the
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North Dallas market, which is our first extension into the
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north to the Dallas market as well.
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And then we also, in addition to that, we also took over
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management of another community in Dallas.
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So it was a crazy, crazy times, but it definitely helped us as a
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team come out stronger. And during all that hard work,
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our stabilized portfolio census actually maintained 90%
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occupancy. So I was so proud of not just
12:09
the senior team, but also our community's ability to keep
12:14
these going in a great direction when some of our eyes returned
12:17
to other projects. Was there something going on in
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the industry that made so many opportunities kind of come about
12:24
at once, or was it just sort of coincidental timing?
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I think it was coincidental to a degree.
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We bought, we Co purchased 4 together.
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So that four, I think it was a market timing and it was the
12:35
right thing and that with the right partner at the right time.
12:38
So 4 of it was that the others were just some banking
12:42
industries were going through some, you know, disposing of
12:45
some communities and so forth. So, and then we opened a
12:48
community, which when you open a community, the timeline is a
12:50
little bit fluid, especially an urban infill project, because
12:53
those are very, very challenging builds because you're building
12:56
on a very small plot of land and you're going vertical.
13:00
Do you see there being economic conditions that are favorable
13:05
for growth going forward or do you guys feel like you're sort
13:08
of hanging out where you are right now?
13:10
We don't have another, we do not have another urban info project
13:14
underway right now. So those usually take us a
13:17
couple years to get off the ground.
13:18
So we we're actively looking the Bridgewood side of our
13:22
organization finds those sites and they do tremendous job at
13:25
that. So they're actively looking for
13:27
the next site. Obviously we're looking at
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interest rates and what that looks like for those projects.
13:33
But definitely we're definitely in acquisition mode and and
13:37
taking on additional management agreements as well.
13:39
So definitely looking to continue to grow in a way that
13:43
makes sense. So what's important to me and I
13:45
think and a lot of my team members, and this comes from us,
13:48
myself and my team members came and worked our way up through
13:50
the community level. And so one of the things that's
13:53
important to me is as we take on new communities that we're able
13:56
to still supply the appropriate support to our current
13:59
communities, but also provide that extra dedicated support to
14:02
the onboarding community because this is really turbulent time
14:06
for them. I mean, they're learning all new
14:07
systems and processes and it's a lot for our community to take
14:11
on. So I want to make sure that as
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we do it, it's in a meaningful way that I ensure that we have
14:15
the people and resources available to support them.
14:18
At the same time, we did that in March and it's because of an
14:21
incredible team that was able to do that.
14:23
But that's the reason we want our footprint to stay the
14:26
Southeast type. So would we take on a portfolio
14:28
in Oregon? Possibly, but it would have to
14:31
be a portfolio to where we would have be able to have people
14:34
stationed there to just to provide support to those
14:36
communities. They would have to be people
14:38
from the Aspenwood team that would need to be positioned
14:41
there in Oregon. Yeah, We would probably need to
14:44
have additional hires. So, but now it's nice because
14:47
we're kind of we're, you know, somewhat central.
14:50
We have large airports with all of us everywhere we serve.
14:54
So it's really nice. Yeah, I think a sign of a good
14:57
leader is often times giving credit to their team for the
15:01
successes. What as your role as president
15:04
there at Aspenwood? I'm curious, what is the part of
15:08
the job that you enjoy the most? I love, I love collaborating and
15:14
bringing out the best ideas from people.
15:16
I love creating an, an environment where ideas are OK
15:20
to be discussed to where we can take an idea and it doesn't
15:25
matter if I came up with it or one of my team members.
15:27
And then as a team, we can collaborate and poke holes at
15:29
it. And then we come up with a
15:31
better idea because all of us come with different personal
15:34
backgrounds, different professional backgrounds,
15:36
sometimes even different industries.
15:38
So the more input we have into an idea, that's how we're going
15:41
to make it better. But I also think it's a
15:43
important that we're willing to go with it, but then reevaluate
15:46
and see if it's six months down the road, is it still the best
15:48
idea or do we need to pivot some?
15:50
And I think that's fine to pivot, but I really believe
15:53
anybody who's a leader of an organization, it is a huge
15:56
portion of your job is, is setting the culture tone for an
16:00
organization. And that's vitally important to
16:02
me. And we have extremely high
16:05
expectations. We expect a lot of our team
16:07
members, but we also recognize that everybody has a life
16:10
outside of work and we want them to have a life outside of work.
16:13
So we really do stress work life balance because that's how
16:18
they're going to come to work their best.
16:19
But it also I want happy team members and they're going to be
16:22
happier if they have something outside of work as well.
16:24
And their seasons when we went through that huge acquisition
16:26
mode in March, that was a work heavy mode, obviously.
16:31
But then, you know, it's important that we also
16:33
understand they give individuals grace because there's going to
16:35
be times when something comes up with their family or in their
16:38
personal life where they need to have a more family centered for
16:41
a period of time. That's part part of being a work
16:43
family. With an organization the size of
16:46
yours, I'm curious what are some practical things that you can do
16:51
to sort of establish that culture and, I don't know, push
16:54
it out or have it trickle down to all the different locations?
16:57
Well, so there's lots of things that different team members of
17:00
my team do. I can speak to what I personally
17:02
do, but they're, again, it's like setting the tone.
17:05
So my team members have the ability to make their decisions
17:08
on how they want to ensure that culture is infiltrated as well.
17:13
But one of the things I do is I, I do videos for new, new team
17:18
members. I do videos welcoming new team
17:21
members. I do videos for director level
17:24
birthdays. I do videos for director level
17:26
anniversaries. We send out cards for all those.
17:31
So I think it's very important to recognize your team members
17:34
and, and let them know how in their role, what a pivotal way
17:38
they're going to affect. So say, say I have somebody come
17:41
on as a as a director of resident care for one of our
17:44
communities. They truly have the ability to
17:47
impact the lives of our residents or members, their
17:51
family members of those residents and members and also
17:53
our team members. So they really have so much
17:56
influence. So I think it's important as we
17:58
welcome these team members to let them know.
18:01
They might think I'm coming on to take care of clinical and
18:03
they are, but they really, they have a lot of power.
18:07
And our executive directors, our executive directors are running
18:09
multi $1,000,000 organizations in their own community.
18:12
So I think it's important that we empower these individuals and
18:15
let them know. But I, I also try to be very
18:18
real and I try to tell people the why as much as I can behind
18:22
why we're doing something or why we're running out of process.
18:25
Well, why we're rolling out a new program.
18:27
And there's sometimes I can't, but as much as I can, I try to
18:30
explain the why behind it. Because I go back to when I was
18:33
an executive director in an economically challenged area in
18:37
North Dayton, OH. And I think that I thought my
18:40
community was like the be all in, though we got to like I took
18:43
a challenged community, we got to 100%.
18:45
We were had strong NOI, but in reality it was such a minor
18:49
piece of the organization. But So what I think is important
18:53
is as my roles grew, my my limbs grew that I could see through.
18:57
And I think it's important and that's why I try to clue our
19:00
team members in so that they can see a bigger view than what I
19:04
saw as an executive director personal.
19:06
I think that that understanding the why is huge And my, I've got
19:13
two young boys, they're 8 and 10.
19:15
And sometimes the lessons that they reteach me are, are so
19:20
powerful for sort of my grown up adult life, you know, because
19:24
there are times where I just want to be a parent and be like,
19:26
do this. And they're like, why, like put
19:28
on your coat. I don't want to put on my coat.
19:30
You're going to do it because I'm your dad.
19:32
And I told you, you know, but if you stop and tell them, Hey,
19:34
it's 30° outside, you're going to be outside for recess.
19:38
I don't want you to be cold and you know, your fingers to turn
19:40
blue. Sometimes that helps a little
19:42
bit with kids, not completely, but it like when they, when I
19:46
give them the Y and they can wrap their heads around it, it
19:49
it's so, so much more powerful. And you know, as grown-ups, as
19:52
adults in the workforce, we're basically just big kids, right?
19:55
And so knowing that why behind, you know, why we're doing
19:58
something, I think, you know, it helps us to also think about
20:02
what, well, what's what's a better way to help the company
20:05
get to this end goal and gets them more invested in the
20:08
process. Definitely.
20:10
And also they'll, they'll be able to give feedback and give
20:12
ideas that we might not have thought of to help us, help us
20:14
be better. So, so important.
20:18
You know, I'm looking Heather at your website here, which for
20:21
folks is the aspenwoodcompany.com and I'm
20:25
looking at imagery of some of these places.
20:28
And I have to tell you that I wasn't sure that I was looking
20:32
at a a senior living facility company here.
20:36
I'm like, oh, this looks like, you know, where, you know, young
20:40
up and comers, you know, the places that they want to live,
20:43
like, you know, gorgeous buildings, like beautiful lobby
20:46
areas. I mean, this is this is really
20:49
upscale. They're very, they're very
20:51
luxurious and are really it, it, it goes aside.
20:54
I mean, the, the communities are absolutely stunning and
20:57
beautiful and the design team does a tremendous job in the
21:00
architectural teams developing these communities and especially
21:03
the urban info there's obviously you're working with land is at a
21:06
premium. So they're really maximizing the
21:08
potential for each space and they do a tremendous job at it.
21:11
But above and beyond that, it's also the culture that's created
21:14
within that community and putting those residents or
21:17
members 1st and really making sure that our life enrichment
21:20
programming is really catered to what they care about.
21:23
And if that's going to be very different from 1 area to
21:25
another. So for example, the luxury
21:28
community in Charlotte and the luxury community in Nashville
21:31
are still going to be very different.
21:32
They may aesthetically look somewhat similar.
21:34
There's going to be some differences based on the
21:36
regionality, but there's also differences in what people want
21:39
to eat, what they want to see served on the menu, how they
21:42
want to be greeted, what they want to do.
21:44
And that's normal. And so it's very important to us
21:47
that we go with that and we trust those communities that
21:49
they know what's the right thing for their their residents or
21:52
members in that community. So yeah, the intro, we talked
21:56
about fine dining. What does that mean in a senior
21:59
living facility? I mean, I think it depends on
22:01
whether it's our luxury community or a mid luxury
22:03
community, but it's still very much catering to the residents
22:06
and what their desires are. So we have the committee
22:09
meetings, we have chef demos every single month because we
22:13
really want feedback from those residents and what they really
22:16
want because. These are committees that the
22:18
residents can participate in. That's the goal.
22:22
That's the goal. We want them to just, we want
22:24
their feedback and we want to meet that whenever we possibly
22:27
can because it's it's, it's dining.
22:30
We want people to come to the dining room as well.
22:32
Because dining is so much more than just, it's a nourishing
22:35
experience, but it's also a social experience and it's where
22:38
you meet people, where you gather just like as a family at
22:41
home. And that's important to us.
22:43
But when we talk about dining, it brings me back to a funny
22:46
time. One time when I was an executive
22:47
director of a luxury startup community in South Jersey,
22:51
Cherry Hill, NJ, I actually had a family member call the owner
22:56
because we had eight flavors of ice cream, but we didn't have
22:58
their mother's favorite. And the owner called me to tell
23:01
me. And he's like, how they're, if
23:03
they're calling to complain about ice cream, y'all are doing
23:05
a great job because if that's the worst concern.
23:08
But that's how important food is.
23:10
I mean, food is difficult to individuals.
23:12
So it's important to us that we have a wide, wide availability
23:16
of selections as well. So that it's not just one
23:18
opportunity. There's multiple items
23:20
available. Our luxury communities also have
23:22
bistros and juice bars and so forth, so there's lots of
23:25
different amenities available to serve those different
23:28
individuals preferences. Wow, I mean it sounds like a
23:30
place I would have fun at. Oh, I love.
23:32
I love it. I love it.
23:34
So it's I'm kind of curious what how would you say you kind of
23:40
compare to some of the competition in the area in the
23:43
areas that you guys work? In, in most of our communities,
23:45
whether it's luxury or mid luxury, we're going to be at the
23:48
usually to the top of the price point and we're fine with that.
23:52
What that means is you have to be excellent.
23:54
Whether it's luxury or mid luxury, you have to be excellent
23:57
and you have to ensure that you're doing what you say you're
24:00
do, you're going to do, which is something that's very important
24:03
to me. I never want us to over promise
24:04
and under deliver. And so we actually created a
24:07
position that at one time in my career I had.
24:09
So we created it. I created it, I added it this
24:11
past year here at the asthma company.
24:13
And so it's an individual. We're very blessed to have
24:16
somebody who's both an RN and a former executive director.
24:19
So she sees things through both the clinical but also an
24:22
operations role, which is an amazing combination to have.
24:25
And they do first impression visits to really looking at that
24:28
first impression, which is not just the parking lot in the
24:30
entry, but the first impression throughout the entire community.
24:34
But also she does compliance audit visits as well.
24:36
So a minimum of twice a year, she done an unannounced
24:39
compliance audit, which not only looks at state regulatory items,
24:43
but also our policies and procedures.
24:45
So what we're saying we're doing, are we doing it and are
24:47
we doing it well? So I think it's very important
24:50
that organizations have their own checks and balances to
24:53
really ensure that you're providing the services and the
24:55
amenities that you say you're going to provide.
24:57
So these would be private pay environments, is that right?
25:00
Correct. All of our environments are
25:01
private pay environments, OK? I'm kind of curious to hear your
25:05
perspective on this. What what do you see as the
25:08
biggest concern that families have when trying to find care?
25:11
Well, either for themselves during that stage of choosing or
25:14
for their loved ones? And what do you tell them to
25:17
help ease their mind? I think the biggest challenge
25:21
can be leaving an environment that you're comfortable and that
25:23
you know, even if it's not safe any longer, or if it may not be,
25:28
you may not socially be thriving and you just you might need to
25:31
move into an independent or assisted living community just
25:33
for the environment of it itself.
25:35
So I think that the biggest challenge is leaving what you
25:38
know, And so leaving your home environment and it is scary.
25:42
And I think it's just important to be open and transparent with
25:45
them and be like, these feelings are natural.
25:47
So go with them on their journey.
25:48
These the feelings they have, validating those feelings
25:51
because they're very natural feelings.
25:52
I mean, even kids going off to college and flying the coop,
25:55
like, yes, they're excited, but I think it'd be unusual for them
25:58
not to be a little bit nervous at the same time.
26:00
It's very similar if you're moving into one of our
26:02
communities or any of our competitors communities there,
26:05
it's feel a change and change is hard.
26:07
So I think it's important to to, to explain to them that we
26:11
understand change is hard. And this is what we're going to
26:13
help you with the transition. And we're here for you.
26:16
We want your feedback and we do. We do surveys just to get their
26:19
feedback on what the the experience was both for our
26:21
associates and for our residents, on what that new
26:24
experience looks like for them so that we can help learn and
26:27
make it hopefully more seamless for future residents, members or
26:30
new team members. Yeah, my, I can sort of back up
26:35
what you're saying from personal experience.
26:36
My grandmother, who passed away several years ago, but, you
26:40
know, before she passed, she was living by herself for a number
26:43
of years because her husband had passed earlier than her.
26:45
And we kept trying to kind of like, hey, you know, Grandma,
26:48
why don't you go to a facility, be around people more often.
26:51
And, you know, there were times where she'd have a procedure and
26:54
she'd need to go to one of these facilities to recover for a
26:56
little while. We would go visit her and she
26:58
was just, you know, all light up and smiles because she gets
27:01
she's so social. She gets to talk to everybody.
27:03
And like, you would have so much fun here.
27:05
But that was what kept holding her back to the house is
27:08
everything that she knew everything was familiar, was in
27:10
that home. And so, yeah, exactly what
27:12
you're saying. And I also think there's a
27:14
misconception of what senior living looks like.
27:16
So senior living nowadays is, you know, independent living,
27:21
assisted living in memory care is not a skilled nursing
27:24
environment. And even skilled environments
27:26
have come so far from what they used to be.
27:28
So I think there's also a misconception and people think
27:31
it's like the home or I'm being put away.
27:33
No, like your life is going to grow.
27:35
If you move into a senior living community, not just ours, most
27:39
any your life is going to grow. Your life is going to be fuller.
27:42
You're going to have better meals, you're going to have
27:44
better social experiences. If it's a child, you know this,
27:49
whether it's a young adult child that's helping take care of
27:51
their parents, they're going to get that parental relationship
27:54
back so they don't have caretaker.
27:56
They can just and have fun with their parents.
27:58
That's what we want to get back. I my goal was always for people
28:01
to live a fuller life with us than they did before.
28:03
Whether that's learning they, you know, learn new food,
28:07
whether they learn live, you know, learn new life enrichment
28:10
activities, they might learn a new language.
28:12
Our Southampton, we have a partnership with Rice
28:14
University. We have professors in and out of
28:16
the community nonstop. Or if it's learning to use an
28:19
iPad or a different type of technology, just living a bigger
28:23
life than they had before they moved in with us.
28:26
I'll draw from another personal example to kind of back up what
28:28
you're saying. I have a great aunt who's in a,
28:29
a senior facility here in central Ohio, and she could not
28:34
be happier. We went to visit her early in
28:37
the summer and she spent an hour taking us through the whole
28:41
facility, giving us the tour, introducing us to everybody who
28:44
worked there and a number of her friends in the hallway.
28:47
She, she, she was living her best life.
28:50
It was great to see. That's the goal, that's.
28:54
The goal what's something different or innovative that you
28:58
have introduced to enhance the the patient experiences at at
29:01
your facilities, Heather? So I think we've, we've done a
29:05
lot, we've been, we've rolled out life enrichment platforms
29:08
that are electronic. So now things are available to
29:12
see electronically for our residents.
29:13
They're very tech savvy. So they want to be able to at
29:16
the on their phone be able to look at activities, what is the
29:19
menu for the day. We can also families can look in
29:22
and if the residents allows and see what their level of
29:24
participation and then that day or what activities were
29:27
available to them. We also use a electronic
29:31
ordering platform for when the residents order.
29:33
So it's very much like a restaurant.
29:35
Our dining experience is a restaurant dining experience.
29:38
And so as opposed to doing the old fashioned way where they'd
29:40
write things down and so forth, no, everything is electronic
29:43
now. So it's a quicker dining
29:44
process. So the order is getting back
29:46
quicker. We're able to bring it back out
29:48
quicker. And so I think it's just senior
29:51
living as a whole is can be a little archaic in regards to
29:55
rolling out technology. And so I think that's one of the
29:58
things that is an industry we've gotten a lot better at.
30:01
It's one of the things that I've embraced here at that's ask from
30:03
a company is really just ensuring that we're using
30:06
technology and then if we're paying for a platform, fully
30:09
utilize it. So our work order systems, our
30:11
residents can either input work orders, so they can go right to
30:14
the front desk and they'll input it and it's all electronic.
30:17
And so we can update individuals.
30:18
So everything is just about keeping people informed, right?
30:21
I think nowadays we all want to be informed and we want to know
30:25
even if we have a question or a concern, we want to know where
30:27
that is in the process. And then we've also rolled out
30:32
like, like I mentioned, we've rolled out through a partner, a
30:34
vendor partner where we do new resident member surveys so that
30:38
at 45 days in, we want to like gather what their experiences
30:42
were so that we can learn and pivot and make that resident
30:45
experience onboarding experience better.
30:47
And we do the same for our new team members as well.
30:49
So I think it's, it's really using technology, but then you
30:52
have to use any technology you use, it's going to usually
30:55
provide you some data points. So it's not only getting the
30:58
information from the survey or to streamline in the dining
31:02
process, it's also taking that information you get from that
31:04
technology so we can see what our residents prefer in in this
31:08
community versus this community. So we can order smarter to
31:12
reduce some of those costs associated with that.
31:14
So we're ordering the right numbers of quantities of food,
31:17
but also making sure you use that resident satisfaction
31:19
information or the participation in life enrichment and what was
31:23
highly participated in what wasn't.
31:25
So you either you pivot and you go away and do something
31:28
different, or you make that experience better so that more
31:30
people want to participate in it.
31:32
So it's gathering the information and streamlining it,
31:35
but also using that information then retrospectively to be
31:38
better. Sounds like you've made probably
31:41
a pretty big investment in technology to be able to offer
31:46
these ordering platforms and these, you know, feedback
31:49
mechanisms and. We have and it's been a, it's
31:52
been a learning experience and we've had to do it over time,
31:55
right. So I couldn't come in and roll
31:56
out all these new systems at one time because if you, if you try
32:00
to roll out too much new at one time, very little is going to
32:04
penetrate in. So we had to do it and stagger
32:06
it and again pick what software was important at that time and
32:09
then roll the other platforms into it as it made sense timing
32:12
wise. What kind of events are
32:15
available for residents to do during the week or on the
32:19
weekends? What kind of activities do you
32:21
have? And actually when I'm in
32:23
Houston, I, I live in one of our senior living communities when
32:25
I'm in Houston. So there is so much.
32:27
And so every day I see the whole list and it's literally a whole
32:29
page. And again, every community is
32:31
going to be a little bit different.
32:33
So what they do, what we do in one community may be very
32:35
different than another, but there's going to be museum
32:37
experiences, There's going to be opportunities to go fishing, to
32:40
go to a ball game, to have a guest lecture in lots of
32:44
different fitness programs. Because if you ended you three
32:46
different people, they'd have three different ideas of what
32:48
fitness is to them. So there's a never ending array
32:51
of events to go to off site or and on site to participate in.
32:55
It's so cool to see everything that's going on within a
32:58
community. You know, it's most business
33:02
leaders I talked to say labor markets still pretty tight.
33:06
It's hard to find good folks. It's hard to hold on to good
33:09
folks. I'm curious what Aspenwood has
33:13
tried and what you have seen is working for you on the
33:16
recruiting and the retention side.
33:19
So for the recruiting side, I'm proud that with a rare
33:23
exception, we're agency free, which is great in healthcare
33:26
because that's a that was a big challenge.
33:28
That's pretty unusual. Yeah, it is.
33:30
It is. And so I'm very proud of that
33:34
and, and definitely there's a financial side to that.
33:37
But what makes me most proud is that if you have your own team
33:40
members, then there's a continuity of, of care and
33:43
services for our residents and members, which is what's most
33:46
important to me. Yes, there's a financial side to
33:49
it so that you don't want agency.
33:50
But even more importantly is that continuity in that our
33:53
residents having those familiar faces is so badly important.
33:57
They need to be comfortable and they need to be assured that
33:59
their services are going to be uninterrupted.
34:02
So that's very important. But I think one of our
34:05
recruiting methods that we've utilized is through our
34:07
recruiting software as we have the ability to push out
34:10
notifications to all applicants for a specific role and have
34:13
like open interview times and so forth.
34:16
So I think that has been something that we've seen very
34:18
successful. It's kind of like an AI type
34:19
thing, but when you come in, you're meeting with real people.
34:21
Real people are meeting with real people.
34:23
But the AI is helping to sort of like sort of whittle the list
34:27
down. Individuals and be able to bulk,
34:30
bulk e-mail out or text out. Actually, it's text, bulk text
34:34
because nobody answers the phone, so you can't do a phone
34:37
call. So you both text it out and
34:39
we've had an overwhelming response to that.
34:42
But when you do that, you have to have an interviewing process
34:45
that's very welcoming and you need to court them.
34:48
It's almost like dating. You have to court them and make
34:51
because they can go to the next door and get a job at the same
34:54
time, most likely. So you have to make them, you
34:57
want them to be feel special because they are special and you
35:00
have to treat them like that. And then when they become a team
35:03
member, it's also very important.
35:05
I hate the word staff. I hate the word staff.
35:07
So I will never ever say that word.
35:08
I like team member or associate team members, my favorite
35:11
because that's what they are. They're part of a team and
35:13
they're part of our success or our luck of success, either or.
35:18
And so we have to treat them with respect and they're very
35:21
valuable to us. They're valuable to our team,
35:23
our other team members because they don't want to work short
35:25
staff. They're valuable to our
35:27
residents and they're valuable to our success organization.
35:30
So we have to treat them with that respect that they deserve.
35:33
And then I think that's part of the retention is making sure
35:36
everybody feels valued and important because we wouldn't,
35:39
we wouldn't be here if it wasn't for our communities and our team
35:41
members working in our communities.
35:42
And I think that comes from what we talked about before with
35:44
culture, sort of what you do to kind of, you know, help
35:47
establish and push down that culture to your executive
35:49
directors and then sort of embolden them, empowering them
35:52
to kind of do the same thing in their local communities.
35:55
And a big piece of that is me having a senior team that I
35:58
trust, fully trust. So I know that they're going to
36:01
do the right decisions and they're going to lead by
36:03
example. And that's what's most important
36:05
to me is that we lead by example.
36:07
So you've got a strong sales background, Heather, not, you
36:10
know, you've been a director and a president.
36:13
You've worked your way up through the ranks.
36:14
I'm kind of curious whether it's here at Aspenwood or maybe you
36:17
know, one of your other stops along the way, something
36:20
creative maybe that you've tried to help increase sales that
36:25
might be fun to share. I think we use a Sharpen
36:28
methodology, Sharpen methodology, which is a sales
36:31
methodology that I've actually used since 2009.
36:34
Even before it was ACRN. It was just a way of selling.
36:37
And I think it's hard to grasp. I remember when I was first
36:40
introduced to it in 2009, coming into a community as an executive
36:44
director and I sent all these ideas through and they're like,
36:47
great, that'll be your job. And I'm like, so it's just a
36:50
different way of selling, but it's a way of selling where
36:53
you're really forming relationships and it's not like
36:58
you're selling. It's like you're guiding
37:00
individuals and really helping them.
37:02
But I think that, and we, we rolled that out here at the
37:05
Aspenwood Company. And so it was a huge undertaking
37:07
because it's a really a way of changing people's way of what
37:11
selling is. And you're really being a
37:13
resource, you're helping knock, knock down obstacles.
37:16
And it's really going with people on their journey to
37:19
become a resident or member of one of our communities.
37:22
And I think it really makes you rethink selling and it and even
37:27
people who are very experienced at selling it, it really takes
37:30
them a minute to learn it. It was actually created by an
37:33
attorney who bought some senior living communities and was very
37:37
passionate about the sales sales process.
37:39
His name is David Smith and he's been very, very successful.
37:43
But it's an amazing process. But I think it definitely takes
37:47
some time to get to learn it. And we we continuously invest in
37:52
ensuring that our team members are trained and that they
37:55
understand the selling methodology and how every single
37:58
person in the community is part of the sales culture of that
38:01
community. So everybody has a has an impact
38:04
on sales. So why is it called Sherpa?
38:08
I don't know why it's, I don't know why that's the name of it,
38:11
but that's the name that it was that I inherited, that it was
38:14
inherited when I started working with it in 2009.
38:17
And when I had the opportunity to bring it back on here or to
38:21
initiate it here, I definitely jumped at that opportunity.
38:24
But if we want to put it in our show notes, I'll just search
38:26
for. Well, actually now it's actually
38:28
got bought out by a line, so it's ALINE and they offer
38:33
different platforms and the platform we utilize what it is
38:36
Sherpa. Got it.
38:38
All right. We'll look for that.
38:39
Thank you. How about something fun for
38:43
reducing expenses? Anything created that you tried
38:45
along the way there? I think it's again, leading by
38:49
example and being unable to that myself and my team members are
38:52
able to look at our income statements and really dig in and
38:55
dive in and find where those areas of opportunities exist.
38:58
And that's because we've all done the role in the community.
39:01
I think if we hadn't been in the community, it'd be a little
39:03
different or communities might take our suggestions a little
39:06
differently. But if you come from at a point
39:08
where this is what I did it come it, it comes across in a more
39:12
meaningful way. And then we also utilize like a
39:15
purchasing platform, but that's kind of typical, I think.
39:17
So we utilize a purchasing platform and things like that.
39:20
That is important, but it's really digging into those
39:23
financials and seeing opportunities where we could do
39:25
better. Now coming from a sales
39:27
background, have you kind of adapted to that, that side of
39:30
the business well or is that sort of a little less
39:33
interesting to you? No, because I really I come from
39:36
both back, both because I have a sales background, but also as
39:39
executive director, you're every role, like you fill in every
39:41
role. I don't even cook for my family
39:43
and I've cooked in the kitchen in a community before because
39:45
you have to do what you have to do.
39:47
I've unloaded trucks. I mean, you just do what you
39:49
have to do when you're, when you're in a community level and
39:52
the executive director's job is never the same job two days in a
39:55
row. I can say that.
39:57
And so I think that as an executive director, you are the
40:01
operations leader, you're really overseeing your every function
40:04
of that community, whether it's sales or dining or the the entry
40:08
experience for a concierge or mechanical, like you're
40:11
overseeing everything when working with those different
40:14
department leaders. So I love both sides of it.
40:17
Heather, what's a serious challenge that you had to
40:19
overcome, either personally or professionally, and what did you
40:22
learn going through that experience?
40:24
COVID, my gosh, COVID, COVID and the impact it had on healthcare
40:30
in general and and definitely the senior living industry.
40:36
It definitely taught you who's strong and whether we yourself
40:41
independently, like where your strengths are, where your
40:43
weaknesses are. And you definitely saw that on
40:45
your team members and you just had to keep raising each other
40:47
up. I actually heard somebody a week
40:50
or so ago, they talked about what they did during COVID and
40:52
like new hobbies they picked up during COVID.
40:54
If you worked in healthcare, that was not a challenge you had
40:57
during COVID. You had a challenge of you had
40:59
to space out a little bit of free time to go outside and
41:02
breathe. You know, myself and my senior
41:04
team, we were working the floor during COVID.
41:07
You know, we were doing things in COVID that we didn't normally
41:09
do as a senior team because that's what had to be done.
41:13
So I think that COVID was definitely the most challenging
41:15
time of my entire career. You had many times you had no
41:20
good options, like when you were presented with a problem, there
41:22
was not a good option. You had to pick the least bad
41:25
option. And that's not necessarily a
41:27
good feeling, but we got through it and I think as an industry we
41:32
learned a lot. And definitely the team members
41:35
that you worked with through that period of time, it really
41:37
created a very strong bond amongst team members.
41:40
What's something that you've learned that you've been able to
41:43
bring into post COVID worlds that is helping to make you guys
41:47
better? The definitely the use of
41:49
technology because there was less ability to communicate face
41:53
to face. So you need to be able to
41:54
communicate through technology. And so we rolled out like life
41:58
loop wasn't when technology we rolled out and I initially
42:01
rolled it out so that I personally could have drive
42:03
communication through to family members across our entire
42:07
organization. Now we use it for a resident
42:10
engagement platform, but I initially did it just so I can
42:13
have communication opportunities.
42:15
We do a work order system to where people can do that.
42:17
Again, it came through technology needed during COVID.
42:21
So and then just I think disaster planning in general, it
42:25
has gone up several notches because we care things that you
42:29
don't normally encounter in senior living and not in the
42:32
independent assisted in the memory Care World of senior
42:34
living. You talked about how hard it
42:38
was. There were no good options at
42:39
times. What kind of coping mechanisms
42:42
did people try? Did you try?
42:45
Did you try to implement for the team?
42:49
We definitely, I mean, we definitely tried to make sure
42:53
that people took time for themselves as well.
42:56
And we definitely gave individuals grace because they
42:58
were really, really hard things that occurred during COVID and a
43:02
lot of loss that have unfortunately occurred
43:04
throughout the entire world, obviously in the country.
43:07
But when you're there taking care of somebody and you're
43:09
seeing it first hand, it really, really hits home.
43:11
So making sure that we get people grace and I think that's
43:15
something that that is sticking and I'm so glad to see that
43:19
because people have lies in and outside of work, but there's
43:22
also tough things that occur in a daily life, especially if it's
43:25
more of a clinical type environment, not so much our
43:28
independent living, but more than just living in memory care.
43:30
There is a lot of life components that go into that,
43:33
but there's also a clinical and a care component.
43:35
And people had to do really hard things.
43:37
And so I think it's important that if they need to step away
43:40
and take a longer break outside, that's OK.
43:43
Let them come back in and be the best version of their stuff they
43:45
can be at that moment. No, Heather, what's something
43:49
you wish you could teach a younger version of yourself?
43:52
Something that's pretty obvious now that man, it would have been
43:55
good to know back then. I think that sometimes I thought
43:58
things were like life shattering and they really, really, really
44:01
weren't, you know, I think that as you, you grow in your role
44:05
and you experience different roles, you learned that
44:08
something that seemed so hard wasn't that hard.
44:10
You were overthinking it. And, and I, I also think I've
44:13
learned to really go with my gut.
44:15
If your gut says no or your gut says yes, you need to go with
44:18
that and don't second guess it. If it says no, there's a reason
44:21
why. You may not see it right then,
44:23
but there's a reason and go with it.
44:25
That's a good one. What's a fun or interesting fact
44:29
most people would know about you, Heather?
44:31
I'm the pickiest eater in the entire world.
44:33
I eat like a child, which can be very challenging in my role,
44:37
especially at some of these fancy things I get to go to.
44:39
It can be very challenging to eat like a toddler.
44:41
So what are the what are the foods that you'll do?
44:46
Like I literally will take protein bars with me to events
44:48
so that I have something to eat. Like I'll I, I don't just sit at
44:50
the table and eat it by any means, but I'll take my own
44:53
salad dressing or things like that.
44:54
So then I truly eat like a toddler.
44:58
I've got an 8 year old and I think there's maybe six or seven
45:02
things that outside of like snack foods that he'll eat
45:04
willingly. Does that describe you or are
45:07
you on a short list like? That salad, I'm pretty good.
45:09
If I can have a salad, I'm good. Just give me a salad without a
45:12
lot of fruit fruit stuff on it and I'm good.
45:14
Man, I would love to get him to eat a salad, just a just a piece
45:17
of lettuce. That would be a big progress for
45:19
us. Heather, any specific mentors or
45:23
books or different kinds of mastermind networking
45:26
experiences that have been helpful for you in your career
45:28
trajectory? I think that it's important to
45:32
look at. I mean, I think it's important
45:35
to mentor others and look for mentors within.
45:37
And they don't even have to be formally called a mentor.
45:40
I think you can learn so much, just be a sponge and just learn
45:43
so much from those around you, both good and bad, right?
45:45
You're going to learn what's what you want to, what you want
45:47
to emulate and what you don't want to emulate.
45:49
And that's OK. I think there's a book I love
45:54
called Excellence Wins. There's just there, I don't
45:58
know, there's another one. I can't think of the title of it
46:00
right now, but it comes from somebody outside the industry
46:03
and it's literally about becoming a Michelin star
46:06
restaurant and, and what it took to get that by putting everybody
46:11
1st. And it's actually like it was
46:12
this very, very elite restaurant in New York City and they
46:17
actually served somebody a hot dog because they heard them
46:19
talking about their trip to New York.
46:20
And what they missed out on during the trip was it was
46:23
having a New York City street hot dog.
46:26
So they went out and ran and got that for them.
46:27
So I think it's a very, there are just so many books that can
46:31
help you, but I don't think you should ever stay within whatever
46:33
industry you're in. I think you need to learn from
46:35
others and other industries as well.
46:39
Heather, if a year from now you and I were toasting champagne
46:43
glasses celebrating something, what would you hope it would be?
46:47
I would hope that we would be toasting the success of our the
46:51
success of our, the communities that we that we have in our
46:54
portfolio and hopefully potential future growth as well.
46:58
I just have one more question for you, Heather.
47:00
But before I ask it, I want to do 2 things.
47:02
For those listening you like today's content, please hit the
47:05
Like Share Subscribe button on your favorite podcast app.
47:08
I also want to let people know the best way to get in touch
47:10
with you. Heather, what would that be?
47:13
My e-mail address is htussingsohtussing@theaspenwoodcompany.com.
47:19
That's the easiest way to get in touch with me.
47:21
Or through the website you can do a reform fill and that'll get
47:23
to me as well. Perfect.
47:26
So last question for you, Heather, I'm curious, what do
47:28
you see are the big changes coming to your industry in the
47:31
next couple of years? I think that some of the changes
47:36
are coming are continued use of technology, continuing
47:40
innovative way to drive team members to your organization and
47:44
maintain those team members. I think those are the two
47:48
biggest things. And I also one of the things
47:50
that I've seen recently that I love is collaboration amongst
47:54
different, different leaders within the industry.
47:57
So like actually coming together to discuss best practices and
48:00
what's worked and what's not worked for them as opposed to
48:02
seeing each other just as competitors, actually seeing a
48:05
brainstorming session. And I love that because there's
48:08
enough to go around for all of us.
48:10
Yeah. Is it hard to find like minded
48:13
people in your industry to do that or do they kind of do they
48:16
view you as competitors? It's becoming far more
48:19
commonplace. I mean, there is going to be
48:20
competition, don't don't get me wrong, but I think that there's
48:23
a lot of collaboration occurring right now.
48:25
And I think part of that came through COVID as well.
48:28
And I, I'd love to see that because I think that'll help,
48:30
that'll help provide a better resident or member experience
48:33
for those involved, no matter what organization they're with.
48:36
Where do you see AI going in your space?
48:39
I think AI is going to help us be better.
48:41
I mean, it helps me write better.
48:42
I think AI will help us be better.
48:44
I don't see, I don't see AI taking the place of a team
48:47
member. I think it I see it helping us
48:50
be more efficient. In what ways do you have any
48:53
sort of visions of, I mean, like, are you hearing tools that
48:55
are being worked on or do you kind of have an idea in your
48:58
head of what you would like to see?
48:59
Where's I mean even in writing job descriptions?
49:01
So like we're able to take our job descriptions, put them in
49:04
AI, get something out that that is more attractive to, I mean,
49:08
because that's what we're doing, right?
49:09
We're we're trying to court potential team members so it
49:13
looks more attractive to them. But it still takes the human to
49:16
go through it and look at it and make sure it makes sense.
49:18
So I think there's lots of different ways for going to see
49:20
it within the within the industry.
49:23
Heather, I want to be the first one to thank you for sharing
49:25
both your time and your story with us today.
49:27
I really appreciate it. I'm there.
49:28
Thank you so much. I appreciate the opportunity.
49:31
Folks, that's a wrap on another episode of the Inspired Stories
49:33
podcast. Thanks for learning with us
49:35
today.