"80 is the New 60" - Glenmeadow CEO Dr. Kathy Martin on Redefining Aging

[0:00]  [music] Welcome back to another episode here on the Heart and Hustle podcast. Today's guest, she spent over two decades in higher ed and then she walked away to lead a nonprofit that was completely rooted in joy. What would make someone leave everything familiar to start over? Dr. Kathy, what is it?

[0:33]  Well, it's a it's a very complex answer to that question. Um, but you you're right. I spent 25 years in higher education. And about a year and a half ago, I made the decision to leave higher ed and pivot to a career as president and CEO of Glen Meadow, which is a senior living community in Western Massachusetts. Um the the decision wasn't as easy as it sounds. Um, I spent a lot of time uh investing in higher education and I came to a point professionally where I was at a crossroads and decided whether I wanted to uh try something new and um senior living is a growth industry right now and I decided that I wanted to take the chance and and try moving my my skills from uh working with college students to working with older adults.

[1:28]  And what is the feeling now? Like you walk away from higher ed and now you're in the space of working with our elderlys. Is it you wish you would have done this sooner or are you just happy? Like what is the feelings that you have now?

[1:39]  I I'm so happy to be here and and I I would love to say that there are are moments when I say, "Yeah, I wish I had done this 10 years ago, but I wouldn't be the same person that I am today if I had left higher ed earlier." I think everything um happens when it is meant to and I'm really grateful that the the universe made it possible for me to join Glen Meadow when I did.

[2:03]  Yeah, I was going to say that uh you know usually our career path there's a reason that we had to go through that route because as you mentioned we wouldn't be where we at today. What are some of the things that you take from higher ed that you implement now into the space of um home care? Yeah. So, senior living is industry, excuse me, senior living is interesting because there are more parallels with higher education than you might imagine. Um, we're we're just working with an age group that's at the opposite end of the psychosocial continuum, but many of the functions of a college and of a senior living community are the same. So, you know, you talk about admissions and higher education. Well, we have sales and marketing. both um organizations, both industries have dining. There's there's some activitybased or programbased division, you know, student life or wellness. In our case, philanthropy is philanthropy. The facility is the facility. A budget is a budget. So, there are a lot of transferable skills from higher education, but at the end of the day, it's really about helping to create the kind of experience that our residents are looking for. And that's not altogether different from wanting to create the academic experience that college students are looking for.

[3:19]  Love that, Dr. Kathy. And one of the other things that I love is what you mentioned when we first um chatted, which was your purpose is to c cultivate joy, right? Yeah.

[3:28]  Um but I can only imagine that there's seasons where we feel a little bit burnt out,

[3:33]  you know? Can you kind of go back to those? How how do you find joy in the space where you feel a little bit burnt out? Well, I certainly am not feeling burned out in in senior living, but in any moment of stress, whether I was working in higher education or now working in senior living, when when it feels like all of the busyiness is overtaking, I I go back to the reason that we are here. It it's it's time for me to get out of my office to have one less meeting and and go down and spend some time with our residents, just be in conversation with the people whose homes we have the privilege of coming to work at every day. That is incredibly grounding for me because it's so easy to get caught up in the minutia of a to-do list or the strategic plan this or the budget that. But when you go back to the the reason that we are all here, it's about our residents. And the more I connect with them, the more it reignites for me the joy in doing this work. And I found the very same thing to be true in higher education. In those moments where things were getting really stressful, I'd go interact with some students and feel a lot differently about the day.

[4:51]  I love it. Now, I was actually just seeing um and I'm pretty sure you guys experienced this. I was actually uh on a Facebook group here locally and they were looking for people that had so many talents whether it was an artist or cuz I guess they were trying to plan out for uh July. So anyone that wanted to volunteer their time now that was so cool. What are some of the things that you guys are doing for the seniors at your current location that people probably wouldn't even expect? Yeah, you know, it's interesting that the average age of our residents is 88 and and I would say it's a very young 88 because our residents are incredibly busy during the day. I mean, I'm sure you've talked to retired people who are more busy when they're retired than they ever were working. And it's the same thing here. Our residents are really busy, whether it's doing um participating in the programming that we're offering every day. They're still volunteering in the community. Several of them are still working. So the the day-to-day experience of our residents is as complex as they want it to be ultimately. But one of the areas that we are prioritizing first and foremost is wellness. So physical wellness, social wellness, intellectual wellness, spiritual wellness. How can we create experiences that feed our residents in those areas? So that's one piece of the work that we're doing. Another piece that's incredibly important to me and to our residents is intergenerational programming. They love to have opportunities to interact with people at other ends of the age spectrum. So we talk about intergenerational that could be a 40year-old interacting with an 80year-old. It could also mean in one of the partnerships that we have is we have preschool and early childhood age students come over once a month and and interact with our residents in some kind of activity. And that kind of engagement is so energizing both for our residents, for the students who come get to come visit them and for the rest of us who get to stand around and watch what happens.

[6:51]  That's so cool. And I'm a big believer that whatever you're doing, there's something in it for you that there's something that we're taking away from it. What are you taking away from working with you said an average of an 88-year-old? Um there's there's there's wisdom there, but what are you taking away from them?

[7:04]  There is such wisdom here and part of of what I have taken away in in the last 18 months is first of all, everybody has a story and every story is valuable. We have residents who were former judges. We have residents who taught English abroad. We have residents who were captains of industry. And it's it's such a joy to hear those stories and to know that they had such a different set of experiences than than we did coming up. And I just love to sit and have conversations with with our residents. And they enjoy those conversations, I hope, as much as I do. But I think one of my biggest takeaways is pace. So I'm someone who has always been described as a purposeful walker. I can't sneak up on anybody. You know, I'm always wearing high heels that you can hear coming down the hallway. But in working with this population, I've literally had to slow down.

[8:06]  And it's been so wonderful for me to not worry about rushing from point A to point B and getting all caught up in my busyiness

[8:14]  that it gives me more opportunities to engage with the residents who I come upon walking down the hallway. because sometimes it takes our residents a little bit longer to get from point A to point B. And and what kind of of model would I be setting if I just kind of zoom by them in the hallway? But it's really an opportunity for me to slow down and have a conversation and not be so worried about getting from point A to point B. And and it seems like a really small thing, but at the end of the day, I've had some really enriching enriching moments in those hallway conversations. And it reminds me that there are more important things than than plowing through a to-do list on any given day.

[8:57]  There used to be a saying, I'm probably going to butcher this, but it was uh slow down and I don't remember what I'm just not going to butcher it.

[9:06]  Something like um go slow to go far or something like that.

[9:09]  Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Several of those in a book [laughter]

[9:13]  and but it is true, right? Like sometimes you really got to slow down and just see things from a different perspective. um really get to take things in, really get to listen because as a leader there is a lot of tough decisions. There is a lot of go go go. But as sometimes as leaders we also have to just slow down and remember who we are and just kind of be present because so many times there's just so many moving parts.

[9:35]  You're you're so right and and that's one element of of me making the shift from senior from higher education to senior living is that this was all new for me. I didn't know the language. I didn't know all the acronyms people were using and I didn't know what the rhythms of the industry were.

[9:52]  So for me coming in I had to slow down. I had to ask the question of can you help me understand what that means? You know I don't know the answer to that question but I'll I'll figure it out. So, taking the time to ask those questions, not assume that I know everything and that I have the answer has provided I I hope it's provided my team with that freedom to take a pause too and say, "Okay, what else can I learn about a particular situation or we don't need to do things the way we've always done them and we can try something new." So, I hope that that in that slowing down, we've been able to take a different perspective on the work that we're doing because we can look at a problem or a situation intentionally rather than just zooming through it in the way that we always have.

[10:42]  I like that. I like that. Do you have a story recent story maybe from um Glenn Meadow whether it's big or small that really reminded you this work isn't just operational but it's very scarce.

[10:55]  Yeah. You know we we have so many operational challenges like so many organizations and we can't possibly take them all on at the same time. But some of the most important work that we're doing right now is behind the scenes work that our residents may not even know is happening, but it ultimately makes their experience more efficient. Um, one of one of the examples that I talk about frequently is is moving from paper processes to digital ones. And it it seems like a no-brainer on some level, but it was a big operational shift for us and and our our team took to it as well as they possibly could have and they took it on in the middle of an 11.5 million renovation as well. So there was a an awful lot happening, but the opportunity from a leadership perspective to help them clear out some of the noise and to help them focus is really what my focus was um to keep me out of the weeds of all of the change that was happening and ensure that that my team felt supported in the work that they were doing.

[12:05]  That's good. I I actually want to kind of bring it back to the residents. Um when I when I speak to other leaders that are in this space, they always talk about the story that someone wanted to do, whether they wanted to go flying, you know, they wanted to go skydiving and some things are not possible, but finding unique ways to make it possible. So, uh mentioned uh there was someone that wanted to go shoot a bear,

[12:27]  right? And um the the caregiver was like, "You want to shoot a bear? Like, you think you can shoot a bear?" He's like, "Well, not right now because my body is is a little achy and things like that." So she helped him get to a point where he can go shoot a bear. And not only was he able to shoot a bear, he was able to shoot a bear three different times. So the first time he didn't get it, the second time he didn't get it. The third time he did. And the third time after the third time, I think like weeks later, he passed away.

[12:52]  But every time, which was with one of his kids. So he got to spend quality time with each of those kids before he passed away. He got to do what he wanted. He was happy, right? He died happy as you would say. What are some of the stories that you have that there's something that someone wanted to do and you guys had to get really creative, think outside the box?

[13:11]  Well, one one um experience that we had recently um was so we've got you know the majority probably 70 75% of our residents are women and you know coming up they didn't have an opportunity to engage in a lot of exercise or sport because of of the the perceived limitations on women at the time. and we have um a wonderful uh AHL hockey team in the area and they came over recently with their mascot and brought over a small hockey goal and some you know plastic hockey sticks and the the joy on the face of some of our residents at having an opportunity to just take a slapshot into the goal was truly phenomenal. and and it's it's you know it's all of these different roads coming together in a way that you know we focus on physical wellness. So you know the the place to be at 10 o'clock at Glen Meadow is in the exercise class. So because of of the strength and the flexibility and the core strength and and the balance that our residents are developing in those classes, they're able to confidently take a slapshot into a goal with the the mascot of the Springfield Thunderbirds. So, it's really a wonderful example of, you know, I always wanted to and now I have the opportunity to still in a safe environment, not out on the ice with skates on. Um, but that ability to kind of do something that you were always told that you couldn't do.

[14:44]  Hey, real quick. If you enjoyed the podcast, we first want to say thank you. And we also just want to give you a little insight of what we're up to at Francis. Some don't even realize that we're working with organizations to help them use AI to create that real human communication experiences. Whether that's actually supporting your your families, those patients or the entire community, we're actually creating tech that connects. Check it out. Francis.ai. I love it. And it comes back to the word joy, right? The joy that I can only imagine you have just seeing that happen. like, "Oh my god, this is so cool to see." Cuz you know, one day, and it's a conversation we don't have often, is one day we will be that person.

[15:25]  One day there was something that we wanted to do and and we didn't have the time and we we hope that we're in care that people are willing to make it happen for us, right, right, at all costs. And I think that's what's so cool and I think people don't understand about the home care um and not just home care but even just being at an actual facility that there is a lot of love and there's a lot of care and and and there's always that bad stigma that um you know they're not people are not treated fairly or people or even uh people underpaid and all these different things but there's so much good is really happening and we have to have these conversations.

[15:56]  Absolutely. and and we have um taken it as as a challenge for our organization to redefine aging. And and you're right, the the stigma around getting older is that at some point you you fade into the background and you maybe move into a community like Glenn Meadow and and you know, not venture out into the the wider community that often. And that's just not the experience of our residents. There's actually some recent research that has pushed back the definition of old by about 20 years. So 80 is the new 60. And and the way that we engage with our older adults is is really telling in a lot of ways. And we don't want our residents to feel like this is this is time to play small at all. These are these are are our are our older adults who are finding a new gear in in living in community at Glen Meadow. And that piece of it is so so critical because as you age and you're living at home, that social isolation becomes a real health risk. So by moving into a community like Glenn Meadow, you have people of a similar age around you who are experiencing a similar stage in life. And a number of our residents have said, you know, I just I like the fact that I'm not alone. And that Glen Meadow becomes your family. Even if you you have sons, daughters, grandchildren who may be geographically distributed, you have a Glen Meadow family as well. And that really helps our residents to stay vibrant and to thrive and to keep doing the things that they love to do.

[17:34]  We're such a cool space. I mean, what you're doing to say um you kind of almost took the leap of faith. you're loving it. I think that's amazing. Um then in this space as well where um and higher ed you're probably already kind of experiencing technology. But now we're kind of having to experience technology again all over again, right? How do we implement this to make sense? So people are using VRs to give experiences. Um but we also have AI and I know last time we spoke you're not anti- AI, you're not allin, but you're kind of in that middle space. But if you actually had to talk to your future self and think about AI um and VR fully kind of embedded into these organizations, what do you hope really never changes about that human side of senior healthcare? I don't think it would ever change, but what's one thing that you feel you really don't want to see change?

[18:21]  It's such a great question and and the human interaction that is so central to the work that we do, I hope never changes. that, you know, there there is a a a trend of in of some sorts that, you know, there are robots delivering dinners in dining rooms in senior living communities. And I I don't want that for Glen Meadow because the the connection between our staff and our residents is something that you can't you can't manufacture in AI. You can't manufacture in a robot. Um, so I think AI has has a a place in senior living. Um, but I don't think it will ever replace the human factor in the work that we do. I think it can be a great help to us on the operational side. as you've suggested, it can be a great experience for our residents through VR and and other AI capabilities to experience something that that they've not been able to experience before. You know, go take that vacation to Italy that you've never perhaps been been able to take and do it with VR glasses on.

[19:33]  Um or experience a a Van Go exhibit or whatever it happens to be. um there's a place for it, but it just can't replace the people. And and that's what I continually hear from my peers and other organizations as well, that, you know, we're Glen Meadow is a is is comparatively a small nonprofit and and that means a great deal to our residents because they know that they can walk up the a flight of stairs or take an elevator to the second floor and walk into my office and ask me a question. And as organizations get larger and larger and technology starts to overtake organizations, that one-on-one interaction becomes that much more difficult.

[20:17]  Yeah. And like you said, it's not I don't see it ever replacing empathy and compassion. No.

[20:22]  Um you know, and just there's something about I love talking to people and even virtual is cool, but that inperson conversation

[20:31]  the energy hits different. So, I can't see me just talking to her in person and just feel the same way, right? When I know there's no no heartbeat behind it,

[20:40]  right?

[20:40]  Um, and probably didn't have the living experience. I think that's what's really cool is when you mentioned just I used to work for the airline, so I used to always have these people call in like, "Hey, I can't book this reservation online or I can't do this." And I'll be on the phone with for a whole hour with them and it would just be some of the most funniest conversations, you know, especially when you have husband and wife just bickering back and forth, but you could see the love. you can see that they're just joking and they're like 60 70 years old and I'm like I love it. I never mind being on the conversation with them for an hour and just walk them through because one I see that they were just wanting to learn something different but sometimes just willing to have conversations you know as you kind of mentioned um you know they at one point they were parents at one point they were kids at one point they were they were working and then all of a sudden it's like now they're just there you know so it's sometimes they just want to have a conversation with anybody that would be willing to listen um and I was definitely that one willing to listen

[21:33]  one of my um my colleagues like to say that that working at Glen Meadow is like working with 150 grandparents every day.

[21:40]  And I also view it as it's like working with 150 consultants every day because

[21:45]  Okay, that's great.

[21:46]  I know everybody has an opinion on on how you should do what you do. And I love it and and you know, as I said, we have such a variety of professional experiences here. I am in no way vain enough to think that I have all the answers. and and if I can have a conversation over dinner or over lunch with a resident who gives us an idea to do something different or better, I'm absolutely gonna listen. Um, but there are so many different ways of of looking at the work that we do. I can't assume that it's just me and my staff who have all the answers.

[22:20]  Have you have you come across another uh nonprofit leader?

[22:24]  Have I come across nonprofit leaders here? Oh, absolutely.

[22:28]  Absolutely. Um and you know and and and they know where the boundaries are. Um you know they're not trying to do my job but they've been here so they get it.

[22:37]  Yeah. I mean anytime you've been in a position you always want to give a little insight but as you mentioned understand where that boundary and times are different you know to see what they probably probably just want to know what you're doing nowadays to say like wow times has changed. Um and to think about that Glen Meadow is 140 year old organization if I'm not mistaken. I think that's what we we come across last time I spoke to you. Um, but you're also not the new kid on the block, like under a 40-y old organization. You're kind of a fresher face to the organization. Did you ever feel that you had that moment that what did I get myself into? Did that ever come across?

[23:09]  No, I don't know that I've ever specifically of, oh gosh, what did I do? Um, because you know, we Glen Meadow is a is a strong organization. It's got a great mission. It's got a great finances. It's got a great support base. Um, so I I can't ever say so far that I've said, "Oh gosh, what did I get myself into?" Um, more often than not, it's am I am I doing this history justice? And and I recognize that I stand on the shoulders of all who came before me and and it's my my role to steward the organization for however long I have the privilege of being in this job. Um, I think perhaps what what concerned me more early on is is what the staff and the residents were thinking when I was announced. It's like, okay, I'm sure there's a reason here, but I don't quite see it yet. Um and and so early on it was really about helping the residents um and the staff get to know me um and and what I bring to the organization as opposed to to me thinking too seriously about did I make the right decision?

[24:23]  And I imagine there had to be that mindset shift as well. I mean you're walking away from probably a wellresourced university system into a more leaner operation. Um, was there like that hard mindset shift and to think a little differently? I know we talked about slowing it down a little bit. What else comes with stepping in from something that's very high well organized resources, data, all this good stuff to probably go into nonprofit where there may be a little lack of that?

[24:51]  Yeah, it's it's interesting. It's definitely a different level of of scale and sophistication in in some ways. Um, I have found that that I I missed having a full IT department on speech aisle um and to have the depth in in um some of those areas. But ultimately, I've always considered myself a a generalist who can figure out most anything. And I would say the same is true for a lot of my staff that, you know, if something needs to get done, we're going to figure out how to do it. and we don't have um too much of a silo mindset in a counterproductive way that if if something needs to be done, we'll figure it out. We may not have um unlimited resources, but I have always found that that those those conditions actually make for better decision- makingaking because you have to be really clear about why you've chosen to spend the resources that you're spending or why you're you're hiring for the position that you're hiring. Um so we we don't have the luxury of being frivolous and and I would say that that most of the colleges and universities I worked for were in the same position. we were well resourced. But um in the words of of of a former CFO I worked with, he always said, you know, we can do um anything we want, just not everything we want.

[26:15]  Correct. Correct. Correct. Now, I'm a big believer in that just being part of a nonprofit myself, but I also think it's really I want to go back to what you mentioned because a lot of leaders face this. As you go into a new organization, um people don't know you. So now you have to build trust with that staff, the community that's been around for decades. How did you start? Is it just having conversations? Is it meetings? Is it understanding what people's talents were? What was those first things you thought about? Okay, I need to really start to build um just a rapport.

[26:46]  I I think the answer to that question is different for the residents, for residents families, and for our staff. Um so for the residents, they want to know who I am as a person. Mhm.

[26:57]  Um so providing or finding different ways to engage with the residents whether it's you know the monthly kind of town hall meeting that we have you know I have office hours I have small resident gatherings that I do every quarter. Um ultimately they want to know who I am as a person and it's important for me that they know me that they know my family and my my two dogs are regular visitors um to Glen Meadow. Um but but that's what they they have as as a priority. You know, they they they assume that the board did a good job and hired somebody who can manage um the balance sheet and and manage the staff, but they want to know who I am as a person.

[27:40]  The the staff on the other hand, I think came to it from is this a person that I'm going to want to work with?

[27:47]  And again, transparency is incredibly important for any leader and it's something that I take very seriously. And as much as I want them to know me as a person, they also need to know who I am as a leader. So I actually took a page out of of of some tech startups. Um, and and I put together a users's guide to Kathy Martin and and I framed it around, you know, here are things that are important to me. Here are the values that I lead with. Here's what you can expect from me in terms of what the rhythms of my day usually are. What kind of communication methods do I prefer? because they didn't know who I was before I came into this role. So, I wanted to demystify that a little bit. And I didn't do it out of of an overdeveloped sense of of self-importance or ego. It was I just wanted to let them know here's here's how I show up to work every day. Um and and here are the values that guide me. And that has been a good starting point for conversation. But I think the most important thing for the staff is just to get out of my office and spend time with them.

[28:52]  I love that. I love that user guide. That's actually very very uh smart and and you know it's it's so important as you mentioned as a leader to make sure people are seen, heard um that there's empathy, you know, that we there's understanding and I just actually had a moment I mean I I did this pure out of how I would want to be treated, right? So, I have an assistant and fairly new and I just I just didn't want her to feel because a lot of it is virtual nowadays. Everything's virtual. So, I said, "Hey, I I want to make sure we have these conversations where we can see each other's faces cuz I don't want you to think that um you're just of service to me. You're truly an asset. Without you, this doesn't happen." Absolutely.

[29:33]  Right. And just telling her like always, you know, I'm always going to be honest. Um this is, you know, and just kind of giving all these insights and even me being a coach for others and working in in, you know, with young adults and she's young. She's 22 years old.

[29:45]  I want her to know that she has the same ability to have conversation with me, you know, and there's no charge to it because you are a part of my team. So, of course, I'm going to listen to you. Of course, I'm going to invest in you cuz I see that if I invest in you, you're going to be able to do things better for yourself, but also better for the team. So, it it's we have to come across like that. like as leaders, yeah, we have to make the hard decisions to maybe cut a couple of different things um that are just not worth it. You know, it doesn't make sense because sometimes things are just in place just because it's comfortable. Um but I love that you have this guide and you like you mentioned it wasn't an ego thing. It was just me kind of setting the standard and hope that everyone could um see where I'm coming from, you know. Uh so I love that. I love that how you just created that. I'm taking that. By the way,

[30:30]  one other one other thing that that we did, um I'm a I've been a a fan of Clifton Strengths since about 2009. Um and coming in to Glen Meadow, I've I've introduced it to our staff as well as a as a tool to build self-awareness, as a tool for professional development, as a tool for communication. Um, so we've we've have about probably 35 36 of our staff who have done Clifton Strengths and we use it as as a professional development tool. Um, and it brings me back in some ways to my role as an educator because I can talk about um, how we use it as a tool to work better together. Um, and it gives me a chance to teach a little bit about it as well. Um, and it's been a really interesting um, tool for us to have um, as a way to get to know everybody better, not just me.

[31:22]  That's so good. Is there anything that you had to unlearn since stepping into Elder Care that's made you um, more a human leader?

[31:31]  Yeah, I think one of the things for me is that I don't need to do all the things. and um coming out of a role as chief of staff in higher education where where doing all the things was pretty much my job. Um, but I I understand and recognize now very differently that me stepping in and doing something that another member of my team is more than capable of doing or more than capable than me of doing um doesn't honor the trust I have in them. So for me to to take a step back and say is this something that I really need to do has been um very important for me so that I can ensure that my team is focused on what they can focus on um and not have having me get in the way frankly. Um, so, so that's a part of it, but I I also think that I've been very open with asking for feedback

[32:40]  and and that can be new for for some staff members as well. And I I didn't really understand enough in the beginning how um anxietyprovoking that can be for staff who may not have ever been asked for their opinion before. Um, so it's it's forced me to to moderate some of those conversations in that way. Um, but I I hope that my staff will see me as a human leader. That the most important thing that that any leader can do is admit their mistakes. Um, or admit when they don't know something. And and I'm I'm very comfortable doing both of those things at Glen Meadow. So, I hope that it encourages others to take a risk and try something new. And if it works, great. If it doesn't, we try something else.

[33:29]  Doctor, that's how I know you're a good leader. Cuz uh not a lot of leaders would say, "Yeah, I'm here for feedback. Uh tell me when I'm wrong. You know, tell me if there's a different way that you felt it could be done. You know, I'm all for it." Because

[33:41]  as leaders, we're not the smartest in the room. We're just understand how to lead people, right? you know, so uh we want to work with the smartest people in the room. So we want to work with some of the creative people in the room. Um so even just as I mentioned this young girl, I told her, I said, "Hey,

[33:56]  I'm I'm willing to listen to you if you feel like Ephra that wasn't good or hey, let's get more creative." Like I'm all for it, you know, like I'm let's try it because I don't have all the answers. Um and and we can get some more of our young leaders in here. I think that's always a plus because we get to also see things from different perspective. the ways that they've learned have been different, the things that, you know, technology for them is very different, you know. So, I always ask her, "Do you understand social media?" Because even though I may understand social media, she probably knows a little bit better than me. So, I'm always trying to lean on to that other person that knows more. I'm not here trying to feel like I need to dictate the whole show. So, it goes to show in your leadership skills that is it's not about you. You know, it it's and it's never been about us for a very long time, you know, in the space that we in. Higher education, it wasn't it wasn't about the job that you were doing. is about the people that you are impacting.

[34:43]  Correct.

[34:44]  Currently today, it's not about the job that you're doing. It's about the elderly that we're impacting. You know, the families that are just in in awe that you guys are taking care of their families. Like there's there's a cycle there. So, I actually love it. But let's talk about for someone who's who's listening but never stepped into a senior living community. That's a lot of people, right? I can imagine. What's your call to them today? You know, it senior living is one of those um areas where you don't talk about until you're faced with a need.

[35:15]  And whether it's an aging parent, an aging spouse, grandparent, whoever is in your circle who might need some extra assistance,

[35:25]  I would encourage people at any age to visit a senior living community and find out what it's all about. One of the things that that we are doing at Glen Meadow is finding ways to invite the wider community into Glen Meadow to demystify it a little bit to introduce some of our residents, to introduce our staff, to introduce our our gorgeous community. And if we can help

[35:51]  those who may need our services someday to feel more comfortable about walking in that front door, that's a success. And we may have someone who comes to a program to hear a speaker today who who may think in six months, in six years, I'm gonna give Glen Meadow a call. Then then we've we've done our job.

[36:14]  Yeah.

[36:15]  That um but I would also say to anyone um who is thinking about it, definitely make that phone call, go volunteer at a senior living community. um you know we are always looking for for people to to help us do the things that we do and I mentioned earlier the importance of that social interaction for our residents and that's true in every kind of community like Glen Meadow

[36:43]  so good and I didn't even think about like if you really want to know about the uh senior you know care facility just volunteer

[36:52]  right you get to see the people you can get to see how they are behind the scenes you get to see the type of people um just the people that are there, you know, how people are being treated. They even think about that. Just go volunteer. It's as easy as that.

[37:06]  We we have a number of college students who who have done their internships here um or are planning to do an internship. And it's one of the things that I really value about the generation that's coming up into the workforce is they want to work with older adults. And in in many circumstances, it's an experience with a grandparent that has helped them to focus their career goals. But given my background in higher education, it it's it's likely and and probably not a surprise to anybody that I want to help college students or even those who don't have a college degree find a way to make their their living in senior living because it's incredibly rewarding. and with the number of of people who are are turning 65 and older, we're going to need the additional um options in our workforce.

[37:57]  So, you pretty much bring both your babies together.

[38:00]  Absolutely.

[38:01]  Absolutely. And there's such great opportunities for partnerships. One of the things that that our residents really really want is more intellectual engagement. Can we partner with local colleges and universities to have faculty or students come over and give presentations? Absolutely. You know, it's it is a really it's a logical partnership. No,

[38:20]  I love it. So, I get you right into the hot hot seat. I know we've been spending some time here. So, when I the blind question for the last from the last leader to you was, what belief about leadership still actually ground you today the same way it did when you were just starting out?

[38:36]  I don't know. Tough question.

[38:37]  It is a tough question. Um, the thing that I always come back to is teamwork. That that you are as good as the people you surround yourself with. And that none of us can do this work alone. You hire good people into good positions. The best thing that you can do is let them do their jobs, but always know that you are there to support them. At the end of the day, I still think of myself as a coach. That my job is, if I can take the sport metaphor a little bit further, my job is to make sure that that the team has the skills and the fitness to do what they need to do and feel empowered to make in-game decisions based on the conditions that they're presented with. Right? That's what any coach wants for their team and that's what I want for my staff, too. So for me that that foundational leadership um tenant is teamwork.

[39:39]  Love that. And what is your blind question to the next leader here on the heart hustle?

[39:42]  Yeah the question that I would have is is um what is something on your resume is sorry let me try that again. What is something that is not on your resume that has shaped who you are?

[39:55]  That is actually a really good question Dr. Kathy. That is a really good question. Okay. you know, I've never heard that one. So, um, I'm going to definitely make sure we ask that one. Well, I want to say thank you. If someone wanted to connect with you, if someone wanted to just check out more about the facility and the organization that you're a part of, where they can where can they go? Where can they find you?

[40:13]  Best place to go is www.glenmet.org. Um, and certainly I you can find me on LinkedIn or um my email address is on the website as well.

[40:24]  Well, Dr. Kathy, I thank you so much for your time. It was it was good. It was so good. We could do this longer, but I know we both got things to do today. You got people to go see probably. Um, stories, more stories to hear, things like that. So, thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you guys. If you guys are still watching, don't forget to like, comment, and share cuz that's the only way that we get some of these resources, these stories, and get people to understand that senior living is happening to all of us, and we don't want to be too late to the party. We want to know what's actually happening and and finding where we're going to fit in. So, volunteer your time. There's plenty of senior living cares wherever you're located that are more than willing to give you 5 10 hours to just have conversations, get to learn somebody else's story. I think it's really great. So Dr. Kathy, we thank you. Um guys, we'll catch you on the next one. This is Ephrain. This is Dr. Kathy. Bye. Thank you.