Tips from Trestle: The Senior Living Food and Hospitality Podcast

Creating connection is a key aspect of what we do in senior living. But how do we bridge the gap between generations in a way that allows the newest participants in the workforce get a glimpse of how great working in our industry can be? And how can these connections allow for seniors in these communities to continue to feel they have a purpose and can pass along their knowledge and wisdom to a younger generation?

On this episode of Tips from Trestle, we visit with Eric & John Peterson. During his time working as a caregiver in senior living, Eric developed a passion for wanting to help create a way to connect high school students with those living in senior communities. We chat about Eric;s experiences in senior living, his desire to create his not-for-profit, and even how a couple of his volunteers have found careers in the industry. 

Founded by Eric Peterson, Seniors4Seniors started in 2019 and is a nonprofit corporation that enables meaningful connections between students and senior members of our community seeking opportunities to serve one another.  John Peterson is a board member and president of the organization, Their goal with Seniors4Seniors is to connect the young with the young at heart.

Tips From Trestle is a podcast focused on discussion about senior living food & hospitality. Hosted by Trestle Hospitality Concepts Founder & CEO Aaron Fish, he shares his thoughts, musings and discussions about the food & beverage operations, trends and happenings in the senior living industry. To support the podcast, click here: https://anchor.fm/tips-from-trestle/support

Links:

Eric Peterson: https://www.linkedin.com/in/eric-peterson-814965b5/

Seniors4Seniors : https://www.seniors4seniors.org/

Aaron Fish: www.linkedin.com/in/aaronfish 

Trestle Hospitality Concepts: www.trestlehospitalityconcepts.com

They say that "necessity is the mother of invention", and this week's Tips From Trestle is very much a story of this being true.

This week we visit with Sasha Dawn. During the peak of COVID-19 quarantines in 2020, she experienced what many adult children did - isolation from her parent in care. Her father had fallen and been placed in a skilled nursing facility on the other side of the country. And due to pandemic restrictions, she couldn’t visit. So she did what everyone else did - embrace technology. She tells her experience of seeing her father in a very different light due to these conditions, and knew at that moment that she had to take action.

Thus the birth of Utopia Experiences. A resident engagement platform built on virtual live-hosted interactive game show entertainment, Utopia Experiences is focused to serve senior living communities and their residents. It's a journey that you will want to listen to for sure.

Sasha Dawn is the Founder & CEO of Utopia Experiences, a SaaS company that brings live virtual hands free game shows to senior communities to connect, engage and delight - while building community and reducing staff burn out, all from one easy to use platform.

Tips From Trestle is a podcast focused on discussion about senior living food & hospitality. Hosted by Trestle Hospitality Concepts Founder & CEO Aaron Fish, he shares his thoughts, musings and discussions about the food & beverage operations, trends and happenings in the senior living industry. To support the podcast, click here: https://anchor.fm/tips-from-trestle/support

Links:

Sasha Dawn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sasha-dawn-b55a385/

Utopia Experiences : https://www.utopiaexperiences.net/

Aaron Fish: www.linkedin.com/in/aaronfish  

Trestle Hospitality Concepts: www.trestlehospitalityconcepts.com

The surge of technology needs and vendors in the senior living space has taken off in the past couple of years as operators have been forced to adopt more due to the COVID-19 pandemic. There are many solutions to every aspect of a communities operations, but what processes do they use to evaluate if they will be getting the functionality, service, and support from their vendor of choice?

Enter Katie Griffith. Her company Bright Solutions provides unbiased third party support to organizations as they evaluate technology solutions for food & beverage, resident engagement, and all other areas of operations. She has a wealth of experience and a deep knowledge of the selection process, and shares some of her best practices & strategies for listeners who may be in the market for some new technology solutions.

Katie Griffith is Founder and Principal at Bright Solutions, a technology consulting firm working exclusively in the senior living industry.  Katie has been working in the senior living industry for 20 years and founded Bright Solutions 7 years ago when she saw a need for communities to have an unbiased, third party help them identify the right technology solutions for their organization and create an adoption strategy that produces better results.

Tips From Trestle is a podcast focused on discussion about senior living food & hospitality. Hosted by Trestle Hospitality Concepts Founder & CEO Aaron Fish, he shares his thoughts, musings and discussions about the food & beverage operations, trends and happenings in the senior living industry. To support the podcast, click here: https://anchor.fm/tips-from-trestle/support

Links:

Katie Griffith: https://www.linkedin.com/in/katiebrightsolutions/

Bright Solutions: https://www.linkedin.com/company/bright-solutions-kgriffith

Aaron Fish: www.linkedin.com/in/aaronfish  

Trestle Hospitality Concepts: www.trestlehospitalityconcepts.com

We've all have spent countless hours and energy trying to create the right environment for work-life balance. But have we really been successful with it? Have we created a workplace that truly values the challenges that face our front line employees? 

In this episode of Tips from Trestle, Aaron visits with Milton McGowian about how the theory and practice of creating work/life balance is failing employees and how we need to embrace work/life integration so that we can foster better employee relationships, give them opportunities to be successful in and out of the workplace, and better meet the ever-changing needs of the workforce.

Milton McGowian is the Vice President of Resident Services at Sharon Towers at SouthPark in Charlotte, NC. He earned a certification from the National Restaurant Association as a Foodservice Management Professional (FMP) and a certification from the Association of Nutrition and Foodservice Professionals (ANFP) as a CDM, CFPP. Milton is also an alumni fellow for the Larry Minnix Leadership Academy at Leading Age National, and is the Chair for  the diversity, equity, and inclusion committee as well as a member of the  professional development committee for the Association of Nutrition and Food Service Professionals (ANFP). Milton holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration and a Masters of Business Administration from Liberty University. Milton is currently a doctoral candidate at Liberty University, studying Non-profit Leadership and management in Business Administration.

Tips From Trestle is a podcast focused on discussion about senior living food & hospitality. Hosted by Trestle Hospitality Concepts Founder & CEO Aaron Fish, he shares his thoughts, musings and discussions about the food & beverage operations, trends and happenings in the senior living industry. To support the podcast, click here: https://anchor.fm/tips-from-trestle/support

Links:

Milton McGowian: www.linkedin.com/in/milton-l-mcgowian-jr-mba-cdm-cfpp-fmp-mcp-a2298940

Sharon Towers: http://www.sharontowers.org

Aaron Fish: www.linkedin.com/in/aaronfish  

Trestle Hospitality Concepts: www.trestlehospitalityconcepts.com

They say you are what you eat, but how do you know exactly what you are eating these days? Especially in a senior living community where the balance of nutrition, medication interactions, and multiple palettes must be considered? A glimpse into Menu Transparency in Senior Living is a great place to start.

This episode of TFT finds Aaron speaking with Lisa Eberhart about her experience and work around menu transparency, why they believe it is coming for senior living operators whether they are ready or not, and they discuss how to use it to their advantage.

Lisa Eberhart is a Registered Dietitian, Licensed Dietitian/Nutritionist, and holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Institution Management and Dietetics from Iowa State University. Lisa has over 25 years' experience working as a registered dietitian, 13 of which were full-time with North Carolina State University, where Lisa and her team helped NC State Dining become a leader in nutrition and wellness, excelling in technology, food management systems, and ingredient transparency. Lisa is currently the co-founder of Menu Analytics, a foodservice consulting firm focused on menu development and analysis for a wide variety of operators.

With over sixty years of food service experience in restaurants, coffee shops, catering, and large scale dining venues, Menu Analytics is a nutrition and food service consulting service that can help you achieve success by offering you on-demand expertise in nutrition analysis, menu development, business support services, training, and more.

Tips From Trestle is a podcast focused on discussion about senior living food & hospitality. Hosted by Trestle Hospitality Concepts Founder & CEO Aaron Fish, he shares his thoughts, musings and discussions about the food & beverage operations, trends and happenings in the senior living industry. To support the podcast, click here: https://anchor.fm/tips-from-trestle/support

Links:

Lisa Eberhart: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lisa-eberhart-99a14b1b/

Menu Analytics: https://www.menuanalytics.com/

Aaron Fish: www.linkedin.com/in/aaronfish  

Trestle Hospitality Concepts: www.trestlehospitalityconcepts.com

This week's Tips from Trestle podcast dives deep into the Top Senior Living Dining Trends for 2022. Senior Housing News' Liz Ecker joins Aaron to discuss the findings from her most recent research on the topic. Liz used her research to author a white paper sponsored by SHN and Navigator GPO that was shared at the recent Navigator GPO Leadership Summit in Washington, D.C. where both she and Aaron were speaking. Liz and Aaron discuss her findings, as well as talk about some of the conversations around their presentations back in May. 

Liz Ecker is Vice President of Branded Content for Aging Media Network, the parent company of Senior Housing News (SHN). SHN is a business-to-business publication covering topics relating to senior housing and care. Liz previously served as editor of Senior Housing News and has reported widely on topics relating to aging and the care continuum including finance, construction and development, operations, technology, health care and dining.

Senior Housing News (SHN) is the leading source for news and information covering the senior housing industry. With a national reach of over 30,000 professionals that includes senior housing operators, developers, banking institutions, real estate investment trusts, private equity, and service providers catering to the industry. SHN provides a cutting edge and targeted platform unlike any other publication, giving you the opportunity to reach decision makers every day.

Navigator Group Purchasing, Inc.. is the largest and most experienced full-service GPO exclusively focused on senior living. Members gain access to a full range of programs, tools, and services to help them achieve their resident and financial goals.

Tips From Trestle is a podcast focused on discussion about senior living food & hospitality. Hosted by Trestle Hospitality Concepts Founder & CEO Aaron Fish, he shares his thoughts, musings and discussions about the food & beverage operations, trends and happenings in the senior living industry. To support the podcast, click here: https://anchor.fm/tips-from-trestle/support

Links:

Liz Ecker: www.linkedin.com/in/elizabethecker/

Senior Housing News: seniorhousingnews.com

Navigator GPO: www.navigatorgpo.com

Aaron Fish: www.linkedin.com/in/aaronfish  

Trestle Hospitality Concepts: www.trestlehospitalityconcepts.com

On this episode of TFT, Aaron visits with Allison Bonner of Connected Living to discuss all the ways that the technology that we see in various hospitality settings are starting to make their way into senior living communities. They discuss how tech is simplifying the workload of employees, bringing forward new ways to engage residents in a post-COVID world, and some future tech that they both see as being a regular part of senior living communities in the near future.

Allison Bonner is the Director of Marketing and Engagement at Connected Living. Allison began her career in senior living in her hometown of Charleston, SC and has since developed her experience to include working with individual communities and large portfolio operators across the southeast. With a background in hospitality marketing and communications, Allison brings a fresh perspective as a vendor to the senior living industry that puts an emphasis on giving seniors the care they deserve. Through her role with Connected Living, Allison works directly with her customer success team to support technology implementation at care communities. She can be reached directly at [email protected].

About Connected Living - For over a decade, Connected Living has proven to be a trusted industry partner for technology solutions. The Connected Living ecosystem empowers senior living communities to share unique experiences instantly across multiple digital platforms.The innovative suite of technology products and services provides integrated communication and engagement solutions designed to improve efficiencies and consolidate messaging with ease.

Tips From Trestle is a podcast focused on discussion about senior living food & hospitality. Hosted by Aaron Fish, he shares his thoughts, musings and discussions about the food & beverage operations, trends and happenings in the senior living industry. To support the podcast, click here: https://anchor.fm/tips-from-trestle/support

Links:

Allison Bonner (personal LinkedIn) - https://www.linkedin.com/in/absc/

Connected Living (company LinkedIn) - www.linkedin.com/company/297304

Aaron Fish: www.linkedin.com/in/aaronfish  

Trestle Hospitality Concepts: www.trestlehospitalityconcepts.com 

This episode of TFT is for the aspiring regional F&B directors out there! Aaron visits with good friend Jonathan Pinsker and they commiserate and discuss the ins and out of being a regional director, some of the takeaways from their time operating during the height of COVID, and their tips for anyone looking to make the leap into a regional role in senior living.   

Jonathan Pinsker is the Regional Director of Culinary and Nutritional Services at Acts Retirement Life Communities and is based in Florida. He is a graduate of Johnson and Wales with an AOS in Culinary Arts and a BOS in Food Service Management. He has worked with some of the largest contract management companies at such global giants as Office Depot, Carnival Cruise Lines and American Express. Jonathan went back to school in 2015 and obtained an MBA in Hospitality Management from Lynn University.  

Tips From Trestle is a podcast focused on discussion about senior living food & hospitality. Hosted by Aaron Fish, he shares his thoughts, musings and discussions about the food & beverage operations, trends and happenings in the senior living industry. To support the podcast, click here: https://anchor.fm/tips-from-trestle/support   

Links: 

Acts Retirement Life Communities: www.actsretirement.org/

Jonathan Pinsker: www.linkedin.com/in/jonathan-pinsker-029a9b19/

Aaron Fish: www.linkedin.com/in/aaronfish  

Trestle Hospitality Concepts: www.trestlehospitalityconcepts.com

This episode of TFT is packed full as our host Aaron Fish talks with the dynamic duo of resident engagement - Kelly Stranburg & Sara Kyle! We talk about why resident engagement in 2022 isn't just bingo and happy hours, and how the relationship between the resident engagement director and the food & beverage director can and should be one of the most important in any senior living community.  

Sara & Kelly are the principals at LE3 Solutions,  a senior living consultancy focused on creating with their clients a foundation of engagement, health and well-being based on knowing the individual. Their philosophy is far more than adding a variety of programming options on a monthly calendar, waiting for people to show up at the right time and place. They know that health and well-being are not measured by attendance and participation check marks, rather by the joy, passion and vitality an individual experiences.   

Sara Kyle, Ph.D. has spent the last 13 years researching, designing, writing, and implementing resident well-being programs across the continuum of care. From leading and overseeing programming across 108 skilled nursing, assisted living and memory care communities to leading the charge for Holiday Retirement to transform their resident program in 260 communities, Sara thrives in challenging settings. Sara is widely known and respected in the industry. She presents at national conferences, pens articles in notable publications, and serves on various advisory boards.   

Kelly Stranburg, M.Ed., ACSM-EP, CSCS, CDP has worked with aging adults for over 20 years, with 13 of those specific to the senior living industry. Over the years Ms. Stranburg has supported many CCRCs and AL/MC communities. Her most successful roles have been new positions she has created from the ground up which has enabled her to come in to analyze and identify needs and gaps and then create and implement solutions for the greater good of the residents which in turn supports the operators' objectives. Kelly is the creator of award-winning Argentum Best of the Best Wellness Program for 2010, 2011, and 2012. She has been a featured author in the Journal on Active Aging and been a selected speaker at national senior living and active aging conferences.  

Tips From Trestle is a podcast focused on discussion about senior living food & hospitality. Hosted by Aaron Fish, he shares his thoughts, musings and discussions about the food & beverage operations, trends and happenings in the senior living industry. To support the podcast, click here: https://anchor.fm/tips-from-trestle/support   

Links: 

LE3 Solutions: www.le3solutions.com 

Sara Kyle: www.linkedin.com/in/sara-kyle-phd-0972504/ 

Kelly Stranburg: www.linkedin.com/in/kelly-stranburg-m-ed-acsm-ep-cscs-cdp-457b204b/ 

Aaron Fish: www.linkedin.com/in/aaronfish  

Trestle Hospitality Concepts: www.trestlehospitalityconcepts.com    

As a follow up to Does Your Organization Have a Nutrition Philosophy?, Aaron continues his conversation with Margaret Roche about nutrition philosophy and putting your newly developed strategy into action. The conversation ranges on topics that include operationalizing your strategy, blending your team, and capitalizing on the strengths of the operator, dietitian, and the chef.

Margaret Roche MS, RD, CSG, CDE, FADA is the founder of Roche Dietitians and a nationally recognized leader in nutrition consulting. Maggie and her team at Roche Dietitians create strategies that help health care organizations and businesses that support healthcare distinguish themselves through food and nutrition.  Maggie is a registered dietitian with a master’s degree in clinical nutrition. She has advanced credentials as a certified diabetes educator, is board certified as a specialist in gerontological nutrition and is distinguished as a Fellow of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics.

Tips From Trestle is a podcast focused on discussion about senior living food & hospitality. Hosted by Aaron Fish, he shares his thoughts, musings and discussions about the food & beverage operations, trends and happenings in the senior living industry. To support the podcast, click here: https://anchor.fm/tips-from-trestle/support 

Links:

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