Bredimus said his background in hospitality has helped with the transition to senior living. “Working in the hospitality industry, you get to work with all


different kinds of people, but the idea with everyone is to try to be as empathetic as possible and to understand what they’re looking for,” Bredimus said. “I think that that skill set from hospitality is very translatable into the active aging community, because even though I’m not in that age demographic, I do my best to use my listening and my understanding skills to see how I can be the most helpful.” Bredimus said he frequently is impressed with the physical aptitude of the older adults he serves, and he loves to help them expand their abilities, including sometimes providing support to residents who are rehabilitating from surgery or injuries – helping them “find their groove again.” Since his career shift, Bredimus said he has worked hard to build


his expertise in active aging. “People are coming to me with questions that are impacting


their lives, so it’s really important for me to give the best answers that I possibly can,” Bredimus said. Bredimus believes it is especially important to program fun into


fitness and wellness activities in senior living because so many residents still have the outdated idea of “no pain, no gain,” hold- ing onto the misconception that results require intensity. Bredimus notes that the social aspect of fitness is as important as the health benefits for an older population. “It should be fun, and it should reflect the residents’ interests,”


he said. “I’m always trying to learn how to make the content and the delivery of it as fun and enjoyable as possible.”


James Arp, executive director, Belmont Village Senior Living La Jolla in San Diego, California


As a child, James Arp volunteered at a skilled nursing facility in his hometown of Sioux Falls, South Dakota. His mother was a nurse at the facility, and she would bring Arp and his sisters to work on days when illness or heavy snow kept one of her colleagues from getting to work, leaving the children to help with activities and sometimes to assist at mealtimes. Little did Arp know that the experience would serve as his first glimpse into a field that would become his career. Arp studied psychology and communication disorders in col-


lege, and his first professional stop was working with people with developmental disabilities and mental disabilities in a nonprofit group home. Then he shifted gears to become the memory pro- gram director for Belmont Village Sabre Springs, a senior living community in San Diego. He quickly recognized that senior living was a natural fit for him. Arp next served as regional director of programming and memory care for Belmont Village for five years, providing support


at different facilities, before getting the chance to lead his own community as executive director of Belmont Village Westwood in Los Angeles. “I’ve really enjoyed every moment of being an executive direc-


tor, working with residents, families and staff to create a wonderful place to live, prosper and work,” Arp said. Arp feels particular pride in serving as a mentor and helping team members grow in their professions. “It’s very special to me to help people in their careers, helping them


realize what they’d like to do and helping them get there.” Along the way, Arp and his team have earned a host of ac-


colades, such as Westwood being recognized as being among the top 25 communities in the country, according to U.S. News & World Report. In 2018, Arp received Argentum’s Community Leadership Award, which goes to someone who displays exem- plary leadership in senior living community management. Arp most recently was tapped to serve as executive director


of Belmont Village La Jolla in San Diego, which opened in July. Arp said the experience of opening a new community has been “a wild ride.” He went from a community that operated at 100% occupancy with an experienced staff to a new community with zero residents and a largely new staff. “It’s been a wonderful journey so far,” Arp said. “I look forward


to building this team here and doing something special.” Arp loves working in a field that allows him and his team to make such a large impact on so many people. “You develop these deep connections with residents, whether


they live with you for a year or much longer,” Arp said. “One resident I became very close with at Westwood lived there for 13 years. I cherish that. I look forward to coming to work every day to see what the journey is going to be that day and to see and help a group of people that are like an extended family for me.”


Chasity Robinson Mwangi, community relations director for Morningside Place, Overland, Kansas


Chasity Robinson Mwangi didn’t choose a career in senior living, she said. Senior living chose her. Mwangi was 15 years old when


she started helping her mother with private caregiving work. Her mother was putting herself through nursing school, and Mwangi said bringing her along was “a way to keep me safe and not doing things I shouldn’t do.” They would work together at night, helping to take care of older adults in their homes. Later, Mwangi would work as a private caregiver in college to pay her own way through school, giving up her nights and weekends to stay with women suffering from dementia. The experience had a powerful effect on Mwangi. “I thought they were giving me an opportunity to make money


and go to school,” Mwangi said. “But the real opportunity came when I started realizing the lessons that I was learning along the


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