Everyone working in senior living has a good reason and personal story about what led them to the industry. For our career issue we wanted to take the opportunity to hear about some of them and highlight the variety of roles that help provide residents with the best quality of care.
Tiffany Rowe, community relations director, StoneCreek of Copperfield in Houston, Texas
Tiffany Rowe says she “stumbled” into senior living. Her professional career began in account manage- ment and sales in the insurance industry, before she became a mother and stayed home to raise her young children. When her kids reached school age, Rowe looked for something part-time that would get her home at the end of the school day. “I knew I was ready to go back to work, but I just hadn’t found
a lot of passion in my old career,” Rowe said. “I wanted to try something different.” Five streets away from her Houston-area home, a new indepen-
dent senior living community was preparing to open. Rowe did some research and found the prospect of working in senior living interested her. She landed a front-desk job that got her home by 3 p.m. She loved it. “It was amazing because it was a startup, and we had so many
celebrations as we moved in our new residents.” Rowe called the front desk the “heartbeat” of a senior living community. “As the front desk manager, I got to know pretty much every resident very well. I was there almost every time they moved in, and I saw what that transition looked like. It was such a big step in their life, and it felt like such an intimate, special time to be with them.” Rowe eventually became the business office manager of the
community and then moved up to assistant executive director. Some of the more difficult aspects of the senior living field eventu- ally wore on her, and she stepped away for a sales job in a different industry. Still, she felt no purpose in her new work. When a former supervisor called and asked her to return to senior living in a sales position, she jumped at the opportunity. “In sales, you have a chance to work with the families from the
very beginning of the process, and I love that,” Rowe said. “I feel like I shine in that position of getting to educate people about what senior living is. I love to get up in the morning and come to work. I love meeting new families. I love helping the operations team take care of the families once they get here.” Today, Rowe serves as community relations director for Stone-
“I love to get up in the morning and come to work. I love meeting new families. I love helping the operations team take care of the families once they get here.”
– Tiffany Rowe
Creek of Copperfield, a new Houston community that will open later this year. Rowe mentioned she enjoys opening families’ eyes to the possibilities of senior living, particularly the camaraderie and sense of community that new residents will find. She enjoys seeing the expressions on the faces of both prospective residents and their families as their worry gives way to excitement. “That’s been a real joy for me,” commented Rowe. Rowe said she feels fortunate to have worked in a range of positions in the senior living field. “Moving through the progression of different positions really
has taught me that it does take all of these roles to make things work – they’re all equally important,” Rowe said. “I think it makes me a good team member, and it makes me an understanding leader. It's been great for my growth personally and professionally.”
Mike Prager, chef, Clarendale of Algonquin in Algonquin, Illinois
Mike Prager had been working in the kitchens of hotels and restaurants for about a decade when the COVID-19 pandemic arrived. The interruption of nor- mal operations in the restaurant world gave Prager pause and made him think about his career. He realized he wanted to find employment that offered him a better work-life balance. He felt as though he had spent nearly 10 years working all the time. When he found an opening for the
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