Jenny and Pam take a look back
Our Guiding Principle: Treating Families Like Our Own
Jenny: As we move into 2025, we embark on our 13th year of treating families like our own! I am proud of what we have accomplished as a team at Vesta Senior Network and look forward to continuing to be the “go-to” placement specialists in our community. It’s hard to believe, but since 2013, we have helped THOUSANDS of families find the best care for their loved ones. As I thought about all the things we’ve learned and all that we have accomplished, I took a little stroll down memory lane, and I‘d like to share the story with you.
The Early Days
Back at the end of 2012, I was at a crossroads in my career and was considering the next appropriate step. I wanted to be able to use my marketing and sales experience and at the same time remain closer to home to be able to be there for my boys’ soccer games and school activities. I asked my good friend Pam, whom I met through our parish and school, St Jude in Wauwatosa, to help me with my resume. Thinking like a salesperson, I wanted to get into an industry that would grow organically. I was thinking about finding a position with a company that supplies products or services to seniors. Knowing that the Baby Boomers are aging, I knew that services for this generation would create much demand. My thought process was that if you are going to be good in sales you want to be able to post double-digit growth!
The next day, I received a phone call from Pam asking me to come over for coffee. This seemed like a very serious request because we usually got together in the evenings for a beer! What I didn’t know was that Pam had been thinking similar thoughts about what was next for her and her career, and she had an idea…
Pam shared her idea for developing a business that would help find the right kind of care for their elderly loved ones by making it our job to become experts in understanding how care is provided for our elders in Wisconsin. We would be able to use our business acumen to investigate, learn, and understand which communities are doing a good job, and why.
Using our Power for Good
I was shocked at how the idea hit me in the heart. I was practically moved to tears. One of my grandfathers, ‘Pop’, had been in assisted living. But more relevant to me at that moment was how Pam explained we could be subjective daughters and help families who are going through a healthcare crisis with their parents. My mom, Sally, passed from cancer at the age of 61 when I was just 30. I remember how I wanted to be my most intelligent self to support my dad, but frequently came out of meetings at the hospital with tears streaming and nothing written in my notebook. We could use our power for good! This was a big step for both Pam and I to take, but we did it! We left behind salaries and company cars…It was huge to have the wonderful love and support of our husbands.
Pam had been in the pharmaceutical industry and had been working in long-term care facilities. She knew that there were franchises and other ways to launch this business, but as we discussed the ins and outs of what we wanted to accomplish, we decided a franchise was not for us. We wanted to be able to follow our hearts and do what was right for the families we served, rather than be beholden to any sort of corporate expectations. The next thing you know, we were forming an LLC at her kitchen table on January 20, 2013!
That first year was crazy! I could work part-time for my employer at the time, so I was able to spend time learning and networking in our elder care industry here in Milwaukee. Pam had loads of intel to impart upon me since she was in and out of skilled nursing and assisted living facilities daily. She would educate me and send me on my way to meet people and promise them that I had a silent partner in Vesta Senior Network… and that they would be so surprised and happy to learn who it was once we were able to make a formal announcement. I was the “face of Vesta” and Pam was behind the scenes until June 7, 2013. That is my birthday, and it seemed fitting that we fully launched our business and closed our previous chapters on that day.
We have never looked back since. The first two years were tough. We were making far less money than we were used to for a bit, so there was a bit more tuna casserole on the table and less eating at restaurants back then! We both have vivid memories of the summertime in those early years. We would put my two little boys and her two little girls, eight-year-olds and six-year-olds, in our minivans for adventures all together most every day of the week! That way, we could each have days to work and days to spend with the kids. We created a formula for everything: for the kids, it was spending one day with Jenny, one day with Pam, one day with the grandmas, one day with a super fun babysitter, and on Fridays, we would work from home. Often on those Fridays, the kids would be in tow as we went to visit our clients in their new homes. Those days were special for the kids, as well as the clients.
Over the years we have stayed true to our original mission – to treat families like our own. Our qualifiers were always: Is it good enough for my Dad? Is it good enough for Pam’s mom? How do we want our people treated? How can we help people make such a life-changing and important decision for their parents? These are the loving parents who raised us – now we have to figure out how to make sure they get the care, attention, love, and dignity they deserve. This has been a more than rewarding career. It is so inspiring to hear the relief in a son or daughter’s voice when I tell them that I know I can help them.
The Time Capsule
Pam: As I was searching for a document in some files this week, I came across some things I had written over the years…it was almost like a time capsule. As much as we have seen change in our world and our industry, I was amazed at how many things have remained the same!
First and foremost, as Jenny said, our guiding principle at Vesta remains the same: treating families like our own. We continue to provide education, work with integrity, and build relationships with others in the elder care community who do the same. We are immensely proud of what we do and appreciate those who do it with us!
So What Has Changed?
- There are significantly more seniors who need care today than did 13 years ago, and there are significantly fewer people providing that care. That makes our job significantly more challenging. We continue to vet, vet, and re-vet those assisted living and memory care communities we work with so that we know who continues to provide great care and service. We continue to learn about other businesses and services that can aid our clients in getting the services they need to keep them safe and moving toward the best and most sustainable solution for their future.
- As we’ve seen over the years, skilled nursing facilities or “nursing homes” have evolved into what we see more as “geriatric hospitals” or subacute facilities based on how Medicare payment models have changed and the needs of our older adults have changed. A Loved One’s Deteriorating Health – Considering Assisted Living – Vesta Senior Network In fact, many nursing homes have closed altogether, and others have closed skilled units and remodeled and repurposed rooms to become additional assisted living apartments. These changes address the need for more people who need assistance with their activities of daily living, rather than medical or “skilled” needs. It is great that elder care providers are recognizing the change in need and are evolving to create a less restrictive and more homelike environment for our elders needing care.
- One thing that hasn’t changed is that people really never want to leave their homes. Like we always say, we have never had anyone show up at the door of an assisted living community with their bags packed saying “Let me in!” But what has changed is that we are seeing more 1 bedroom and 2 bedroom apartments in higher levels of care communities than ever before. For many people, not having to live in a single room or give up “everything” due to the small space makes a move to senior living that much more palatable.
- Believe it or not, the numbers and types of therapy animals have increased over the years, too! Now, not only do therapy dogs make visits to communities, but we have even seen therapy ponies and chickens make regular visits! I am told that chickens are very loving creatures and enjoy being held. How can someone not be amused by a chicken in a diaper?
As our Baby Boomers age and require more care, we are certain to see more and more innovation and attention to what matters to them. We will evolve, too, to be better able to help them find the best care. Our commitment to our clients and finding them the highest quality care will not change. We look forward to another decade of treating families like our own.
Jenny & Pam