Death Isn’t a Failure | Ep. 528

For Veterans Day, we’re revisiting a conversation about what it means to support military families long after the headlines fade.In this previously recorded episode of Tips from Trestle, Aaron Fish welcomes Navy veteran Michael Lammey to discuss recovery, caregiving, family resilience, and the educational opportunities supported by Folds of Honor.Michael shares how a 2006 boiler explosion aboard the USS Frank Cable changed his life and his family’s future. He reflects on his wife’s role as his caregiver, his children’s adjustment to a new normal, and how scholarship support helped his family move forward.In this conversation:Rebuilding family life after a military injury.The often-unseen responsibilities of family caregivers.How educational support can create lasting opportunities.Why military and first responder families need sustained support.Ways to help through awareness, connection, and community involvement.Whether you’re listening for the first time or returning to the episode, this Veterans Day re-release offers a different perspective on service—and the responsibility to keep showing up.Follow Tips from Trestle for conversations about senior living, hospitality, leadership, and community. Connect with the show: @tipsfromtrestleTips from Trestle is sponsored by eMenuChoice, WiseOx AI, Link Consulting, Dining With Dementia, and The 100% Leader.Recording note: This is a re-release of a previously recorded interview. Family updates, organizational figures, and giving options discussed reflect the original recording.Content note: Includes discussion of a serious military accident, burn injuries, and recovery.

A big heart isn’t a business plan—discover what it really takes to turn a passion for seniors into a residential assisted living home where people thrive.Aaron Fish welcomes Isabelle Guarino of Residential Assisted Living Academy to Tips from Trestle for a conversation about small care home ownership, caregiver leadership, and the preparation behind a people-centered business.Recorded at the RAL Assisted Living Conference, this episode explores how Isabelle’s grandmother’s care needs inspired her family to pursue a different approach to senior housing. Aaron and Isabelle also discuss why owners need more than vendors and training: they need a professional community that understands the challenges.In this episode:Why smaller care home owners needed a conference of their ownHow owner isolation affects the entrepreneurial experienceWhy serving seniors also means supporting caregiversWhere food and hospitality fit into the resident experienceWhy education should come before assisted living ownershipWhether you are an aspiring care home owner, an experienced operator, or a senior living leader, this conversation brings the focus back to people serving people.Follow Tips from Trestle for more conversations about senior living food, hospitality, leadership, and community experience.Tips from Trestle is sponsored by eMenuChoice, WiseOx, Link Consulting, Dining With Dementia, and The 100% Leader.Learn more: RAL Academy at ral101.com. Connect with the show: @tipsfromtrestle.

Senior living holiday dining takes more than a great menu. It takes a staffing plan, clear family communication, accurate guest counts—and a team that is not learning the plan on Thanksgiving morning.Aaron Fish welcomes Steven Cameron back to Tips from Trestle for a practical conversation about preparing senior living communities for Thanksgiving, Christmas, and other major celebrations.They discuss how to:Get ahead of turkey orders and holiday protein purchasing.Build holiday schedules around employee preferences and shorter shifts.Coordinate leadership coverage and kitchen time-off requests.Communicate meal times, guest policies, and reservations to residents and families.Use banquet event orders to keep culinary, engagement, marketing, and support teams aligned.Track attendance, food quantities, and leftovers to improve next year’s plan.Whether you lead a small assisted living community or a large senior living campus, the goal is the same: prepare early enough to make the celebration feel personal.Listen for practical ideas on holiday staffing, foodservice operations, event planning, and the resident dining experience.Follow Tips from Trestle for more conversations about senior living food, hospitality, leadership, and community experience. Connect with the show: @tipsfromtrestleTips from Trestle is sponsored by eMenuChoice, WiseOx AI, LINK Consulting, the Dining with Dementia Workshop, and The 100% Leader.

What if your employee appreciation strategy is missing what your team actually needs?Jean Hartnett, founder of Radical Sabbatical, joins Aaron Fish on Tips from Trestle to explore trauma-informed care, workforce wellbeing, and the human side of senior living leadership.Together, they examine adverse childhood experiences, or ACEs, toxic stress, and the expectation that employees should leave personal struggles at the door. Jean connects these ideas to nursing homes, assisted living, and the everyday work of leading caregivers and hospitality teams.For executive directors, dining leaders, department heads, and senior care professionals, this conversation offers a different lens on workplace culture and employee support.Guest: Jean Hartnett, founder of Radical SabbaticalHost: Aaron FishFollow Tips from Trestle for conversations about senior living food, hospitality, leadership, and the community experience. Tips from Trestle is sponsored by WiseOx AI, LINK Consulting, the Dining with Dementia Workshop, and The 100% Leader.Connect with the show: @tipsfromtrestle

How can senior living teams better support families through dementia? Aaron Fish talks with Dawn Platt, National Director of Memory Care at Discovery Senior Living and host of The Disappearing Mind. She has more than 30 years in dementia care and cared for her mother through vascular dementia.In this episode:Why families resist a diagnosis, and why it matters120+ types of dementia, and why not everything is dementiaAmbiguous loss and how to reframe griefSibling conflict and family dynamicsWhy every behavior is a voiceThe four stages of understandingWhy one-size-fits-all memory care no longer worksPerfect for senior living operators, memory care directors, and hospitality and dining leaders.And follow The Disappearing Mind Podcast wherever you get your favorite podcasts.Follow Tips from Trestle on Spotify, Apple, and YouTube. More at trestlehospitalityconcepts.com. Sponsored by WiseOx AI, Link Consulting , the Dining with Dementia Workshop, and the 100% Leader.

How does a senior living community build a brand families trust before they ever tour? Aaron Fish talks with Sara Mitchell, now COO and CMO of the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame, about branding, rebranding, and authentic marketing. Recorded live while Sara was president and co-founder of a senior living marketing agency, the episode covers Google reviews and SEO, boomers turning 80, tour-day hospitality, rebrand mistakes, recruiting, website and Facebook metrics, lead forms, consistent messaging, and resident ambassadors. A practical listen for senior living marketers, executive directors, sales teams, and operators.Tips from Trestle is sponsored by: WiseOx AI, Link Consulting, Dining With Dementia, & The 100% Leader

What if a better end-of-life experience in senior living begins long before someone’s final days?Aaron Fish sits down with Heather Holmes, co-founder of The Vibe, a nature-inspired dementia care home in Gretna, Nebraska. Heather brings experience in senior living, therapeutic recreation, and death doula work to a candid discussion about dementia care, family conversations, and the way communities support caregivers through grief.They explore how The Vibe plans to use gardens, natural light, music, food, and a quieter daily rhythm to create a sense of home. Heather also explains why she wants teams to learn each person’s story early, talk openly about end-of-life wishes, and give families room to ask difficult questions.The conversation ends with a practical challenge for senior living operators: get clear on what you believe about aging, caregiving, and death—then ask your team what they believe. A thoughtful listen for leaders in memory care, assisted living, hospitality, and family support.TFT is sponsored by WiseOx AI, LINK Consulting, Dining With Dementia, & The 100% Leader

Why do capable senior living leaders become overwhelmed, reactive, and stuck answering every question?In this episode of Tips from Trestle, Aaron Fish sits down with Jill Valdez, Founder and COO of Link Consulting, to explore one of senior living’s most pressing operational challenges: leadership clarity.Jill explains why a strong caregiver, department head, or marketer is not automatically prepared to become an executive director—and what organizations must do to help emerging leaders succeed. Together, Aaron and Jill unpack how unclear roles, weak delegation, and inconsistent accountability affect team culture, employee engagement, resident satisfaction, family trust, occupancy, and financial performance.You’ll hear practical strategies for:Delegating without losing controlSetting clear decision-making guardrailsBuilding accountability through standups, shift handoffs, and KPIsDeveloping department leaders instead of creating bottlenecksConnecting leadership behavior to resident experienceDiagnosing the gap between today’s reality and a thriving community visionA must-listen for executive directors, regional operators, owners, clinical leaders, hospitality professionals, and anyone building stronger senior living teams.

Can AI make senior living feel more personal, not less? In this episode of Tips From Trestle, host Aaron Fish talks with Lance Bell, CEO and Chief AI Officer of ServingIntel, about how senior living communities are killing pen-and-paper workflows and building unified AI operating systems for dining, housekeeping, retail, and maintenance. Aaron and Lance explore how proactive AI check-ins let caregivers walk into a resident's room already knowing about her recent yoga class or an overcooked breakfast — turning small moments into major trust builders. They also cover in-room pre-ordering, voice-AI order taking, real-time AI satisfaction surveys, and how eliminating operational friction directly impacts NOI, staffing, and resident quality of life. A practical, candid conversation for senior living operators exploring AI, hospitality technology, and resident experience strategy. Learn more about ServingIntel at servingintel.com.

What happens when a two-time James Beard semifinalist brings restaurant systems into senior living dining? Host Aaron Fish sits down with Steven Cameron, VP of Culinary Experience at Trestle Hospitality Concepts, to break down the four complaints every dining room hears — and which ones are solvable with equipment and SOPs versus culture and training.Steven shares the real story of clocking a 28-minute table greet, then using host stands, back waiters, server sections, and reservations to cut dinner service from two and a half hours to 52 minutes, with residents helping shape the change. They also cover point-of-sale systems senior living operators overlook, how to adapt fine dining structures for assisted living and memory care, and how a standardized catering program can become an unexpected revenue stream.Connect with Steven at trestlehospitalityconcepts.com or [email protected] from Trestle is sponsored by: WiseOx AI, Dining with Dementia Workshop, and the 100% Leader.Keywords: senior living dining, restaurant efficiency, hospitality leadership, point-of-sale systems, resident experience, dining room service, senior living operations, culinary leadership.