Chris Guay, the founder, and CEO of Vitality Living is with me on today’s episode of Boomer Living. Vitality Living offers retirement living, assisted living, and memory care communities where residents can live purposefully and experience a profound sense of belonging.
With more than 20 years of operations, management, and leadership experience, he has a background from community-level leadership roles to senior executive positions at some of the industry’s largest providers. I’m eager to talk to him today about leadership, culture, and the long-term future of the senior housing industry.
Timestamps:
[00:00] Pre-Intro dialogue from Chris
[01:33] Get to know you
[04:43] Introduction to Chris Guay
[05:26] You obviously have a passion for serving the older adults, baby boomers, and the silent generation. Where did this drive come from? Was it from experiences that you had with your grandparents?
[09:56] The meaning behind the name “Vitality”
[11:21] Now you mentioned several reasons, what sets your company apart from the others now? How do you make sure that your customers keep coming back to you or refer you to their neighbors into the relative?
[17:06] You mentioned a little bit about differentiating between senior living and long-term care. Can you give a summary or your thoughts on that?
[19:19] You’ve spoken about the importance of culture in your communities. Can you provide some example that illustrates that?
[25:54] How do you empower your employees to take the initiative and be leaders of their own projects?
[31:55] Becoming a leader is a journey rather than a destination. Can you share some lessons learned of significant leadership skills that you know, over the course of your career? And then how are you continuing to develop your leadership skills?
[36:03] What effect the strong leadership has on residents in terms of the impact on the community? Do you think they feel that, do they see that?
[38:04] We all know the devastating effects of COVID on the senior living industry in the past year. What do you think will be the long-term impact on the industry?
[41:27] Would you say the future is bright for the senior housing industry?
[43:38] Do you have any other thoughts that you would like to share?
[44:52] Wrap-up
Bio:
Chris Guay
Founder & CEO at Vitality Senior Living
“My inspiration comes from my family and their passion to live life to the fullest. I was blessed with grandparents that played a major role in my life. For as long as I can remember, these wonderful human beings instilled a passion in me to live life to the fullest. From a grandfather who learned how to ski in his 50’s to a grandmother who had a dune buggy in her 70’s, I grew up seeing that life was not limited by age. This inspired me to build Vitality and create life, energy, and purpose for older adults for decades to come. It is my passion to help everyone, regardless of age and circumstance, fully experience life every day they can!”
Chris has 20+ years of operations, management, and leadership experience in the Senior Living industry. His broad background was achieved through leadership roles starting at the community level through senior executive positions with the industry’s largest providers, Emeritus & Brookdale Senior Living. He founded Vitality Living in 2016, a company focused on making a real positive difference in the lives of older adults and those who serve them. He is an innovator in the industry and is committed to creating a company that engages residents, families, and team members in successful aging.
Learn more about Chris here:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chris-guay-01aa038/
Vitality Senior Living: https://www.vitalityseniorliving.com/