Stepping up and choosing to become a leader takes courage, imagination and a vision. That’s just the beginning. For Natalie, Morgan and Natasha, “That” moment, when they first considered becoming a women-owned business, was a watershed moment. Nothing is ever the same. From then on, it defines who they are, what they want and where they’re going. Leading a business teaches many lessons. These are three of the key lessons they shared in our recent interview.
Less Time, More Time
Time is measured in many ways. Now and then. Youth and age. One of the commonalities all three women share is their passion for seniors and senior living. As work-from-home moms, they each appreciate the additional time they can spend with their children. Because, as every mom knows, it all goes by so fast. But they also see time in other ways now.
For Natasha Drake, time is a tangible asset as she writes, produces and edits a podcast she developed simultaneously while establishing her company, Drake Strategic. She admits to being a bit surprised at just how much time it takes to create each 15-minute production. She chose to limit the length of the episodes because everyone is busy. As a skilled communicator, she finds the format ideal for sharing tips and ideas about marketing in a fun and informational way for senior living marketers.
Leadership Matters
Many young girls in the Sixties believed it was only a matter of time before those glass ceilings would be history. We know that’s not the case. In senior living today, gender bias means women are seen as the care providers and men as leaders. It’s something all three women understand.
Morgan Lamphere has watched women gain a foothold in senior living leadership roles over the course of her career. But she knows changing the status quo takes time. When asked about the impact of women as senior living industry leaders, she quickly notes the lack of representation on a community’s board of directors. The board should reflect its community as they set the tone and direction for it. While many boards are still mostly male, she does see this as an exciting time as communities make a conscious effort to change.
Making an Impact
Changing the world can appear to be impossible at times. But we all know one person can change everything. Founding a company takes imagination and vision. For Morgan, her vision is embodied in her mother. Natasha’s vision is framed by her certainty that she has been called to follow this path as a result of her faith.
For Natalie Groeger, her vision of the future is rooted in helping senior living leverage the power of technology. Her mission in founding the Headlamp Group is to integrate artificial intelligence and technology to make data more actionable. She says too many people are either afraid of technology or only see its use in senior communities as a cost-cutting measure. Instead, she believes AI coupled with data can help us make better decisions. As she looks ahead, she envisions many more ways AI-guided applications can make the lives of those in senior communities better.
Lessons Learned, Lessons Shared
All three women are wives and mothers. So the lessons they’re learning are as important as the ones they’re sharing with us and their children.
The most important lesson for Natasha has been the power of her faith. It’s a lesson she’s passing on to her three children. By following His path for her, she’s found it easier to take this leap into the unknown. The experience is teaching her to trust more, to be open to what happens. That’s not to say there aren’t days when she has her doubts and wonders why she made the jump to being a solopreneur. But the support she’s been receiving from her network of friends and colleagues helps to remind her that she can do this.
Morgan, mom to two boys, has achieved “cool” status as Lauren Rose Senior Advisors came into being. She and her husband explained the impacts on their life in child-friendly ways. As a result, the boys’ first response was “Does that mean I could start a business, too?” The discussion continued as they explained big-picture thinking and how to differentiate their new business from competitors. Morgan sees all of this as a positive. The boys’ thinking has changed as they’ve become more self-confident. They understand they too can choose to be an employee or an employer.
Natalie’s two boys are too young to appreciate that mom intends to break new ground in senior living. But soon, they’ll be old enough to understand that hard work can get you a very long way, but in the end it’s not enough. Natalie believes you must surround yourself with good people because no one can do it alone and that other people are not a threat. She welcomes the opportunity to work within a group since one is not greater than many. At the end of the day, if others intimidate you, you’re going to fail.
The Future is Bright
In part 1, we saw how each of these women knows who they are and where they want to go. They bring a passion for senior living to their work as they seek to leverage technology and data, provide proven strategic thinking and experience-driven campaigns. How do they connect to Sabal Group? They understand that it all begins with having the right data about their target audience. If you’d like to know more, give Maribeth a call. We’d love to chat with you about how we can help you leverage the power of data.
Natasha Drake is the founder and CEO of Drake Strategic. She brings 17 years of expertise in community branding, positioning and lead generation strategies to a full slate of strategic services in senior living. Connect with her on LinkedIn or catch an episode of her podcast, The Drake Insights.
Natalie Groeger is in the process of founding Headlamp Group. Her goal is to bring AI and technology to create data that is more actionable for the senior living industry. Her vision is to use technology to improve the lives of residents. Connect with her on LinkedIn.
Morgan Lamphere is the founder and president of Lauren Rose Senior Advisors. She brings 20 years of experience in sales and marketing to a full set of services to help communities drive sustainable sales and growth. Connect with her on LinkedIn.
