Jennifer Braun, Executive Director of The Grove at Midtown, joins Melissa Labor, Chief People Officer of 12 Oaks Senior Living, to share her journey in senior living, the impact of 12 Oaks’ leadership and core values, and her approach to building a successful team and community through transparency, trust, and comprehensive training.
You’re listening to the Roots podcast by 12 Oaks, where we’ll be joined by industry leaders to discuss and highlight the character, competency and care that is required to successfully manage senior living portfolios.
Melissa 00:14
Welcome to The Roots Podcast by 12 Oaks Senior Living. I am Melissa Labor, and I am so excited that we are having this conversation today with a very special guest.
Jenn Braun is with us. And Jen has been with 12 Oaks for a while. We’ve got a recent transition that has happened and we are, so, missing her. But that’s all right. We’re still friends and we’re having these kind of conversations and always hopeful that maybe she’ll come back to the family at some point. So, Jen is the Executive Director at The Grove at Midtown in Tulsa, Oklahoma, and I was hoping we could start, Jen, by you just giving everyone a little bit of insight on who you are, how you got into senior living, and the path that brought you to 12 Oaks.
Jenn 01:08
Hi, Melissa. It’s great to see you. I started in senior living in 1999, in Tahlequah, Oklahoma, in a nursing home, and I worked in long term care for 13 years. And in 2012, I switched my career path to assisted living. And I have been working in assisted living since 2012. And so I started as a dietary manager in long term care and then quickly got my CNA license, my CMA license, and have worked in all facets in long term care facilities. I’ve been a sales director, I’ve been a dietary manager, I’ve been a certified nurse’s aide, I’ve been a certified medication aide. I have been a business office manager, payroll clerk. Just started my career and wanted to learn every facet about the industry.
And so it kind of gives me a good perspective, being a leader of what my associates are going through, in the community. And so it helps me allow myself to empower my people to do their jobs and do them well, then ask questions along the way and get guidance if needed.
Melissa 02:30
Do you think you would give that advice to others that are wanting to have a career in senior living? That having a path like that in lots of different roles? Is that something you think has added to your success?
Jenn 02:47
I absolutely think it has helped with my success, for sure. But it also helps you learn to empower your employees to do the right thing. And so being very transparent, that comes out of my mouth quite a bit when I’m leading my team because I want them to be transparent. It’s easier to fix issues or better the environment in your community if everyone is transparent and honest and it helps with fixing the things that we need to work on as a team. And so, yes, I definitely think that it has helped my career and being successful because I know each department and how it’s supposed to be ran.
Melissa 03:33
That’s got to instill a lot of respect in your people too, because they know you’ve done those roles and you’ve been there, and then you’re encouraging and empowering them, and they can see your progress and how successful you’ve been, what a great leader you are. And so that’s got to be really inspiring to work with and beside you. I, luckily, have had the opportunity and the short period of time compared to others that have worked with you from 12 Oaks, but at least it’s been really great to work with you and be inspired by you at the same time.
Jenn 04:09
I’m inspired by a lot of people at 12 Oaks, too.
Melissa 04:12
Well, let’s make that kind of transition then. Tell us about how you came to 12 Oaks and, maybe just a few little impressions of what you thought about when you got here first.
Jenn 04:25
When I first came to 12 Oaks, I run a community in Tulsa, Oklahoma that is a managed property. And we’ve changed management companies quite frequently at this community. I think we’ve done five transitions in the years that I’ve been here, because I’ve been here eight years. So whenever we transition to 12 Oaks, of course, you’re always apprehensive when you go to a new leadership group or a company and, when we went to 12 Oaks, my first impression was excellence because you all live out your core values. I read about you all online and kind of dug deep into your core values and the culture at 12 Oaks and was thinking, if they truly live out their culture, this is going to be a fantastic place to work. And so, first impression, first day meeting the entire leadership team, Home Office, everyone there is a leader.
Melissa 05:33
You started digging in. There’s always that first impression, right, of okay that I see on the surface. And I know they talk about core values, but being with that group for eight years, what has continued to sustain that? And what have you seen people do to make sure that it is alive and well?
Jenn 05:55
There’s a lot of hands on at 12 Oaks I feel. I feel like the support from Home Office, not just the top tier leadership at Home Office, but all the way down to accounting to, payroll to, Paul and, asset management. There are so many things: marketing. Everyone has their place, but they also make sure that at the community level that we’re supported, that our questions are answered, that any problems that we’re having, they come in and it’s hands on and they help fix it.
Just the support that we had from Home Office was amazing. And the respect from each individual department that you work with at Home Office back and forth with one another, was amazing. I’ve never seen that kind of relationship built that quickly with people that you work with, that don’t even work in the town that you live in or the state that you live in.
And so it was pretty amazing. I feel like all of my employees and my leadership team felt the same. We’ve all talked about it and just appreciated all the support that we got. And actually the investment that you put into the employees that you have is amazing. With the investment comment, I’m going to go into the EI labs
Melissa 07:36
Near and dear to my heart for sure. So, yes. Tell us about your experiences.
Jenn 07:41
When we go to those trainings, it’s all the leadership in communities that come, which is the executive directors and the resident care directors. And we also get to see everyone from different states that run different sized communities, smaller communities, larger communities, and we get to collaborate with one another. But we also get to talk about things that are on a confidential level that you would probably not talk about normally with your leadership, but it’s set up in a way that you sign a confidentiality agreement and then you can actually vent and talk real case scenarios, in your communities, in your personal life. Anything that is said in that training, it’s all confidential. But there’s keynotes that they take out of that training. Like if you have multiple people that are saying the same thing that they’re struggling with, then those key points are pulled out. But the verbalization of who it came from is not disclosed, which is very relaxing environment for someone that’s in a management role or operations role. And, I felt like that my care director had those same feelings. And so it was amazing.
Melissa 09:05
We think that’s fairly unique. And, how did you feel about that? I guess maybe the first time? Were you like, “What in the world is going on?”
Jenn 09:14
First I think everyone is because Joels will put you with new people. And when the new people come in, if you’re managing their community, 12 Oaks is managing their community Joels will put you with a new person if you’ve been to EI Lab and things like that, and let you be that person that kind of helps the new person go through the training. Because at first it is a little different, and it’s not something that you’re used to in our industry of just being able to voice your opinions and the way you actually feel. And it makes it real. And we are real. We’re all human. We all make mistakes. We’re not perfect. And so that being able to happen every other month, us being able to come in and sit down with one another and have those deep conversations, conversations that we may not ever have in our community or in our personal life. And so it truly was a blessing.
Melissa 10:18
Oh my gosh, I’m so glad to hear that. And that we have been able to establish that safety that you and others have felt comfortable to have those kind of conversations. And then it’s led you to a place where you feel good about yourself and about your community. And then I love that whole connection piece, too. So what other ways, when you all come together, do you all benefit from bringing the Executive Directors from locations? Best practices sharing any of those kind of things?
Jenn 10:52
We share best practices, we share successes, we share troubles. Like if you have trouble and you don’t know how to fix it. Because like I said, we’re all human. We make mistakes. And if people have that experience that they’ve had in their own communities, they can voice how they fix it and then give you the opportunity to take some of those things back to your community to implement so that it makes your community more successful. And, I just felt like we were able to communicate with one another and implement different things inside of our communities because of others’ experiences. Normally you don’t get that in our industry. You talk, of course, to your mentors and people that you’ve talked to for years, but being able to do that every other month to where you’re comfortable enough with their teams, like I’m comfortable enough with the EDs that I worked with at 12 Oaks to call one of them currently, even though I’m not with 12 Oaks anymore. And feel comfortable with saying, “Hey, how’s it going?” “You got anything to talk about?” and still have that working relationship, but also a friendship.
Melissa 12:08
That is special. Maybe I’m biased in some ways, but I don’t think there’s other groups that are not maybe in the same management organization that would go share ideas and say, “How are you doing, and what can I do to help you?” So I love hearing that you’re still comfortable doing that.
Jenn 12:24
Sometimes I feel like in our industry, people that are successful don’t want to give their successes away because they want to be the successful person. But I feel like that if we can share that across the board in every community that’s underneath our, in our company, then if we’re all successful, then the company that we’re working for is successful.
And so I share little tidbits with anyone that is willing to ask, of successes that we’ve had in this community and in several different communities that I’ve worked in in the past, and, and I’m able to not only be a mentor, but also help that person. Maybe guide their leadership team in the right direction if they’re having problems inside their community. And then listening to their successes makes me want to bring some of their successes back to my community and maybe change some things that we’re doing here. And so just the culture piece and the collaboration as a team is very important. And I feel like 12 Oaks nailed it.
Melissa 13:38
Tell me a little bit about some of the things maybe you’ve used from the training that have allowed you to have some good accomplishments in the community, things you’re proud of. What are you most proud of that you’ve done?
Jenn 13:56
At my community, whenever 12 Oaks came in as our management company, we had gone through Covid and, at my community, we had lost several residents to Covid, before the vaccinations came out, things like that. And so I think my census was at 61% whenever 12 Oaks came into our community. And I remember Eileen coming down and kind of walking me through the sales program, the CRM, and starting Sherpa with me. And we kind of laugh about it because she came back to my community about a year and a half later (she had been here prior to that), but she came back a year and a half later, and we were at 100% occupancy. We were talking about the Sherpa program and because I was kind of anti-Sherpa whenever 12 Oaks came in. And so I’m like, I’m going to learn the program so that I can kind of dig deep and find out if it truly will work. And I remember asking Michelle, “Does this really work?” She started laughing. She goes, “Yes, it really works.” And so I just started buying in right then. I’m going to learn the program. I’m going to implement what they want me to implement. And it worked. And I’m truly blessed to have had that training. Truly blessed to have the opportunity to work with Eileen, Michelle, I can name all the people at 12 Oaks. Everyone has just been fantastic.
My community was at 100% before Covid. And so losing all those residents and lowering my census to 61%, it’s kind of a punch in the gut, I guess whenever you’re an operator. It makes you worry that your community is not vibrant and you don’t have enough people in your community to make it a home-like environment for the residents, and the associates as well. And so, 12 Oaks made me realize that putting your associates at a level that you put your residents at is key. And I have always been the person to implement, associate programs, appreciation programs. I do a lot of care packages, different things inside my community. But one thing that it made me realize is that we have to allow our employees to vent to us, like we get to vent in our training. And so if they are comfortable enough and trust the operator of the community enough to come in and sit down and say, “I’m having problems with this”, or “Can you help me?” Maybe they’re having some personal issues, but having that relationship built with them on trust, being able for them to come in and be comfortable and feel heard is key to success in your building, to ensuring that you keep your longevity and your communities.
At my community, I have a ton of longevity. I have employees that have been here for 25 years, down to two years, and it’s probably, I would say, 55% of my employee census, they’ve been here for years. And so that’s a true testament to the associates being able to come in and vent and talk about real issues that they have not related to work, even, for them to feel comfortable.
Melissa 17:41
That’s great advice to give others, too, is that the trust, creating an environment where people really do trust that they can be open with both professional and personal, and that you’re going to support them through whatever that happens to be. That’s a great foundation. So I hope that people that are listening to this or watching are taking notes on that, because that’s great. You can do that in a community.To have that many long term people, that’s a testament to you. You’ve created that environment.
Jenn 18:19
I definitely think that I have a part in it, but I definitely think that I’m blessed with an amazing team. And I feel like me being able to empower them to lead their own departments, iIt’s a true testament to the leaders that I have in my community.
Melissa 18:37
So I happen to know this because you work with our recruiting team, you are definitely screening and making sure that you get the right fit in roles. Can you tell us a little bit about that? What is the right fit and how do you make sure that when you’re bringing somebody in it’s the right thing for the organization, for the community and for the relationships that you’ve built.
Jenn 19:01
Alicia is my Assistant Executive Director and my business Office Manager, and she screens all of the new associates that we get from recruitment. And then once she screens those associates and she brings them in for interviews, and we do it together. And the way that we do that is we want to hear kind of where they’ve been. We go through each job with them and ask questions on what’s the reasoning on you not being here anymore. Because we want to hear their side of what happened. And we truly just go into the core values and the culture and our community with that person that’s applying. And one thing that is true to anyone at The Grove at Midtown is that we want to ensure that our residents are cared for. And we want to provide the highest quality of care that we can provide. And so when I’m interviewing associates and having conversations with them, I don’t want it to be a structural interview. I want to see their personality come out in that interview. And so I tell them don’t be nervous. I want you to be yourself. I want you to tell me about you. And so we just get to know one another. And then once we’ve built that rapport, I start talking about my residents and the expectation that I expect for us to service the greatest generation of all times.
Melissa 20:39
That’s so wonderful. And you can feel that when you say it that that really does come from your heart, too. And so I’m sure when you’re finding new people, you want to make sure that that has resonated with them or they may not be able to meet the expectations of you, your residents. And I bet your other employees and associates hold them to a certain level of accountability, too.
Jenn 21:09
They have an expectation. Which makes me feel good about our leadership in the community when our associates have that same expectation. And I feel like that leads to a lot of successes in well-ran communities, that if the associates have that same expectation as your leadership team, then everybody collaborates care for the residents, for the leadership, for the associates, and everybody gets the same treatment. And that’s how it should be.
Melissa 21:45
That is how it should be, most definitely. Do you feel like what you’ve described so far in your own
being supported and trained and, the culture piece has helped get back from Covid. Do you think it all fits together?
Jenn 22:05
I definitely think that all fits together. It takes an entire team to turn a community around and everybody has to have the same expectation, the same goals, and I feel like with the training that we’ve had, the support that we’ve had, celebrating our successes because 12 Oaks is very good about ensuring that we celebrate successes. My leader was very good about celebrating successes and allowing me to vent and talk through things that maybe I disagreed with or couldn’t fix on my own. Michelle allowed us to be comfortable. And that’s a true testament to the core values that she leads with from 12 Oaks.
Melissa 22:58
Coming in, having experienced something different and to be I’m not quite sure about this place. I’m not quite sure about this sales process, all of that. To now being a real champion of that is pretty impressive for us, too. So we have appreciated everything that you’ve done, and the team that you’ve built, it’s been a pleasure to work with you, and we know there’s continued success there, too. So, I know this is not the end of our relationship for sure. And I know that you’re going to continue growing The Grove, and it’s going to keep being the great community that it is and the reputation that you’ve built.
I want to ask because you kind of alluded a little bit to, there are some challenges and some things in senior living. And, you need to have that opportunity to vent and all of that. But what do you think are some of the challenges maybe for you in the market that you’re in, or even just senior living in general, that maybe others, as they hear some of the things you’re experiencing and thinking like, wow, okay, I’m not the only one that’s got this going on right now.
Jenn 24:12
I definitely think the main challenge that I see in senior living is staffing. It has been a world when post-Covid to staff your community and get quality candidates to come in and apply. And so I definitely think staffing has been a huge challenge. We are very blessed at The Grove. We have a staffing coordinator at our community and she’s amazing. She does amazing things. Her name’s Shelly. But Shelly has been here for years. And so she knows the community and she knows it well, and she’s also duly licensed so that she can work shifts that we have call-ins for. But getting people in the community that want to provide quality of care has been a very serious challenge post-Covid.
Melissa 25:06
How do you feel about the centralized recruiting function that is at home Office. And then you describe the process before of how that does resumes or the screening. It’s added on to you all. But what’s your thought on that centralized recruiting.
Jenn 25:26
I think centralized recruiting is amazing. Sierra took such great care of us. And, you know, I was able as the executive director, to email as well as Alicia when we were trying to do recruiting and this is the coolest part about 12 Oaks. They actually sent central recruiting to my community so that they could visualize the demographic area that we’re in, what our challenges are, why we’re challenged. And it was fantastic. She actually came and I put her in my own car and we drove around so that she could see the demographic area of the location that our community’s in and where we pull our candidates from. And so it it truly gave Sierra a vision of when she does place people, at The Grove for us to interview and bring on board, kind of what she’s looking at. And so it really made a difference in recruiting and getting people hired quickly. And, of course we do backgrounds and we do drug screening. And so all of those things are timely. But she was amazing and very quick at what she did.
Melissa 26:43
That’s great. I’m so glad that that connection, because it had such an impact, too, because that is something that is an initiative that we want to make sure that Home Office people don’t just stay in the Home Office.
What are some other things maybe, operationally that you have felt support in, or you felt that maybe are unique to 12 Oaks?
Jenn 27:09
I definitely think in operations, us being able to touch the top tier leadership anytime we needed to was amazing. It’s very unrealistic for us to think that we’re going to receive emails from the COO, the CEO, the owner. I can name everyone at Home Office that truly just I feel like everyone is a part of the email chain, and if they had something to say, they said it. And that’s truly, in my opinion, great leadership. Not not pulling yourself where you’re ranked, where you can’t enjoy the people that work underneath you.
And I felt like at 12 Oaks, we work together. There’s not a tier of we’re up here and you’re down here. And that’s a true testament to leadership.
Melissa 28:12
And I’m so glad to hear that. I like to call that kind of leading beside, because you are right next to each other kind of arm in arm and it’s great that you’ve experienced that. And hopefully the other people in your communities have experienced that with us as well, because we do have Home Office people that go out there and meet employees and residents. It’s been one of the joys of me joining the organization, has been going out and actually spending time with our employees and our residents and hearing stories. And, so we are right there beside,
Jenn 28:47
Yeah. Aaron brought his son and his wife and some of his son’s friends and their friends to my community for our annual Easter egg hunt. That was a very big deal for us, but also just enjoying Ethan being able to, come inside the community and interact with our elders was amazing.
Melissa 29:11
One of the things that you mentioned when you did a really nice letter when unfortunately we were informing everyone that the management was changing. One of the things that you mentioned was gratitude and, it’s one of my favorite things to talk about with people is what are you grateful for? So I’d like to ask you that.
Jenn 29:38
I think I’m grateful for the relationships that I built working with 12 Oaks. Grateful for the investment that they took in me, and grateful for the leadership. Amazing people, amazing company.
Melissa 29:56
What are you hoping that your team and communities are grateful for based on that? The same things? Do you think their experiences are different? How can that get translated from your grateful spot to the community?
Jenn 30:16
So I feel like the associates in my community feel the same; that when we transitioned, we actually transitioned to a wonderful company. When we transition normally, you hear the negative feedback from the company that we had prior to. And that wasn’t the case with the transition from 12 Oaks. We were just talking about it yesterday that we truly enjoyed working there.
Melissa 30:44
I’m happy to hear that you transitioned to a good company as well.
Jenn 30:49
They’re amazing people.
Melissa 30:52
I’m so glad to hear that, because we want to make sure you’re in good hands. And that’s hard. For us too. So that that makes me feel good, that you feel like you’re in good hands for that side of it, too.
I’m wondering if there’s any last kind of tidbits from you that you would maybe share as advice to people if they are thinking of senior living as a career.
Jenn 31:18
My advice would be empower your people that you lead and allow them to advance. Give them the opportunity that someone gave you. And, if you’re looking for a stable company in our industry to work for, that works out and lives their core values, allows their top tier leadership to, you know, intertwine with each community that they manage, 12 Oaks is a fantastic place to work.
Melissa 31:55
Thank you. We could not ask for better.
I know there are people that have been listening to this and are watching and are like, oh my gosh Jenn’s pretty cool. And, I would agree, Jen is pretty cool. Not just because she’s an Okie from Oklahoma, and I happen to be one too, but also because you’ve just had such a great career and you’re all about sharing that with others, and that’s really special. So thank you for taking the time for your, sharing your experiences and continuing to share it with your associates and your residents because you’re making a big difference, Jen.
Jenn 32:33
Thank you so much Melissa.
Melissa 32:35
And thanks for spending your time with us and being on The Roots podcast today.
Jenn 32:39
Of course. Thank you for having me.
32:42 Speaker 1
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