Tips from Trestle: The Senior Living Food and Hospitality Podcast

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 own
How owner isolation affects the entrepreneurial experience
Why serving seniors also means supporting caregivers
Where food and hospitality fit into the resident experience
Why education should come before assisted living ownership

Whether 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: @tipsfromtrestle
Tips 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 Sabbatical
Host: Aaron Fish
Follow 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 matters

120+ types of dementia, and why not everything is dementia

Ambiguous loss and how to reframe grief

Sibling conflict and family dynamics

Why every behavior is a voice

The four stages of understanding

Why one-size-fits-all memory care no longer works

Perfect 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