From finance to child-rearing to franchise owner: a Greenwich woman’s venture
In 1999,
"I loved the business, but with investment banking you're on call 24/7," said Santry, whose career included stints as managing director of the private finance group at
Santry's five children are now ages 20, 19, 17, 15 and 9, and earlier this year she began considering a return to the corporate world. But a reprise of her financial services work did not hold any appeal. "Now that my kids are getting older, I wanted to do something that was a business but was also helpful in the community," she said.
While considering her career options, Santry was also dealing with a domestic crisis. "My husband's aunt needed to find an assisted living facility. She was in
Santry became aware of Assisted Living Locators, an eldercare placement franchise company headquartered in
Assisted Living Locators charges a
The aspiring business owner was required to pass a personality test before the company would agree to consider her and then underwent extensive training at Assisted Living's
"They have a lot of intellectual-capital articles," she said, referring to Assisted Living Locators' educational program. "Every Monday, we are trained on a podcast lecture series. We are also being encouraged to get certification as a senior adviser. It is very time-consuming, with many hours every day."
Santry also learned that her work requires a lot of mileage. The western
"It is very important to have people in the community that know the facilities, knows who is running them, and knows the personality of the facility," she said. "Every day I am touring these facilities, with the hope that I can be a community resource."
The facilities will also provide Santry with her revenue. Assisted Living Locator franchisees receive referral fees for each person placed in independent living or assisted living facilities, either within
For now. Santry is relying on word of mouth to market her new services and running the franchise as a onewoman operation from her
As part of her learning process, Santry has newly considered her own future needs. She has purchased long-term care insurance to help finance her later years and is hopeful that she will be able to persuade others not to leave the issue for the last minute.
"Nobody thinks they're going to need it," Santry said. "There is a huge mismatch between the reality of what's coming and people's plans."
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