Grand Plans

Caring for an aging parent, especially with dementia, is one of the most profound and demanding seasons of life, yet so many families enter it without a roadmap. In this deeply personal and practical conversation, Susanna Barton sits down with author, caregiving expert and coach Rayna Neises to explore what it really looks like to walk alongside a parent through Alzheimer’s disease. Rayna shares h...

What does it mean to have a good death —and who can help us prepare for it? In this episode of Grand Plans , Susanna Barton speaks with Nada Frazier, LCSW , a palliative care social worker, grief counseling specialist, and certified end-of-life doula and founder of The Sacred Servant . Nada shares how her lifelong experiences with caregiving led her into this sacred work and explains the growing r...

When we talk about planning for the second half of life, the conversation usually focuses on legal documents, finances, and housing decisions. But what about the daily habits that determine how we actually feel as we age? In this episode of Grand Plans , Susanna Barton sits down with Lindsey LaMaistre , founder of Lindsey Wellness and a national board-certified health and wellness coach trained th...

One in four Americans is a caregiver — yet many are quietly operating in crisis mode, assuming they’ll plan for their own future “someday.” In Season 4, Episode 5 of Grand Plans , Susanna Barton sits down with Susan Stern , caregiver coach, Board-Certified Life Coach, Certified Dementia Practitioner, and former dementia caregiver to her own parent. With more than 20 years in healthcare leadership...

What happens when “a little extra help” suddenly becomes 24/7 care? In this episode of Grand Plans , Susanna shares a deeply personal story about serving as primary caregiver and financial power of attorney for friends’ aging parents — and the overwhelming reality of figuring out how to pay for round-the-clock care. Sitting at her kitchen table reviewing bank statements and home equity documents,...

In this inspiring international episode of The Grand Plans Podcast , Susanna sits down with Joanne Hickox , Executive Director of Seniors on a Mission and visionary behind the groundbreaking G3 Village concept in Northeast Florida. Broadcasting from snowy Canada (in the middle of a February storm and a caregiving journey of her own), Joanne shares the deeply personal story that sparked G3 Village...

In this episode of Grand Plans , host Susanna Barton sits down with lifelong friend Brian Levy , Chief Relationship Officer of Cambridge Caregivers and Manchester Homes , for an honest, behind-the-scenes conversation about what quality caregiving really looks like — and why planning ahead makes all the difference. Brian shares his unexpected path into the aging services field, shaped by personal e...

Caregiving doesn’t start with a crisis—and it doesn’t end with a checklist. In this powerful Season 4 opener of Grand Plans , host Susanna Barton sits down with Jeanette Yates , a Jacksonville-based author, lifelong caregiver, and advocate who has spent more than four decades navigating what it really means to care for others and yourself. Jeanette’s caregiving journey began in childhood, long bef...

Happy New Year! No better time than the start of 2026 to relaunch Grand Plans the Podcast. This episode gets into our plans for the season to start the hype! So here’s your small, powerful action step for today—this week, not “someday”: Tell one person where your key documents are—or where they will be. If you don’t have advance directives, put it on the calendar. And if you’re caring for someone...

How exciting to launch the first episode of the new Grand Plans podcast, "GeriTales" with two awesome senior living professionals, Sarah Dymond and Kari Bell from River Garden Hebrew Home for the Aged in Jacksonville, FL. This podcast is going to be much shorter and sweeter than Grand Plans and focus more on the lessons we can learn from each other. In this episode, Sarah and Kari will s...

Today's conversation is with Jacksonville-based Seniors on a Mission Executive Director Joanne Hickox. In addition to leading and founding a nonprofit organization that brings purpose and community to local seniors through hands-on volunteer opportunities, Joanne and her board are pursuing a vision for a new kind of nonprofit senior living community called G3. Based on a hobby farm concept an...

In this final recording of the five-session Grand Plans: The Workshop, participants discuss the last four steps of a workable Grand Plan, including having a legacy mindset, playing the "What If?" and "Ask Yourself Honestly" games and being realistic, open and flexible to change. These conversations have been such incredible opportunities to share stories, experiences and resour...

We are back in the Literary Lounge for the fourth meeting of Grand Plans: The Workshop. Today, we unpack some of the nuances around steps 13-16 including trusting the people who love us, embracing technology and creating supportive community for ourselves. Enjoy!

In this Season 3 episode of the Grand Plans podcast, a recording of the third Grand Plans: The Workshop gathering, we unpack steps 9-12 of a workable Grand Plan, putting things in drive with topics like "relinquishing the keys" and embracing our age, stage and role. Enjoy!

Grand Plans: The Workshop launched January 23 and continued January 30 with a lively discussion around the conference table at The Literary Lounge bookstore. We dissected and discussed and dug into steps 5-8 of a workable Grand Plan and I hope you enjoy hearing some of our conversation! This episode is second in a five-part series during which we'll record each four-step workshop. 

Grand Plans: The Workshop launched January 23 with a lively discussion around the conference table at The Literary Lounge bookstore. We dissected and discussed and dug into the first four steps of a workable Grand Plan and I hope you enjoy hearing some of our conversation! The audio is a little wonky from my mic, and I apologize for that. Our participants sound great though, and their stories will...

Heather Bayfield, founder and president of Jacksonville Beach, FL-based Life Management Advisors and Care Management Advisors, helps clients manage tasks of daily living that can feel complicated and time-consuming as they age. Heather is a wealth of information about the financial and healthcare management, as well as legal, medical and caregiving needs, of today’s seniors.

International, award-winning health researcher and Wellness Discovery newsletter author Heather Hausenblas PhD talks to us about some exciting senior-related topics including how to protect against Alzheimer’s, outwalking the Grim Reaper and the five habits of super agers. I promise this episode will fill your brain with rich intel you can use on the daily!

Amy Gunther, M Ed, an ACE-certified personal trainer and group fitness instructor has been working with active adults on their health and fitness for decades and has developed a seven-point plan we can all use for maintaining good physical function as we age. It’s all about the body and brain and it’s all related! Get with the program via Part 1 of this informative two-part interview.

Amy Gunther, M Ed, an ACE-certified personal trainer and group fitness instructor has been working with active adults on their health and fitness for decades and has developed a seven-point plan we can all use for maintaining good physical function as we age. It’s all about the body and brain and it’s all related! Get with the program via Part 2 of this informative two-part interview.

Kerry Speckman, a writer, podcaster and pink-everything extraordinaire in Jacksonville FL, knows a thing or two about parental loss and how complicated and emotionally challenging that can be -- no matter your age. Her mother died when she was 14 and her father passed away just last year. Coping with the death of a parent, and all the heavy baggage associated, is multidimensional for everyone -- b...

Realtor Kimberly Waterhouse has always been a hard-charging, go-getter who has excelled in sales, marketing and real estate. But personal loss and change lent new perspective on the importance of community, faith, identity and communication in the final chapter of her personal career and life.

We start off Season 2 of the Grand Plans podcast with a fresh perspective of Grand Planning, courtesy of some really cool young people -- Marley Barton, Frances Moseley and Cat Lamm -- Sewanee yoots who happened to be around my dining room table and new studio this summer! In this episode, the girls share their thoughts on everything from curating (hoarding) stuff to aging gracefully and taking th...

But wait! There's more! Sewanee yoots Marley Barton and Frances Moseley reveal answers to the most pressing question of all: will you put us in a home? Grand Plans' Episode 2 of Season 2 is off to a super fresh start thanks to this engaging conversation with two thoughtful, well spoken young women. #GrandPlans

Laura McLauchlin, DNP, AGACNP Jacksonville-based practice Begin Health is a telehealth internal medicine provider and certified health coach. Both personally and professionally invested in best health practices, she helps patients achieve the right balance for healthy living -- on the inside and the outside! You won't want to miss Laura's practical recommendations for feeling and looking...