The RAL Room Assisted Living Podcast

In this solo episode of the RAL Room Assisted Living Podcast , Dr. Alex Schloe shares the five biggest lessons he wishes he had known before investing in residential assisted living. After years of investing, partnering with operators, and learning through costly mistakes, Alex pulls back the curtain on what truly determines success in the RAL industry. 🏡 Whether you're just getting started...

In this episode of the RAL Room Assisted Living Podcast, Charlie Cameron sits down with Shane Pogue, founder of AEGIS RSI (Aegis Risk Solutions and Investigations), to discuss why due diligence is one of the most important—and often overlooked—aspects of raising capital and growing a successful assisted living business. 📊 Shane shares lessons from years of evaluating investment opportunities, wor...

In this episode of the RAL Room Assisted Living Podcast, Dr. Alex Schloe sits down with insurance expert Lori Conway to discuss one of the most overlooked aspects of assisted living ownership: insurance and risk management. 🛡️🏡 With more than 25 years of experience, Lori shares valuable insights into the unique risks assisted living operators face, common coverage gaps, and how the right insuranc...

In this episode of the RAL Room Assisted Living Podcast, Charlie Cameron and Aaron Ameen sit down with Bailey Fait and Blake Fitzel of Done. Project Solutions to break down the role of construction managers and owner’s representatives in residential assisted living development. 🏗️🏡 Drawing from their experience on multi-billion-dollar construction projects and the Everwood Reserve development, th...

In this episode of the RAL Room Assisted Living Podcast, Alex Schloe, Charlie Cameron, and Aaron Ameen recap the incredible Houston RAL Room event and share major updates shaping the future of the community. 🚀🏡 From live project tours to new operational resources and development support, this episode highlights the momentum building inside the RAL Room. Here’s what we cover: ✅ Highlights from t...

In this episode of the RAL Room Assisted Living Podcast, Charlie Cameron sits down with Zach Rynders, co-founder of R2 Studios Architecture, a firm that has helped design over 200 assisted living home conversions. 🏡 Zach shares what makes a home a good candidate for conversion, common mistakes operators make, and how to navigate the design and licensing process. Here’s what we cover: ✅ What make...

In this episode of the RAL Room Assisted Living Podcast, Charlie Cameron sits down with Amanda Bailey, founder of Help For My Parents and creator of A Place to Call Home . 🏡 Amanda shares how her personal journey with her mother’s Alzheimer’s diagnosis led her to help families navigate the overwhelming process of finding the right senior care. Here’s what we cover:  ✅ How families can avoid maki...

In this episode of the RAL Room Assisted Living Podcast, Charlie Cameron sits down with Omni Casey, a high-volume real estate investor managing hundreds of properties who is now stepping into assisted living. 🏡 Omni shares how he built massive scale in real estate—and why he’s now focused on combining profit with purpose through residential assisted living. Here’s what we cover:  ✅ How he scaled...

In this episode of The RAL Room Assisted Living Podcast, Alex Schloe shares major updates and the future vision for the RAL Room Mastermind community following an incredible live event in Houston. 🚀🏡 You’ll hear from The RAL Room COO Aaron Ameen as he breaks down how the community is evolving to better support acquisitions, operations, development, and scaling. Here’s what we cover:  ✅ The futu...

In this episode of the RAL Room Assisted Living Podcast, Charlie Cameron sits down with Susann Quijada, an RAL Room member who is in the trenches building her first assisted living home from the ground up. 🏡 From corporate tech to tackling a massive renovation project outside Houston, Susann shares the real challenges, risks, and rewards of getting started. Here’s what we cover:  ✅ Transitioning...

In this episode of the RAL Room Assisted Living Podcast, Charlie Cameron sits down with Snawing Alvarado , who went from humble beginnings to owning multiple assisted living homes—and scaling rapidly. 🚀🏡 Snawing shares how he transitioned from nursing to real estate and built a high-cash-flow assisted living portfolio in just a few years. Here’s what we cover: ✅ How he went from $45K/year to $4...

In this episode of the RAL Room Assisted Living Podcast, Alex Schloe sits down with Lon Hecht, CEO of Care2U, to explore how hospital-level care is being brought directly into the home. 🏡 Lon shares how this model is reducing ER visits, lowering costs, and improving outcomes for assisted living residents. Here’s what we cover:  ✅ Why so many ER visits and hospitalizations are unnecessary  ✅ How...

In this episode of the RAL Room Assisted Living Podcast, Alex Schloe welcomes back Lindsay Daudistel , who has scaled to 10 homes and 130 beds while balancing family life and strategic growth. 🏡 Lindsay shares how she’s built a strong team, maintained culture, and expanded without relying heavily on outside investors. Here’s what we cover:  ✅ Scaling to 130 beds with a long-term strategy  ✅ Why...

In this episode of the RAL Room Assisted Living Podcast, Dr. Alex Schloe sits down with Boris and Amanda Palomino, owners of three residential care homes in California and founders of a growing RAL academy. 🏡 They share how they went from living in a 300 sq ft ADU to building multiple care homes—and the hard lessons learned along the way. Here’s what we cover:  ✅ How they started with no healthc...

In this episode of the RAL Room Assisted Living Podcast, Charlie Cameron sits down with Linda  Draayer, Executive Director of Brain Care LLC, with over 35 years of experience in senior care and brain health. 🧠🏡 Linda breaks down traumatic brain injuries (TBIs), their long-term effects, and how they increase the risk of dementia—along with practical ways to improve care in assisted living. Here’s...

In this episode of the RAL Room Assisted Living Podcast, Charlie Cameron sits down with Raymond Levine, a long-term care funding specialist and advocate who helps families navigate the true cost of caregiving. 💰🏡 Raymond breaks down the financial reality behind assisted living, home care, and long-term care planning—revealing why many families are unprepared and what you can do today to avoid co...

In this episode of the RAL Room Assisted Living Podcast , Charlie Cameron sits down with Chad Phillips , a former ICU nurse, real estate investor, and developer of a luxury 15-bed residential assisted living home. 🏡 Chad shares how his background in healthcare and real estate eventually merged into a mission-driven assisted living business focused on advocacy, dignity, and high-quality care for s...

In this episode of the RAL Room Assisted Living Podcast , Charlie Cameron sits down with Claudine Ripert , founder of Critical Control, to talk about disaster prevention, response, and recovery for residential assisted living homes. 🌊🔥🏡 From flooding and fires to mold and pipe bursts, Claudine shares real-world insight from over a decade in disaster recovery—and explains why preparation can mea...

In this episode of the RAL Room Assisted Living Podcast , Dr. Alex sits down with Nathan Leyva , maintenance director, residential assisted living operator, and founder of Bridgepoint Care, to talk about what life safety really means in assisted living. 🔧🏡 With experience in both large senior living communities and smaller residential homes, Nathan shares practical insight into inspection readin...

In this episode of the RAL Room Assisted Living Podcast , Dr. Alex sits down with Zach Balmer of Lexicon Bank, a national preferred SBA lender, to break down how SBA financing works for assisted living projects. 💰🏡 With over 20 years in banking and deep experience in the senior housing space, Zach explains how SBA loans can help operators fund acquisitions, startups, and ground-up construction—e...

In this episode of the RAL Room Assisted Living Podcast , Dr. Alex sits down with Rachel Robertson , owner of Turnberry Place Assisted Living in Fort Collins, Colorado. With 19 years of hands-on experience, Rachel shares what it really takes to build, sustain, and now expand a successful residential assisted living home. 🏡 From starting with a business partner to becoming a solo owner and mentor...

In this episode of the RAL Room Assisted Living Podcast , we are giving our podcast listeners a sneak peek into one of our live mastermind calls! Listen in as the team sits down with Jana Milligan to break down how community education can become one of the most powerful (and overlooked) strategies for building trust, authority, and qualified leads in senior living. 📚🏡 Jana shares how speaking at...

In this episode of the RAL Room Assisted Living Podcast , Charlie Cameron welcomes back Brett Chotkevys , one of the very first guests on the show, for a powerful update on his journey scaling from a single residential assisted living home to a full-blown luxury memory care neighborhood. 🏘️ Brett shares how he and his wife Laura transitioned from house flipping into luxury memory care, why the man...

In this episode of the RAL Room Assisted Living Podcast , Charlie sits down with Eddy McCracken , a former teacher and rental investor who now operates two 16-bed residential assisted living homes in Crown Point, Indiana, with a third in development. 🏡 Eddie shares how he discovered residential assisted living, navigated zoning and approvals in a state with few RALs, and combined his real estate...

In this episode of the RAL Room Assisted Living Podcast , Dr. Alex sits down with James Contreras , a nurse practitioner turned residential assisted living operator with four homes in Los Angeles County . 🏡 James shares how his medical background, heart for seniors, and focus on relationships and referrals helped him scale successfully over time. Here’s what we cover: ✅ Transitioning from health...