Tips from Trestle: The Senior Living Food and Hospitality Podcast

Host Aaron Fish welcomes Jeff Webb, Senior Manager of Business Development at HealthTrust Performance Group, to explore how senior living operators can maximize GPO (Group Purchasing Organization) and food distributor partnerships to lower food costs and elevate dining programs. Jeff shares a real-world case where a multi-property operator cut food spend by nearly 6% through smarter, quality-first...

In this throwback episode, host Aaron Fish reunites with Shawn McGregor — Senior Executive Chef at Healthcare Services Group — to continue the conversation from their standout panel at the Florida Senior Living Association conference. Sean oversees culinary and systems training across more than 2,000 kitchens in 48 states, making him one of the most experienced culinary voices in senior care. In t...

What does a "yes until it's no" culture actually look like in long-term care? Aaron Fish sits down with Christy Norrish and Eric Anderson from Sherbrooke Community Centre (Saskatoon, SK) — recorded live at the Eden Alternative International Conference — to explore how their team creates unimaginable resident experiences: from water-skiing in a wheelchair to attending a Backstreet Boy...

In this episode of Tips From Trestle, host Aaron Fish welcomes author, educator, and dementia-care advocate Angela Brigance for a deep dive into the language of leadership in senior living. With more than 30 years of experience across home care, skilled nursing, assisted living, and memory care, Angela brings a unique blend of neuro-linguistic programming (NLP) expertise and real-world operations...

What if your dining room was actually your most powerful sales tool? In Part 2 of our "flip the mic" episode, Kelsey gets Aaron to unpack why the industry's biggest missed opportunity isn't in marketing or technology — it's on the plate. Aaron breaks down: Why dining rooms should be run like restaurants (not "restaurant style") How using hospitality can get a mid-sized operator a gain of nearly $2...

What if the biggest problem in senior living isn't the care — it's the culture? In Part 1 of this special role-reversal episode of Tips from Trestle, host Aaron Fish gets interviewed by Trestle Hospitality”s Kelsey Wilkinson — and the result is one of the most candid conversations the show has ever produced. Aaron shares the origin story behind Trestle Hospitality Concepts, including the now-legen...

How do you honor meat-and-potato nostalgia while nudging residents toward Blue Zone–style longevity? In this episode of Tips from Trestle, host Aaron Fish sits down with hospitality leader John Baillie Jr. to unpack how Blue Zones principles can transform senior living dining into a true engine for longevity, connection, and joy. They explore what a Blue Zone–inspired menu really looks like in sen...

In this powerful episode of Tips from Trestle — the senior living food and hospitality podcast — Aaron revisits an amazing convbersation he had with friend of then podcast Joseph Cope, nationally recognized speaker and "The Empathy Guy," to dismantle one of leadership's biggest myths: that empathy is a soft skill. Joseph redefines empathy as a fierce, measurable leadership competency...

From KGB interrogations to Bedouin tents in the desert, the Traveling Nanas are living the kind of “retirement” most people only dream about. In this episode of Tips from Trestle, Aaron welcomes Sandy & Ellie - the “Traveling Nanas,” two remarkable older adults who turned loss into a launchpad for adventure. The Traveling Nanas share how they visited roughly 50 countries and all seven continen...

Tips from Trestle explores transformative senior living through food, hospitality, and community experience. Hosted by Aaron Fish, this episode features guest JP York from the 2054 Institute discussing LEGO Serious Play—an innovative therapeutic intervention for memory care and dementia. Discover how hand-based building activates undamaged brain regions, improving cognition, dexterity, and emotion...

In this episode of Tips from Trestle, Aaron sits down with Sadiya Abjani, Director of Learning and Instructional Design at SAGE, to explore how senior living organizations can better serve LGBTQ+ older adults through inclusive leadership, cultural competency, and person-centered care. Sadiya brings 15 years of training and curriculum design experience, deep expertise in LGBTQ+ aging, diversity and...

What does it really take to build a thriving culture in senior living — and can it actually move the needle on census, retention, and resident satisfaction? In this episode of Tips from Trestle, host Aaron Fish sits down with Kathy Rainwater-Roe of Phoenix Senior Living, recorded live at the Georgia Senior Living Association Conference. Kathy's session, Building a Positive Culture in Today&#39...

In this episode of Tips from Trestle, host Aaron Fish sits down with John Claytor, Assistant Vice President of Food and Nutrition at Health Trust Group, for a forward-looking conversation on senior living dining in 2026 and beyond. They unpack how Group Purchasing Organizations (GPOs) can go far beyond pricing contracts to deliver culinary training, real-time purchasing dashboards, capital equipme...

Managing agitated family members is one of the biggest challenges in senior living — and in this episode of Tips from Trestle, host Aaron Fish sits down with caregiving expert, Certified Dementia Practitioner, and founder of Inspired Caring, Michele Magner, for an honest, practical conversation that every senior living professional needs to hear. Recorded live during the January Cocktails & Co...

In this episode of Tips from Trestle, host Aaron Fish sits down with Chef Alan Velazquez, culinary director at Oaks Senior Living, live from the Georgia Senior Living Association (GSLA) Conference in Savannah. The conversation unpacks what makes independent living dining a fundamentally different — and often underserved — experience in senior care. Chef Alan shares proven strategies for elevating...

Discover how curiosity-driven sales strategies transform senior living communities' closing rates and customer relationships. Jessica Phaup and Kelly Singleton Myers from KJB Sales Consulting reveal proven techniques for senior living sales professionals, including the revolutionary "treasure box" method for gathering prospect information and the counterintuitive power of slowing dow...

Our second episode on 2026 trends features the operators perspective, as Aaron sits down with John Tolbert, Associate VP of Culinary for Sagora Senior Living, to unpack 2026 food and hospitality trends. They dive into leveraging GPOs and POS technology to fight inflation, cut waste, and boost revenue while still delivering restaurant-quality, home-style comfort food residents love. From personaliz...

This episode of Tips from Trestle explores how senior living communities can transform into a hospitality‑driven engine for wellness, engagement, and revenue. Aaron chats with Sharalene Roper, COO of Ignite Living leader to unpack how independent and assisted living can use intentional design, intergenerational programming, and creative use of space to combat social isolation and drive resident sa...

This season 5 premiere of Tips from Trestle features tech-powered aging, dementia care, and senior living innovation taking center stage in this CES 2026 debrief with Carrie Aalberts (aka the Dementia Darling). She and Aaron go deep into what the world’s largest tech show reveals about the future of aging, hospitality, and dementia care. They explore how themes like AI, mobility, and digital healt...

In a perfect re-release to start the new year, let’s flashback to Aaron’s conversation with Seth Winder, a training specialist at Clark National Accounts, about the critical role of DISC assessments and emotional intelligence (EQ) in team building and development. Seth shares his journey from public education to corporate training, emphasizing the importance of understanding individual tendencies...

This year-in-review episode of Tips from Trestle pulls back the curtain on how senior living dining, hospitality, and resident experience evolved in 2025. Host Aaron Fish revisits conversations on dementia-friendly dining, real food and speed-scratch menus, emergency preparedness, and frontline leadership that turns strategy into lived experience in senior living communities. Hear how empathy with...

For this holiday week re-release, nutritional wellness is back on the menu in senior living, and this “re-release” with Margaret Roche and host Aaron Fish gives operators a practical, no‑nonsense roadmap for getting it right. we go way back into the archives to unpack what *real* wellness looks like on the plate in senior living communities. Margaret & Aaron break down how to build a clear, ev...

In this episode of Tips From Trestle, host Aaron Fish sits down at the Georgia Senior Living Association Conference with senior living expert Jocelyn Schrader to unpack how activity programs can directly drive occupancy and revenue. They explore why a strategic activity calendar is one of the most powerful sales tools in assisted living and independent living, from scheduling tours around high-imp...

With the holidays upon us, Tips from Trestle explores the impacts of seasonal depression, caregiver burnout, and mental health in senior living with therapist and caregiver advocate Stephanie Muskat of Compassion in Caregiving. We explore how seasonal affective disorder impacts both family and professional caregivers supporting residents with dementia, chronic illness, and complex care needs. Step...

In “Metrics With a Human Touch”, Tips from Trestle host Aaron Fish and ECP national sales consultant Loren Odom unpack how smart technology and meaningful data can transform senior living operations while keeping residents at the heart of every decision. They explore how eMAR, EHR, and digital workflows reduce documentation errors, protect licensure, and improve survey readiness, all while giving...