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Summary
In this episode, Madison Guthrie, Director of Safety and Environmental Services of Vetter Senior Living, shares how attentive leadership and hands-on experience across different roles can drive meaningful change in senior living environments. The discussion reveals practical strategies for building trust, improving teamwork, and inspiring personal growth within care communities.
Key Takeaways:
(00:00) Introduction.
(01:33) Getting to know multiple facilities provides new operational insights.
(02:09) Different team communication styles inspire process improvements.
(03:45) Listening to diverse perspectives fosters open-minded leadership.
(06:33) Interdepartmental efforts build dignity and strong teamwork daily.
(07:42) Valuing team members through unique communication truly motivates.
(09:09) Career growth opportunities exist at every level in care.
Resources Mentioned:
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Transcript
Madison Guthrie: So I shadowed laundry, I shadowed EVS, I shadowed maintenance and nursing, and got to see what everybody did every day, their day-to-day. I know what you've done so I can put myself in those shoes, and that's been invaluable.
Peter Murphy Lewis: The world does not run on headlines. It runs on people who care. I'm Peter Murphy Lewis, and this is "People Worth Caring About." Alongside my cohost Jalene Carpenter, we sit down with the unsung heroes, caregivers, healers, helpers, the ones doing the real work, even when no one is watching. These conversations are not polished. They're personal. Because behind every act of care is a story worth hearing. New episodes drop regularly. Get updates at peopleworthcaringabout.com.
Madison Guthrie: My name is Madison Guthrie. I am the Director of EVS and Safety for Vetter Senior Living, so I help support all of our buildings and environmental services, and this is take one.
Peter Murphy Lewis: Madison, thanks for joining me on the podcast. What's new in the last year?
Madison Guthrie: Last year there's been some changes. So I went from being an administrator in a building, and I'd done that for the past 10 years, to now on the consultants and the support side for our company, and so, that's been really exciting and something new and fresh.
Peter Murphy Lewis: What's been the most interesting part of that transition for you?
Madison Guthrie: I think the best and probably most interesting part is getting to go to all the different buildings now and seeing how they do what they do every day. So instead of just seeing the operations of one building, getting to see them all has been kind of eye-opening.
Peter Murphy Lewis: What is something kind of nuanced about seeing a different building that either made you think, oh, we should borrow from this and bring it over or improve here? What are some things that you've noticed?
Madison Guthrie: Everyone does the same thing. So we're all serving elders, helping them with their ADLs, helping them do all those things, but the way people communicate those, and the way the teams interact with each other, different communication techniques, different fun things that they do. Their huddle looks different than this person's huddle. Rounding looks different. Different processes they all use that are just really intriguing to see and can help us learn from each other and grow buildings that need something different to do.
Peter Murphy Lewis: Did you decide to apply for the new position or did somebody tap you and say, "Hey, I want you to do this?"
Madison Guthrie: So I actually applied, but it started out with just, "Hey, whenever you're hiring for this role, here are some ideas I have about what this role could look like." And our COO at the time was like, "So are you applying for the job or this is just what you want me to look for?" And I was like, "Well, I guess maybe I'm applying." So it kind of took off from there.
Peter Murphy Lewis: Oh, so it's a new role? It didn't exist?
Madison Guthrie: So it had existed in the past, and then we kind of got away from it, and we really identified that there was a big need for it again, so it jumped back in.
Peter Murphy Lewis: What was the hardest thing for you to learn as you moved into that role?
Madison Guthrie: That I wasn't the administrator. So you go from running your own building to making every single decision and then moving into this role, being just a consultant and giving your advice, was kind of the biggest thing, but also the rewarding one for, "Sure, I can learn from you guys, just like you can learn from me."
Peter Murphy Lewis: Any skills that you developed or discovered in this role that you didn't have to use quite as much as an administrator?
Madison Guthrie: Ooh, that's a good question. I think I probably should have had this as an administrator, just the ability to listen more and the ability to be open-minded about different things. And I could never see that when I actually ran a building of how that could work in my building, but going into different settings now, I get to see, oh, that is possible, 100% you do that. And so, listening and learning from other people was something I definitely should have had that I probably didn't excel at before.
Peter Murphy Lewis: Looking back from what you learned as an administrator, are there any people, mentors, books, training that you really tapped into and you're like, "Wow, this helped me in this role. I learned it as an administrator, but here it was great?"
Madison Guthrie: I do, actually, and I'm just going to say it, even though I don't want to, but Jalene Carpenter was actually my preceptor when I did my administrator in training, and the best thing she ever did for me was she made me work in every department. So I shadowed laundry. I shadowed EVS.
I shadowed maintenance and nursing and got to see what everybody did every day, their day-to-day, and that's just stayed with me throughout all of my leadership and all of my administration is just dial into that servant leadership, and I know what you've done, so I can put myself in those shoes, and that's been invaluable.
Peter Murphy Lewis: This show is powered by AAG Health, the team behind the teams. If you are building a care team that actually cares, nurses, doctors, techs, admin, pros, AAG doesn't just fill jobs, they find people who show up and stay. Visit aag.health and see how fast the right people can make all the difference.
What year was this when she was your preceptor?
Madison Guthrie: 2014.
Peter Murphy Lewis: 2014. And how has she changed in the last 11 years?
Madison Guthrie: A lot. She was an amazing administrator. I loved working for her. She was her same peppy self in all of that. Seeing her now in the exec role for our association has been amazing. You can just see her light. She's not stuck in the day-to-day of things. She gets to use that creativity and that big-picture view and do all the things that she loves to do, the public speaking, getting people energized, and all of that kind of stuff, and Nebraska's lucky to have her in that role.
Peter Murphy Lewis: I was intimidated by her when I first met her and intimidated to work with her, not even as a speaker, but even more so doing the documentary. Were you intimidated?
Madison Guthrie: Oh, yes. She had this get-it-done attitude. So even if we were walking to huddles or something, the way she conducted herself with such confidence and the perceived confidence that she had was amazing, and I know she was confident in what she did as well. So that's definitely intimidating, going into a new role and learning from that, and I think, I don't think I'll ever be there. But yeah, she was gracious in learning and all of that, so that was great.
Peter Murphy Lewis: I shared in my talk today, and it's something I've been thinking on for at least a year around the concept of dignity in the darkness, and the amount of caregivers who do things, and it doesn't even have to do for a resident to improve care.
You could do things for team members, which allows them to deliver amazing care, like maintenance or the person who does the shifts. Now that you've been visiting the buildings, are there any unique stories that you saw something going on, somebody who might not be in the limelight, they might not be on the documentary, but you're like, "Wow, this is the glue. This is important?" Anything, dignity in the darkness?
Madison Guthrie: Oh, so many things. This one just comes to mind because I was in this building this morning. We have an EVS leader, Gina, and she has team members who speak different languages, and their building looks immaculate. They do an amazing job, and the way that she communicates with them, that no one else understands.
No one else has to do, but the way she'll pull out her phone, and they'll text each other, and it will translate to her and do those things. Again, it's not the fun stuff that we see, flashy about all of this. But it's that little point she puts on to communicate with her team and make them feel valued and make them feel important and that what they do truly matters, which is just amazing to me. Just that she's willing to do that extra step to make someone feel comfortable when English isn't their primary language. That was pretty cool.
Peter Murphy Lewis: That's neat. When did you realize that you were going to be a lifer in long-term care?
Madison Guthrie: That's a great question. Oh my goodness. So I went to school for actually criminology and criminal justice, so I have little background in long-term care. I worked-
Peter Murphy Lewis: That's not going to help you much in a long-term care facility.
Madison Guthrie: No, it's not. It did during COVID when my residents were like, "Oh, here's the warden. She's making us go back to our room." So sometimes we'd all wish to forget. But yeah, once I joined on with Vetter and got to see what they were about, it all brought full circle. My grandparents were in a nursing home in their 60s, and when I was younger, I thought, "Oh my gosh, they're old. Yeah, of course they're in a nursing home. That's what happens." And now, I'm like, "Sixty, oh my gosh, that's not the normal." And just seeing how they were treated in that setting to the impact that we get to have on the residents that we care for in supporting them, I can never go back now. Yeah, long-term care is definitely where I'm meant to be.
Peter Murphy Lewis: Have you brought anybody into the industry that you're proud of? You're like, "Oh, I brought someone in, I inspired somebody"?
Madison Guthrie: I don't know if I've inspired people to join, per se, but I have got to help build people to become leaders and grow in their roles within the industry. That's been exciting to see. That culinary aide who's in high school, to you can make this to be whatever you want. The opportunities in this industry are very vast. You don't have to be a culinary aide forever. You can be in maintenance. You can do all these different things. So that's been kind of fun.
The other side is just with my friends and family who maybe aren't in the industry, of sharing the good side about it. You know, helping so that the stigma's not still there of what a nursing home is. But more about, "Oh my gosh, those are the fun things you do. You've shared on Facebook that you guys were having happy hour and a tailgate for the Husker game." Absolutely, we are. These are grandmas and grandpas who tailgated and went to happy hour in their lives. Why can't they now?
Peter Murphy Lewis: Madison, thanks so much for joining me on the podcast. I appreciate it. Good to see you again and see your teammates on the documentary and see the celebration of what you guys have done this year.
Madison Guthrie: Yeah. Thank you for having me. Thank you for telling our stories.
Peter Murphy Lewis: Congratulations.
That's a wrap on "People Worth Caring About," born from the documentary, built to keep the stories going. Shout out to Nebraska Health Care Association and Jalene Carpenter for helping launch it. And to Ohio and New Mexico for making future seasons real. Watch the docuseries online or at peopleworthcaringabout.com. And if this episode meant something to you, leave a review. It matters. Take care of yourself and the people worth caring about.
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