Summary
On this episode, host Peter Murphy Lewis talks to Sean Baessler, Assistant Executive Director of Elk Ridge Village. Sean shares how a part-time job at 17 grew into a two-decade career in senior care, the mentors who shaped his path, and the small daily actions that make a big difference in community life. From pranks with residents to board-level leadership in Nebraska, Sean reflects on the people and moments that defined his calling.
Key Takeaways:
(00:00) Introduction.
(02:59) Small gestures can mean the world.
(04:24) Helping seniors live their best life.
(07:52) A 90-year-old plans a prank.
(11:05) Nothing is ever as bad as it seems.
(12:48) Flexibility matters more than perfect planning.
(14:30) Serving seniors beyond one community.
(15:25) Remembering residents are still themselves.
Thank you for listening to “People Worth Caring About.” If you found value in this episode, please subscribe and leave a 5-star rating to help others discover these important stories.
For more information and to connect with our guests, visit PeopleWorthCaringAbout.com.
Listen on Apple | Listen on Spotify | Watch it on YouTube
Transcript
Sean Baessler: The things that you do each day are what matter and kind of shape your future plan. You can have goals, sure, but if you try to plan everything down to a T, it's never going to go the way that you want and you're going to end up disappointing yourself, or think that you're disappointing others, even though it's probably just yourself.
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 co-host, 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.
Sean Baessler: My name is Sean Baessler. I'm from Elkhorn, Nebraska. I work at Elk Ridge Village and I'm the Assistant Executive Director.
Peter Murphy Lewis: Love it. Sean, welcome to the podcast, "People Worth Caring About."
Sean Baessler: Thank you. Thank you for having me.
Peter Murphy Lewis: I'm excited, was reading through your profile, you look young, but you have two decades in this industry.
Sean Baessler: Oh, very close, yes. 19 years, started when I was 17 years old as an activity assistant, just a regular job, at least that's what I thought it was. Yeah, my school had a offsite work program where you could work and still could get credit for high school, and so I just started working part-time as the activity assistant. My sister worked there and she's like, "Hey, we need somebody to come play games with the old people," and I was like, "Hey, I can do that. I like games."
So started there, and let's see, I was there for just about seven, eight months or so, and I had a friend that's worked at another community and she said, "Hey, there's this new place. It's very, very nice. It's very, very fancy, and I know that you enjoy what you do. Come work over here with me." And when your friends invite you and you're 17 still, you're like, "Sure, I'll come have fun with you at work," and the rest is kind of history, but obviously there's a lot of time in there in 19 years.
Peter Murphy Lewis: Do you remember a day or a year when you realized that this is where you were going to spend the rest of your life, this was where you're going to spend your career?
Sean Baessler: Yeah, so it's definitely hard to pinpoint. I wouldn't say it was a particular day, a particular time or year or anything like that. It was a lot of small things that happened over time. Obviously I enjoyed the activity assistant role, and when I moved to a different community I was the front desk person, and it was the small interactions every day.
You're kind of stuck at the front desk at that point, but it was the small interactions with residents. I didn't feel like I was doing that much for them, but I was helping them out, and every day, little scenarios, and they were so thankful that they had someone that they could go to for any issue that they had at that front desk role. And so over time I was just kind of like, "I think I'm helping these people and they really, really like it," and that feeling that I got, realizing that was kind of addictive. I just looked for opportunities that I could do every day and just help the seniors. A small thing for me, but it meant the world to them.
Peter Murphy Lewis: Going back to that first year or second year, do you have some type of mentor who knew or saw your potential before you and kind of groomed you into the leader you are?
Sean Baessler: Not in the first year. Again, I think as a 17-year-old, I was still kind of in my 17-year-old mindset where I wasn't looking for what I was going to do the rest of my life. I had a lot of growing up to do at that time. But my executive director, the one that hired me at the new property, he definitely saw that I was more than I even thought of myself at that time. And so he slowly trickled and gave me more responsibilities, more opportunities to show the things that I could do. I didn't really have that conversation with him. I think he might've knew what he was doing. I didn't know what he was doing, but the more he gave me to do and assist in different areas that I could help the residents at the community, slowly over time he let me be who I was supposed to become, for sure.
Peter Murphy Lewis: I always like to ask a question around how would you describe your community? How would you describe Elk Ridge Village to somebody who's never even been in your town?
Sean Baessler: Sure. So I actually do this all the time when I meet someone, they're like, "Well, what do you do?" And so I usually summarize it as I help seniors live the best life that they can. Our community, our mission, is love the way you live, and it's important for seniors to love the way that they live, but also team members. So it kind of, it goes hand in hand for the people that work there as well as the people that live there. So that's the way I summarize it generally for people. Usually I found out people don't like to hear about the boring behind-the-scenes stuff, so I just tell them that I get to help seniors every day live their best life.
Peter Murphy Lewis: I like the boring behind-the-scenes stuff.
Sean Baessler: Oh yeah?
Peter Murphy Lewis: And it's a theme that I've been working on in the last year, and it goes back to when I trained to be a CNA.
Sean Baessler: Yeah.
Peter Murphy Lewis: And if you're going to be here tomorrow, I will share this story in my keynote, which is the gentleman who trained me, his name is Robert, and he did a lot of amazing dignity in the darkness. Do you have anyone at your community who you've discovered is doing a bunch of small details that nobody knows about, that makes you and your residents love the life that they're living?
Sean Baessler: Yes, I have a couple. So there's this one lady, she's been actually in my communities the same amount of time as I have. She started two weeks after I did, so 18 years at this community. She's worn many hats the same way that I have. She's definitely a more behind-the-scenes person, an unspoken hero. We call her the sheriff because she's the one secretly in charge. But right now she does human resources stuff, but over her time she's worn many hats, the same way that I have. She's been in operations, she's been in various leadership roles. She's kind of been there through thick and thin with me. I call her my work mom because she is my mom's age, the exact same age as my mom, and I know that she looks out for me and in that role and in that aspect like my mom would, and I do the same for her.
And so together I feel like we've done a lot over the years, a lot of stuff that people won't see. She even in her role as human resources, she continues to do the things that people don't think matter are as important, but they're important to her when it comes to ensuring everything runs smooth.
Peter Murphy Lewis: Can you think of a small detail that either makes shifts easier or operations easier?
Sean Baessler: To this day, she sends out a morning huddle every day. Nobody asks her to do it. Nobody said, "Hey, I need you to... this is your mandate every morning." And then in her morning huddle, this is what's happening at this day, at this time, you've got a tour, this there, so-and-so has this meeting, this important lunch is happening, whatever it may be, or new team member orientation, new resident orientation. She just makes sure that everybody knows what's happening that day, and definitely take it for granted because without that huddle we're going to be like, "What's happening today?"
Peter Murphy Lewis: Yeah. I love that because one of the things I learned is around staff. If we think of ourselves as only doing tasks...
Sean Baessler: For sure.
Peter Murphy Lewis: ...the job has less value. But when that huddle has details and gives importance to it, you start to realize that your job has purpose. They're not just a bunch of tasks put together.
Sean Baessler: Definitely. Definitely.
Peter Murphy Lewis: Yeah. What did you say her name is?
Sean Baessler: Her name is Susie.
Peter Murphy Lewis: Susie. Thanks Susie. Great work mom.
Sean Baessler: Yep. Sheriff Susie.
Peter Murphy Lewis: Sheriff Susie. Sean, take me to one of the funniest moments that you've had in long-term care. What's the first thing that comes to mind? Feel free to give as many details.
Sean Baessler: Definitely many things. One in particular, I can never forget this, we had a resident that wasn't doing too well medically that she, on April Fool's Day, she actually I believe brought this to our attention, something that she wanted to do. We had a maintenance director and a dining director that spoke with her about pulling an April Fool's joke. No, no, excuse me, a dining director spoke to her and it was supposed to be an April Fool's joke on our maintenance director. She wanted to play this prank, and so we're brainstorming ideas of what can we do, how can we make sure that we get this on film because it's going to be hilarious.
So what we decided ultimately was for our dining director to hide in this resident's closet, and he was going to wear a scary mask, and the resident is going to talk to the maintenance director and say that she had a mouse or some kind of maintenance issue. I believe she went with mouse because it kind of had him on edge already. And so she said, "Well, I've got this mouse in my closet." So that's the story she was going to go through. So knowing that we've never had a mouse issue, everyone's going in, we're all going in to find this mouse. So we're there just so we can see what's about to happen and so that someone can record it and keep it forever.
So she played the part perfectly and she is talking to him and he goes into this closet and the dining director with a scary mask jumps out, and I swear the maintenance director looked like he was about to cry. I'm surprised he didn't because he just had that twinge in his voice where it's like he was five years old again and someone did a jump scare, and the resident just busted out laughing. She could not get enough of it. Knowing that that was... she was so game for that, she joined in on the planning, and how much enjoyment she got out of it, even though she's in her mid-nineties, not doing that well, that we could do that for her at the expense of our maintenance guy. It was awesome. It was awesome. To this day, sometimes, I haven't watched it for a few years, but I do still have the video and I'll come back and watch it.
Peter Murphy Lewis: Have you put it on social media yet?
Sean Baessler: I have not.
Peter Murphy Lewis: I think you should ask for permission and then tag me on Facebook, "People Worth Caring About." The world needs to see this.
Sean Baessler: Okay. Needs to see the video. Yes, I have it, and you'll hear the twinge in his voice. I'll make a note.
Peter Murphy Lewis: Is he still there with you?
Sean Baessler: He's not. He's somewhere else now, but I'm sure I could track him down and get permission.
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.
Feel free to take this question any direction, but what is the advice you've heard most in your life or a phrase you've heard from somebody important, it might be a grandma or a mom or a dad, that you've heard over and over and you remind yourself as you get older because it was good advice?
Sean Baessler: So this is something I still say to people. It's usually calming because I know that it's calming for me, and it's that nothing is ever as bad as it seems. I think, especially today, a lot of people, they get anxious and have anxiety about certain scenarios, no matter how big, no matter how small. And being through certain situations myself, I've always come out on the other side either better than I was or at least just as good. As you're worried and you're anxious and you've built up in your mind how a scenario is going to be, and then so many times I've come out after and I was worried about that way more than I needed to.
So hearing that when I was growing up and from my... it was actually my aunt, she mentioned that, and I've never forgotten that just because it's come to fruition. It's been true every single time. So I'll continue to share that with other people that nothing is ever as bad as it seems.
Peter Murphy Lewis: Have you ever gone back to tell your aunt how important that and how impactful that has been for you?
Sean Baessler: No, I probably should.
Peter Murphy Lewis: Yeah. My answer to that is the only thing you can control in life is your attitude.
Sean Baessler: Sure.
Peter Murphy Lewis: And my mom has said it to me, I even have a tattoo in my arm that represents that, and my mom heard it for the first time four days ago when I did a talk, a public talk, and I'm like, "Why did I wait 45 years to tell my mom how important that was?"
Sean Baessler: Yeah, I mean, that's a good point. I shouldn't wait.
Peter Murphy Lewis: Yeah. Sean, if you were going to go talk to a school gymnasium of a hundred Seans that are 17 years old or 16 years old that have the opportunity to discover such a rewarding job like you have, what would you tell them?
Sean Baessler: Oh, that's a tough one. What would I tell the younger Seans of the world? Probably that everyone has this plan for you, and you can make your own plan, but the things that you do each day are what matter and kind of shape your future plan.
You can have goals, sure, but if you try to plan everything down to a T, it's never going to go the way that you want and you're going to end up disappointing yourself or think that you're disappointing others, even though it's probably just yourself. But having the flexibility to live the life that you choose and the way that you want to live it each day, I think is probably what I would say. Have goals, but don't be disappointed if things don't go as planned.
Peter Murphy Lewis: You are involved in multiple roles at Nebraska Healthcare Association. Board member, I think you're on public relations, I think you've been involved with education, different committees. What have you learned from your peers moving into a role, not just being on the floor now, you impact policy, you impact strategy? What have you learned?
Sean Baessler: So when I first started working at senior care, again, I thought it was just a job for me, and seeing how I impacted seniors and what I could do for them, more and more each year I learned and was given opportunities to help them.
The next step, and I didn't know that was the next step, seemed to be helping seniors outside of my own community. And being part of the board allows me to do that, and being a part of committees, I was part of the LEAD program to build leaders in Nebraska, and it's opened my eyes to another... just the list of things that I can join in, work with other people to assist seniors on an even more broader level while still being at the community and doing what I do each day. Just like at the community each day, all the small tasks that you do, they don't necessarily seem like that particular task is making an impact, but just like those small tasks, it takes every member and every person on the board to reach the end goal and just, again, make the better lives for seniors in Nebraska.
Peter Murphy Lewis: Before we started recording, you mentioned that you'd seen the documentary "People Worth Caring About." You're on the board, you probably are one of the reasons that we were able to do this together, along with Jeff and Jalene. How has the documentary either impacted you or your community or your staffing, and how have you used it?
Sean Baessler: So, once I saw the documentary, I cried my eyes out, by the way, and one of our previous residents was in there, and I just loved seeing her in the documentary. That was great. But one of the things that we struggle with at the community level, and probably with society in general, is just kind of ramming home the point that, yeah, they're old people, but they're still people and they still have lives to live. It's not the same life that they used to, and it's not the life that you're living, but that person that always was there is still there, no matter what they might have going on in their life.
So it's helped us at the community because one of the things that I think people struggle with when it comes to moving their mom or their grandfather or aunt or uncle to a community or an assisted living or skilled nursing community is it's kind of that point where you're saying, "Wow, this is really happening to them," and that's hard for people to come to grips with. But when you see a documentary like that and the real-life people enjoying their time in communities like that, it makes it seem like it's not so bad, the stigma that people have in their brain of facilities like that.
So it's really, it's done more than we can ever do just by simply telling people. Obviously we'll show them around and we'll show it happening in our community, but it's a very nice, concise, heartfelt, and meaningful way to see it all around at other places.
Peter Murphy Lewis: Have you shared it with somebody doing a tour?
Sean Baessler: Oh, for sure.
Peter Murphy Lewis: Yeah?
Sean Baessler: Yeah, yeah, absolutely.
Peter Murphy Lewis: Have you ever gotten feedback?
Sean Baessler: So one person in particular let us know that she absolutely loved it. She went to another community for other reasons, I think it was location reasons. But she just let us know that she was so happy that she shared that or that we shared that with her, and she was moved to tears as well, and it helped her, again, accept what was happening to her mom.
Peter Murphy Lewis: Sean, thank you so much for joining me on the podcast and coming here. It's a great first day at Nebraska Healthcare Association and look forward to seeing you and talking to you the rest of the day.
Sean Baessler: Okay.
Peter Murphy Lewis: Appreciate it.
Sean Baessler: Thank you.
Peter Murphy Lewis: That's a wrap on "People Worth Caring About," born from the documentary, built to keep the stories going. Shout out to Nebraska Healthcare 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.
#HealthcareLeadership #WasteManagement #SkilledTrades #PeopleWorthCaringAbout
