Building a Better Future for Seniors with Rowena Arnott

01/28/25 • 35 min

In this episode of The RAL Room Assisted Living Podcast, host Charlie Cameron sits down with Rowena Arnott, an inspiring entrepreneur from Billings, Montana, who transitioned from being a registered nurse to owning a home care agency and an eight-bed residential assisted living facility. Rowena shares her unique journey into the senior care industry, the challenges she faced, and her exciting plans for a 16-unit memory care facility. Her story is a testament to taking risks, finding purpose, and building a business centered on serving seniors with compassion and care.

Tune in as Rowena explains how she and her husband leveraged their backgrounds, navigated financing, and built a sustainable business that not only provides excellent care but also aligns with their family goals.

Key Points:

From Nurse to Business Owner: How Rowena transitioned from her nursing career in California to owning a home care agency and assisted living facility in Montana.
Buying an Assisted Living Facility: The story behind purchasing a 7,000-square-foot property and converting it into an eight-bed assisted living home.
Overcoming Staffing Challenges: Rowena’s innovative approaches to hiring, including using a third-party service for recruiting and having on-call caregivers.
Filling Beds & Building Relationships: Her strategies for keeping her homes full, including collaborating with other facility owners, marketing to hospitals and hospice agencies, and leveraging her home care agency for continuity of care.
Building for the Future: Plans for a 16-unit memory care facility and the growing demand for specialized senior care.
Lessons Learned: Rowena’s advice for new operators, including the importance of networking, mentorship, and taking action without overthinking.

Connect with Rowena Arnott:
Website

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Key Points:

From Nurse to Business Owner: How Rowena transitioned from her nursing career in California to owning a home care agency and assisted living facility in Montana.
Buying an Assisted Living Facility: The story behind purchasing a 7,000-square-foot property and converting it into an eight-bed assisted living home.
Overcoming Staffing Challenges: Rowena’s innovative approaches to hiring, including using a third-party service for recruiting and having on-call caregivers.
Filling Beds & Building Relationships: Her strategies for keeping her homes full, including collaborating with other facility owners, marketing to hospitals and hospice agencies, and leveraging her home care agency for continuity of care.
Building for the Future: Plans for a 16-unit memory care facility and the growing demand for specialized senior care.
Lessons Learned: Rowena’s advice for new operators, including the importance of networking, mentorship, and taking action without overthinking.

Connect with Rowena Arnott:
Website

Previous Episode

Transforming Lives Through Residential Assisted Living with Latonia Boykins

In this episode of The RAL Room Assisted Living Podcast, host Dr. Alex Schloe welcomes Latonia Boykins, a passionate entrepreneur and owner of five residential assisted living homes in Florida. Latonia shares her incredible journey from starting with no healthcare background to becoming a leader in the industry. Inspired by her grandmother’s care and wisdom, Latonia has built a thriving business focused on compassionate, personalized care.

Tune in as Latonia discusses the challenges, triumphs, and strategies she’s implemented to scale her business, the lessons she’s learned along the way, and how residential assisted living has transformed her life and the lives of her residents.

Key Points:

From Family Caregiver to Industry Leader: Latonia’s journey started with a personal mission to honor her grandmother’s legacy, eventually scaling to five homes.
Building with Heart: She emphasizes the importance of hiring caregivers with genuine passion, often prioritizing heart over experience.
Creative First Steps: Latonia’s first deal was a leap of faith, using HELOCs and credit cards to turn a house into a thriving facility.
Scaling to Success: The challenges and opportunities that came with purchasing three homes in a single day and navigating SBA loans.
Occupancy Strategies: How Latonia uses creative marketing, relationship-building with discharge planners, and outreach to big-box facilities to keep her homes full.
Lessons Learned: The importance of starting where you are, avoiding analysis paralysis, and being open to learning from mistakes.
Passion for Teaching: Now a Florida Core Trainer, Latonia shares her knowledge with others, helping them launch successful assisted living businesses.
The Heart of RAL: Latonia reflects on how residential assisted living has changed her life and the lives of her residents, teaching lessons about resilience, health, and community.

Connect with Latonia Boykins:
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Next Episode

Raising Capital and Growing in Assisted Living with Todd Dexheimer

In this episode of The RAL Room Assisted Living Podcast, host Charlie Cameron sits down with Todd Dexheimer, a seasoned real estate investor who transitioned from flipping houses to scaling a massive multifamily and assisted living portfolio. Todd shares his journey from being a high school shop teacher making $32,000 a year to owning and operating over 3,000 multifamily units and 376 assisted living beds across Minnesota and Wisconsin.

Todd dives deep into the key lessons he's learned from scaling his assisted living business, from overcoming staffing challenges to building a strong company culture and ensuring high occupancy rates. If you're looking for expert insights on real estate investing, senior housing, and raising capital, this episode is packed with actionable takeaways!

Key Topics:

From Teacher to Investor: How Todd quit his job and started flipping houses before transitioning into multifamily and assisted living.
First Assisted Living Deal: Why Todd initially ignored assisted living opportunities and what finally convinced him to take the leap.
Lessons in Staffing & Culture: The #1 factor that makes or breaks an assisted living business and how to build a winning culture.
Scaling to 376 Beds: The strategies Todd used to grow quickly, what he would do differently, and the biggest mistakes along the way.
Filling Beds & Marketing Strategies: The key to keeping occupancy high, including working with hospitals, leveraging local connections, and community outreach.
Raising Capital for Assisted Living: Why raising money isn’t about asking—it’s about offering an opportunity, and how Todd has successfully syndicated multiple deals.

Connect with Todd Dexheimer:

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Website

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The RAL Room Assisted Living Podcast - Building a Better Future for Seniors with Rowena Arnott

Transcript

Rowena Arnott: I usually reach out to you know, other owners in the area they're a good resource. You know, they're a competition, but then at the same time, I don't treat them as a competition because we are all here to serve our seniors. So. I reach out to them, letting them know I have a bed available.
I call the hospital. Sometimes I visit them. I just make phone calls and texts hospice. I take hospice residents You know, do a lot of marketing. So when a client from the