#132 Raised in a Nursing Home - Interview with Michelle Woodbrey - 2Sisters Speak Podcast

Brought up in a nursing home these 2Sisters gained more wisdom than any child could gain in their lifetime. Michelle and Alyson used the wisdom to build a life and career help the senior population. 

That’s the best way to start their story. Their father was a nursing home administrator, and their mother worked for him as a physical therapist. Michelle and Alyson spent their childhoods going to the nursing home and doing activities with the seniors who lived there.

 

Michelle and her sister did not go to daycare as kids.

 

Michelle Woodbrey and her sister Alyson Powers are the Co-Founders and sisters of 2Sisters Senior Living Advisors. Founded in 2011, 2Sisters Senior Living Advisors is a Massachusetts-based, woman-owned placement, referral and coaching service that specializes in helping families navigate senior living and care options. 

 

Michelle and her sister did not go to daycare as kids.

 

They grew up in a nursing home.

 

Michelle talks about learning to walk by helping push wheelchairs while her mom offered physical therapy. She painted ceramics, led exercise classes and helped to set the dining room tables. She continued to volunteer throughout her school years including college.

 

She went on to earn her B.S. from Ithaca College in New York, and a master’s degree from Prescott College in Arizona. She began her career as an activity director opening an assisted living in Colorado. After working in programming and in operations roles, Michelle found her passion for the sales process in guiding families to find the right solution. After hearing countless families say they wish they had moved sooner, she wanted to help families see how the right senior living community could offer them such an improved quality of life.  

 

But what really led to the creation of 2Sisters Senior Living Advisors was when her father was diagnosed with Parkinson’s Disease. Both she and Alyson started to make plans to move back to Massachusetts to support their own aging parents.

 

In states on the west coast where Michelle lived and worked, many families relied upon low-cost or free senior living referral agencies to find the best solutions. In 2009, Michelle accepted a position as the marketing director for a local assisted living and moved back to Massachusetts. She quickly realized there were no referral agencies local to Massachusetts – only those online.

 

Seeing the need and the opportunity, Michelle convinced Alyson to move back to Massachusetts to start 2Sisters Senior Living Advisors. 

 

Also, Michelle and Alyson co-host a podcast called 2Sisters Speak: Surviving the Sandwich Generation. Their short and often entertaining episodes for people trying to balance the responsibilities of caring for aging parents while also raising children and trying to maintain their sanity.

 

#caregiving #seniorcaregivers #sandwichgenerationcaregivers #2Sistersspeakpodcast #MichelleWoodbrey #seniorlivingadvisors

 

Find out more:

https://2sisters-sla.com/

 

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/2sisters-speak-surviving-the-sandwich-generation/id1603313456

 

https://www.facebook.com/2SistersSeniorLivingAdvisors