Deep Roots - Broad Perspective - Viable Solutions
Experience & Perspective that Spans Four Decades
A Tailored Approach to Senior Living
After nearly four decades of immersion in the senior living industry, Phil Shapiro is still going strong. He’s had the unique opportunity to participate in the creation and evolution of the modern day senior living movement from infancy as “homes for the aged” in the mid-1980s to the cutting-edge, billion-dollar industry it is today.
Phil began his extensive career in southern Florida. Since then, he’s been coast to coast and in almost every market in between, from urban to suburban and even rural settings. He has participated in the moves of thousands of seniors transitioning from their homes to senior living communities, and he has created award-winning living environments that residents now call "home."
Phil has also provided strategic advice and consulting support to a variety of clients, big and small, private and corporate, for profit and not-for-profit, as well as faith-based groups. Here is just a sampling:
Sunrise Senior Living
Kisco Senior Living
Paradigm Senior Living
Yampa Valley Medical Center
Tahoe Forest Health System
Carson Tahoe Regional Health
University of Nevada, Reno
Northern California Retirement Corp
Eureka County, Nevada
Catholic Health Initiatives
Walker Methodist
Inland Real Estate Corp
Shoshone-Paiute Tribe
Sisters of St. Francis of Colorado Springs
Drever Capital Management
LifeBridge Church
What qualifies Phil to be your consultant? His diverse experience means he understands a community’s unique needs, while being independent and grassroots in nature allows for flexibility and the ability to think outside the box. He brings these qualities and more to the table with each new project in order to provide the best service to his clients.
“I enjoy spending quality time with residents, their families, and staff. I get the benefit of meeting these people, and it gives me a great advantage in the marketplace to apply knowledge toward improving functional design, outdoor amenity integration, programming, deploying customer satisfaction surveying as a staple into the operating model, and so much more..."
Phil knows that perspective means understanding the big picture. He’s been not only a consultant but also an owner. He’s been on the risk side, fully understands the significance of obligations to banks and investors, and treats his clients as if they are his partners. Specifically, he would rather express what is real, purposeful, and beneficial rather than what people may want to hear.
"That's where the rubber meets the road – being honest with clients and giving them that reality check. From there, we can achieve purposeful change and solutions."
Furthermore, Phil understands that markets are not homogeneous and that the most successful projects customize properties to the market in which they are built. And although he may try, Phil can’t always do it alone. To ensure a well-rounded perspective, he relies on the expertise of handpicked, third-party advisers, from marketing experts to quality improvement specialists, to determine what’s truly happening in a given market.
"Ultimately, it’s about serving the needs of seniors and their families that makes understanding the culture of a market so important. Employing diverse experts supports working cohesively in a team setting."
Phil's Career Skill Tree
How Phil Has Invested His Experience Over His Career
Hospital Administrator
Market Research
Team Building
Board Member
University Center on Aging
Active Adult Housing Developer
CCRC Developer,
Owner & Operator
Governor's Commissioner On Aging
Full Service Consulting
and Strategic Advising
Continuous Improvement
Innovative Design
& Programming
Published Writer
Speaker
Healthcare Systems - Senior Living Collaboration
University Guest Lecturer
University - Senior Living Collaboration
The Next Generation of Senior Living
Becoming The Purple Cow
Learn How to Stand Out
Over the last 30 years, Phil has been adapting his senior living marketing belief system with applied experiences. Ten years ago, Phil read a strategic marketing book, The Purple Cow: Transform Your Business by Being Remarkable, that transformed his own business model.
The author, Seth Godin, subscribes to the belief that standing out in the market begins with creating a great product – something that differentiates itself from the rest. In the abundant market of senior living communities, how do you make your property visible to potential customers through the multitude of options and the clutter of advertising?
Phil’s strategic marketing takeaways that have become cornerstones of his practice include:
1. Differentiating your senior living community from the rest of the pack.
2. Assessing what it takes to become the market leader, getting there, and staying there.
3. Mastering the marketing benefits of co-branding with strong brands and establishing referral relationships that do not require brokerage fees.
These key areas allow Phil to assist his clients in creating communities that boast fresh ideas and unique amenities that continually create an edge in the marketplace.
Continuous Improvement
As a Model of Good Business
Continuous improvement is a paradigm that Phil has adopted over decades in his practice of senior living. Specifically, he evaluates everything he does, applies those experiences, learns from successes and challenges, and adapts what has worked in moving forward. What does that translate to?
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Optimized Outcomes
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Supporting the Ideal of becoming a "Purple Cow"
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Happier Residents
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More Content Staff
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Success at Every Level of Your Operation
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Cost-Effective Solutions
“It’s like anything in life. If you don’t want to put the work into it, you become stale and antiquated. I don’t see that as a consideration in the way I want to conduct business.”
Doctrine Two
Keep your eyes and ears open but also drill down to the core. Is a poor meal caused by bad cooks, bad recipes, bad food purchasing, faulty kitchen equipment, lack of unique equipment, an insufficient raw food budget, or some combination of these factors? While you're assessing the root causes, throw blame out the window and focus on the solution.
Doctrine Four
Continuous improvement is a long-term endeavor. Monitor and measure the program on a quarterly and annual basis. Integrate it at hiring and new staff orientation. Encourage it in the minds of your residents and their family members. Also promote continuous improvement within your marketing campaign since it will most likely differentiate you from your competition.
Doctrine One
Position a leader at your community (hopefully that's your Executive Director). As an owner or owner's representative, spend quality time with your community leader, coach them on the importance of vacating the office and forgoing the convenience of sitting at their computer. Encourage regular walkabouts on the resident floors, attendance at activities, and enjoying lunch with residents and their families. Consistent involvement by the community leader speaks volumes to the customers and staff. It is the genesis of committing to a continuous improvement program.
Doctrine Three
You will need to find champions within your staff. Reinforcing a belief in continuous improvement and applauding positive change is contagious. Positivism and a high level of morale within your staff is more powerful than mandates from owners and upper management.
Meet Phil Shapiro
The Man & His Philosophy
Phil Shapiro’s professional career in hospital administration, medical group practice management, adult and senior living spans 38 years and covers four decades.
He has successfully participated in the development, marketing, management, and consulting of over 20,000 units of active adult and senior living communities in the Southeast coast, New England, the Midwest, the Southwest, and the West Coast. He was appointed to consecutive terms as a Commissioner on the Nevada Governor’s Commission on Aging and has served on the Development Task Force of the California Association of Homes and Services for the Aging, now known as “Leading Age.”
Phil has mastered the integration of functional design, marketing, and operations and has rolled up his sleeves to dissect each senior living department operation. He has developed and adopted an operating model that is entrenched in the core belief that staff and residents' family members need to be treated with the same dignity and respect that is extended to senior residents.
Phil holds a Bachelor of Science in Behavioral Psychology from the University of Florida and a Master’s in Hospital Administration and Public Health from the University of Missouri. He has completed post-graduate work in senior living functional design at Harvard University.
How Phil Does Life
Phil's Background
Phil was born in Detroit. He grew up in the northwest suburbs, spent many summers in Northern Michigan in the quaint port town of Charlevoix, and had many summer jobs working in the rougher parts of the city. Fresh out of grad school, Phil managed a multi-specialty medical group practice and conducted strategic planning for a multi-hospital system in downtown Detroit.
While a Midwestern upbringing was grounding, getting a taste of the inner-city of Motown was humbling and revealing for Phil. He learned about the character traits of holding your ground, being resilient, and finding new pathways to re-invent. While growing up and living in the Detroit area, family life extended to Phil’s aunts, uncles, cousins, and grandparents. Career opportunity brought Phil to Florida, first to the Tampa/St. Petersburg market, and then to Boca Raton, where he met his wife, Nancy.
Phil's Family
Family is at the cornerstone of Phil’s daily life. He and his wife Nancy have been together for over 34 years. Nancy has been by Phil's side as a business and life partner and continues to work in the architecture and design-planning side of senior living consulting. They have two successful adult children; Josh is a 3D Artist and owner of Impulse Studios in LA, and Arielle, who is an Art Consultant for senior living communities and owner of Silver Cat Design in Denver.
Tennis -- Metaphorically Speaking
Phil was introduced to tennis in the ninth grade, and the sport has been a consistent part of his life for over 40 years. Tennis players have different calibers of “game” with varying styles. In competition, unique strategies can surpass physical skills. Product and market differentiation are keys to operational success.
Volunteering to teach underprivileged children how to play tennis reminds Phil about how a senior resident’s volunteering can enhance their self-esteem.
Staying physically active encourages seniors to invigorate and get moving.
Playing tennis fosters new friendships. Many seniors moving to communities may be starting over and could benefit from a new friendship.
Every tennis court features unique surfaces and surroundings. Every market has unique seniors, culture, physical character, and nuances. Design and adapt programming to uniquely fit to each market including residents and their adult children.
How Phil Does Business
Phil has 38 years of experience in getting the job done right, big or small.
Phil's a down-to-earth guy. Get a more personal touch and someone with passion for your project.
Take a look at all the ways Phil can engage with and enhance your project.
Phil has the right skills for the job. See the progression of his long career.
Project Development
Village at Belmar, CO
A premier senior living campus in Lakewood, Colorado
Phil was a key figure in creating Village at Belmar through all phases of project development including location discovery, initial market research, joint venture formation, architectural functional programming and designing, construction oversight, staffing, marketing and sales, and operations launch.
Village at Belmar has exceeded occupancy expectations in its start-up year, is solidifying its brand, and is positioning itself as the market leader.
