Pivot with Pettit is a candid series of conversations with Bill Pettit — a longtime senior living leader who’s made a career out of big pivots, clear thinking, and a stubborn commitment to doing what’s right for older adults.
Bill’s path to senior living wasn’t linear. After graduating from Princeton and earning an MBA in finance and real estate, he spent 18 years in banking, rising into executive leadership — only to realize he missed the part that matters most: reaching out and touching people’s lives.
That insight led to his defining pivot. In the early 1990s, he helped launch Merrill Gardens, and over three decades, he grew it from a single community in Seattle into a major operator with 70+ communities across 20 states, known for high quality and a resident-first mindset.
Today, Bill’s passion is aimed at what he sees as the industry’s most urgent challenge: making quality senior living accessible again for middle-income older adults. Through Black Dog Capital Advisors, he’s advising owners and operators on value recovery and developing an “unbundled,” active-adult-forward model designed to widen the affordability funnel without sacrificing dignity, experience, or outcomes.
In each episode, Bill brings the rare combination of operator realism and human-first conviction — asking the questions the industry can’t afford to dodge, and chasing solutions that help seniors thrive, not just get by.
How Senior Living Stumbled Into One of Its Biggest Ideas
The best innovations in senior living often happen when someone notices the market changing before the language catches up.
Finding Senior Living — By Accident and Then On Purpose
Mitch Brown’s journey into senior living is not clean, linear, or strategic. It is messy, accidental, and deeply instructive.
Is Senior Living at a Tipping Point?
Senior living may be facing another major...
Why Active Adult Is Still Senior Living’s Best-Kept Secret
Mitch Brown explains one of senior living’s biggest marketing challenges: people often do not understand the appeal of active adult living until they experience it for themselves.
Why Boomers Won’t Move to Your Building
Bill Pettit says the biggest mistake the industry is making is simple: “we keep building in places nobody wants to live.”
Hospitality Over Healthcare: The Only Way Forward for Senior Living
Bill Pettit has spent thirty years thinking about this question and in his mind the answer is easy: hospitality wins.
Hospitality vs. Care … Can Senior Living Have Both??
In senior living, we often act like we have to choose: hospitality or care. In this clip, Bill Pettit challenges that assumption.
The Boomer Difference: Why Your Senior Living Model Is Already Obsolete
Boomers aren’t interested in age-segregated living. Previous generations found comfort in communities where everyone shared similar life experiences.
Meaningful Impact Over Money
If you’re in a season of questioning, reassessing, or realigning — you’re not behind. You’re paying attention.
From Banking to Boomers: Bill Pettit’s Mission to Reimagine Senior Living
After nearly 50 years across three careers, he’s found that the most rewarding work isn’t about climbing corporate ladders — it’s about reaching out …
