By Steve Moran

I read this post a few weeks ago. I considered writing about it or responding to it, but ultimately decided not to. However, it reappeared in my feed, which I took as a sign to write about it.

I don’t know how many times it has been read, but a lot. As of the day I am writing this article, it has 1,100 likes, 29 reposts, and 177 comments.

I would kill for numbers that good on one of my posts. That represents virality.

It is also painfully sobering because those numbers mean what she said in her post resonates with so many passionate, dedicated people in senior living.

The crux of the message is that senior living has a massive problem no one is willing to address.

Here is the entire text:

After more than a decade in the senior living industry — driving census growth, training teams, helping with turning around communities, and walking families through some of the most emotional decisions of their lives—I’m finally saying it: I’m done.

This isn’t a post born from bitterness. It’s born from burnout, boundaries, and bold clarity.

For years, I thrived in the chaos. I traveled extensively, dropped into underperforming communities like a first responder, and was expected to not only meet goals but exceed them — immediately. I’ve worked magic with broken CRMs, untrained staff, no marketing budgets, and zero support. And still, I showed up, closed the business, and made it happen.

But here’s what they don’t tell you when you get good at this work: the better you are, the more you’re asked to give. And the more you give, the more it costs you — personally, emotionally, and professionally.

I’ve sat with families in tears, navigating guilt, grief, and impossible choices. I’ve held the hands of adult children making end-of-life decisions for their parents. I’ve mentored new sales counselors who didn’t even know what a lead base was, and I’ve cleaned rooms and served meals just to help the team look halfway ready for a tour.

And yet — despite the humanity, the hustle, and the heart we pour into this work — corporate goals keep climbing, while resources keep shrinking. Sales becomes a numbers game instead of a people business. Leadership teams rotate so fast they forget your name. And if you don’t hit that 95% occupancy target in record time, suddenly you’re “not a good fit.”

I’m done pretending this is sustainable.

I’m done sacrificing my weekends, evenings, and mental health for a seat at a table that refuses to hear the truth from those of us in the trenches.

I’m done being a warm body in a cold business model that’s forgotten why we got into this industry in the first place.

Senior living sales taught me everything about people — how to connect, how to listen, how to lead with empathy, and how to close with integrity. I will forever be proud of the work I’ve done and the lives I impacted. But I also know when it’s time to step away. To protect what’s left of my passion and redirect it toward something healthier, more aligned, and less extractive.

If you’re still in it, I see you. And if you’re thinking of walking away, you’re not weak — you’re wise. 

Here’s to a new chapter. One that values what we bring without asking us to burn out to prove it.

This is the link to the post on LinkedIn, where you can read it and the comments.

What’s Going On…

As senior living became a thing, some people got this brilliant idea (not sarcasm) that if the investment world would open their eyes to senior living as a legitimate investment class, more capital would become available to senior living developers, investors, and operators, increasing supply and serving more seniors.

All a very noble goal.

While it seems obvious now, it would have been hard to predict what would happen if that dream came true.

Senior Living As an Investment

Investment entities like REITs and private equity funds have a single goal, to maximize profits for their shareholders. While they have targets or minimum return criteria, the big win comes when an asset exceeds those returns … This ultimately means there is never enough.

There is no investment strategy that says, “We hit our goals, we are making enough money; let’s forgo some profits in favor of something else.” It is simply not in the DNA, and mostly, this works okay. But sometimes, it hurts people.

It is further compounded by the need to improve profits quarter to quarter.

What Used to Be …

At one point way back in time, senior living was very different. Not-for-profits saw a need to provide for older people and set out to create great living experiences at a reasonable price. They needed a margin to stay financially healthy, but for the most part, they figured out what they needed to cover costs and make a reasonable margin, and that determined the rates they charged, even if they could have charged more.

They also often had tight relationships with the staff and might choose higher rates not to increase profits but to pay team members more.

Even in the for-profit world, entrepreneurs saw a need in their communities, built and operated communities, providing a new kind of living experience for older people in their communities. They needed to make a profit for sure, but they knew that the payoff could come someday down the road when the communities matured, debt was paid off, and rents went up. And then, way, way down the road — five, ten, fifteen, or thirty years — the properties might be sold.

Too Many Layers

Perhaps the real problem is that there are too many layers. There are individuals, you and me, who have money invested in 401(k) funds, IRAs, and pension plans, who then invest those funds in other funds that include these entities that own senior living communities.

We want, perhaps even demand, that those multiple money managers garner the highest returns. And those money managers are bonused only when they make the highest levels of returns.

None of us, or hardly any of us, no matter how socially conscious we see ourselves, really spend any time at all looking at or thinking about how the people who are ultimately responsible for our profits (residents, their family members, and front-line workers) are being treated to get the returns we want.

The Real Cost

The bottom line is that we have good people — no, great people like Melissa — who give up, who call it quits, and they are replaced with people who care less. We have story after story about residents who don’t get the care they deserve and that they paid for, showing up in newspapers and on television.

We make excuses for these things happening … “we can’t hire enough staff,” “it is just greedy attorneys who are taking advantage of our litigious society,” and “It was just one bad employee, which is impossible to prevent.”

But if we are honest, there are too many of these stories in the public media and too many more where families don’t sue, don’t tell their story — they simply grieve.

I don’t have an easy solution, and I know there will always be bad things that happen and bad operators who only care about profits.

But you can do something, and that is to promise yourself, your teams, and the world that you will not let this happen in your communities, your organizations.