Glenn Lane Of Westchester Family Care On 5 Things You Should Do To Optimize Wellness After Retirement
An Interview With Fotis Georgiadis
Work on your social life after retirement- Make sure to have fulfilling plans every day to keep you moving and looking forward to new experiences.
As a part of my series about the “5 Things You Should Do to Optimize Your Wellness After Retirement” I had the pleasure of interviewing Glenn Lane.
Glenn is the Founder and President of Westchester Family Care, an at-home health agency that coordinates care for seniors who are aging in place in Westchester County and Connecticut. Glenn opened Westchester Family Care in 2016 with the belief that high-quality personal home care through exceptional caregivers will “let family members be family again.”
Thank you so much for doing this with us! Our readers would love to “get to know you” a bit better. Can you share with us the backstory about what brought you to your specific career path?
In September 2010, my mother, my mother-in-law and her sister were all diagnosed with Alzheimer’s Disease. We were devastated and needless to say overwhelmed. We were unsure about what to expect. What were our options? We knew we had work to do and our journey began. We learned about Alzheimer’s, dementia, and the treatments available at the time. We learned how to properly care for our loved ones. We also learned that we needed to care for ourselves. We learned a lot and continue to learn.
Since then, we have shared our story with many friends and acquaintances. We quickly realized that there were many families like ours who were dealing not only with Alzheimer’s and other types of dementia but an entire array of illnesses and disabilities. Like us, they wanted their loved ones to be cared for and safe at home, but they needed help. We found that sharing what we had learned through our experience was not only helpful to others, but also gratifying for us.
So, this became our mission, and Westchester Family Care was born.
Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you started your career?
Every person who is a client has an interesting story that we are able to be a part of for a short period of time. One testimonial that really stood out was from a patient’s daughter:
“Three years ago, the world changed for my parents — as well as for me and my sister, who both live hours away from them. Enter Westchester Family Care and those who would become our brothers and sisters from other mothers. Everyone — -from Glenn, who sits at the helm, to the nurse whose expertise, devotion and compassion is unparalleled, to billing and has provided me with tremendous personal attention, to sometimes-last-minute coverage requests, to the numerous reliable and dedicated caregivers — -is like a gift. If not for WFC, I would likely have had to quit my job and relocate, suffering untold emotional and financial consequences. They are simply the best and have provided hugs, hand-holding and holistic support to help us take every step of this challenging journey — -ALWAYS with our best interests at heart.”
Can you share a story with us about the most humorous mistake you made when you were first starting? What lesson or take-away did you learn from that?
I believe humor and laughter is the best form of medicine and helps us give the best care for our patients, as well as build camaraderie amongst our team. A part of growing a business is overcoming obstacles and always learning. This creates the opportunity for us to continue to grow and evolve and be the best we can be.
None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person who you are grateful towards who helped get you to where you are? Can you share a story about that?
I am very grateful for my friend and colleague Andrea Brown whom I met at an industry conference 5 years ago. She is my go-to when it comes to the home care business. She has become a trusted adviser, consultant, coach and friend as I navigated new waters with her invaluable guidance.
What advice would you suggest to your colleagues in your industry to thrive and avoid burnout?
Avoiding burnout in our industry is a top priority. It is important to take mental health breaks to make sure your client is getting the best care possible while taking your own wellness into consideration. Make sure to have a good team in place that is communicative and understands realistically how much time and care it takes to be successful in this industry.
What advice would you give to other leaders about how to create a fantastic work culture?
Work culture is ever evolving, and communication and transparency should be top priorities as we are still navigating this pandemic. Since the start of covid-19, my company has started communicating more now than ever. This interaction is important to know how clients are doing but also to check in with staff daily to make sure their needs are met as well.
Ok thank you for all that. Now let’s move to the main focus of our interview. From your point of view or experience, what are a few of the reasons that retirement can reduce one’s health?
When you come from a 9–5 workday to retirement, your whole world shifts and you can suddenly see an overwhelming day filled with so much time and nothing to do. Not having a sense of purpose throughout the day can cause one’s health to decline.
Can you share with our readers 5 things that one should do to optimize mental or physical wellness after retirement? Please share a story or an example for each.
- Work on your social life after retirement- Make sure to have fulfilling plans every day to keep you moving and looking forward to new experiences.
- Create a Schedule or Pattern- When coming from the work force, our bodies sometimes feel the need to be on a routine schedule. With no pressing events throughout the day, it is easy to just sit and wait for something to fill your day which can sometimes lead to depression and long-term physical implications. Instead set a routine that is easy to follow and allows you to have a purpose every day to get up out of bed.
- Physical Activity- Movement is very important for any age, however after retirement, it is more important than ever. Going for a simple walk every day for 10 minutes, dancing in the living room, or going to a group fitness class gets the blood flowing and gives your body the energy it needs to fuel the rest of your day. Find something that is easy to stick to and that you like.
- Keep Busy- Retirement is the time to check off that bucket list! Fill your day with activities you enjoy every week. Keeping busy will help with your mental and physical wellness.
- Create Obtainable goals- Create goals that inspire you. This can be goals like getting involved in the community, training for a marathon or even waking up before 6 am to see the sunrise. These goals should be fulfilling and excite you to accomplish them.
You are a person of great influence. If you could start a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. 🙂
A part of happiness is enjoying life. Always keep laughing.
Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Do you have a story about how that was relevant in your life?
A life lesson quote that always resonates with me was said to me by my former boss at JP Morgan. He claimed, “Hope is not a strategy”. While we want our clientele to be hopeful, it is our job to make the process easier by structuring our business so that our clients only have to worry about their loved ones.
We are very blessed that some of the biggest names in Business, VC funding, Sports, and Entertainment read this column. Is there a person in the world, or in the US whom you would love to have a private breakfast or lunch with, and why? He or she might just see this if we tag them 🙂
I would love to have the opportunity to sit down with Bill Gates. I believe there are a lot of lessons to learn from someone so successful.
What is the best way our readers can follow you on social media?
LinkedIn- Westchester Family Care Inc.
Twitter- @westfamilycare
Facebook- @westfamilycare
Thank you for these fantastic insights. We wish you only continued success in your great work!
Glenn Lane Of Westchester Family Care On 5 Things You Should Do To Optimize Wellness After… was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.
