About the Founder
When my husband and I moved our family to Sarasota in 2002, I found myself drawn to the senior living industry. I worked my way up the ranks in the corporate world of sales and marketing at retirement communities, assisted living and skilled nursing facilities. I loved the work, but mostly I loved the "outcomes." The outcome of a senior making a move to improve their quality of life, to ensure they are living in a safe environment and to give their families peace of mind, was the biggest reward I could have ever imagined.
It was a family crisis that changed my course from the corporate world to founding Changing Spaces. My 82 year old mother in law was showing signs of memory loss and her home life was becoming more and more unsafe. A move needed to be made, and it needed to be done quickly. My husband and I made the decision to relocate her from Miami to an assisted living community in Sarasota. This didn't only involve finding the perfect community, but being the point person for the family, setting up her new apartment, deciding what to keep of her treasured possessions and what to redirect to her kids, donate or throw out. It was a huge undertaking, so I cleared my schedule and got to work. Once my mother in law was settled in Sarasota, we tackled the house. We had to work through 40 years of memories and make tough emotional decisions about what to do with her treasured possessions. There were charity drops offs, items to put on consignment and sale, trash to dispose of, and lastly cleaning. These tasks were done with love and compassion, but the work was monumental and emotionally exhausting. When it was all said and done, my mother in law was safe and happy in her new home, her kids were thankful for all we did and we were all at peace with the decisions that were made.
It was then that my husband turned to me and said, "You're really good at this. You should do this for a living!" That was my "AHA" moment. I loved what we had just accomplished and I felt a great sense of pride for my mother in law's new lease on life. Unknowingly, I was the move manager for the family. I not only facilitated the move, but I was the one who could stand back and be the objective planner.
And that's how Changing Spaces came to be...
- Beth Suarez
And that's how Changing Spaces came to be...
- Beth Suarez
