It doesn’t take long in talking to Juliana Ellington, regional HR business partner for Morning Pointe Senior Living, to discover how passionate she is about what she does.
Juliana supports recruitment and represents human resources for 22 communities in Morning Pointe’s Bluegrass and Cumberland Regions. But did you know she has only been working in senior living for a few years?
Originally, Juliana thought she wanted to work in travel, and she earned a bachelor’s degree in geography. However, that wasn’t where her heart was.
She started her career at a bank as a booker, then worked her way up in the banking industry, taking a training instructor position and then team lead. But then the housing market crash of 2008 hit, and Juliana, along with many other bank employees, was caught in the layoffs. It was time to change careers.
Juliana wound up working for Valvoline Instant Oil Change in Ashland, Kentucky, as a customer service representative. Not everyone can deal with unhappy customers, but she rocked her role and was promoted up to a recruitment position.
“I didn’t really know what recruitment did at the time,” Juliana shared. “I looked up the requirements for the job and thought, ‘I can do that.’”
Joining Morning Pointe Senior Living
In 2022, Juliana was looking for a more meaningful job, and she saw a recruitment opportunity open with Morning Pointe Senior Living. She watched the company’s videos online and felt a connection with what we do in caring for seniors, especially as the daughter who had seen the toll that dementia and Parkinson’s took on her mother. Juliana interviewed with Shona Chandler, Morning Pointe’s vice president of associate engagement, and immediately felt a kinship with her and an alignment with Morning Pointe’s mission.
Juliana started out as the Bluegrass regional recruiter with a goal of hiring the best candidates to care for residents at the 12 senior living and memory care communities in Kentucky and Indiana. The secondary goal was eliminating the usage of nursing agencies. With the help of her regional and home office teams, as well as the communities, she succeeded.
“The more we keep the communities off agency, the stronger the teams we build, and the more we are able to put back into our own staff,” Juliana explained. “In senior care, we get to help people, and I get to hire people to help people.”
Juliana has since added the Cumberland Region, which covers western Kentucky, Middle Tennessee, and Morning Pointe’s community in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. Under her leadership, that region has also eliminated agency usage.
So, what does Juliana tell prospective hires? “I always talk about the community and share that this is a family. This is the residents’ home. We don’t have patients; we have residents. And no matter how professional you try to be here in whatever job, you can’t help but form a bond with the residents.”
Juliana also pointed to her team for achieving these objectives, crediting their support and their passion for service.
“This is where I will retire from,” Juliana said. “I love Morning Pointe for what it stands for. That’s why I love it here – we walk the walk.”
