ABOUT THIS EPISODE
In this episode, I sit down with two friends and two of my favorite people in the industry — Katie Pitts, VP of Marketing, and Brad Scoggins, Senior Director of Sales & Owner Relations, both at Charter Senior Living. Charter has grown from nine communities to more than 70 in just ten years, and we get into what that growth actually looks like on the ground: what happens when you take over a new community, how you win over an anxious staff, and how you scale without turning every community into a cookie-cutter version of the last. Katie shares her "scale plus localization" framework, Brad breaks down prospect-centered selling and why follow-up is the industry's most underrated skill, and we talk culture champions (not culture vampires) throughout.
Key Takeaways
- Transitions are about people first. Before anything changes, the job is building trust fast and reassuring staff that exceptional care isn't going anywhere.
- Scale plus localization wins. Strong frameworks let you grow, but senior living is a local sell — the best programs leave room for local flavor.
- Hire for culture. Getting to 100 communities depends on culture champions who live the mission, not just strong résumés.
- Follow-up is the differentiator. Prospect-centered selling and genuine follow-up beat the old cookie-cutter numbers game every time.
- Brand beats budget. The best marketers ahead won't have the biggest ad spend — they'll build trust through transparency and education.
Timestamps
- 02:59 — What actually happens when Charter takes over a new community
- 05:23 — The marketing side: keep the name or change it?
- 07:00 — Embracing the culture (and why Brad started as a dishwasher)
- 09:29 — From 9 to 70+ communities and the "scale plus localization" framework
- 11:24 — Thinking differently about sales at scale, and hiring culture champions
- 13:58 — What drew Katie back to the provider side
- 18:30 — People, processes, or tech: what's hardest to integrate
- 21:19 — Why follow-up is the industry's most underrated skill
- 23:13 — Reading the data on newly acquired communities
- 26:49 — What Charter intentionally says "no" to
- 29:20 — What most people underestimate about scaling
Notable Quotes
- "We're a business of people taking care of people." — Brad Scoggins
- "No culture vampires — just culture champions." — Brad Scoggins
- "Senior living is a local sell." — Katie Pitts
- "Some of the best marketers in the years to come may not be the ones with the largest ad budgets, but the ones who build a brand on transparency, trust, and education." — Katie Pitts
Mentioned in This Episode
- Charter Senior Living — https://www.charterseniorliving.com/
- Katie Pitts on LinkedIn — https://www.linkedin.com/in/katie-pitts-2613015/
- Brad Scoggins on LinkedIn — https://www.linkedin.com/in/brad-s-scoggins-16642b73/
- Charter's mission: "Enhance the human spirit"
About the Guests
Katie Pitts is the VP of Marketing at Charter Senior Living, where she leads brand and marketing strategy across the organization's growing portfolio. With nearly two decades of experience spanning both the agency and provider sides of senior living, she champions a "scale plus localization" approach that balances company-wide systems with hyper-local, market-specific marketing.
Brad Scoggins is the Senior Director of Sales & Owner Relations at Charter Senior Living. Having grown up in the industry — starting as a dishwasher before rising through the ranks over nearly six years at Charter — he brings a people-first, prospect-centered philosophy to sales, coaching teams to build trust through genuine connection and relentless follow-up.
