ABOUT US

Real life is why Genarian was created.

When you love, care for, support, visit, or know a genarian, you are well aware of what’s challenging in their lives. The stress of aging on a family or special relationship can be overwhelming. Support or solutions may be near, but obscured. And as a gerontologist, I knew something had to be done.

Our frustration with the challenges faced by genarians only increases because the solutions appear to be very accessible. We want to find win-win solutions to these challenges. Genarian works with clients to make life easier for genarians and less stressful for the people who care for them.

Genarian has learned there is a huge need for innovation, for radical change, for disruption of the status quo, and for the possibility of impacting aging services from a modern, creative, more practical perspective. We believe the first place to find answers to the problems facing genarians today is not in the bloated bureaucracies and complex systems we have all become so accustomed to (and overwhelmed by); rather, the solutions for a healthy future for genarians reside in the ways we address the issues we all face as we age.

Genarian was created to be a leader in this endeavor!

OUR ORGANIZATION

Our Story

Real life is why Genarian was created.

When you love, care for, support, visit, or know a genarian, you are well aware of all that is wrong with or challenging in their lives. The stress of aging on a family or special relationship can be overwhelming. Support or solutions may be near, but obscured.

And as a gerontologist, I knew something had to be done.

Genarian works with clients searching for useful solutions to these problems and makes life easier for genarians and less stressful for the people who care for them.

There is a huge need for innovation, for radical change, for disruption of the emotional or practical status quo, and for the possibility of impacting aging writ large from a modern, creative, more holistic perspective. The answers to the problems facing genarians today do not reside in the bloated bureaucracies and complex systems we have all become so accustomed to; rather, the solutions for a healthy future reside in a wholesale change to the ways we address the issues we all face as we age.

Genarian was created to be a leader in this endeavor!

Mission

Genarian is a coaching company that works with genarians to find and support innovative, common-sense solutions that transform the individuals and relationship systems on which they depend.

Genarian knows great companies don’t happen by luck; they require intentional, skilled, bold leadership. In the aging space, Genarian is that leader.

Genarian is selling the skills, experience, and intellectual property of founder Gary Groth. As a gerontologist, professional coach, entrepreneur, and someone with ample personal experience being with genarians, Gary brings the attributes necessary to meet the goals of Genarian.

Genarian is a leading voice for innovation and change in the aging space that directly benefits genarians and the people who care for them. The end game: Innovative change that creates maximum positive impact for genarians.

Genarian is not limited to serving genarians only in the traditional aging spaces. Our competition is the marketplace of good ideas, and our expertise is utilized by corporate, philanthropic, and government entities. We meet our clients—all of them—where they are.

Genarian believes in the importance of being current with the issues facing genarians and remains so by retaining active memberships in relevant national and international trade associations and honor societies.

Genarian is committed to being an entirely new kind of company; one that thrives on introspection, planning, and dreaming.

Genarian always makes sure our efforts are right for genarians, right for clients, right for Genarian, and are meaningful and fun.

Genarian wants to be something unique in the aging space! We lead with unbridled passion, clear intention, fearless commitment, shared resources, bold communication, and a bit of fun!

Values

Genarian believes in big ideas for ourselves, genarians, and the world. Let’s face it, if we believe it about you, we have to believe it about ourselves:

• We are the business. We work hard. Our books balance. We talk it out. We co-create. Our impact is relevant. We give back.

• Genarians matter. We bring real people to the discussion; we don’t talk around or about genarians, we engage them directly.

• Positivity. We strive for the happy, positive, productive, affirming, kind, upbeat way of solving problems. There is plenty of negativity already in the aging space.

• Generations matter. We encourage intergenerational and multigenerational interactions that are as enriching as they are necessary.

• Making it work. There are solutions to anything; our expertise is to overcome the objections, find clarity in the fog.

• Choice. There is never only one way to get something done. We find solutions; if a solution doesn’t exist, we make it!

• Integrity. We come from a place of good intention and purpose. Always.

• Transparency. We put it all right out there.

• It’s always about genarians. We honor the process of aging; we honor the people doing the aging even more!

• Possibility. Anything can happen.

• Courage, risk-taking. There is nothing we won’t do in support of genarians. We’ll step on toes and invade some turf. Really.

• Inclusion. We make sure all genarians are seen.

• Duty. We believe caring for a genarian is a duty, right up there with serving country, donating blood, voting. Duty is not burden; it is sacred responsibility. We push families and groups to step up!

• History that informs and transforms…otherwise it’s just status quo. We draw from history but don’t dwell in it. Our pasts are powerful when we use them as platforms for moving forward.

• Truth-telling. We tell the truth. You may not like it, but we do strive to be kind. We don’t tolerate ageism and we call it out.

• Improvement. We strive to make life better for genarians. We build people and systems up.

• Go deep. We take clients deeper than they may like (topics such as death, money, sex, family dynamics, forgiveness, dilemmas of faith/conscience, etc.). It can be uncomfortable. Yes, we will go there!

• Maximum impact. We believe in leveraging our capacity for the greater good. Group work is essential. We are all an important part of multiple systems. One action begets many great actions. There is an urgency of now, for all.

• Accountability. Doing something really matters! For every action or inaction there is impact. What is said and done matters! What is not said and not done also matters…maybe even more!

• Tomorrow. We do everything we can for today’s genarians, and never forget how we are also investing in our tomorrow–our genarian years. If it’s broken now, we only have so many years to get it fixed before we need it!

POINT OF VIEW

Grandma and Paca, Gammie and G, Bubbe and Zaidie, Nonna and Poppa, and Nana and Pop. Mom, Dad, Uncle Bernie and Aunt Selma, Cousins Elaine and Rose, and dear friends “Uncle” Jerry and Sally. You know these people. They are a part of us.

How would the decisions being made for, and about genarians be different if we were focused on our grandparents, parents, in-laws, and neighbors and not a growing demographic cleverly named Baby Boomers or Senior Citizens or Retirees?

What could be possible if the love we have for the genarians in our lives translated into meaningful advocacy, action, support, and change?

What would the benefits be to a family if they set specific goals for how to work together caring for their genarians? What would it be like to have a specific plan rather than wing it?

At Genarian, we ask, and you answer, questions like this every day.

It’s personal!

Our Inspiration

Genarian.

The word genarian has been around forever, only its use is typically as a suffix added to numerical prefixes used to describe the decades associated with aging. You’ve heard them, right? Quinquagenarians (50+), Sexagenarians (60+), Septuagenarians (70+), Octogenarians (80+), Nonagenarians (90+), Centenarians (100+), and Supercentenarians (110+).

At Genarian, we see the word genarian–by itself, no prefix needed–as an elegant substitute for those bureaucratic, faceless, wonkish, cold, infantilizing, demeaning, often well-intended but insulting identifiers which are focused exclusively on the processes of aging or the stages of aging and less on the people doing the aging.

Genarians are the people we love; they are our family. Genarians are our grandparents, our parents, our in-laws, our aunts and uncles, our great grandparents, our cousins. They are our neighbors and friends and co-workers. Genarians are, or will be, us!

Give it a try. Say the word. “Genarian.” it has a nice sound to it, doesn’t it? Familiar, yet new, fresh. All encompassing, yet meaningful to an individual. Soft and important. Person-centered and action oriented.

Genarian is all about genarians!

Our Brand

Countless labels used today to identify or classify “old people” offend, dehumanize, and marginalize the very people they are intended to describe. In everyday use are words like senior citizens, seniors, old, elderly, the aged, retirees, consumers, recipients, beneficiaries, patients, clients, residents, enrollees, members, customers, and the newest descriptor en vogue–Older Americans–designed to describe people who are growing old.

We hear terms that are pejorative and inaccurate–geezers, biddies, old folks, ancients, olds, and there are the “diseased” like the “Alzheimer’s patient” (any disease can be used in this format). It’s as if the person is Alzheimer’s disease and not a person living with Alzheimer’s disease.

And the dreaded “sweetheart” or “sweetie” (and numerous versions thereof) intended to be kind and warm (or mask not knowing a person’s name) but result in humiliation or infantilization.

At Genarian, we believe people will do, the way they view—a beneficiary, enrollee or consumer is viewed as a participant in a transaction and not as a person in need of kind assistance; an “Alzheimer’s patient” is often treated like an object of disease and not a person living with a health challenge; a “sweetie” is often directed or instructed which denies them agency over their lives and choice making.

Genarian believes in the humanity, dignity, agency, and inclusion of genarians.

Our Purpose

Genarians confront an inconsistent and often insulting or overly clinical nomenclature as well as an overly burdened system of aging often described as too bureaucratic, ineffective, and financially unsustainable to be of use.  Institutions in the aging space have historically favored scientific study of this population (theoretical gerontology) with disproportionate attention paid to meeting the practical needs of this population (applied gerontology). With so many genarians accessing the current systems of care, the disconnect between the scientific and the practical is glaring.  If these systems aren’t broken, they are straining under their own weight…and genarians and their families struggle as a result.

Genarian has a bold approach to support genarians facing these challenges today:

• We help to change the conversation about aging from the abstract to the concrete, from the theoretical to the practical

• We demonstrate how genarians are active in their lives throughout their whole lives

• We create an awareness about genarians and their needs and promote a new way to be in service to them and in relationship with them

• We move people and groups to a greater level of understanding about genarians and increase their responsiveness to genarians

OBJECTIVES

We are mission-driven to our collective core.  We are guided by values and principles in all our work, not just because doing so is good business, but because the stakes are so high. Genarian has evidence that our work makes a real difference for genarians today, and we can’t help but notice the impact the work will have on our lives as genarians tomorrow. We pay it forward!

• DISTURB SYSTEMS

  Disrupt, disturb, and challenge any entity to create meaningful reform of systems and impact for genarians.

  We are bold systems disturbers who identify, challenge, and disrupt the status quo that affects genarians and their well-being. We are the leading questioner who asks the necessary, sometimes tough questions to affect positive change for genarians.  We are engaged partners and trusted collaborators.  Genarian offers a voice that is fresh and different; it’s a bit irreverent, modern, and conversational. We don’t talk at people; we engage people in conversation and productive solution finding. 

• BE ON POINT & NOW

  Produce work that is now, relevant, and noticed.

  Our work is on-point, current, and in the flow of today.  Our output is positive, joyful, and at times even a bit fun (but not frivolous or inconsequential).  We honor experience, common sense, intuition, and the power of the gut in addition to research that is academic and scholarly, expertly studied, and externally tested.  

  Genarian will not let a good reform get sidelined by a hyper-reliance upon data.  It’s a double-edged sword—data can bolster a great idea and data can bury a great idea. So, what gives? We believe in data and we also believe in no data! We see great value in data that is anecdotally relevant if not statistically significant.  We value the life experience of genarians.

  Answers are within reach!

• PUSH & CHALLENGE

  Push clients out of their comfort zones by truth telling, being courageous, and taking risks.

  We will challenge what’s acceptable, baseline, and the default standard.  We resist aging industry jargon and “best practices” that are burdensome, tired, out-of-date, and just don’t make any sense.  We challenge institutional and personal practices, history, and the common refrain of “that’s the way we have always done it!”

• INNOVATE & FIND POSSIBILITY

  Be driven by wild innovation and unbridled possibility.

  When it comes to finding solutions, we begin from nothing and go on from there. We are free to explore all possibilities, and rarely constrained by what is. Solution finding is about exploring all possibilities while problem solving is about drawing from those solutions that already exist. Genarian innovates. Big!

• CREATE REAL IMPACT

  Create real impact for our clients—genarians and the people who love them!

  Impact is both objective and subjective. We know what is measurable, achievable, and sustainable and we know what feels good. Our goals are met when these goals are met. We facilitate impact. We believe impact is when the aging space has been changed enough so that more genarians are served to their satisfaction and when the dialogue in the global aging space has shifted to innovation, possibility, and accountability. And we know there is positive impact when genarians are in control of their lives and are engaged partners in their care.

EXPERTISE

• Changing lives: All our work is designed to improve the lives of genarians and the people who care for them, and

• Systems change: Genarian works to transform systems that serve genarians

What we bring

Genarian is:

• committed to creating change for all genarians by using soulful, positive, engaging language and solutions

• unafraid to address and challenge the status quo

• collaborative and actively seeking the input of diverse constituencies

• accessing solid mentorship and useful networks

• guided by years of personal service and care provided to beloved genarians

Our process

Every Genarian engagement begins with a conversation!

Our core business is to address topics that are important to genarians and their support networks and examine them in a way that leads to a deeper understanding and moves toward real action.

It’s not what is said. It’s what is done!

We pride ourselves in being skilled listeners and keen observers of genarians and the lives they live. We become aware of topics (or problems, issues, frustrations, annoyances, curiosities, or spontaneous “a-ha’s”) from an infinite number of sources with great clarity, detail, and data.

Our conversation space is creative–wildly creative–where we discuss a topic in a number of ways to get to the core of the issue. We unpack, dissect, examine, explore, and at times, we try it out, make it up, give it a shot, test a theory, or simply go with our gut. When necessary, we look at models, comparisons, studies, research, data, and the output of an occasional focus group.

It is our goal to look at a topic from multiple perspectives that then help us to assist the genarian to find their remedy.

Real topics raised by genarians over the years have helped Genarian clarify our core values…the heart of our work:

• Intergenerational/Multigenerational connections: We care deeply about real interaction among and between all generations

• Healthy living/Wellness: We care deeply about practices that promote good health and wellness

• Independence/Choice: We care deeply about freedom of movement, thought, and decision making

• Safety: We care deeply about safe practices and living

• Family engagement: We care deeply about ways to welcome, support, heal, and/or strengthen biological families and families of choice

• Community: We care deeply about building whole communities of interdependent people and systems

• Sense of place (home, community): We care deeply about fostering a sense of place that is secure and life affirming

• Sense of purpose (meaning, faith, legacy): We care deeply about supporting personal inquiry about life, legacy and what’s next

• Affordability and Accessibility: We care deeply about solutions that can be reasonably afforded and readily acquired

• Quality: We care deeply about promoting high quality outcomes

• Age Authenticity: We care deeply about presenting an accurate, natural, age-affirming vision of aging

• Visibility: We care deeply about genarians actively engaging in the world

We find solutions to challenges facing genarians.

Genarian exists within a very complex world—with aging all around—and we want to shape the way individuals and groups navigate this complexity. It is audacious to think we can impact people’s lives and aging, but it’s important enough to try! We believe the overabundance of talk and research about “old people” and “aging” must cede some space to creative problem solving and practical solutions to the myriad challenges affecting genarians today. The need is great, and the time is now.

It is imperative!

And truth be told, there is some self-interest here. Genarian is personally committed to creating the spaces into which we will actively age. The vision we hold for the world is one we hold for ourselves.

Genarian is up to the task…and we don’t play small!

CAPABILITIES

We serve genarians and groups who have something to say about aging. We work with individuals, and we work with groups—families, organizations, teams—a wide range of people who have aging at the top of mind.

We understand your challenges, and we can help you tackle them. We do this by working together and challenging assumptions, identifying new strategies, and finding innovative solutions needed to make life better for genarians.

Genarian brings value to clients through a certified and professional coaching program. We are expert at working with individuals and groups.

We serve our clients by:

• Looking, listening, and feeling

• Helping to find the answers that are obscured by daily noise

• Bringing research-based and field-tested expertise and solutions when necessary

• Keeping you and your universe up-to-date about aging

• Producing the radical that’s practical, the outrageous that’s smart, the bold that’s accessible

• Working together to design and implement solutions that develop your skills, awareness, to sensibly meet your individual and collective goals

• Genarians

• A genarian and spouse or partner

• Adult children of genarians

• Sibling groups

• Multi-generational families

• Professional groups or work teams

• Non-profit organization founders, executive directors, and boards of directors

All are Welcome Here! Genarian has lived experience with clients of all races, cultures, ethnicities, sexual orientations, gender identities and expressions, and abilities and we welcome you. Aging is challenging enough, and it can be even more so when the characteristics that make us unique are ignored or misunderstood. Not only will you be fully seen, you will be fully embraced and celebrated. Genarian welcomes everyone.

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