Our Team
A Winning Team
When you make the decision to become a franchise owner with Senior Care Authority, you are joining a family committed to the highest level of integrity, compassion, and service in the industry. This is a personally and professionally satisfying business where your passion makes a difference in the lives of people every day. From day one, you are guided to success in your business with a support team who is there for you and responsive to your needs. We offer a proven system, essential infrastructure, and a track record of successful franchise owners. Our foremost commitment is to support families and their loved ones bringing empathy, dignity, and compassion to the aging process.
Frank M. Samson, CSA
Founder & CEO
Frank M. Samson, CSA, is the founder of Senior Care Authority, author and creator of The Boomers Today syndicated Radio/Podcast Show. Prior to founding Senior Care Authority, he worked in franchise consulting and the travel industry for over three decades. He had built an organization with over 200 franchises which he later sold and the company operates successfully today.
His expertise in senior care has given Frank the opportunity to write a regular blog and host a nationally, syndicated radio show and podcast called Boomers Today. Frank also authored a best selling book in various categories called The Aging Boomers: Answers to Critical Questions for You, Your Parents and Loved Ones and is available on Amazon.com.
Frank is a Certified Senior Advisor, a member of the Society of Certified Senior Advisors, on the Board of the National Placement and Referral Alliance and an Honorary Faculty Member at Michigan State University.
E. Michèle Samson, CSA
Vice-President of Special Projects
In addition to being a Certified Senior Advisor, Michèle has had a successful career in real estate, specializing in Estates, Ranch/Country properties, Primary and Vacation/Second Homes. When her husband Frank began Senior Care Authority locally in Northern California, she played an integral role in building professional referrals and assisting families in seeking residential care options for an aging loved one in Sonoma, Marin, Napa and Solano counties.
Educating the public on senior care has been a primary focus of Senior Care Authority. After years of a local radio show started by Frank, a weekly podcast was established to reach listeners throughout the United States and around the world. Michèle has coordinated the interviews of authors, healthcare and senior care professionals for the weekly “Boomers Today” podcast. Listeners access this podcast through its own App and also can be listened to on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, iHeartRadio, several radio stations around the country as well as www.BoomersTodayRadio.com.
Marcy Baskin CSA, CADDCT
Vice President, Franchise Support and Training/Business Consultant
Marcy is a veteran of the senior care industry, helping families with the anxiety-riddled process of senior care decisions. Her personal experience, managing the rough waters of caring for her own mother and father, called her to this business. As she helped manage the care of one parent living with Alzheimer’s Disease and the other dealing with multiple physical ailments, it was obvious that her choices in advisors or advocates were scarce.
As a lifelong entrepreneur, Marcy knew that the senior care business would not only satisfy her desire to help families navigate the healthcare system but would fulfill her as a businessperson. After both of her parents passed away, she left a successful apparel company she had created and studied Healthcare Navigation at Sonoma State University before launching her private practice as an eldercare consultant, ElderRoads. Her goal was and continues to be to use her experience and training to be an advocate for families and to simplify their decision-making process. As Vice President of Franchise Support and Training for Senior Care Authority, Marcy has the distinct pleasure of sharing what she has learned with new franchisees through training, mentoring, and coaching. She has served hundreds of families over the past decade with compassion, empathy, and education and is eager to see other people in the business do the same.
When not immersed in franchisee support, Marcy enjoys time with her family and friends, is involved in volunteer opportunities for both two-legged and four-legged creatures, is a certified yoga instructor, still learning Spanish, and loves to cook healthy vegetarian food…
Laura Alexander
Vice President of Franchise Development
Laura is Vice President of Franchise Development at Senior Care Authority, a position she has held since May of 2016. Laura was drawn to the senior care industry after her mom developed Pancreatic Cancer. She personally experienced the challenges associated with a sick parent and also went through the process of placing her dad into Assisted Living.
Her primary responsibility is franchise owner recruitment. Laura’s dedication and her passion with Senior Care Authority has grown franchise ownership to nearly 100 locations nationwide and a master franchise in Canada. As an accomplished sales and marketing professional with 25+ years’ experience, Laura has worked in management roles in the consumer goods industry; she is a former business owner of a leading direct mail advertising company in Orange County, CA and prior to joining Senior Care Authority, Laura worked in franchise consulting and is a Certified Franchise Consultant.
Rob Gandley
VP of Marketing and Business Development
If you put the words sales, digital marketing technology and entrepreneur together you would have Rob Gandley.
As VP of Marketing and Business Development, Rob leads the development of new digital marketing technology, franchise and brand campaign development as well as sales training for Senior Care Authority franchisees.
Rob’s also honored to be a contributing author for The Franchise Bible, 9th Edition, on how marketing AI technology is shaping the future of franchise marketing.
And speaking of tech, he loves to geek out on all things marketing technology and is perpetually researching a better mousetrap to drive better results for franchisees while providing superior services for the senior care marketplace.
Rob especially enjoys walking dogs, snowshoeing, hiking and biking under the blue skies of Colorado. But most of all he enjoys spending time with his awesomely accomplished son and daughter in Colorado Springs.
Lorrie Siegwarth
Onboarding and Training Specialist
Lorrie is the Franchise Development Coordinator with Senior Care Authority assisting the corporate team as well as the franchise owners with development of their business and everyday operations. She is involved in everything from setting up a new franchise owner, to planning and organizing the Senior Care Authority National Conference.
Lorrie graduated from Empire College’s Travel and Tourism Program and spent sixteen years in the travel industry in various capacities including management and training. For eight years she was the Membership Coordinator and Executive Administrator at a prominent botanical garden in Arizona.
Matt Gurwell
Franchise Business Consultant/Founder and Program Director, “Beyond Driving with Dignity”
Matt Gurwell is the developer of the “Beyond Driving with Dignity” program and previously served as the founder & CEO of Keeping Us Safe. He lectures throughout the United States on topics related to the aging process and its adverse effects on driving skills.
In 2021, Matt retired from Keeping Us Safe and now serves as a proud member of the Senior Care Authority team. His mission is to provide strategies and guidance to seniors that will help them to continue driving safely until the decision is made to retire from their driving career.
The “Beyond Driving with Dignity” program provides an excellent array of services and resources for both families and professionals as they deal with this very sensitive and emotional issue.
Matt retired from a very distinguished and successful 24-year career as an Assistant District Commander with the Ohio State Highway Patrol. After leaving the Patrol, he has participated in a tremendous amount of work in the area of older driver research, best practices, current vehicle safety technologies, and adaptive equipment.
Matt’s creative, innovative, and common-sense approach, combined with his uncanny ability to bring calm and resolve to stressful situations without ever jeopardizing the dignity of others, has contributed greatly to the success of the “Beyond Driving with Dignity” program.
When asked what the underlying motivation was for developing this potentially life-saving program Matt explains:
“There was never one particular event. It was the result of 20-plus years of holding dying people in my arms at terrible car accidents, and delivering dozens and dozens of death notifications to families. I would much rather work with families to bring a peaceful resolve to this sensitive and uncomfortable issue now, rather than have them deal with it when a State Trooper is knocking on their front door”.
Brian Whipp
IT Manager
Brian is the “go to” guy for all IT stuff. He provides Salesforce training and support to franchisees. Assists with onboarding franchisees, setting up accounts, maintaining office technology and company databases.
Prior to Senior Care Authority, Brian worked as a freelance developer and worked in the Visual Effects / Animation industry. He is a graduate of Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles with a major in Animation and a minor in Fine Arts. Brian is our tech expert and learned coding from interactive animation courses at LMU starting with Actionscript 2.0 and since then has picked up on HTML, PHP, Java and Objective C. He loves to dabble in graphic design, photoshop and sound / video editing.
Nicole Fainaru-Wada
Franchise Support Coordinator
Nicole provides assistance to all franchisees, as well as the Senior Care Authority Corporate Office. If there is an event to organize, a newsletter to design, materials to compile for franchisees or our local clients, Nicole’s efficiency and literacy are a great asset to the team. Her organizational skills and attention to detail make her the perfect person to assist franchisees in any requests for support – managing requests directly or redirecting them to the appropriate department and tracking the resolution of any issues. She is a co-director of our conferences, as well as local educational events for the public.
Nicole’s work experience reflects a range of talents she brings to bear in her current job. She previously worked in marketing, customer service, database development, bookkeeping, and website development, among other areas. She’s a graduate of San Francisco State, where she earned a degree in psychology.
Nicole’s favorite things to do are travel, read, cook, eat and puzzle.
Sabine Nevermann
Franchise Development Manager
Prior to joining Senior Care Authority, Sabine worked as Marketing and Lead Generation Manager for a company specialized in helping franchisors to successfully implement and manage Salesforce CRM.
Sabine started her franchise career at one of the fastest growing education franchises globally. She worked in the franchise development department and had the opportunity to help entrepreneurs start their own businesses in the US, Canada, UK, Australia, and other countries.
She has always enjoyed helping people achieve their life goals through entrepreneurship.
Sabine started her career in Urban Planning. She took part of multi-disciplinary teams developing new cities, government complexes, marinas and other large-scale developments in North America, Latin America and the Middle East.
She graduated from a master’s degree in Urban Planning from McGill University in Montreal. She speaks German, English and Spanish and enjoys learning about other cultures.
Sylvie Astrid
Graphic Designer
Sylvie began her career in San Francisco at global agency Landor Associates. While working on brand campaigns for United Airlines, Cigna Healthcare, and Technicolor, among others, she studied design at California College of the Arts. Sylvie has produced a diverse scope of work that includes brand identities, interface design, environmental graphics, photography, book design, illustrations, annual reports, and more. “With every project I am gifted the opportunity to understand a new cause, a new audience. Every design should be fresh.”
Over the years, Sylvie has enjoyed working for small and large companies alike, including Dorito’s Chips, Yoga International, FedEx, The Bay Area Discovery Museum, The San Francisco Zoo, and AirTouch. Caring deeply about client relationships, Sylvie works to bring long-term support, value, and growth to everyone she works with. “I believe wholeheartedly in what Senior Care Authority offers families. The process of finding design solutions across the board requires both creativity and empathy.”
Sylvie lives in Seattle, WA, has two children Oliver & Amélie, and is a certified yoga instructor.
Loretta Rotolo
Strategic Alliance and Marketing Coordinator
Over the past 30 years, Loretta has been fortunate to work in the health and human service field, in in direct service roles, as a therapist and advocate, as well as in management capacities. Her experience includes working with a variety of populations, with diverse needs and abilities: older adults and children with multiple cognitive and physical disabilities, individuals in treatment for substance abuse, and with families who are caring for loved ones with special needs.
More recently, Loretta has worked with seniors with cognitive and physical impairments, as a creative arts therapist, using the arts to promote social and emotional well-being and engagement, as well as intellectual, sensory and creative stimulation. In both Northern Michigan and New York, Loretta has worked extensively with community health initiatives in both program development and management capacities, with years of experience in community building and inter-agency collaborative projects that improve the quality of life for individuals and families.
Carol Singletary
Director, Business Development
Carol has been in the business of helping, people for her entire career. She was a young mother of four when she earned a master’s degree in Counseling and Psychology and LPC certification in 1995 and has pursued a career focused on empowering individuals and their employers as they endeavored to achieve a productive workplace and work-life balance.
She has served in leadership roles across academic, governmental, and corporate settings, and in addition to earning a certification as Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC), she also holds securities licenses, and is a licensed life and health insurance advisor.
Today, her focus is on helping employers bring meaningful resources to their employees and their families who are facing the challenges of caregiving for an aging family member or loved one. She is (still) a mother to four strong and beautiful married daughters, a devoted CC to 8 very special grandchildren, and partner to Gary, with whom she shares sunsets in Birmingham, Alabama and Pensacola Beach, Florida.
Mickelle Marston
Digital Marketing Manager
Mickelle Marston serves as the Digital Marketing Manager with Senior Care Authority. She assists the corporate team by enhancing SCA’s digital marketing initiatives, managing social media strategy, and developing creative content. Mickelle has over 20 years of marketing, social media, and branding experience. A graduate of the University of Utah, Mickelle’s career has allowed her to work in many different businesses from non-profits, recreation, and athletics. Based out of Salt Lake City, she is a proud mom to two teenage sons, enjoys photography, and is an avid sports fan.
