While at the 2025 Aline Innovation Summit, Josh and Lucas sat down with the new CEO of Aline, Brandon Logsdon, to discuss the direction of Aline, and how they’re moving towards a connected ecosystem of programs to help deliver on promises and unify the industry with the Aline data.

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Produced by Solinity Marketing.

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Intro 

Welcome to season eight of Bridge the Gap, a podcast dedicated to informing, educating, and influencing the future of housing and services for seniors. The BTG network is powered by sponsors, Aline, NIC MAP, Procare HR, Sage, Hamilton CapTel, ServiceMaster, The Bridge Group Construction, and Solinty and produced by Solinity Marketing. Bridge the Gap in three, two.

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00:46 - 01:11

Lucas McCurdy

Welcome to Bridge the Gap podcast, the senior living podcast with Josh and Lucas. Beautiful day here in Nashville. And a very exciting event here from Aline. We just sat through an incredible morning keynote speaker. And I feel very inspired right now. And it's a great time to kind of get this kicked off. We want to welcome the new Aline CEO, Brandon Logsdon. Welcome to the show.

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01:11 - 02:00

Brandon Logsdon

Thanks for having me. And you're right, that was incredibly inspiring.

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01:15 - 01:46

Lucas McCurdy

Yeah. And so we came in yesterday and we were able to be a part of y'all's kickoff. And we've attended a lot of conferences, events. We've actually put on our own events and there's a lot of energy here. It's actually really exciting. And you know what? We're not surprised. We've seen the growth of Aline and just what has been created in the products and services that you bring to our industry is really a first. I would say, and from your perspective, coming into this event and interacting with your customers and your teams. What do you think that the industry really needs right now?

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02:00 - 04:22

Brandon Logsdon

First of all, I'm happy to be here. Thanks for having me. I would say the answer to that question is a big reason why I was so motivated to come to Aline and to have the opportunity to serve this industry. You know, what better mission than helping operators who serve so many of our loved ones, to operate more efficiently so that they can focus on what matters, like that.

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You know, you think about what we just heard from the speaker in the other room, but equally, that is a very empowering and motivating mission – call to action. I'll tell a story later this afternoon about my wife's grandfather, Papa Joe, and the journey of meeting him at his 90th birthday and seeing him live in a community till the day he died at 100.

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And his goal in life was to make it to 100. And seeing how the people in this community that he was a resident, walked alongside him and cared for him, from the independent stage to the assisted stage, to. He had a couple blips where he fell and went into skilled nursing. And then ultimately, eight days before he died, meeting my youngest, my son in that room at the facility.

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And, so when I think about that and I think about the care he received and I think about the journey we're on and the line and how we can help an operator focus on what matters using technology. And ultimately, when I think about this industry, candidly, prior to Aline and to your point, kind of first of kind, there are, just to be blunt, too many point solutions that can operate or has to cobble together that are disparate and therefore don't communicate to one another on the back end that make it too difficult to do business. And so if we can help operators operate more effectively using technology that talks to one another, that's truly exciting. And it's, it's a big reason why I'm here. I'm looking forward to the opportunity.

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04:22 - 05:22

Josh Crisp

Well, it is exciting. There's a lot of energy here. We're just getting started. Coming off that keynote, you talked so much about the value of the lives that we care for in these communities and what an important role it is and how to engage them in their purpose. As long as they have life, as long as they're breathing, they have this years of experience, this wealth of knowledge.

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And he talked also, really about his journey in wellness. And how a big part of that is finding your purpose. And so what an opportunity, as you guys, Aline, are equipping operators to do better to not only just work more efficiently, like run the business, but to really make an impact in people's quality of life, in their wellness at one of the most frail.

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But yes, one of the most useful parts of their life, where all these life experiences culminate into this high value proposition that they can then share not only to the caregivers that are helping them, but to the next generation. Right?

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05:22 - 06:46

Brandon Logsdon

That's exactly right. You know, thinking about purpose, there's a process that has been very helpful to me in my professional career in finding purpose. And we're going to embark upon this within the Aline management team in the broader company. As you know, coming into the door as the new CEO, an opportunity to interact and kind of share kind of my perspective on finding purpose. It's a really simple process.

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It starts with what does your world need? So in our case, the end market of senior living, what do we think we do well? And then find that intersection of what is our purpose and how we take what we do well and serve that industry that has a need. And I'm really looking forward to that. There's already a great mission, a great purpose at Aline. One of the other great opportunities for me personally is, you know, coming to an end to a business that's very vibrant, as you mentioned, and an industry that's vibrant. It's very healthy. Brad Frasher, who I'm succeeding, has done a fantastic job in building the foundation of align. And, so the opportunity to come in, think about some of these things to, you know, fine tuned to put a stamp on, if you will, really has me optimistic, and excited for What's to come?

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06:46 - 06:57

Josh Crisp

Fresh eyes coming in. What are some glaring things that are staring at you right now that are obvious, that are challenges that our industry has, that we have to overcome together?

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06:57 - 09:32

Brandon Logsdon

First thing I would say, what I talked about earlier, I mean, it's hard to run the community. There is a continuum, you know, I think about it, you know, we have a wheel, if you will, that is in kind of the align materials. I think of it more of kind of a left to right, like the way a book reads, because you have to find a resident to make sure that there's a good fit with that resident in your community.

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Then you have to think about the stages that that resident will go through, through that care continuum. Resident life cycle is what I know it's called in the industry, and every step of that journey is an opportunity to fine tune, an opportunity to right size, an opportunity to create more efficiency and effective data. And so it is a difficult, difficult business to run. I mean, that's the first thing, right? Is and then you just think about the care part, the human side of it and the fact that,

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Yes, it's a business. And yes, profits are always important. And if there's an investor on the other side of the operator and there's cap rates and there's returns and all of those things, but in the middle of all of that, there's this very emotional human side of the industry. And so synthesizing that, I think is one a big challenge, but it's also a big opportunity, right. If we as Aline can continue on this journey, from the time of acquisition and qualification to the end of that journey, whatever that looks like for that resident in that particular community, if we can create the visibility in the form of a singular customer record and then devise the right data signals through an integrated data infrastructure so that whether it be now a caregiver, whether it be management of the operating company, whether it be management of the investor at any given time, you can see what is happening relative to the residents and how those residents. 

Now, depending on what their job is, what they're trying to find relative to the life cycle of that resident, whether it be financial, whether it be care, continuum, etc. if we can create that in a single dashboard, single voice of truth, let's call it a system of record that can be a rising tide for communities all over the country.

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Mid-Roll

As the exclusive data partner of the Bridged the Gap podcast. NIC MAP delivers unparalleled insights to senior housing professionals for better decision making. Their extensive database of over 35,000 properties provides critical data supporting operators, investors, lenders, developers and other industry stakeholders. NIC MAP delivers comprehensive nationwide coverage of demographics, migration trends with rate and occupancy data of 140 metro markets. NIC MAP equips you with the information needed to confidently navigate market complexities and uncertainties. Visit Nick mapp.com to learn more and speak with a product expert today.

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10:18 - 10:43

Josh Crisp

So, aside from the day job, the mission in front of you that your team is out there doing every day, you guys have put together an incredible feat with the Aline Summit. We're here, Lucas, and I know events know how much it takes. So you guys have had a huge planning process, so there must be a ton of intentionality and thought that goes into these attendees that have come in from all over the country that are excited here. What are some of the goals and takeaways? Because I know many of our listeners are not here. They need to know about this. So what are you hoping that each participant takes away from Aligned Summit 25?

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10:55 - 11:20

Brandon Logsdon

First let me say this. So, Erin Hayes, who is the president of Aline, was the founder of Enquire. This is kind of a personal passion project for her. She had a real vision around this, partnering with her marketing department, Tim Poindexter. And, they've done a phenomenal job putting the event together. New, new to industry, new to the company. Arrived yesterday afternoon, didn't really know.

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11:20 - 11:22

Lucas McCurdy

It's a good place to start.

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11:22 - 12:54

Brandon Logsdon

But I didn't know what to expect. I walked in and immediately was just blown away. Right. The level of the points you've made, the professionalism, the atmosphere they've created. One thing that stands out to me, and it's something I've seen successful in other industries, is it's not just Aline that's here. It's not just the customers of Aline that's here, but it's the broader ecosystem.

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A lot of our partners are here, and I think that's really important because I think if I am, you know, employed in a community or an investor, management, whatever it might be, I want to come to a conference that, yes, I can interact with the line or the the, you know, entity hosting it. But more importantly, I want to be able to see a clear picture of the ecosystem.

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And so I think it's very wise of the team in putting this together and being thoughtful about how to devise a program that's inclusive of not just the aligners that are here, our products, our services, but a lot of the ecosystem partners that we're dependent on and therefore the communities are dependent on to create the experience we're trying to create for the residents.

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12:32 - 13:22

Lucas McCurdy

Well, it reminds me of the phrase, you know, Josh, we've been doing this for many years now. The phrase that has come up, but I haven't really seen a true path to actually solving this or actually coming up with this or defining it is the phrase high tech, high touch. And Bob Cramer was the first time I'd ever heard that.

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And, you know, kind of positioning what the future of senior housing looks like of, yes, adopting these new technologies, but never really losing what's most important, which is that human human care, human touch, and what you are outlining to me really is the roadmap to that perfect balance of high tech, high touch. I know that you've really kind of laid that out, but any new thoughts or any additional thoughts come to mind when I say that?

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13:22 - 16:40

Brandon Logsdon

Obviously we're in a paradigm today where, I'll kind of go back several years, years ago, a conference came on the scene in the industry I came from called Money 2020. And Money 2020 at the time was, you know, kind of the fintech conference to be at. And I'll never forget being there.

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And the speaker was a big data expert. And it was interesting because at the time, big data was what everyone was talking about. And his call to action that day was, yes, we're all talking about big data, but nobody's really doing it effectively. And so now I think about where we are today. And here is a line connecting all data through all the applications that we have and have now acquired new applications with growth menu and with Roobrik into a common data infrastructure so that we can actually deliver the promise of true integration.

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Now I think about the time where we are with each other. It to me feels a lot like where big data was ten, 12 years ago. Everybody's talking about it. Everybody clearly understands the promise. But to execute on the premise, you have to be thoughtful, right? You have to really think through consequences, unintended or otherwise. And that's kind of where we are right now with AI is, both, I think, broad market. But Aline, we see a ton of promise of things now that we can do to create signals in the data by having data integrated, using AI to do the work for us to become smarter, more proactive, and that that kind of tech, tech forward, high tech, high touch. I mean, that's really what's going to create the high tech, high touch with high tech is the ability to smartly use data.

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Take some human manpower, you know, out of the picture using AI, to replace what otherwise would need to be a team of analysts, etc. and provide now an operator a data signal, you know, things. I'll give you an example. In this industry, early days, one use case of a problem that's come up that people talk about is revenue leakage and the fact that, you know, you have the care continuum and then you have a billing platform.

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And how do you make sure those two things are in sync? Because every time there's a change in care, it should be probably some sort of requisite change in billing. But that doesn't always happen. Why? Because historically, those systems are not integrated well through our leasing and billing and through our care applications and through our data infrastructure and through AI, we're able to start to build some data signals that can start to solve those problems.

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16:04 - 17:07

Josh Crisp

Well, it's really exciting. And so I had the opportunity to be out in some of the networking areas. Last night. I was at the networking, the opening reception, and I think it's going to be pretty magical to see what comes from all the conversations, because if you have some very, excited operators, managers, administrators, regionals, VP's here that are all talking about the same challenges that they've been talking about in their own individual communities, but it's interesting to see when they start collaborating and having those discussions and talking about ideas of how to solve problems with your teams of professionals here.

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And so many people on the topic of AI have actually, I heard in the hallway actually came in specifically to get some education and some guidance and some tools on that. So I think when we're sitting here next year at this time, Lucas, it's going to be fun to see some of the results and the improvements and how we move the industry forward just by coming together, and working together on events like this. So that's exciting. You've got to feel good about that.

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17:07 - 18:00

Brandon Logsdon

100%. I mean, look, I think as a company with the aspiration of a line to connect an ecosystem, to become a system of record company, a true enterprise software company serving the senior living community with fit for purpose applications that connect from the point of acquisition and engagement all the way through. Again, when somebody is out of that facility, that's a high one.

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It's a high calling. It's a big opportunity. It takes a village, right? We have to bring everybody together and, and be inclusive, not exclusive relative to how we listen. And we learn how we interact with the partner ecosystem. Come on podcasts like this with, you know, people that have an interest in making sure this industry is growing, thriving, accountable, right. All of those things come, come to mind and come into play.

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18:00 - 18:17

Josh Crisp

we know, you're getting pulled in a million directions. Thank you for what you're doing. At the helm of Aline and for our industry. We'll look forward to to watching it all unfold and, being your biggest fans, as we, as we go about the hallways here, align summit

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18:17 - 18:25

Brandon Logsdon

Well thank you. Great to great to be on the show. And and again, thanks for all the work you guys are doing. This is fantastic to have a voice like this in this industry.

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18:25 - 18:46

Lucas McCurdy

Well we appreciate your time. Thanks, Brandon for sitting with us and excited for your new role and excited to be here. So for our listeners that want to learn more, you can scroll down into those podcast notes. You can go to btgvoice.com connect with a line and our content here. And we know that you're going to love to hear all of this. And thanks for your time. And thanks for listening to another great episode of Bridge the Gap.

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Outro

Thanks for listening to Bridge the Gap podcast with Josh and Lucas. Connect with the BTG network team and use your voice to influence the industry by connecting with us at btgvoice.com.

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