Joshua Pennington

Meet Your Regional Director of Clinical Operations

How did you get into Senior Living?

Nursing was a career change for me. It took being blessed with a beautiful little girl to reflect on my life and career path and pursue nursing. She is older now but when she was little she knew, “Daddy takes care of people.” When I went into nursing school I thought I wanted to be an ER nurse but during the course of my clinicals and preceptorship I had the same patient for 6 weeks out of an 8 week stretch. She had some triumphs and some significant losses. Being there for her during those moments moved me in a way I had not expected. It is cliché but you don’t know how much your cup can be filled until you start emptying it. Once I realized that, I changed tack and pursued a career in senior living. Best decision I have ever made… except for marrying my wife.

Who inspires you?

That best decision, my wife, Cristina. She is incredibly compassionate and strives to make sure everyone and everything is taken care of. It seems like she is remarkable at everything! She is the best human I have ever known and she makes me want to be a better man.

What is something people would be surprised to know about you?

This was a tough one for me. I get extremely passionate about interests and hobbies. For me currently that is bird photography. I spend a lot of my free time going out into the wilderness to search for rare birds and perfect lighting.

Beatles or Elvis?

This is going to upset some people but I am not really a fan of either. That being said music has always been a huge part of my life and my mother was definitely a Beatles fan. Thinking about this question I thought about the fact that it wasn’t until John Lennon heard Elvis that he had decided that he wanted to be a musician, having once said, “Nothing affected me until I heard Elvis.” By that reasoning if there had been no Elvis, there would have been no Beatles…so my choice would in turn have to be Elvis.

How did you wind up at Inspired Living?

As I referenced above, I went straight into the assisted living arena when I became a nurse. After progressing to a Health & Wellness Director Role and doing that successfully for a while I was convinced by an industry partner that I needed to give skilled nursing a try because I, supposedly didn’t know what I was missing. I took a role at her Skilled Rehab Facility as a Charge nurse and did stretch those wings but after a few months I began to realize that I had lost sight of the fact that building relationships with residents and families was my biggest reward as a nurse. Fate is a funny thing and just as I began to question whether I was being fulfilled, a former colleague called me and said, “I don’t know if you’re happy doing what you are doing but…” and proceeded to tell me that Inspired Living at Bonita Springs needed an HWD and she thought I would be a great fit. I cautiously took interviews and was impressed with the vision and raving fans culture of Inspired Living and joined the team, another one of those great decisions.

What do you want your legacy to be?

I want to be remembered for building others up and treating everyone as they deserve to be treated. What more can we ask for than to be remembered for our kindness and compassion? I always want to help everyone I meet to be the best version of themselves.