“Life is a journey and you have to be open to saying ‘yes.’ Some of the most impactful moments of my life have been those moments when I’ve been tapped to head up something in an unfamiliar area.” - Allison Pendroy
Allison Pendroy’s decision to become chief operating officer at WesleyLife in summer 2023 was largely a result of that openness to accept something new. As a longtime executive leader in the senior living sector, she was happy in her former role and hadn’t been looking for a new challenge.
But when WesleyLife came calling, she saw an opportunity — one she hadn’t envisioned, but eventually viewed as tailor-made for her.
“The deep sense of mission and the fact that everyone here is so connected to it was the first thing that made me think seriously about making a change,” Pendroy says. “The more I learned, the more I saw this as an opportunity that could be deeply fulfilling, both personally and professionally.”
It might come as a surprise to learn that Pendroy’s hopes and dreams didn’t always include a future in aging services; as a very little girl, her love of animals led her to think she might be a dolphin trainer one day. As she grew, she thought she might follow in her mother’s footsteps and become a teacher.
Eventually, though, it was her connection with her father’s line of work that led her to her chosen field.
“He worked in the business real-estate world, and I became drawn to the substance of what he did as well as the ways his work was beneficial to those he served,” Pendroy says. “I discovered I had an affinity for business and finance, and I chose that route at the University of Iowa. It enabled me to be qualified to go into so many different areas, and it just felt right to me.”
“Making the wheels turn”
Pendroy’s first role out of college was in healthcare venture capital, where she learned about all the components that went into “making the wheels turn” in a business.
From there, she moved to the hospitality sector, gaining experience in evaluating people, products, markets, and the products that forged connections between them.
In 2009, she made the move to senior living.
“Having been very focused on business operations and marketing, it was natural move — one where I could utilize my experience in connecting with customers as well as inspiring talent to deliver unique and extraordinary experiences,” she says. She quickly became a recognized name in the sector — especially in the financial-acumen arena relating to operations management and acquisitions.
Eventually, WesleyLife came calling — and after much prayer, conversations with her husband and three daughters, and soul-searching, she made the move in July 2023. At the close of her first year with the organization, she’s reflective; happy with her choice, she looks forward to even stronger integrations with team members and the ability to influence the company’s growth-and-development trajectory.
“People bring their best here every day, and that makes it easy for me to be intentional about building connections,” Pendroy says. “As a leader, I want everyone to know I am approachable; that I am open to ideas and want to hear them.
"I want to hear what is working so well and is not working so well for our team members and for our business, and how we can be working daily to connect and come together for the good of the people we serve.”
Optimism and authenticity
Pendroy feels her leadership style is also colored by her natural optimism, but she’s careful to note that a tendency to find the good in a situation doesn’t mean she’s immune to seeing the full picture.
“In no way am I blinded to concerns, and I don’t think I’m positive in an inauthentic way. But it’s always my goal to respect others and provide them with confidence,” Pendroy says. “There is something good and unique to be gleaned from everyone, and I’m curious and want to know people.
“If you’re familiar with StrengthsFinder, curiosity is a big one for me! I strive to be kind in all situations, and I ask a lot of questions and always seek to understand before I offer what I hope is constructive feedback.”
As she looks back over her first year with WesleyLife, Pendroy has spent significant time listening and learning about the “WesleyLife way” of approaching processes and protocols so she can perform as effectively as possible in her role. She’s proud of leading an ongoing, organization-wide coalition to enhance WesleyLife’s hospitality focus, and of other initiatives that have been inaugurated or implemented during the past year:
- Opening and investing in the new WesleyLife Meals campus and the Prairie Meadows Hydroponic Farm in Des Moines, designed to exponentially increase the number of people WesleyLife is able to serve
- Launching a new product offering, WellAhead, designed for people who want to thrive in their homes as they age
- Launching Neighborhood 19 at Brio, a WesleyLife Community for Healthy Living in Johnston, and kicking off a multi-million-dollar redevelopment of The Village, a WesleyLife Community for Healthy Living in Indianola
“In addition, we’re serving a record number of customers, our recruitment and retention numbers have improved, census and occupancy are up, and financial performance has improved,” Pendroy says. “We have amazing team members, and I’m honored to have worked alongside them to help make great things happen.”
“Ability to bring people with her is a special talent"
WesleyLife President and CEO Rob Kretzinger says Pendroy’s “ability to bring people along with her” is a special and unique talent that has contributed to her successful start with WesleyLife.
“With Allison, we gained someone with such a nice blend of heart and passion for the work we do, combined with intelligence and experience in our sector,” Kretzinger says. “She is one of the most optimistic and encouraging leaders I know, and her ability to bring people along with her is a special talent. She has jumped right in with both feet from the very beginning and has had a very positive impact.”
Kretzinger agrees Pendroy’s natural interest in others works to her advantage in relationship-building.
“Allison’s curiosity and inquisitiveness drive her to want to understand context and thought process with an eye on how she can help make things better,” he says. “I’ve seen so many leaders just make assumptions when they start a new role versus meeting people where they are at, and getting to know and appreciate them as well as the background on their work and approach.
“It’s rare for a leader to have both a finance and operations background while still having a healthy understanding of and experience in marketing, sales, development, and resident experience. I am very excited to see her impact in the future, and we are blessed to have her as part of the WesleyLife team.”
Looking ahead
As she thinks about the years to come, Pendroy says she expects WesleyLife’s heritage, entrepreneurial spirit, brand strength, and commitment to the needs of a changing customer to keep the organization positioned as a visionary leader.
“As a leadership team, our vision for the future is to address the gaps where we see them — to expand in the right way to serve more customers, to grow our footprint, and to broaden our offerings to reach a diverse array of customers,” Pendroy says. “With a continued focus on health and well-being, we’ll create non-traditional models to meet our customers where they are and serve them where they want to be.
“A key goal will be building additional partnerships — to be very strategic in aligning with key partners to being their expertise to the table so we can be more impactful together. We’ll also continue to build on our data capabilities to use the insights we glean to drive enhanced outcomes.”
Those are tall orders, and Pendroy says she’s delighted to be positioned to help fill them.
“I’m thankful for the past year — for where God and my work have brought me, and for the richness of the relationships I’m finding here and for the areas I’ve been able to impact,” Pendroy says. “I’m just so glad to be a part of WesleyLife.”
