Not often does an employee climb within a company from entry level to vice president, yet that’s exactly the path Simone Pena has blazed in her 16 years at Bickford. On her ascent from CNA to vice president of operations, Simone has left a meaningful impression on the scores of residents and fellow Bickford family members she’s encountered along the way.

“I love having purpose, and I love leaving people better than I found them,” Simone says. “In this line of work, you are something to everyone. Just caring for people, stepping up, seeing a need and filling that need.”

Simone’s approach to care is simple: Treat residents like people, not a disease or a behavior.

“We all have preferences,” Simone says—hers include tacos, a big laptop, taking her time, and never getting too far from her cup of tea. “We like to sleep in, or we like our coffee 98 degrees. Our residents have preferences, too. And if they could do it themselves, they would.”

Simone takes a similarly human interest in the staff around her, making the effort to notice when someone isn’t at their best and to dig into the reasons why.

“When I’m not seeing what I expect to see, I talk to them about the legacy they’re leaving behind with residents,” she says. “They’re taking care of everyone else, and sometimes they lose sight of themselves.”

The same can be true for residents’ family members, says Simone, herself a mother of two teenagers. “In the hospital they become that caregiver, which is needed,” she says. “But I try to get residents’ families to see them like people, to remind them of the person they love.”