Meet Rachel Wasserstrom | Owner & Senior Resource Specialist

We had the good fortune of connecting with Rachel Wasserstrom and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Rachel, other than deciding to work for yourself, what was the single most important decision you made that contributed to your success?
Assisted Living Locators is a senior placement and resource company. We help find the perfect place for people to call home when they can no longer live alone. When deciding to start this business, the single most important decision that I made, was to act as if each person that I work with is my own family member. Whether it be my grandparent, aunt, uncle, cousin etc. Every family that I work with, I act as a resource to. I hand hold as much or as little as the family would like and I follow up on the person that I help for life. This decision has allowed me to become successful as both a business owner and as a community partner to many other companies along the way.

Alright, so for those in our community who might not be familiar with your business, can you tell us more?
Assisted Living Locators is a senior placement and referral company. The difference in our company versus or competitors is the follow through. We not only meet with families and help them find independent living, assisted living and memory care options but we also connect them with many other resources that they may find a need for as well. We continue to check in and make sure that once we’ve helped them find a place and get all resources in place, that it continues to fit their needs as changes occur. We are able to be there to help them make important decisions along the way. We become part of their extended family. Being a full time advocate is never easy, but it is so rewarding and most of the time a lot of fun as well! I have learned so many lessons along the way, mostly from the clients themselves. They have a wealth of knowledge and history behind them to share. One of my clients who I spent a lot of time with told me when I had my first baby that the days are long but the years are short. To this day, those words ring true and I take them to heart in so many aspects of my life. If people want to take anything away from what our business does, it would be that we are here to be advocates. We are not afraid to fight for our clients and our community partners alike. I have become so close with my industry partners including competitors. Acting as an advocate, a friend and a partner gains you more future business than any other resource ever could.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
With Arizona being such an amazing destination we are used to having people visit quite often. If we are picking them up at the airport, the first stop is to always walk around ASU and check out the campus. It is a fun place to walk around. Taking a hike on pinnacle peak or camelback, depending on their endurance level is usually a must. There are so many fun trails as well if a hike is too much. We have farms all around the valley to pick fruit and go to festivals depending on the time of year. I always take people to Cavecreek/carefree to get a feel for a real western vibe and usually eat at Harold’s or for a real hidden gem, go to Indian Village which is a souvenir shop and in the back serves up the most delicious machacca breakfast burritos and Indian fry bread. Being able to swim in scottsdale in the morning and drive up to flagstaff to ski by afternoon is another wonderful feature our state has to offer also, depending on the time of year! Once up that way there is the Pink Jeep Tour of Sedona as well as fun wineries as well. I always take our guests to steak 44 or ocean 44 for a trendy fine dining experience and always JJs Deli at a minimum of one time per visit. If outdoors isn’t a favorite we have the MIM museum, Taliesin West if you are into architecture and numerous sporting events throughout the year. I love having people visit because I am able to share what an amazing place Arizona is, even if we do live in a sauna for a few months of the year. *this is all written for a pre-covid experience 🙂

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
I would like to highlight my grandma who will be 90 in April. She is still spry, living on her own and the one I tell to remind me of things that I cannot forget to do, since her memory is even better than mine. Ever since I was a little girl she was my best friend. When she would come to visit we would have sleepovers and all of my friends Knew/know her as grandma as well. I would call her all of the time (even though it was long distance…thankfully times have changed with that), and she would help me with whatever the situation may have been. She taught me card games, knitting, how to shop and how to keep my mouth shut when I should (I am still working on that)! She was the flower girl in my wedding, and has learned FaceTime so that she can be a part of my life on a daily basis. Because of our bond, I am able to truly appreciate and advocate for all of my clients. I have grown up having a best friend as a grandparent and it allows me to help my clients in the best possible way with pure understanding of how I want them to feel and how their happiness and well being makes me feel as well.

Website: Assistedlivinglocators.com/scottsdale
Facebook: Facebook.com/scottsdaleALL