Distinctive Living Adds Sales, Marketing Vice Presidents In Exec Team Reorganization

Distinctive Living recently named two vice presidents to help spearhead sales and marketing efforts as part of an effort to reorganize its executive team and prepare it for growth in 2025.

The Freehold, New Jersey-based operator this week announced it had brought on Kristina Vance as vice president of sales and Erin Richey as vice president of marketing.

The bifurcation of sales and marketing leadership roles was intentional given the fact that sales and marketing roles have become more complex in recent years, according to Distinctive CEO Joe Jedlowski.

Jedlowski said Richey brings experience managing lead development and generation along with technology integration. She previously founded Matura Marketing, a digital marketing company that has worked with multiple senior living operators including AgeWell Solvere Living, Bridge Senior Living and Sonata Senior Living.

“[Richey’s] results are super proven in the industry. She’s been in the industry for a very long time and she’s a heavy hitter,” Jedlowski told SHN.

Vance is tasked with overseeing Distinctive’s sales efforts and focus on driving census growth. Shemost recently worked as vice president of sales and marketing at senior living operator Etros Management, where she improved occupancy across 30 properties. She also has past experience as the senior regional sales and marketing director of Validus Senior Living and district director of sales at Brookdale Senior Living (NYSE: BKD).

“We have this whole piece of the business that is very much a relationship business and [senior living] is a very emotional sale,” Jedlowski said. “We need the leads but now we need a team that can close those leads and take it to the next level.”

Distinctive has filled other leadership roles in the last 12 months. In the summer of 2024, the company added Executive Vice President and COO Shelley Esden in August 2024, following the acquisition of Validus Senior Living. The leadership additions of Esden, Richey and Vance completes Distinctive’s leadership restructuring and leaves the company with a “really good core team,” Jedlowski said.

“We want to grow when we have created value for our current partners,” Jedlowski said.

In 2025, Jedlowski and the company’s other leaders are focusing on boosting operating margins and net operating income (NOI) across the company’s 38 properties. Also in 2025, Jedlowski said Distinctive would aim to take communities with at-or-near 100% occupancy to “no lost revenue days” and to help drive sales performance at communities still in recovery of occupancy.
Distinctive has also grown in a variety of ways in the last 12 months, including by taking over management of 13 communities from Chelsea Senior Living on behalf of real estate investment trust (REIT) Welltower (NYSE: WELL).

The post Distinctive Living Adds Sales, Marketing Vice Presidents in Exec Team Reorganization appeared first on Senior Housing News.