Episode 12: Go Behind the Music with Geoven Snaer and Dianne Kae Enriquez

Anna Hall: We’re taught from a young age to value independence. But what if our true strength is our ability to connect with others? Through conversations with the fascinating folk who live and work at Front Porch Communities and Services, we explore how community shapes us, how we can learn from people in every stage of life, and how each of us makes an impact in our own communities and beyond.

Welcome to The Front Porch Podcast. I’m your host, Anna Hall.

So, every six months we have meetings at our senior living communities where our team members and leaders interact with residents to talk about the state of the Union, so to speak, or a specific topic to explore. And I was there for one of those meetings at Canterbury Woods, and after the meeting I was in a great mood. We just had such wonderful conversations about community and culture and what it feels like to belong. And Geoven showed up afterwards and somehow we got on to Beyonce, which is one of my favorite topics. And I said that, you know, my wish list, my bucket list to continue my own learning is to learn how to produce music. And he said, I’m learning how to do it. And in fact, I have some songs that I’ve been working on. So Geoven and I listened to his music, and then he said, you got to meet Dianne. She’s also doing this. She’s my partner, and we’re learning this together. We ended up having a jam session then I thought, you know, we’re we’re creating this podcast about building community and how each of us has something unique to contribute. How cool would it be if two of our team members create the music for our podcast? And that’s how we arrived here.

Geoven Snaer began at Canterbury Woods as a houseman, rose to Director of Housekeeping Services, then Director of Administrative Services. And now he serves as a senior executive assistant. A man of many hobbies, he also produces electronic music.

Joining him is Dianne Enriquez, a registered nurse and MDS coordinator and charge nurse for the skilled nursing at Canterbury Woods. Dianne recently earned her Bachelor of Science in Nursing and is certified as a resident assessment coordinator by the American Association of Post-Acute Care Nursing. Outside of work, she creates and edits videos and music while enjoying time with her husband and two children. So a big welcome to the multi-talented composers of our podcast music. Geoven Snaer and Dianne Enriquez.

Geoven and Dianne, thank you so much for being here on The Front Porch Podcast.

Dianne Kae Enriquez: Thank you for inviting us.

Geoven Snaer: Thank you for having us.

Anna Hall: So how fun that the two of you then have collaborated to create our soundtrack for this podcast.

Dianne Kae Enriquez: Yeah, that was fun.

Anna Hall: I was like, hey guys, you know, we’re starting a podcast, we need some original music. What do you think? And you were so for it.

Dianne Kae Enriquez: We haven’t done it before.

Geoven Snaer: That was the first time. It was a real… a really great challenge. And we learned so much sort of in the process, which was great.

Dianne Kae Enriquez: Like it inspired me to look up music theory and like patterns, chords. It was really fun. Like we learned a lot through this whole process. Yeah.

Anna Hall: That’s amazing. I want to come back to this and hear more about the process of creating this music together. But let’s learn more about you and your roles at Canterbury Woods.

Dianne, what brought you to Canterbury Woods and what do you do there?

Dianne Kae Enriquez: I’m the clinic nurse. And I recently graduated my R.N.

Anna Hall: Congratulations.

Dianne Kae Enriquez: And my Bachelor’s of Nursing. Now I’m on the floor in the skilled nursing unit. So I’m the charge nurse there.

Anna Hall: What does a charge nurse do?

Dianne Kae Enriquez: Take care of all… like basically the whole floor. And you ask the question, what brought me here? My mom actually worked here since 1997. She actually brought me here when I was five, I’ve seen the whole campus. I’ve seen her work with other residents. I’ve talked to other residents that she’s like, hey, talk to them. They really enjoy your company.

Anna Hall: So you learned about the magic of being around older people at a young age?

Dianne Kae Enriquez: Yes.

Anna Hall: I did too.

Dianne Kae Enriquez: And that’s what inspired me to to be in this field and seeing my mom work here and then coming back and working with my mom is really cool.

Anna Hall: And Dianne, what’s it like working with your mom?

Dianne Kae Enriquez: Actually… working with my mom, I always told myself I would never work with my mom.

Anna Hall: Don’t we all.

Dianne Kae Enriquez: Yeah.

Anna Hall: Just say it out loud and watch the universe laugh, right?

Dianne Kae Enriquez:  Exactly!

Now working together and like, understanding how we both work. I can depend on her. She can depend on me. Like, right now she’s covering the floor for me. Oh, yeah, she can take care of the patients. I know she will. I think it means more to me that she trusts me. She sees my accomplishments. And being able to let everyone know, hey, that’s my daughter. She’s there on the floor right now. And that that makes me feel really good.

Anna Hall: She’s proud her baby works there and is an RN now.

Dianne Kae Enriquez: Yeah, yeah. So that makes me really happy.

Anna Hall: And what’s your story, Geoven?

Geoven Snaer: My family has also been a big… we have we’re a family full of caregivers. My mother is a retired R.N. My dad is… he’s retired military, but he’s also a retired caregiver. And we had a business too for 20 years.

Anna Hall: Your family had a group home, right?

Geoven Snaer: We had a six bed group home in Washington state. When we first opened it, I was in middle school. And so I was used to that. And that’s why, you know, growing up, getting out of high school, I was like, nah, I don’t I don’t think I want to be in the field.  And then here I am.

Anna Hall: Here you are. It pulled you back in.

Geoven Snaer: That’s right. I’m the Senior Executive Assistant here at Canterbury Woods, but I always, I wasn’t always that. I started off as a houseman, actually, But while I was in Housekeeping, my boss in Housekeeping, Frank O’Dowd, one of the best bosses out there, he decided to retire and they needed somebody in that position. So I applied for it. I got the position and I became the Director of Housekeeping for three years.

Anna Hall: I mean, that’s a lot of logistics. That’s a lot of people. Without housekeeping, nothing works.

Geoven Snaer: You know, what I found out It’s not just linen, it’s not just laundry. Housekeeping is actually sort of an extension of our care staff.

Anna Hall: I agree.

Geoven Snaer: A lot of the times when things get reported, a resident has some sort of change of condition, housekeepers notice that, and they they bring it up to the care staff, and they’re sort of our first line of defense.

Anna Hall: It’s part of a lot of the interdisciplinary meetings. Right? Like, what are the housekeepers know? What have they noticed?

Geoven Snaer: Exactly. You know, I was I was lucky to be left with a wonderful team that, you know, I made every priority to keep together. They didn’t like me at first. I like to point that out.

Anna Hall: Why not? Why? Why do you think they didn’t like you at first?

Geoven Snaer: I think it’s the change. I think it’s when you have somebody new, it’s you have to earn that trust. And so, it probably took me a good year to earn everybody’s trust.

Anna Hall: What did you do to earn their trust?

Geoven Snaer: A lot of what I wanted to do is I wanted to continue essentially what Frank had before to to the best of my abilities. Like know, make work fun and create like a family, maintain like a family here.

Anna Hall: And then from there you went on to become  the senior executive assistant. What appealed to you about that position.

Geoven Snaer: What’s great about that position is I help all the departments in some way or another.

Dianne Kae Enriquez:  Everyone loves Geoven now.

Anna Hall: Oh, I know I can tell. I can tell when I visit, I’m like, wait, I need to know that guy because everybody knows that guy. He’s the guy.

Dianne Kae Enriquez:  Yes. He’s the guy.

Anna Hall: He’s the guy.

Geoven Snaer: I’m super popular at work, but outside of work nobody knows me.  No, but it’s great, I think. And that’s what I’m trying… That whole family thing, you know, friends, family, we all work here. We’re all working towards the same goal.  That’s what I want to try to instill, not just in my department, but in all the departments.

Anna Hall: What’s the best part about your role, Dianne?

Dianne Kae Enriquez:  When I first started here nobody knew what I was able to do. They were unsure whether or not they should go to me and ask me questions. And then as the year, a year passed, everyone’s like, oh, Dianne can do this and do that. So every resident here knows me by name now. And they’re like, okay, Dianne can help you with this. And I think recognition from the residents really, really is rewarding.

Anna Hall: I hear that all the time. The relationships with the residents and team members are strong. I mean, it’s a big part of creating that vibrant community.

Dianne Kae Enriquez:  Yeah. Yeah, it really is. They bring me joy. Especially if I… if I remember something about them and I mention it. And just the way their face lights up, it makes me really happy.

Anna Hall: Awww…

Geoven Snaer: She’s super smart and she’s super dependable. I mean, that’s that’s and and caring. And I think that when you have all those qualities, you know, that’s why Dianne’s in the position she is in now. Because you can just go, oh Dianne, she can fix everything. You know, she’s one of those people. And those are just valuable people to have. And and it’s it’s great.

Dianne Kae Enriquez:  Thank you, Geoven.

Geoven Snaer: Good job, good job.

Dianne Kae Enriquez:  Thank you, thank you.

Anna Hall: And what about for you, Geoven? What’s the best part of this job for you?

Geoven Snaer: Everyday is something new. When I tell people, oh “I work at a senior community,” some of them are like, “oh, is that exciting?” And I tell them, “absolutely.”

Anna Hall: Heck yeah, it’s exciting.

Geoven Snaer: Absolutely!

Anna Hall: All these people, all these personalities and stories and experiences.

Geoven Snaer: Exactly, exactly. And and it’s not you know, it’s not just the residents. They’re a very big part of it. But then also the people that we work with. So, so many times we get caught up in our work it’s it’s like, let’s let’s all make this into a fun and engaging place to work. Let’s enjoy each other’s company. Let’s create an atmosphere where we we enjoy being here.

Anna Hall: Sounds like you’re talking about the culture of the community now.

Dianne Kae Enriquez:  Yeah, we’re leading up to that. Yeah.

Anna Hall: Ooh.

Geoven Snaer: We’ll put the little pop up right here: Culture.

Anna Hall: Culture.

But that is what keeps us together and helps us know how to treat each other. And, you know, our shared values, even our shared rituals. What are some what what makes the Canterbury culture cool and distinct?

Dianne Kae Enriquez:  I would say it’s the activities we do for the residents and the employees. Like recently we had a chair volleyball competition between the employees and the residents. And it was really fun.

Anna Hall: Who’s more competitive? Did you find out?

Dianne Kae Enriquez:  I think the residents were pretty competitive.

Geoven Snaer: I think they are more competitive than we are. I mean we won, but they’re like, “We’re gonna get you back.”

Dianne Kae Enriquez:  Yes. Every day they’ll pass by us and remind us that we’re going to practice.

Geoven Snaer: The Rocky song…

Anna Hall: There’s going to be a rematch for sure, right?

Geoven Snaer: There’s gonna be a rematch.

I think that’s the great thing about Canterbury Woods is like the interactions between staff and residents. There’s this… We just mesh well with each other. I think both sides are always thinking about the other side. Right. Residents are always thinking about what are we doing for the staff. Staff are always thinking about what are we doing for the residents. The moment one person is disrespectful to another, everybody, everybody gangs up on you shouldn’t be doing that. It’s residents are defending, you know, staff because one resident said something and then, you know, same thing on the other side. And I think that’s…

Dianne Kae Enriquez:  We all have each other’s backs.

Geoven Snaer: Exactly, exactly.

Anna Hall: Pretty good place to spend eight hours of your day, right?

Geoven Snaer: Not too bad, not too bad.

Dianne Kae Enriquez: Yeah, can’t complain.

Anna Hall: What has been the impact for you of having this, these relationships with older adults? I know for me, from a young age, I started volunteering in a nursing home, and then I got hooked on assisted living the first time I volunteered there after college, and I found that older adults have given me such tremendous perspective on life. What matters, what’s meaningful kind of what’s important. A lot of getting over myself. Still working on it. But, you know, like my life is so enriched. What has been the impact for you?

Dianne Kae Enriquez: There’s some residents don’t have family members that visit them often that, you know, check in on them and we’re their families here. Knowing that history, that background for them is I want to be able to be, you know, you’re family member, if you need help, you call me, or if you need someone to talk to you talk to me.

Anna Hall: You know, you made a difference every day.

Dianne Kae Enriquez: What about you, Geoven?

Geoven Snaer: I kind of attribute me being here, you know, becoming the Director of Housekeeping early on. That was in big part from residents. I think that as even as a houseman, they saw me and my potential and just, you know, me making friends with, with them and getting to know them. And they’re like, wait, this kid’s kind of smart, okay? And so having the support from them and then having the support from some of my coworkers as well was really, really big. And even, you know, the residents who supported me then are still here today. And they’re still such big impacts in my life. They’re just great people, and it just makes me want to take care of them even more, you know, when they’re the reason why I’m in the position I’m in right now.

Anna Hall: Beautiful, beautiful. Aren’t we lucky to get to work in this space? I feel that every day. Like this is what life is about.

What have you learned about building community working at Canterbury Woods? What does it take?

Dianne Kae Enriquez: Yeah, I want to say building that relationship and that trust, it takes a lot of work. Your consistency and keeping in touch with them, reminding them that you’re there for them.

Geoven Snaer: Those words that consistency and accountability I think they don’t get said enough because we like the warm and fuzzy words, you know, like trust. You have to hold yourself to that higher standard. Otherwise you’ll say something and people will be like, well… Will he do it? Will he not? Who knows? Like I can’t trust… I’m just going to go to Dianne because I can trust her, you know, because she has been consistent and she has been accountable and she has done, you know, things that I’ve asked help for. So I’m just gonna go to her and I’m not gonna go to this guy over here who, you know, who isn’t trustworthy. So, I think that’s really important.

Anna Hall: He was not pointing at himself for those of you who are listening. Cause you’re the guy.

Dianne Kae Enriquez: He is the guy.

Anna Hall: And the residents helped you with the music, right? They gave feedback as you were going through the creation experience. Can you tell us a little bit about that?

Geoven Snaer: When we first were given the opportunity, you blessed us with the opportunity to make a song.

Anna Hall: No, you blessed us by saying yes.

Geoven Snaer: No, you blessed us. One of the things that you wanted us to do, and we also wanted to do is, ‘cause this is for the residents, is, you know, get their input. So we we got we got a meeting we had about, I want to say five residents, five staff all in one room. And Dianne and I had come up with just random… we didn’t know what the heck we were making, right.

Dianne Kae Enriquez: Yeah.

Anna Hall: You came up with like 5 or 6 different tracks, right?

Dianne Kae Enriquez: Yeah.

Anna Hall: Like all different genres of music. But you didn’t know what would resonate. Right?

Geoven Snaer:  Yeah, we played all 5 or 6 of the tracks to the residents and the staff. And then we asked them what really stood out to you, what did you which tracks did you like, which tracks did you not like? Nobody liked my electronic music, so that was out of the question.

Anna Hall: Oh, I’m so sorry. I know you have a lot of fans. Don’t worry about it.

Geoven Snaer: Yeah, maybe in a couple of years people will warm up  to techno, but um…

Anna Hall: You’re just ahead of us.

Geoven Snaer: It’s the future, it’s the future.

Dianne Kae Enriquez: Yeah.

Geoven Snaer: But they really liked the songs that had very soft, meaningful like intro guitar. One resident was like, yeah, the guitar in this is really great. It really makes you wonder about what’s coming next. And so taking all that info and then and then sitting down with, with Dianne and going, okay, scratching our heads.

Dianne Kae Enriquez: Okay, now what?

Geoven Snaer: And, and yeah. So, but I think that was a very important part of the process is getting that feedback from the residents. Otherwise man, it could have gone any sort of way. But eventually we ended up with the piano ‘cause the piano kind of has this… You can, you can have…

Dianne Kae Enriquez: It’s like timeless.

Geoven Snaer: Yeah.

Anna Hall:  I mean, you collaborated to create this, this piece now that is representing Front Porch. How does that feel?

Dianne Kae Enriquez: I feel really good about it. Thank you, Geoven.

Anna Hall: High fives all around.

Dianne Kae Enriquez: Yeah, and Geoven put a little like his piano work is amazing.

Anna Hall: Can you read music?

Geoven Snaer: I can, I can. I have a weird, I have a weird thing when it comes to playing the piano. So, residents want me to play a concert, and I pretty much told them like, no, I’m not going to.

Anna Hall: And Dianne, you let him say no? You’re going to let him get away with this?

Dianne Kae Enriquez: I didn’t know you said no.

Geoven Snaer: No, they asked me..

Anna Hall: I think we need to put a little more pressure on you. Dianne’s been talking you up now.

Geoven Snaer: I probably shouldn’t have said something on this recording.

Anna Hall: Now we know.

Geoven Snaer: Now it’s on record. No, but it’s funny, I share this story with everybody. So when I was a kid, when I first started taking piano lessons, my mother was so excited to show me off to people at her work that she brought me to her work. You know, she’s also a nurse. She was in a skilled nursing, so she brought me over to their dining room, much like our dining room, their day room. And they had a piano. So I was playing, I don’t know what I was playing, Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star something like that. And so and mind you, I was what? In third grade? So I was probably like eight years old or something like that. And I’m playing: na, na, na, na, na And then one of the residents, in the dining room who’s listening she starts saying out loud, she goes, “Get off the piano. You’re, you’re horrible.”

Anna Hall: Oh!

Geoven Snaer: “Boo!” And so and so I’m, you know, me. I’m just like, I was a crybaby when I was a kid.

Anna Hall: You’re sensitive.

Geoven Snaer: Very sensitive.

Anna Hall: That’s a good quality.

Geoven Snaer: I was like crying. My mom was trying to comfort me and take me out. All the other residents there were great. They’re like, oh, you played so beautifully. But all it takes is like one person belittling you… and so That kind of lives rent free in the back of my mind. So I’m definitely not a performer when it comes to the piano.

Anna Hall: Well, you don’t know if you are yet. I mean, we might have to change that.

Geoven Snaer:  Maybe it’s just lack of practice. That’s my excuse.

Dianne Kae Enriquez: Well now you get to show a piece of yourself  every time a podcast plays. No more stage fright.

Anna Hall: Diane, tell us about your dreams. What’s next for you?

Dianne Kae Enriquez: For me I love to teach. That’s just one thing for me. It’s like I love teaching the correct way, teaching these standards.

Anna Hall: Good to know. Noted.

Dianne Kae Enriquez: Standards in the skilled nursing, like, everything, you know, infection control. I love teaching. And I love learning from you know, the CNAs. They’ve taught me a lot of techniques that I’ve never done before. And I love learning and I love sharing the knowledge back to others. Yeah. So maybe one day I can get my master’s in nursing and be able teach.

Anna Hall: And what about for you, Geoven?

Geoven Snaer: Professionally?

Anna Hall: What’s on your mind?

Geoven Snaer: I want to be a DJ. No.

Anna Hall: You would be a great DJ.

Dianne Kae Enriquez: Yes you would.

Anna Hall: Let’s do it. I want to be a DJ too.

Geoven Snaer: Let’s all get together and have a DJ session. But I love learning at the job. I think you know, learning from people, learning with the experiences is really important to me. And so just just growing, I think that’s why I love this position so much is because there’s just so many aspects. I don’t know who I’m going to be working with next. You know, am I going to be talking with Risk? You know, I’m going back and forth with Legal. I’m like, okay, but I’m not in trouble. It’s great. You know, putting together processes with with AP and, you know, helping with big projects here, putting together parties and events. I just want to continue to grow. However that may look. I think is is really important to me. And then maybe later on we’ll think about being a D.J.

Anna Hall: You might not say it, but I see you as a future executive director. Right, Dianne?

Dianne Kae Enriquez: Yeah, he has it in him.

Geoven Snaer: Why did you have to say that in the video?

Anna Hall: I can’t help myself. Sorry. You’re a great leader. I mean, part of leadership is building relationships and building trust. And, you know, being the go to person and helping other people grow, right? Having a vision for what community is and putting in the time to building that culture so that people know how to behave and how to treat each other when no one’s looking. You have all of those qualities.

Geoven Snaer: Thanks, Anna. That means a lot. That really does… I think… Yeah. It’s… that’s that’s a lot of responsibility though.

Dianne Kae Enriquez: He can do it.

Anna Hall: You know what? You know what Sean Kelly told me when I said, you know, what is it like being the CEO? He’s the CEO of Front Porch. It’s a lot of responsibility. And he said, you know, Anna, it’s all about the team and the people that you have around you. If you think that it’s all on you, then your leadership is gonna have a problem. A leader is about, you know, uplifting everyone around you and trusting them, just like this conversation that we’ve had today. So keep that in mind because I’m watching you.

So what’s next on the music front?

Dianne Kae Enriquez: Geoven has been working on something. And here and there he’ll ask for my input and I’m like, oh, yeah, you should do this.

Anna Hall: Oh Geoven do tell.

Geoven Snaer: It’s one of those, I don’t know, I never thought that it would I would be so obsessed over music. I’m not even really good at it because I’m just… I’m learning.

Anna Hall: You’re so humble. You are very good at it.

Geoven Snaer: So Bach’s Prelude Number 10 is a classical song that I’m just, I have just been fascinated with. And I started off playing it on the piano and it’s cool because it’s very melodic and very slow and beautiful at the beginning. And then after that it just becomes just like crescendo, you know? Na na na na na na na na na. And I thought that was so cool. And Bach has these techno tendencies. Right? He’s kinda…

Anna Hall: Really?

Geoven Snaer: Yeah, he’s got a beat where he keeps.. da na na na na.. na na na na na na na na na na.

Anna Hall: I’ve heard that Bach’s music is like your heartbeat. Like it can even help regulate your biorhythms.

Geoven Snaer: Exactly.

Anna Hall: Oh, cool.

Geoven Snaer: But yeah that’s, that’s that’s the newest work. I feel like I’m I’m learning, I’m growing in it and it’s cool. So, yeah.

Anna Hall: It’s an important part of life

Geoven Snaer: Yeah, yeah.

Anna Hall: to explore your creativity, to see what you’re made of, to push the boundaries, to keep trying new things. And look what that’s led to now.

Geoven Snaer: I know.

Dianne Kae Enriquez: Yeah.

Anna Hall: Right? Now you’re the soundtrack for our stories of Front Porch.

Dianne Kae Enriquez: Thank you.

Anna Hall: This is just the beginning. Trust me. Just the beginning. Thank you both so much

Dianne Kae Enriquez: Thank you, Anna.

Anna Hall: for everything that you do in the community, for being incredible community builders, for making change, for being willing for making change, for being willing to try new things, for being so invested in… I’m going to get a little bit emotional right now, but like, you’re both so invested in caring about the people around you, the team members, the residents. Like, it really is incredible that you can make such an impact on people’s lives. But it all works, right?

Dianne Kae Enriquez: Yeah.

Anna Hall: We all work together to make this incredible community.

Geoven Snaer: Absolutely.

Anna Hall: And now we have a soundtrack.

Dianne Kae Enriquez: Yes. Thank you.

Anna Hall: Thank you both so much.

Geoven Snaer: Thank you, Anna.

Anna Hall: Thanks for listening to The Front Porch Podcast. We’d love to send you off today with Geoven Snaer’s arrangement of Bach’s Prelude Number 10. Enjoy!

(Music)

Anna Hall: You’ve been listening to The Front Porch podcast. I’m your host, Anna Hall. Our theme music was composed by Geoven Snaer and Dianne Kae Enriquez. Carmen Elena Mitchell is our producer and editor. Our recording engineer is Jeff Gall. Special thanks to Laura Darling, Kate Vermillion and Joanna Aceves for production and marketing support. Front Porch is a dynamic nonprofit organization dedicated to empowering individuals to live connected and fulfilled lives through community and innovation. In support of this vision, Front Porch provides high quality, accessible and welcoming human services through senior living communities, affordable housing communities, and other programs and services. Learn more at Front Porch.net. If you enjoyed today’s conversation, please share it with a friend and help others find us by subscribing and leaving a review. We’ll be back soon with more stories from the fascinating folk who live and work at Front Porch. Until then, stay connected and inspired.