Greg didn’t design this from a whiteboard. He built it from two real searches, for two real parents.
His father, who lives with dementia, needed Assisted Living. It wasn’t Greg’s first time navigating this. In early 2022, he and his sibling had coordinated a search for both parents together. They lost their Mom not long after. When his Dad’s diagnosis meant doing it again in 2023, it became clear that there had to be a better way to work through this decision, for everyone.
Between those two experiences, Greg contacted over 90 Communities and toured more than 30 locations across two states. As he engaged in his second search, Greg carried with him some important learnings from the first time. This time, he knew to ask how long the community management had been in place (the Executive Director, Resident Care Director, Activities & Volunteer Coordinator, and others) and to be really clear-eyed about what his Loved One would actually use versus what a tour was designed to sell (a golf simulator room looks great during a tour, but what does it matter if no one ever uses it?), among other things. Most families only get one chance to make the right decision the first time.
He later interviewed 70+ additional families who’d been through the same search experience and found similar patterns: unfamiliar terminology, confusing pricing, trouble streamlining information, and lack of confidence in their Senior Living decision for their Loved One.
Living the problem was only half of it.
Greg spent 15+ years building new products inside large, matrixed companies, including a $30 million rebuild of Manheim’s flagship vehicle inspection product. Built from 100+ client interviews and extensive in-field testing, it turned a subjective used-car walk-around into data a buyer could trust, and it ran on over 4 million vehicles a year. The same core problem, for a decision that matters far more than a used car.
“My family developed the knowledge on our own, without the best tools to make it easier. I know we can do so much better for every family that comes after us.”
The largest referral networks collect $5,000 to $10,000 per placement from the Communities they refer to. A 2024 U.S. Senate investigation found that 38% of families paid more per month than they were told to expect.
Families without any guidance spend 70+ hours navigating a process built for operators, not for them. No structure. No checklist. No shared record. Multiple siblings, one overwhelmed lead, and no objective source of truth.
We take zero referral fees or placement commissions, and we never steer families toward Communities that have “opted in.” Petunia is offered by employers so they can support the employees who need it.
We help your family make a high-stakes decision by asking the right questions and providing the roadmap and tools to make a confident decision.
We turn an overwhelming, unfamiliar decision into something a family can actually manage and see through.
This is a decision for a Loved One, and it's rarely made alone. We help families collaborate and make the decision together.
We’re committed to eliminating the influence of paid referrals to ensure families can make unbiased decisions for their Loved Ones.
See how Petunia works as an employer benefit, review the business case, and talk to someone who can answer the hard questions about implementation, utilization, and cost.
Questions? greg@usepetunia.com
Pick a time that works. 15 minutes to see if Petunia is the right fit.