When Catherine first walked through the doors of Atria on Roslyn Harbor, she wasn’t looking for a second career.
After spending much of her professional life in New York City’s garment industry, Catherine had moved to Long Island and was looking for something closer to home while raising her young children. A concierge position at Atria seemed like a good fit.
“I had no idea it was going to be that marvelous, that I would make it a second lifelong career,” she says.
Fourteen years later, Catherine is the community’s Housekeeping Director – a position she stepped into after several years as an afternoon concierge. Along the way, she found opportunities to put her strengths to work in new ways and take on greater responsibility.
It didn’t take long for Catherine to discover that she loved the energy of community life. “I love to multitask, and I love to meet and greet people. I love to be social,” she says. “It’s never been dull.”
She also found something unexpected in the residents she met. Many had fascinating careers and life stories, and Catherine loved taking the time to hear them. Those relationships have continued to grow over the years – including an ongoing book exchange with one resident who shares her love of reading.
“There are bonds here which are open to you and available to you if you wish to pursue them,” she says.
That same sense of connection extends to Catherine’s colleagues. She describes Atria on Roslyn Harbor as a community of veterans, estimating that its 60-plus employees average seven or eight years of tenure. Even more tellingly, three former members of her housekeeping team have returned after leaving for retirement or other opportunities.
“I think that’s really cool,” she says. “They truly enjoy working here.”
Catherine credits that culture in part to the leadership of Executive Director Anthony Gonzalez, whose approach gives her both independence and support. “We don’t just work for him,” she says. “We work with him.” His leadership, she says, has allowed her “to evolve in a great way here.”
And after 14 years, Catherine is still learning.
“If I could go back to day one, I’d tell myself, ‘You’re going to learn a hell of a lot of stuff every day,’” she says. “And it’s marvelous. It really is.”
For Catherine, that’s what turned a job into a career: the opportunity to keep learning, take on new challenges and discover what comes next.