My late husband was working in a retirement village as a carpenter when he suddenly died of a heart attack, at the age of 31. I was just 29 and had two children aged four and five. The owner of the village offered me a job in sales, because I suspect, he felt sorry for me. The village had 595 self-care villas, 102 assisted care apartments and two, 102 bed nursing homes and an 80-bed dementia specific. I worked there for almost twelve years and learned so much about our industry.

Eventually the village was bought out by a huge company and it was then I learnt how impersonal things can become. It was an incredibly hard decision to leave but I was offered the job at Laguna Estate, owned then by three gentlemen from Sydney who have been a joy to work with.

At that point Laguna was run down, with 32 empty villas and 13 empty assisted care apartments – however it was smack bang in the middle of paradise.

We started a refurbishment program for the villas as well as major renovations to the front office and dining room. Next, we demolished and rebuilt lovely modern villas like the ones we have today. Over twelve years later I’m proud to say that Laguna Estate has a waiting list.

When we have a resident needing to change or upgrade their level of care, it is easy to accommodate them because the Infinity office is right here, on-site.

I am reminded of the reason I did this every time I witness the residents interacting with our genuine carers who love their job.”