Drawing the Blueprint

Ben welcomes longtime friend and Blueprint’s newest leader, Tony Marino to unveil our expanded Capital Markets practice and demystify HUD/FHA financing for healthcare real estate. Tony breaks down why HUD-insured loans are the “last stop on the train” for stabilized nursing homes and seniors housing: long-term, non-recourse, fully amortizing debt with typically lower rates than banks. They dig into how the program actually works (think mortgage insurance, not direct government lending), why it’s crucial for rural and inner-city communities, and what HUD’s new “express” processing can mean for speed to close. From bridge-to-HUD strategies that get deals done today, to programmatic capital that supports emerging operators, Ben and Tony map the practical playbook, relationship-first underwriting, smart interim debt, and a clear path into the HUD “box.” They also share why Blueprint’s pipeline, culture, and vertically integrated team made this the right home for Tony’s next chapter and end with a Daruma-doll promise to turn goals into reality. If you buy, sell, refinance, or operate in healthcare real estate, this one’s your field guide. Connect with Tony Marino here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tony-marino-7a0965297/

In this episode of Drawing the Blueprint, Ben Firestone sits down with Amy Sitzman, Executive Managing Director, Partner, and a leader at Blueprint, to discuss what it takes to succeed in today’s senior housing market. Amy, who joined the firm in 2017, shares her perspective on building a career and driving results in a competitive and evolving industry. Amy reflects on her journey from medical equipment sales to finding her passion in real estate and becoming a force to reckon with in senior housing investment sales. Finding a culture at Blueprint that values creativity, curiosity, and strategic thinking, a move that reignited her career and gave her the flexibility to balance professional ambition with family life. She attributes her success in a predominantly male industry to empathy and determination. By putting herself in her clients’ shoes, Amy approaches every challenge with a solution-oriented mindset focused on getting transactions across the finish line. The conversation also explores current market dynamics, including strong demand for stabilized and value-add deals, competitive bidding environments, and the potential for market cooling as new development impacts cap rates. Amy’s story highlights the importance of relationships, resilience, and adaptability in the evolving world of senior housing. Find Amy here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/amy-sitzman-14a0b515/

In this episode of Drawing the Blueprint, Ben Firestone and Mike Segal share the story behind Blueprint’s founding and the culture that sets it apart from the competition. What started as a connection between University of Michigan alumni grew into a leading healthcare real estate advisory firm with a mission to deliver real results for those shaping the future of senior care. Blueprint was co-founded by Ben Firestone and Jacob Gehl, whose early vision helped lay the foundation for what the firm is today. A major part of Blueprint’s success comes from its client-first mindset. Ben and Mike discuss how their collaborative team approach leads to better strategy, stronger execution, and ultimately better outcomes for the groups they represent. Rather than chasing transactions, Blueprint focuses on long-term relationships and helping clients navigate complex decisions in an ever-changing healthcare landscape - supported by the firm’s strong analytical backbone led by Ryan Chase, whose data-driven insights help inform smarter decisions across the board. Mike also dives into his deep expertise in the skilled nursing sector, where Blueprint has built a strong reputation. He explains the nuances of the space, from regulatory challenges to operational complexity, and how specialized market knowledge allows the firm to guide clients through high-stakes sales with confidence. Of course, it’s not all serious. Ben and Mike share stories from the early days that highlight the camaraderie and personality behind the brand. That balance of professionalism, trust, and team spirit is a defining part of the Blueprint culture. Connect with Mike Segal here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michael-segal-33522321/

In this episode of Drawing the Blueprint, host and Michigan alum Ben Firestone sits down with Jared Wangler, a former University of Michigan student-athlete turned leader in the NIL space. Jared played football at Michigan from 2014–2018 before shifting his focus to the business side of sports, where he now leads Valiant Management and Champions Circle, the university’s NIL collective. Jared traces his early entrepreneurial instincts back to 2016, when he began working in apparel with a focus on tailgating gear. After graduating, he moved to Chicago to intern at a sports agency, gaining hands-on experience in recruiting and marketing while learning the endorsement and business side of athletics. That experience ultimately sparked a bigger vision. In 2021, Jared returned to Ann Arbor to launch a sports marketing agency centered on creating commercial opportunities for student-athletes — from putting their names on jerseys to securing local advertising partnerships around campus. That momentum set the stage for Michigan’s leadership in NIL, culminating in the launch of Champions Circle in the spring of 2022. Since then, the collective has facilitated more than $45 million in deals across all 29 varsity sports, solidifying Michigan as a first mover in brand endorsements for student-athletes. Jared’s story highlights how passion, community, and innovation can come together to create lasting impact in college athletics. Links & Resources: Check out Champions Circle here: https://www.championscircleuofm.com/ Jared Wangler: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jared-wangler-b9a5a7113/

In this episode of Drawing the Blueprint, host Ben Firestone sits down with Jennifer Sternshein, a standout leader in the legal industry whose path to law is anything but traditional. Jennifer shares how she began acting at age 17 and used her acting career to help pay for law school - an early lesson in grit that continues to define her leadership today. She reflects on her firm’s remarkable rise from a nursing-home basement startup founded by her brother-in-law during the pandemic to a boutique powerhouse completing nearly $3 billion in transactions in 2024. A major theme of the conversation is the power of authentic relationship-building. Jennifer credits strategic marketing and personal connection as key drivers of her success and encourages young attorneys to prioritize people over transactions. She also champions hiring for grit over pedigree, often looking to those with retail or service backgrounds for their strong client-first mindset. Outside the office, Jennifer and her husband run their own farm, Stardust Grove - a grounding counterbalance to her high-paced legal work. Her influence also extends through the annual Jennifer Sternshein Award, recognizing attorneys who embody collaboration and brand ambassadorship. Jennifer’s journey blends resilience, creativity, and connection - proving that unconventional paths and strong values can lay the foundation for extraordinary success in the legal field. Links & Resources: The Neighborhood Hotel (Use code BLUEPRINT15 for 15% off your next stay): https://theneighborhoodhotel.com Sternshein Legal Group: https://sternsheinlegalgroup.com Stardust Grove Farm: https://thestardustgrove.com Later Days Movie Trailer: https://youtube.com/watch?v=4bgTPwZXhuQ

In this episode of Drawing the Blueprint, host Ben Firestone sits down with Northeast broker Kory Buzin, a dealmaker known for his grit, charisma, and unshakeable work ethic. From law school and big-firm life to navigating elopements during site tours, Kory’s journey into senior housing brokerage is anything but traditional. Ben and Kory revisit the early days of Blueprint, swap stories about mentors and mischief with Mike Segel, and dig into the inflection point that pushed Kory from the legal world into commercial real estate. Kory shares how his legal training shaped his discipline and thinking, how regional immersion gives brokers a competitive edge, and why relationships not spreadsheets are the heart of senior housing investing. Along the way, Kory offers a hilarious (and heroic) tale of saving an elderly resident mid-Zoom call, reflects on what it takes to make a name in a competitive industry, and breaks down the three things every young originator must learn: sell the value, sell the firm, and sell yourself. With stories of dealmaking, road-warrior travel, leadership at the property level, and the true currency of the industry, information, this episode is a candid, energetic look at what it means to build a career at Blueprint.

Founder & CEO Alan Plush and CFO/Partner Samantha Medred of HealthTrust, one of healthcare real estate’s leading valuation advisory firms join Ben for a two-part conversation on the past, present, and future of senior housing and healthcare valuation. Alan rewinds to his Sarasota start, the leap from boutique shops to forming HealthTrust post Sarbanes-Oxley, and how the firm scaled from a small team to 1,500–1,700 appraisals a year nationwide. He explains why technology (and now AI) boosts speed but never replaces judgment, and how a coach-player leadership style keeps him close to the work and the client. Samantha breaks down today’s market mechanics: how HealthTrust’s geo and product-type teams (HUD/SNF/CCRC/AL) use a live data platform; what’s really happening with HUD timelines; how state-by-state Medicaid policy drives SNF demand and cap rates; and why older-vintage AL often trades at higher yields until stabilized. You’ll hear practical insight on underwriting vs. performance, cap-rate reality vs. hype, and how the next generation of leaders is preparing for an AI-enabled future.

From a Back-to-the-Future icebreaker to a masterclass in value creation, Ben Firestone sits down with longtime friend and Blueprint partner Andrew Sfreddo to unpack how Blueprint stood up a behavioral healthcare practice that blends vision with rigor. Andrew breaks down the firm’s dual-path process, marketing challenged senior housing assets both to traditional operators and to behavioral health providers to create real optionality and higher outcomes. They dig into adaptive reuse, licensed inpatient focus (psychiatric hospitals, drug & alcohol treatment, eating-disorder centers), and the nuts and bolts of execution: 1,200+ feasibility studies (about 1 in 5 viable), a team of five with provider-side expertise, and 30+ transactions where behavioral conversion outperformed seniors-housing valuations. Don’t miss the Plano, TX case study that jumped from $50K/unit offers to a $115K/unit sale by repositioning to licensed behavioral health, same building, smarter use. If you care about healthcare real estate, behavioral health operations, or how culture and process compound into results, this episode is your playbook for turning “stuck” assets into community-serving, investment-grade solutions.

Ben sits down with longtime friend and founder of Lakeshore Helping Hands, Neal Goss, to explore what great non-medical caregiving really looks like and why it can restore independence for clients while easing stress for families. Paralyzed at 15 after a hockey accident, Neal has relied on caregivers for 25 years. That lived experience shaped his system for recruiting, interviewing, and training caregivers around what matters most: empathy, reliability, clear boundaries, and a relationship grounded in mutual respect. Together, they unpack: The difference a dignity-first caregiver makes in daily life and family dynamics How to vet agencies and individual caregivers (green flags vs. red flags) Why values and communication often matter more than résumés or prior tasks Lessons learned the hard way (and a few humorous missteps) about keeping professional lines intact Neal’s purpose-driven leap from finance to entrepreneurship to help others avoid common pitfalls If you’re navigating care for an aging parent, living with a disability, or building a caregiving team, this conversation offers practical takeaways and a hopeful blueprint for better support at home.

In this episode of Drawing the Blueprint, we sit down with Adam Kaplan, entrepreneur, operator, venture capitalist, and family man. As CEO of Solera Senior Living and co-founder of Equitage Ventures, Adam shares his unique perspective on building best-in-class communities, investing in age-tech innovation, and navigating today’s capital markets. From his Chicago roots to his Denver reinvention, Adam reflects on parallel paths, lessons in entrepreneurship, and what drives him to keep evolving. A candid conversation on leadership, innovation, and the future of senior housing you won’t want to miss. Watch the full conversation on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JV4XgFoKx0U

In this episode, we sit down with longtime friend and industry veteran John Cobb to trace his journey from a successful run at Blueprint to launching Health Wave Partners—a new healthcare real estate investment platform backed by Macquarie Asset Management. John shares how his career pivot led to co-founding a startup with serious momentum, the strategic advantage of building a complementary senior team, and why his investment focus is on core-plus, high-quality senior housing assets. We talk about the underestimated challenges of starting a new venture, lessons from assembling the right culture, and how AI is already streamlining due diligence in real estate. Whether you’re an investor, operator, or just curious about where healthcare real estate is headed, this conversation offers an inside look at launching with intention, scaling with speed, and modernizing an industry still catching up to other asset classes.

In this episode of Drawing the Blueprint, co-founders Ben Firestone and Jacob Gehl rewind to the earliest days of Blueprint—before the playbook was written and when everything felt like an experiment. From the surprising outpouring of market support to the avalanche of behind-the-scenes challenges (legal, accounting, tax, compliance, and more), they share the real story of what it takes to move from producers to business builders. Expect candid reflections on mistakes made, lessons learned, and the foundation that ultimately shaped Blueprint’s success. It’s a conversation about grit, growth, and the unglamorous—but essential—work that turns vision into reality.