Meet Our Team

Susan Connor is the Executive Director for The Blake at Miramar Beach. Susan has more than 30 years’ experience in healthcare management and previously served as the Executive Director at The Blake at Lafayette in Louisiana. She is a Certified Dementia Practitioner and has experience in new development and senior living.

Prior to her career in senior living, she served as the regional director of United Blood Services covering the southern Gulf region. While Susan lived most of her life in Louisiana, she was often a visitor to the Florida panhandle and is excited about being able to work in such a beautiful area.

Lauren grew up in sunny Navarre, Florida and graduated from the University of West Florida with a degree in Business Management.  She spent years in advertising and technology sales before she discovered her love of working in senior living. Lauren has more than 5 years of experience in senior living and she is so excited to be a part of the compassionate team at The Blake at Miramar Beach! Her favorite part of working with seniors is getting to know each resident and their family. She loves learning about their history and seeing the positive changes that come when they receive excellent care, delicious food and enriching activities!

Lauren and her husband have followed his military career to California and then the United Kingdom. She has enjoyed the adventures she’s had by living in new places, but is excited to be back home to settle on the beautiful Emerald Coast! Lauren lives in Niceville, Florida with her husband, their daughter, the family dog and newly adopted cat. When she’s not at work, Lauren loves spending time with her family, traveling, cooking and gardening.

As a military kid (her dad was in the Air Force), Amy was raised all over. She was born in Montana, raised in various states across the US, and lived in Germany for over 5 years. Nonetheless, she considers Florida her home. In her words, "I have lived here in Florida longer than I have lived anywhere." She spent nearly a decade working for programs contracted with the Department of Juvenile Justice; during 9 of those years, in her position as assistant to Director of Nursing, she helped to oversee seven nursing departments. She moved to an assisted living facility, first as a ADORS, then progressing to DORS, before deciding that she wanted to go back to floor nursing. She started at The Blake Miramar Beach as a floor nurse in July of 2021 and moved up to Director of Wellness in October of 2022. Besides being a nurse, she is a Certified Dementia Practitioner.

Her favorite part of working with seniors is the history they share, the love they give, and the sense of fulfillment that she gets from feeling like she's filling a need. "They give so much back to me just by being here," she says. Of the many things she loves about working at The Blake, she is most appreciative of the people, both workers and residents, which she describes as being like a big extended family. She loves the support offered and the gratitude and appreciation expressed for something as simple as doing one's job. She states, "I'm just grateful to be able to do what I love to do, which is taking care of those who have taken care of us."

Her favorite thing is spending time with her kids and grandchildren. She also loves to piddle with her plants, crochet, read, spend time on the water fishing or paddle boarding.

Alicia is originally from Alabama, but she has been in the Miramar Beach area for over 20 years. She graduated from Northwest Florida State College with a degree in Business Administration and is also Florida Core Certified. She has 20+ years experience in all aspects of senior living. Her favorite part of working with seniors is getting to know the residents and listening to their stories and history. Alicia also enjoys the camaraderie and family atmosphere between the residents and being a part of a  great team at The Blake. 

When Alicia is not working, she loves spending time with her “littles” (grandchildren) and enjoying the beautiful beaches in the Miramar Beach area. She is a professed ‘Beach Bum’ most weekends and feels that she is so very blessed!

Benjamin Ingermann was was raised in Indianapolis, Indiana and Cookeville, Tenessee before moving to Florida. He now resides in Niceville. He has a bachelor’s degree in Project Management from Northwest Florida State College, graduated honors Cum Laude. He has taken many courses in management, business relations, business-oriented calculus, and hospitality that are beneficial to his professional position. Benjamin has previous experience in the food industry as a sous chef, line cook, and prep cook. He also has experience in the General Contracting field as a flooring technician and interning as a project manager.

His favorite part of working with seniors is being able to hear the stories from their past lives, and enjoys hearing interesting facts about the time in which they grew up and life lessons that he can use to better help himself in his life today. His favorite part about working at The Blake is the staff. Everyone is very friendly and eager to work together to achieve the status that The Blake is so well known for. In his free time, he likes to play the drums, guitar, or trumpet. In high school and his first year of college, he was a part of the marching band.

The daughter of Navy man, Norma was born in Yokosuka, Japan and moved to Destin, Florida in 1986. She has lived in Destin for almost her whole life, and just recently moved to Freeport, Florida.  She has an LPN license and is currently working on her RN Degree. Before she became a nurse, she was a CNA for 14 years, working in a Skilled Nursing Facility. When she became a nurse, she worked in a memory care community for 2.5 years and went into Medically Fragile Pediatrics Home Health to continue taking prerequisites for her degree. She has worked in Home Health for over 16 years both as a CNA and as an LPN. She started working at the Blake at Miramar Beach in March 2021, became the lead nurse in the Memory Care Neighborhood, and was promoted to Assistant Director of Wellness in December of 2022.  

Norma feels that working with our seniors at The Blake gives her a valuable insight into the aging process and what is to come, and gives her an opportunity to reflect on what matters most in life and how one views both oneself and others. She always enjoys listening to all of their stories and building close, loving relationships with each of them. "There are so many wonderful things about working for the company." she says. She loves the company culture and enjoys working with her coworkers and residents, who always show her how much they respect and love her contributions to The Blake, as well as give her daily encouragement. When she isn't at work, she loves to travel, spend time with her kids, learn new things, go to the beach, watch football, and take the boat out. She loves the career path that she has chosen and would never choose another career.