Joshua Crisp is #MadeForKnoxville.

With a 1,098 mile bike ride under his belt, this serial entrepreneur is on a mission to redesign communities with seniors in mind.

When we speak of building communities, those who are not at the center of society often get left behind. Joshua founded Solinity to make sure that doesn’t happen. Long before founding his consulting business in 2014, he was working tirelessly to initiate and inspire new ways of building community—ways that include instead of isolating the elderly. Joshua serves as chair of committees and boards that prioritize top quality senior care, while continually advocating for Solinity’s multigenerational model for communities. He and his team support senior living facilities with leadership development, marketing, and management solutions.

In addition to his multi-company efforts, Joshua founded the nonprofit, Pedal For Alzheimer’s in 2017. His crazy idea to take a 1,098 mile bike ride from Knoxville, TN to Key West, Florida was born from a personal desire to honor the legacy of and raise money for the Pat Summitt Foundation to fight Alzheimer’s disease. His bike ride served as the impetus for a nationally-supported annual fundraiser, which now has ambassadors in 15 states and Canada. 

“Leverage your life. Every experience you have had, whether it be good or bad, has given you leverage for today.”

 In Their Own Words…

As the Founder and CEO of Solinity, a Knoxville, Tennessee-based family of companies, I envision multigenerational affordable communities with a boutique flair while moving the senior care industry forward.

In our warm and vibrant Solinity model, I have planned communities to offer specific housing for certain levels of care: 55+ active adult, independent living, assisted living and memory care alongside intergenerational and multi-family housing allowing people of varying ages to live and work together. The for-profit, faith-based Solinity initially plans to focus on Tennessee and surrounding states while appealing to local preferences and addressing unmet needs for new development, acquisitions and third-party management opportunities.

I have almost twenty years of executive experience creating deep roots in the senior living sector in the areas of managing and consulting in all aspects of senior living operations in the Southeast. This includes development, marketing, and start-up operations for new communities as well as acquisition of new management opportunities for existing properties in both the for-profit and non-profit sectors.

I began my career as the marketing director for Trinity Hills in 2006 at the Trinity Care Senior Living community in Knoxville. At Trinity Care, I was promoted to regional director of operations and then director of operations, staying with the company for nine years helping it become a publicly traded, vertically integrated health system before launching my own consulting company. In 2014, I founded and became president of TLC Senior Living, where he worked concurrently while consulting as a vice president of Dominion Senior Living.

As a nationally certified Assisted Living Administrator, I was appointed by Tennessee Governor Bill Haslam to the Board for Licensing Health Care Facilities for a 4-year term beginning January 2014 and has been reappointed for an additional term and again appointed under Governor Bill Lee and currently chair the Assisted Care Living Facility standing committee and serve as Chair Pro Tem for the Board.

What Led to Entrepreneurship:

In 2014 I was forced out of my comfort zone and in order to avoid an out of state move I reluctantly started my first consulting company. I had no idea this would be the beginning of not only me launching many more companies but also helping others to launch their own companies and communities.

Later in 2017, I had the crazy idea to ride a bike from Knoxville, TN to Key West, FL to honor the legacy of the University of Tennessee women’s basketball coach Pat Summitt. I had no idea what would develop over the months ahead…

Pedal for Pat, was a 12-day, 1,098-mile bike ride to honor Pat’s 1,098 career NCAA wins. Pat died with Alzheimer’s and this ride would honor her legacy by raising funds for The Pat Summitt Foundation to help fight Alzheimer’s.

Little did I know that this event that was announced in early 2017 would later become a successful nationally-recognized 501c3 volunteer-led organization called Pedal for Alzheimer’s, Ltd.

Shortly after announcing this event, the event made USA Today, Sports Illustrated, ESPN and a host of other national and regional media networks. So many questions as to why this crazy guy that didn’t even own a bike and never met this coach would ride across the country to honor a legacy. Well, they were right, it was crazy and I was crazy, but I had good reasons and stories to share.

At the same time that the event was announced, my career in senior living was booming with the launch of a successful consulting company after running up the corporate ladder learning the business from industry greats. But I needed a lot of help. I needed to start doing what I had done well in my career thus far and that was building a great team around me.

Pedal for Alzheimer’s has always been my give back. Great people and volunteers have surrounded the organization and have led the efforts in awareness, fundraising and growth. To date, the organization has 30+ Ambassadors representing 15 states and Canada.

Lessons I’ve learned as an entrepreneur:

1. It’s not easy!
2. Most of the skills I have used in building companies and organizations have been learned in life, not in school.
3. Your word is still valuable so fulfill your commitments.
4. Any successful business is built on people and relationships, take care of them both.
5. Leverage your life. Every experience you have had whether it be good or bad has given you leverage for today.

Interested in sharing your “Made for Knoxville” story? Submit here!