Cara Hoehn-Lapic ’92

Cara Hoehn-Lapic ’92 was the featured speaker at the March 27th Ruth A. Miller Senior Business Seminar. Hoehn-Lapic is the area owner of Senior Care Authority in Cranberry Township, Pa. and is a former member of the Thiel College Board of Trustees.

“This week, we had Cara Hoehn-Lapic address our class. She began her presentation by talking about her family. She has a husband, two daughters, two cats, and a dog. She grew up in Butler and graduated from Butler High School.” Abraham Hochstetler ’24

“Cara Hoehn-Lapic grew up in Butler, PA as the youngest of five children. She graduated from Thiel College in 1992 with a degree in business administration. After college, she went on to work for BNY Mellon, where she ended up working for thirty years.” Madi Yurich ’24

“After she graduated from Thiel, she got a job at BNY Mellon. In the early days of her career, she said to herself that while she liked the job, she was never going to be there for more than five years. That turned out to be wrong, as she ended up staying with BNY Mellon for just under thirty years.” Alex Martin ’24

“Throughout her time at BNY Mellon, she held various roles, including operations specialist, software engineer, internal consultant, senior product manager, and ultimately strategic business planning manager. Cara’s commitment to lifelong learning was evident as she pursued and obtained her master’s degree in information systems management and later her doctorate in information systems and communications.” Emma Hatfield ’25

“Thirty years of her career was spent at BNY Mellon (following) various career paths there. She really enjoyed this job, but some unexpected life events made her rethink it. She lost her father in 2017 and found out she had cancer in 2021. With that loss and struggle with cancer she realized that life was too short. One of her dreams was to own her own business and she made this happen.” Abigail Sefton ’25

“Despite facing significant challenges, Cara remained resilient and determined to make a positive impact. Cara’s journey also led her to establish Senior Care Authority, a business dedicated to helping individuals struggling to receive care, inspired by her mother’s battle with Alzheimer’s disease. Through Senior Care Authority, Cara has made a profound impact on the lives of countless individuals and families, embodying the spirit of service and compassion.” Jackson Pletcher ’24

“Her business deals with eldercare consulting and matching people with the resources they need. She also does family coaching and advocacy work within this business and she is also currently working on launching a program called EASE. This program aims to help people who worry tremendously about their senior loved ones while they themselves are at work or have to take a lot of time off of work to care for these individuals.” Madi Yurich ’24

“Cara is someone who proves to be very strong and resilient. She has not only had a career journey that wouldn’t be looked at as ‘normal,’ but she also had to face some very heavy hardships that others wouldn’t be able to recover from. It was more than an honor to hear her story and get to know her last night.” Taya Sykes ’24

“What I appreciated most about Cara was that she was authentic and was a firm believer in her own mission. You could tell by her passion that she is going to provide the best care to anyone that uses her services.” Hailey McClain ’24

“Overall, Cara was a very high energy and passionate speaker that I greatly enjoyed.” Connor Lovic ’24

“Her inspiring journey concluded with a message encouraging others to consider a career path focused on elder care, echoing her belief that every day is valuable, and one should strive to make a positive impact in the lives of others.” Emma Hatfield ’25Top of Form

“I have the utmost respect and honor, having Cara as our guest speaker. I have connected with another Thiel alumna and added a friend for life.” Damion Grinnell ’25

Lessons Learned

“Dream. Write it down. Sort it out. Do it.” Madi Yurich ’24
“Enjoy curiosity and learning.” Jacob Traupman ’24
“Always be learning and build your tool kit.” Zach Bergstresser ’25
“Never say never, you never truly know what’s possible.” Taya Sykes ’24
“Carpe Diem. As long as you are giving it your all, also give yourself grace.” Julianne Slagle ’24
“Practice self-compassion.” Jackson Pletcher ’24
“’The grass is not always greener on the other side.’ This statement was said the last two weeks by different speakers which just shows even more how sometimes where you are is better than what it could be.” Abigail Sefton ’25
“Keep an open mind.” Isaac Sasala ’24
“Meeting people is like a box of chocolates, you never know what you will get.” Hailey McClain ’24
“Meet everyone (this is my personal favorite). You never know what or who you may find along the way.” Connor Lovic ’24
“Be a risk taker, you don’t know what door might open next.” Taya Sykes ’24
“Challenges present opportunities for growth and courage to embark on new beginnings.” Yeryoung Kim ’24
“Don’t just talk about it, do it!” Emma Hatfield ’25
“Be humble, grateful, and empathetic.” Jacara Green ’25
“Every day is not going to be great, so get through it and look forward to the next good day.” Nick DiLullo ’24
“What is on your bucket list? Do it as soon as you can.” Connor Lovic ’24
Always give back to the community.” Abraham Hochstetler ’24
Helping others and sharing brings fulfillment and satisfaction.” Yeryoung Kim ’24

Dinner “Dishing”

This week, Professor Witosky acted as the dinner concierge and selected a great meal. Several of my classmates were inducted into Chi Eta Sigma. I enjoyed seeing them being rewarded for all the hard work they put in daily. Additionally, the seniors I have shared classes with were presented with awards that they rightly deserved.” Jacara Green ’25
“For the meal we started with a beet salad with a vinaigrette, and moved on to the entrée which was pork marsala with gnocchi. For dessert we enjoyed a chocolate tart with vanilla pudding and fruit. After dinner, the induction ceremony began and as a current member it was nice to share that moment and welcome the new inductees.” Isaac Sasala ’24
“Dinner experience was one of my favorites. The food was delicious (I am a sucker for gnocchi), the table conversations while eating dinner was great, and to be a part of the Chi Eta Sigma induction ceremony was very memorable. This was my first opportunity to attend an induction ceremony, and it really showed the family likeness of Thiel. It was nice to be able to see my fellow students earn awards for all of their hard work. This was the first dinner that has had all the department professors attend, so it was nice to talk with them outside of the classroom setting.” Julianne Slagle ’24
“Having great food and amazing conversations has become the thing I look forward to every week. It was great to be seated with two amazing students, Dean Butcher, and our guest speaker for the evening.” Damion Grinnell ’25

“While eating, we discussed our favorite courses so far in the semester. Not surprisingly, the Ruth A. Miller Senior Seminar was one of the favorites.” Abraham Hochstetler ’24