Memory Care Expert | Senior Living Consultant | Sensory & AI Systems Specialist

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My Story

I’m Viviana Hurtado, a Yale Ph.d, Emmy-winning journalist, and founder of Scentvironment™.

My work is rooted in personal experience: helping care for my father during his Parkinson’s and memory loss journey.

Supporting him and my mother opened my eyes to the daily realities families face: the emotional weight, the environmental stressors, and the need for spaces that feel safe, warm, and familiar.

That caregiving chapter fundamentally shaped my mission: helping memory care and luxury senior living communities create environments that truly feel like home.

This experience grounds my work today as a memory care expert focused on sensory environments and human-centered systems.

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Why I Do This Work

My career has taken me from global newsrooms to startups to entrepreneurship.

Along the way, I learned how sensory environments, communication systems, and operational workflows shape the daily reality inside senior living communities, not just for residents, but families and staff.

When I built Viviana Luxury, a scent brand now sold at Whole Foods and trusted by partners like the W Hotel, I saw firsthand how sensory storytelling can ground people, soothe stress, and create an emotional sense of “home.”

But it wasn’t until my father’s Parkinson’s and memory loss journey, and supporting my mother as his primary caregiver, I realized how powerful these same tools could be in memory care.

The right sensory cues can support orientation, reduce agitation, and spark familiarity.

The wrong ones can overwhelm.

That personal experience shifted my purpose.

Today, I help senior living and memory care communities implement sensory branding and AI-powered systems that improve wellbeing, elevate resident and family experience, and strengthen connection.

This is why I now serve communities as a memory care expert helping operators create environments that truly feel like home..

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My Expertise

I advise senior living operators on integrating three core pillars:

✓ Sensory & Scent Design

Crafting signature scent environments that support memory, mood, and calm, especially for residents experiencing cognitive change.

✓ AI Systems for Senior Living

Implementing practical AI workflows that streamline communication, automate marketing, support staff, improve operational efficiency, and enhance resident and family engagement.

My systems are built for small teams and designed to replace manual tasks with intelligent, human-centered automation.

✓ Storytelling & Leadership Communication

Drawing from my journalism career, I help leaders communicate clearly, build trust, and strengthen family relationships.

Story drives culture, and culture drives care.

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Media & Recognition

My work has been featured on Bloomberg, NPR, MSNBC, Fox, CNN, Univision, The New York Times, Rolling Stone, Time Magazine, and The Washington Post.

From newsroom anchors to entrepreneurs, my experience spans building credibility, scaling operations, and creating human-centered, tech-enabled solutions.

These experiences taught me how to communicate complexity with clarity, skills I now use to support operators, leadership teams, and families navigating senior living decisions.

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My Mission

I believe senior living communities should feel like the best version of home: calm, comforting, emotionally grounded, and supportive, a belief grounded in my own caregiving experience.

Environment matters.

Communication matters.

Systems matter.

And when all three align, residents thrive and staff feel empowered.

This foundation shapes everything I do as a memory care expert dedicated to improving quality of life for residents and the people who care for them.

My work blends heart and strategy, using sensory design and AI tools to create meaningful, measurable impact.

At the core, I’m a teacher and advisor. I help operators implement AI tools to:

• Improve resident experiences
• Streamline operations
• Build sustainable growth

All while keeping the human touch, ensuring families, staff, and residents feel supported and connected.

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Let’s Work Together

If you’re a memory care or senior living operator who understands both the science and the heart of senior living, I’d love to support your community with expertise, heart, and actionable strategies to achieve meaningful results, including:

• Transform your spaces with signature scent and sensory design
• Implement AI-powered systems for smarter operations
• Strengthen family trust
• Elevate your brand and resident experience

Together we can design spaces and systems that truly serve residents, families, and staff, with compassion, intelligence, and intention.

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