FAIRMONT — Mandy Farrow will be taking over as Executive Director of Goldfinch Estates Senior Living Community in Fairmont beginning in August.

Farrow succeeds Pamela Rubis, who will be retiring from the role. Rubis has been with Goldfinch since 2019.

Originally from northern Iowa, Farrow has most recently served as a business office manager at Goldfinch.

Farrow has a bachelor’s degree from the University of Minnesota at Crookston in Business Management.

“My husband and I had a business for about 15 years. We decided that we both wanted to do different things,” Farrow said.

She said her husband is also a farmer so he began focusing on that while she went back to school to get her master’s in education from Winona State University.

She began teaching business and technology at Granada Huntley-East Chain High School in 2019. Prior to that, she taught in Maple River for three years.

“I didn’t think that was exactly the right fit for me so I was looking for something else when I found Goldfinch,” Farrow said.

While Farrow began working at Goldfinch in the fall of 2020, during the pandemic, she said it wasn’t as difficult to deal with as it was finishing up teaching during a pandemic.

“The whole 2020 school year was distance learning. When I came here it was a more regular work environment, just closed to the public. All of my co-workers worked in the building with me and the residents were here. It was sad that people couldn’t always visit their loved ones, but the working environment wasn’t a struggle,” Farrow explained.

When asked what her favorite thing about working at Goldfinch is, Farrow said, “I like the people I work with. We have a great team of people and on top of that, all of the residents are super interesting to talk to. I don’t get as many opportunities as I would like, but every time I stop and chat with them they’re super fun.”

Goldfinch Estates is part of Vista Prairie Communities. It has 92 assisted living apartments and 41 memory care apartments.