From Clients to Caregivers

George Burson transitions from the beauty industry to nonprofits

BY MICHELLE TALSMA EVERSON

For nearly 50 years, George Burson worked in the beauty industry. He was an experienced makeup artist; did facials; and owned a Downtown Phoenix salon called Salon Georvid alongside his husband and longtime partner, David Samora, for nearly 30 years.

In his second act, though, Burson has transitioned to working at a local nonprofit called Duet: Partners in Health & Aging, assisting family caregivers in their journey to care for their loved ones and themselves.

“I was doing makeup, facials and was a salon owner for so long that that, when I retired, I wanted a change,” Burson says.

That change came by chance in the fall of 2016 when Burson and Samora connected with Duet.

Duet is a nonprofit organization that has a mission to promote health and well-being through vitally needed services to homebound adults, family caregivers, faith communities and grandfamilies, according to the organization.

At the time, the nonprofit was shooting videos for its “Finding Meaning and Hope” discussion series and wanted to include a diverse array of caregivers. The video series, created in partnership with Pauline Boss, Ph.D., is free for family caregivers led by peer volunteers. The series is based on Boss’ book, “Loving Someone Who Has Dementia: How to Find Hope While Coping with Stress and Grief.”

“We found out about Duet through a client at the salon who knew we were caring for my mom,” Burson recalls. “We started shooting the video series in October 2016. We — and those shooting the video series — wanted to be sure that LGBTQ caregivers were seen and represented in the series.” Two weeks before filming began, Samora’s mom passed away. “Still grieving, we wanted to participate in the video series and see what good we could do,” Samora says. According to Burson and Samora, the video shoot experience taught them a lot. “Like a lot of people who provide care for loved ones, we didn’t realize that we were family caregivers,” Samora says. “It was a very moving, eye-opening experience for us. A lot of what we had been through now had a name.”

The video shoot, Burson adds, helped them both to understand their caregiving journey better.

“Learning about the things that Dr. Boss teaches in her book, like how to deal with guilt and how important the work of a caregiver is, really helps us to deal with the challenges,” he says.

From that video shoot, Burson and Samora began to volunteer for Duet. They attended and facilitated support groups for family caregivers (including a men’s-only group and a group for those who are LGBTQ+), they served as mentors for other caregivers, and they volunteered at a variety of the nonprofit’s events.

In 2018, because of his active volunteer service, Burson was offered a part-time role with Duet helping family caregivers by facilitating support groups, assisting with community referrals and guided assistance, being supportive on their caregiving journey, facilitating the “Finding Meaning and Hope” series, and more.

“After so many years in the beauty industry, my customer service skills really translated to what I do at Duet,” Burson says. “I’ve learned to be open and to listen to those we help. I also can empathize with them because I’ve been there, too.” Burson and Samora know what a life-changing journey it is to be a family caregiver, as they both cared for their aging parents for decades until they passed. “I wanted to do something else (after retiring). I was thinking about what I could possibly do, when as fate would have it, in September of 2018, I was offered a part-time job working for Duet,” he says. “After being here more than two years, I cannot tell you how rewarding this job has been. Every day I get to pay it forward and help people who are in the same position that I was in not so long ago.” Burson shares that his mom passed one year ago, and it’s been a difficult journey bouncing back after being a family caregiver for decades — but volunteering and working for Duet has helped him in the process.

“We (he and Samora) learned the importance of taking care of ourselves, because if something happens to us, then who will be there to take care of our loved ones? I was not a support group kind of guy, but I soon realized the importance of having a group of people you could talk to,” he says.

“We learned patience with each other and my mother. I know that as things continued to progress in my mother’s illness, had it not been for what I learned by volunteering for Duet, going to support groups and reading Dr. Boss’ book, I honestly don’t know if I would be here talking to you today.”

For those looking to transition to a completely different career, he suggests choosing something you’re passionate about.

“Duet has a lot of new things going on — for example, many of our support groups are virtual now because of the pandemic. Working here helps keep my mind sharp and keeps me active. Find something you’re passionate about and go for it. I don’t think my transition from beauty to nonprofit would have been as smooth if I wasn’t passionate about helping other family caregivers.”

George Burson, left, owned a Downtown Phoenix salon called Salon Georvid with his husband and longtime partner, David Samora, for nearly 30 years, before eventually transition to working with the nonprofit Duet: Partners in Health & Aging. (Submitted photos) George Burson works at a local nonprofit called Duet: Partners in Health & Aging, assisting family caregivers in their journey to care for their loved ones and themselves.

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