Funeral Director's Chat

Nancy Burban talks with Ruthann Brown Disotell about performing funeral ceremonies and leaving an impact on friends and family. Ruthann is a second generation funeral director, ordained minister and funeral celebrant. She has helped design and build a funeral home, assisted in two funeral home start-ups, is a speaker at funeral groups and an active member of her community in Hunterdon County, New Jersey.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Leave a Comment
Episode: 013
Guest: Ruthann Brown Disotell
Date: 05/24/11

Contact Ruthann Brown Disotell:
Celebration of a Lifetime
On Facebook

Show Notes:

American Academy McAllister Institute of Funeral Service
Dallas Institute of Mortuary Science

Interview Excerpt:

Ruth Ann: There are a lot of different celebrant trainings that are popping up all over the country. I can’t speak to the value of each of them, because I haven’t been to all of them. But I think it’s important to understand that when you hire a celebrant, it should be somebody who has background in grief. There are a lot of people that go and do celebrant work because they want to do a good thing. That’s nice and people should do a good thing. But to go from being an event planner to being a celebrant is a jump. I think there’s a lot to be said for having education in psychology on some level and grief in particular. Because you’re dealing with people that are going through a very traumatic time. And a funeral home does not want to take their family and turn them over to just anyone. I would caution people, when selecting a celebrant, to keep that in mind. That you really want somebody who has a background in understanding how to deal with a grieving family.

There are a lot of funeral homes who are having people trained to be an in house celebrant. That’s a wonderful thing. To have somebody that is from your staff is perfect. Because they’ve been in the funeral home, they’ve seen the situations, they’ve come to understand what a grieving person is. To give them a little extra training is not a bad thing.

Ruthann Disotell Interview Transcript
Funeral Directors Chat Home

More Funeral Celebrants Podcasts
Glenda Stansbury
Dennis McGee

Nancy Burban talks with Kim Stacey about gender biases and women in the funeral industry. She is a licensed California funeral director, anthropologist and freelance writer. She has a strong following on Facebook and LinkedIn and in 2009 she founded the Association of Women Funeral Professionals.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Leave a Comment
Episode: 012
Guest: Kim Stacey
Date: 04/27/11

Contact Kim Stacey:
Facebook
Cremation Safeguard Group

Show Notes:

Association of Women Funeral Professionals
LinkedIn Group AWFP
Joan Billman of Fleming Billman
A Special Touch Funeral Service
Lohman Funeral Homes

Interview Excerpt:

Kim: This is the model that Sharon Mace uses for A Special Touch Funeral Service in Dublin. I wrote a column on her for Mortuary Management this month, and she’s got a phenomenally successful small business. And she’s the woman in charge.

And that allows her to do something different than working for a male employer, which she has done. And she chose to do things differently.
So that may be an option for Rhode Island and New York; I’m not sure.

Nancy: Now you said she outsources, so that she would be …

Kim: That’s right. She outsources everything. Her crematory is in San Leandro; her embalmer is in San Jose. She operates her business out of a tech center in Dublin. It’s a little tiny firm, probably the size of your living room. Sharon’s firm is, I would say, about the size of my office. It’s very small, very homey. You can see pictures of her facility online at her website, aspecialtouchfuneralservice.com, if you’re interested in looking. But it’s small. It has not got a visitation room. It has not got a prep room.
She outsources her cremations and her embalming. It’s all done off site, and it’s working.
Nancy: And how does she attract clients?

Kim: She’s got a very strong networking and educational program going on. She does a lot of senior fairs. She also is part of Rotary. She does a lot of things with the Rotary. It’s all word of mouth primarily. She’s got a high rate of client satisfaction.

Kim Stacey Interview Transcript
Funeral Directors Chat Home
Women in the Death Care Industry with Monica Vernette Gray

Nancy Burban talks with Robin Heppell, a fellow podcaster, funeral consultant and funeral director. Robin and Nancy talk about changes in the funeral industry as it relates to technology and also the changing public attitudes toward funeral homes. Robin gives excellent insight to providing families with flexible service and maintaining relationships.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Leave a Comment
Episode: 011
Guest: Robin Heppell
Date: 03/11/11

Contact Robin Heppell:
Funeral Futurist Tips
Funeral Director CEUs
Facebook

Show Notes:

Bob Biggins in Massachusetts
John Beckwith
McCall’s of Victoria
Video Tributes

Interview Excerpt:

Nancy: Right. And even Zappos, where they offer, if you’re not happy working for Zappos, please let us know, we’ll give you $2,000 to resign. Because they never want to have an unhappy employee because when you have an unhappy employee that permeates into your workforce and it touches every aspect of your business.

Robin: Yeah. I’m sure some funeral home owners, “Oh, I’d never be able to do that.” But, if you could build the all star team, it’s going to more than pay for itself. And people who aren’t happy, if you could get rid of those people, because when you’re not looking, they’re dealing with families. If they’re having bad days, that doesn’t go away when they’re talking to a family.

Nancy: And we know from our own experience, the Bob Biggins in Massachusetts, and John Beckwith, I think it’s in Fort Worth, Texas. They have four funeral homes. And they have more cases than they can handle because everything is by referral. And they do such an excellent job at funeral services that they get more calls than they can possibly even handle. And when you see people building more funeral homes in their county, it has to be because they are providing such excellent service that people are coming to them through word of mouth.

Robin Heppell Interview Transcript
Funeral Directors Chat Home