Funeral Director's Chat
By Nancy Burban
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Podcast Description
Where funeral professionals are provided insight to current industry trends, news and topics.
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FD Chat #19 – Green Cremation with Joel Collins | Nancy Burban talks with Joel Collins, a funeral director and founder and president of Eco Green Cremation Systems Inc. They discuss green cremation, also known as Alkaline Hydrolysis, and its impact on reducing the carbon footprint of crematoriums, as well as reducing costs for funeral directors and families. Leave a Comment Episode: 019 Guest: Joel Collins Date: 11/23/2011 Contact: Email Eco Green Cremation Systems Headquarters - 239-278-1661 Show Notes: Mayo Clinic and Alkaline Hydrolysis Cornell University and Alkaline Hydrolysis | 11/23/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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FD Chat #18 – Living Reefs with Robert Sarnie | Nancy Burban talks with Robert Sarnie, a biologist, CEO of Living Reef Memorial and head of the Sea Turtle Rescue Organization. They discuss how burial reefs aid the improvement of marine life populations and help sustain ecosystems. Leave a Comment Episode: 018 Guest: Robert Sarnie Date: 10/20/2011 Contact: Email Facebook Show Notes: Living Reef Memorial Sea Turtle Rescue Robert Sarnie Transcript | 10/20/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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FD Chat #17 – Removal Services with Duane E. Hall | Nancy Burban and Duane E. Hall discuss how funeral homes can improve service with the use of removal and transport services. Duane speaks of the benefits and savings these companies offer funeral directors, such as vehicle maintenance, gas costs and time allocation. Duane graduated from the Commonwealth Institute in Houston, has been a funeral director for twenty five years and now operates Park Area Mortuary Transport in Huntsville, Texas. Leave a Comment Episode: 017 Guest: Duane E. Hall Date: 09/08/2011 Contact: Email Park Area Mortuary Transport Email Show Notes: Park Area Mortuary Transport Facebook Park Area Mortuary Transport Commonwealth Institute Duane E. Hall Interview Transcript | 9/8/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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FD Chat #16 – Entering the Funeral Industry with Cody Anderson | Nancy Burban and Cody Anderson discuss getting started in mortuary science, working in a funeral home and up-and-coming changes in the profession as a whole. Anderson is a recent graduate of Piedmont Technological College in Greenwood SC, with an apprenticeship at Hatchers Funeral Home in Langley. Leave a Comment Episode: 016 Guest: Cody Anderson Date: 08/31/2011 Contact Cody Anderson: Email Show Notes: Hatchers Funeral Home Cody Anderson Interview Transcript Funeral Directors Chat Home | 8/23/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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FDChat #15 – Raymond Aikens and African American Funerals | Raymond Aikens and Nancy Burban discuss changes in funeral services and African American funeral professionals. Raymond is an adjunct professor of mortuary science at Malcolm X College in Chicago, is a second generation funeral director and has been a professional investment banker. They also talk about hospice, investing in your facilities and continually educating yourself and your staff. Leave a Comment Episode: 015 Guest: Raymond Aikens Date: 07/13/11 Contact Raymond Aikens: Raymond on Facebook Show Notes: Funeral Statistics and Facts Beacham McDougald Pub to open in funeral home A.A. Rayner Funeral Home Keening Interview Excerpt: Nancy Burban: Also, I think, a lot of people are not carrying life insurance as a priority as they did years ago. Because if you're unemployed, you have to cut back on your expenses. Raymond Aikens: Yeah, and not only that, we're finding a higher incidents of loans outstanding on life insurance policies. I'm sure, again, that's just a reflection of a level of economic stress that's out there. A person comes in; they've got an insurance policy. You call to verify the status of the beneficiary and you also discover at the same time that there's a loan outstanding. There's not as much available relative to the face value. Raymond Aikens Interview Transcript Funeral Directors Chat Home | 7/13/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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FDChat #14 – An Interview With Kenneth Varner | Nancy Burban talks with Kenneth Varner, President of Cypress Lawn Cemetery and President of the ICCFA. They discuss funeral legislation, the ICCFA University and strategies behind pre-planning (what Ken likes to call estate planning). Ken also talks about the continuous improvement of our services in the funeral profession. Leave a Comment Episode: 014 Guest: Kenneth Varner Date: 06/27/11 Contact Ken Varner: Cypress Lawn Cemetery ICCFA Email Facebook Show Notes: ICCFA University H.R.900 - Bereaved Consumer's Bill of Rights Act of 2011 Senate Bill No. 658 National Funeral Directors Association Cremation Association of North America Arizona Funeral, Cemetery and Cremation Assoc. Cypress Lawn Cremation Society Todd Van Beck Interview Excerpt: Look at Cypress Lawn. We have the Cemetery Association. We have our funeral homes. We also have the Cypress Lawn Cremation Association; that's a licensed funeral establishment that we have. And then our new group of funeral homes that we purchased, there was also an off-brand cremation provider; it's called All County Cremation Services. Cypress Lawn is a little bit of everything. Nancy: It certainly sounds like it. Kenneth: Of course, here at Cypress Lawn, we have the internal obligation of maintaining 200 acres of property, which is very, very expensive. And so we've had to expand our services to expand our revenue, to ensure that we can continue to fulfill on the promises that we've made to our families. Ken Varner Interview Transcript Funeral Directors Chat Home | 6/26/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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FDChat #13 – Celebrants and the Funeral Process | 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. 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 | 5/24/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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FDChat #12 – Women and Men in the Funeral Industry | 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. 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 | 4/27/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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FDChat #11 – Marketing and Maintaining Relationships | 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. 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 | 3/15/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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FDChat #10 – Cemetery Photography | Nancy Burban talks with cemetery photographer John Thomas Grant. They discuss the beauty of cemetery monuments in the eastern states and why John Grant began to photograph cemeteries. Leave a Comment Episode: 010 Guest: John Thomas Grant Date: 02/15/11 Contact John Thomas Grant: Facebook John Thomas Grant Show Notes: Passion Projects Douglas Keister Green-Wood Cemetery Interview Excerpt: Nancy Burban: Well John, do you have any favorite cemeteries? John Thomas Grant: Of course. I lived for 20 years or there about in Brooklyn. You can't get any better than Green-Wood. That's my home away from home. I don't know how many times I've been to that place. Some of my finest pictures come out of there. As I mentioned earlier, I didn't start terribly long ago so, I have not traveled that far in pursuit of the pictures. It's still life and I'm still trying to get my photography to a point where it could be a form of subsistence, if you will. John Thomas Grant Interview Transcript Funeral Directors Chat Home Embed this Podcast | 2/15/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
| Total: 10 Episodes |
Customer Reviews
It's dead in here.
Great show buts it's needs to liven up a bit.
This is the real six feet under.
There isn’t anything more rudimentary to human existence than our mortality. Knowing insight to this industry can only make the process better for the people we serve. Thanks Nancy, keep up the good work.
Insightful &
Beacham's podcast was amazing. Great insight & ideas in funeral service. All podcast offer a serious view into the business of funeral service. Kudos!
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