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Work Background
Pollen.CareBusiness Owner
Jan. 2024Chattanooga, Tennessee, United StatesPollen Care, a company dedicated to supporting families through child grief by offering curated collections of bereavement literature. By leveraging nearly a decade of experience in the funeral service industry and advanced academic expertise in thanatology and crisis management, I created Pollen to address the often-overlooked need for age-appropriate grief resources. In addition to the above, I oversee all aspects of the business, from product development to customer engagement, ensuring that each curated grief box meets the specific needs of the families and children involved. Moreover, I work closely with caregivers, educators, and funeral directors to provide tools that help facilitate difficult conversations around death and loss with young minds. Some of my key accomplishments include: ➥ Launched and scaled Pollen Care by responding to organic customer demand, reaching 70+ orders within weeks of a viral Instagram feature, and significantly expanding outreach to grieving families nationwide. ➥ Curated a highly specialized catalog of childhood bereavement literature, addressing complex topics such as Alzheimer’s, sudden death, and funeral processes, which has been well-received by both families and funeral professionals. ➥ Developed a streamlined customer consultation process, allowing for personalized grief literature recommendations tailored to each child’s developmental stage and the specific nature of their loss. ➥ Forged partnerships with funeral homes, churches, and veterinary clinics, introducing Pollen Care as a trusted resource for grief support, despite initial industry hesitations. ➥ Expanded Pollen's offerings to include adult grief resources, with a focus on supporting mothers experiencing pregnancy loss, building the foundation for further product development in the adult grief space.
PIERCE MORTUARY COLLEGES INCProfessor
Jan. 2024 - Sep. 2024Jeffersonville, Indiana, United States
Quietus BeeBusiness Owner
Jan. 2023United StatesQuietus Bee is a new consulting firm specialized in funeral advisory services and regulations assistance for customers throughout the United States. I established this business in 2023 to provide consultative guidance for clients, funeral homes, and investors; I advise on current trends in funeral service to meet the specific needs of each customer. Some of my key contributions include: ➥ Trained funeral directors, doulas, and other deathcare industry professionals in effectively handling a range of stressful psychological situations, enabling them to provide a highly differentiated customer experience. ➥ Counseled startup organizations in existing/emerging rules and regulations related to the funeral service industries across multiple US states, enabling them to maintain compliance with region-specific laws. ➥ Advised investors in market trends and industry dynamics; ensured maximal adoption of funeral service best practices.
Arapahoe Community CollegeAdjunct Faculty
Jan. 2023 - Jan. 2024Littleton, Colorado, United StatesInstructed classes in funeral directing, mortuary law, and other funeral arts courses
Ivy Tech Community CollegeAdjunct Professor
Aug. 2022 - Dec. 2022Lawrence, INInstructed Funeral Service Students in person.
PIERCE MORTUARY COLLEGES INCAdjunct Professor
Jan. 2022 - Jan. 2024RemoteI instruct students in both Associates and Bachelors degree programs of funeral service.
Consultant, Subject Matter ExpertDeath Care Professional Consultant
Jan. 2021United StatesHere, I provide strategic guidance to companies in the death care space, helping them enhance their services and educational offerings. As an SME in online direct cremation, I advised clients on modernizing their cremation processes to meet evolving customer expectations in a digital-first landscape. Additionally, I consulted on the development of training programs for funeral directors, focusing on how they can better assist their employees in communicating and selling services to grieving families. Moreover, I’ve also mentored former students, offering career guidance and helping them define and achieve their professional goals in the funeral and death care sectors. An excerpt from the tenure includes the following: ➥ Delivered expert consultation on the restructuring of an online direct cremation service, resulting in streamlined processes and improved customer experience for a leading cremation provider. ➥ Guided a company on rebuilding their educational platform for funeral directors, focusing on sales training and customer engagement strategies, which enhanced the program’s effectiveness and increased adoption by professionals. ➥ Mentored and coached multiple students through career transitions, with at least three mentees successfully entering master’s programs based on personalized career roadmaps developed.
Tulip CremationRegional Funeral Director in Charge
Jan. 2021 - Dec. 2022United StatesTulip Cremation provides simple, affordable, and quality direct cremation services on a national level. As Regional Funeral Director in Charge, I was accountable for Pleading a multi-state team of 15 Directors and Family Care Specialists to support the company’s profitable day-to-day operation across Wisconsin, California, Minnesota, and Washington State. Some of my additional contributions include: ➥ Supported current and future business acquisitions across multiple US regions. ➥ Signed death certificates and permits for WA, MN, and WI across the whole organization. ➥ Facilitated the achievement of established revenue objectives, held the team accountable to a high standard of performance, and drove increasing levels of customer service, satisfaction, and retention. ➥ Managed daily operations, remediated operational problems, arranged cremations and deliveries of deceased individuals, provided resolution guidance to personnel, and established best practice policies and processes. ➥ Ensured that all safety, quality control, and compliance goals were met. ➥ Incorporated a human touch into the funeral business, providing customers with a reliable support network during highly emotional and transitionary periods.
Service Corporation InternationalFuneral Director In Charge-Acting General Manager
Jan. 2020 - Dec. 2021Seattle, Washington, United StatesAs Regional Funeral Director in Charge, I was recruited to manage all daily operations for a funeral home and cemetery. TO carry out my mandate, I conducted the full scope of funeral services, including: burial, cremation, sales, casket selection, logistics, and customer service. Among my accomplishments, I have: ➥ Served as acting General Manager; oversaw all operations and maintenance activities for the facility. ➥ Met with family and friends of the deceased to discuss the nature and time of funeral arrangements, funeral service options, obituary notice wording, products, merchandise, and laws; provided knowledgeable and caring support throughout. ➥ Communicated options for the disposition of remains with the family of the deceased and explained all associated funeral costs. ➥ Completed the ‘Leading with Dignity’ management training program; cultivated leadership competencies over 2 weeks. ➥ Trained and onboarded employees and interns. ➥ Conducted year-end inventory count processes for the leadership team. ➥ Volunteered to assist across state lines and support Southern CA with human remains handling during the Pandemic. ➥ Participated in the location inventory process and conducted audits to measure quality assurance/finance/asset management KPIs. ➥ Recognized for accommodating the specific needs of religious minorities; learned the customs of 3 unique religious sects, facilitating growth in the number of clients from each sect by up to 125.
First Call Plus Of WALead Funeral Director/Office Manager
Jan. 2019 - Dec. 2020Seattle, Washington, United StatesAs Lead Funeral Director, I led a team of 25 direct reports to coordinated all aspects of funeral services for third-party funeral homes while providing caring support to families and friends of the deceased. Here are some of the ways I’ve made positive contributions to business growth: ➥ Signed death certificates and managed the transportation of diseased individuals. ➥ Facilitated a period of sustained revenue growth. ➥ Managed the international shipping process, including the global import/export of decedents. ➥ Steered the company though the pandemic by implementing science-backed safety protocols, fielding routine media calls, providing proper access to cleaning and PPE gear, and ensuring compliance with State and Federal regulations.
Cremation Society Of MinnesotaLead Funeral Director
Jan. 2018 - Dec. 2019St Paul, Minnesota, United StatesI joined Cremation Society of Minnesota in 2018, where I managed daily operations for the funeral business. Some of my additional contributions include: ➥ Overhauled outdated processes; established new systems informed by industry best practices. ➥ Implemented a new scheduling system to handle increased call volume and provide improved coverage. ➥ Generated significant revenue and call volume growth in a short timeframe.
O'Halloran & Murphy Funeral Home & Cremation ServicesFuneral Director
Jan. 2017 - Dec. 2018Greater Minneapolis-St. Paul Area
Seefeld Funeral & Cremation ServicesFuneral Director
Jan. 2015 - Dec. 2017Oshkosh, Wisconsin, United States
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