November 2019

Page A4 NOVEMBER 2019 FUNERAL HOME & CEMETERY NEWS S ec t i on A mymortuarycooler.com Are you state compliant? In their BOOK..... Our Life Undertaking The Path We Chose the Holts share stories.... of Life and Humor, going from Farm Kids to City Undertaker; of leaving their Prairie farm home to work in West Coast Mortuaries. Read a few pages... Look it up Today on Amazon Books By Nancy Weil What do you Value? “What do you value?” This seems like such a sim- ple question, yet it leads to so many possible an- swers. Every person will have a different answer and you may even change yours depending upon the day or your mood. However, if you take time to re- veal your response, it can serve as a personal mission statement and guide you with every decision that you make. For the purpose of this query, it is assumed that you are a dedicated professional who values helping others at a difficult time in their life. You love what you do and don’t mind the long hours, lack of sleep or ever-changing schedule. Finding ways to engage with those who come through your door, providing a shoulder to cry on, even washing the company ve- hicles are all part of the job and you wouldn’t want to do anything else. So, your answer may be that you value your ca- reer and all that comes with it. If so, then your time is invested in working long hours and finding ways to grow the business. You may volunteer your time in the community and serve on boards or help with fundraisers in order to raise awareness of your funer- al home or cemetery while giving back to the com- munity you are a part of. Perhaps you attend confer- ences and take courses to improve your professional Random Musings skills. If it is beneficial to your career, that is where you focus. Some may answer that they value money. If that is your re- sponse, then all of your time and energy will go into building your business and financial future. You may track your invest- ments and watch stock market trends. Budgeting may be high on your list and staffing and purchasing decisions will be influ- enced by their impact on your profit/loss statement. On the other hand, if you value spending time with your family and friends, you will see your staff as an asset that allows you to be away from your business assured that everything will run smoothly in your absence. You may spend money on life experiences, such as family trips to Disney, cruises or camping vacations. Simple moments spent over a cup of coffee with a friend or watching your kids or grandchildren play at a park brings you immense satisfaction and gratitude. As an employee of a funeral home or cemetery, you may look at paid vacation days as a reason to remain with the same com- pany as days off equal time to have fun with those you love. Perhaps benefits and bonuses keep you from seeking other op- portunities or leads you to jump ship in order to improve your financial situation. For the adventure seeker who values an adrenaline rush, time is invested in training to climb that mountain or hike the Ap- palachian Trail. Perhaps cash is spent on taking skydiving les- sons, learning to fly a plane or scuba diving certification. Can you start to see how knowing what you value can be a guiding force in your life? When finding yourself with a decision to make, you weigh the options against how your choice will impact your lifestyle. How you spend your time or invest your money is viewed from within your personal value system. It impacts every part of your life whether you re- alize it or not. You may never have considered or declared your value statement. Yet it is still operat- ing behind the choices you make and the life you live. By actually stating to yourself what you value and bringing a conscious awareness to it, life will make more sense and you will have a valuable tool to guide you in all that you do. www.nomispublications.com Funeral Home & Cemetery News Contributors share insights and exchange ideas. B logs Serving as Member Resources Director at the International Order of the Golden Rule, Nancy Weil brings her years of ex- perience working in the funeral industry to funeral directors across the globe. Her professional experience includes serving as Director of Grief Support and Community Outreach at Vet- erans Funeral Care in Clearwater, FL and at eleven cemeteries in Western New York. Nancy travels throughout the country offering presentations on how to reduce stress, combat compassion fatigue and offer support for those who are grieving through her company, The Laugh Academy. With certifications as a Grief Services Provider and Grief Man- agement Specialist, Funeral Celebrant, Soul Injury Ambassador and Laughter Leader, Nancy is uniquely qualified to bring new perspectives into how to best meet the needs of the families you serve. For more information on how Nancy can help you and your company grow, visit her website: www.TheLaughAcademy.com or e-mail Nancy@TheLaughAcademy.com. Dr. Troyer Offers Affordable Facebook Service Undertaking: The Podcast Celebrates Its One-Year Anniversary Brian Waters Ryan Ballard DELAWARE COUNTY,IN— Indiana funeral directors Brian Waters and Ryan Ballard are celebrating the one-year anniversary of their project Undertaking: The Podcast. Since the first episode was released on Septem- ber 26, 2018, Waters and Ballard have released over 70 episodes generating over 35,000 total downloads. Episodes include inter- views with industry lead- ers like Vernie Fountain and Dominick Astorino, as well as conversations with nationally-published authors including Thomas Lynch whose book The Un- dertaking: Life Studies from the Dismal Trade was a National Book Award finalist and inspired a PBS Frontline episode of the same name. Waters and Ballard founded Undertaking: The Podcast in 2018 to learn from funeral service professionals in Indiana and across the United States. Both are full-time funeral di- rectors living and working in Delaware County, IN. Undertaking: The Podcast is available on iTunes, Spo- tify, iHeartRadio and many other podcasting plat- forms. New episodes are released each Friday at 7:00 p.m. Eastern Time. To learn more about the show, visit www.UndertakingThePodcast.com. Dr. Jason Troyer MARYVILLE,TN— Dr. Jason Troyer, founder of Mt Hope Grief Services and GriefPlan.com, has launched an affordable and done-for-you Facebook service. “Af- ter listening carefully, I realized that funeral professionals needed help connecting with their communities through uplifting and engaging content, but without adding an- other item on their to-do list.” The service includes over 300 Facebook posts per year without any effort by the funeral home staff. The posts include a vari- ety of content including: inspirational messages, ad- vantages of preplanning, major holidays, the value of funeral services, pet-re- lated inspiration, grief sup- port, and Baby Boomer nostalgia. The service offers a free 1-month trial and in- cludes market exclusivity. “This service is ideal for funeral homes that don’t currently have an active Facebook page or primar- ily post obituaries with- out other more uplifting and positive messages – al- though many customers al- ready had active Facebook pages, but wanted to save staff time,” said Dr. Troyer. Dr. Troyer is a grief ex- pert and former psycholo- gy professor who provides consulting services, pre- sentations, and grief sup- port materials for funeral homes and cemeteries. He also works as a community engagement consultant for Smith Funeral & Crema- tion Service and Grand- view Cemetery. For more information, visit www. GriefPlan.com/funeral/ or call 865-748-0582. L i k e Us On Facebook! SEND US YOUR NEWS! PO Box 5159, Youngstown, OH 44514 1-800-321-7479 info@nomispublications.com