A Grave Affair

Have you ever wondered what would you do if faced with your own mortality? Would you spend all your money or would you focus your remaining time on charitable works and making sentimental moments? In this episode, Berto sat down with his friend, Alex, a cancer survivor, to talk about how he faced the possibility of not winning his battle with cancer and how it changed his life afterwards. 

On episode 31, Berto is joined by a truly dynamic person in the funeral industry, Jennifer Muldowney of Muldowney Memorials! Jennifer (aka the Glam Reaper) is an internationally known podcast host, TEDx speaker, author, and memorial planner/celebrant and brings with her a wealth of knowledge when it comes to all things funeral related. Chatting about how she began her career in the funeral industry, her views on funerals and the experiences she has had over the last 15 years, it's a great episode for all listeners both in and outside of the funeral industry. 

Have you ever lost someone very close to you and felt that you were also closing a chapter in your life? In this mini episode, Berto talks about the recent loss of his last grandparent and how it left him not only mourning his grandfather, but mourning the ending of his childhood so to speak. It's a great episode that can get you thinking on how or if any losses in your life may have contributed to the feeling that a chapter in your life is now over. 

With all the funeral directors in Rollings Funeral Service, we have a vast array of experiences and viewpoints we can tap into! Wanting to hear more about those experiences and viewpoints, Berto spoke with Jeremy Hicks, funeral director and manager of Jeff Eberhart Funeral Home in Dallas, GA. From some of his most memorable services to what he himself thinks is most important in a funeral, Berto and Jeremy cover a lot of topics! 

Have you ever wondered what goes into preparing a loved one for their visitation? Wanting to learn more about embalming and everything else that funeral directors do behind the scenes when caring for your lost loved one, Berto spoke with one of their location managers, Everett, at Whitfield Funeral Homes and Crematory in Georgia. It's a great episode that sheds light on the art and skill that goes into making your loved one look just perfect. 

Wanting to learn more about the new generation of funeral directors, Berto spoke with Alexandria Whitley and Andrew Vogel, both current students at the Cincinatti College of Mortuary Science and the Pittsburgh Institute of Mortuary Science respectively. Covering a range of topics, Alex and Andrew spoke of what brought them into funeral service, what their classes are like, what they're looking for in a work environment and their long term career goals just to name a few. 

Funeral service and community service can go perfectly hand-in-hand. After all, a funeral home is serving the community by helping it celebrate and honor a life. However, a funeral home can do so much more than that. To learn about the different ways of giving back, Berto spoke with Amanda Lucas, manager and funeral director with Hicks Funeral Home & Cremation Services in Elberton, GA. Amanda has been incredibly active with the funeral home from hosting Mother's and Father's Day brunches and BBQs to hosting a movie night in the funeral home and so much more. Ultimately, her goal is to shift how people view funeral homes while at the same time trying to give back to the community. 

We understand there are a lot of questions when it comes to your firm joining Rollings Funeral Service. Wanting to educate some of our listeners that may be thinking of selling their firm, Berto spoke with brothers Ryan and Michael Bennett to discuss what the process was like joining their funeral home (Brown Funeral Home in New York) with Rollings. From what their motivations were in selling the business to how the whole process went, it's a great and informative episode! 

In today's episode, Berto spoke with Jason Greer, one of the five regional managers in Rollings Funeral Service to learn more about how he and the other regional managers support the locations in their region. Jason's current region includes our locations in Tennessee, Mississippi, and parts of Georgia and Pennsylvania. From being a sounding board to new ideas within a funeral home to actually coming in to help with funerals when needed, Jason's top priority is to make sure his locations are serving families to the best of their abilities. 

Most of us have heard of doulas for birth, but did you know there are doulas for death too that can help a person and their loved ones prepare for the ending of a life. In this episode, Berto sits down with Tara Lee and Angela Zimmer, two death doulas in the Charlotte, NC area, to talk all about what it is they do and their experiences. 

Death is such a large part of life and it rarely gets talked about. In this latest episode, Berto sat down with his cousin and another friend to talk about their views on death, funerals, and everything else in between. It's a great episode to learn how different views on death and funerals can be from person-to-person. 

Grief can be just as unique as the person going through it and it does vary from person to person. In this episode, Berto discusses his personal grieving process following the death of his grandfather this past month. Along the way, he also shares some tips and suggestions when it comes to grieving and how to navigate everything that accompanies it. 

For many people, they don't know what happens when planning a funeral for a loved one or how the process goes. To get a better idea of what happens in the arrangement office, Berto sat down with Reggy Greene, one of the Rollings managers for a funeral home in North Carolina, to stage a mock funeral arrangement. Along the way Berto and Reggy also discuss the benefits or preplanning a funeral and some of the situations Reggy has encountered when planning a funeral. 

In episode 19, Berto sat down with Bill Peoples, curator of Peoples Mortuary Museum in Marietta, OH to talk about his museum and how it came to be! Bill has a fantastic collection of funeral service memorabilia from historic mourning garments all the way to antique funeral vehicles (one was even featured in a film). Along the way Berto and Bill also discuss how funeral service has evolved since the mid-19th century. To visit the museum's website to learn more, click here https://bit.ly/3yJaJHk 

All of the guests of the podcast have some kind of direct ties to funeral service, but Berto decided it was time to get outsiders' thoughts on death and funeral service. This episode features two of Berto's good friends as they talk about their own feelings towards death and the questions they have about funeral service. 

In this episode, Berto is joined by Lauren Duhon, Courtney Latham, and Meghan Peay to talk about their experiences growing up with dads that were in funeral service and how it shaped their childhoods. Lauren and Courtney are sisters and Greg Rollings' daughters and Meghan is the daughter of a funeral home owner that just recently became a part of our company. Between Berto, Meghan, Courtney, and Lauren, there are a lot of great stories! 

On this episode, Berto sat down with Tony Kumming, president of the NewBridge Group, to talk about the mergers and acquisition side of the funeral industry. The NewBridge Group is a funeral home succession planning, funeral home valuation, and appraisal consulting firm that specializes in making the perfect match between buyer and seller. 

One part of funeral service that many don't often think about is the liability side, especially when it comes to cremation. In this episode, Berto and Justin host their first round table with three incredible guests: Poul Lemasters, attorney and funeral director with Lemasters Consulting and cremation counsel with ICCFA, Michael Elliott, senior legal counsel and CCO with Carriage Services, and Chris Farmer, founder of the Farmer Firm and newly announced General Counsel with the NFDA. 

In this week's podcast Berto and Justin discuss Covid and it's impact on funeral service from an inside perspective. 

This week Justin gives an in-depth look into his experience in Mortuary College and what to think about if you'r e interested in going. 

We get a little cheeky this time around and tackle some common myths we hear about dead bodies, embalming, cremation, and absurd mistakes that TV and movies continue to make. This was a fun discussion and we hope you learn something fun! 

So this week we sat down with Kelley Sheridan and Brittney Voss Rapp, managers of Livingston-Sondermann Funeral Home and Dugan Memorial Chapel, respectively. Kelley and Brittney are both licensed funeral directors and embalmers in Nebraska and give us their insight into being a strong female presence in a long male-dominated industry. 

In this episode we talk about that eternal question: "why are funerals so expensive?" Drawing from his own experience, Justin talks about why and what goes into the financial structure of a funeral and how we turn that into value for the family. 

Berto and Justin talk in-depth about how a funeral director keeps a level head, doesn't bring the weight of emotional burden the job creates home, and how to balance their emotions effectively. We talk about some things that affected us and how we dealt with it. 

In this episode we take a slight detour from our (ab)normal topics and sit down with Tabitha Cline-Mills and Chris Donhost to discuss organ donation. As embalmers we face certain challenges associated with donor cases and the insight we gain from Tabitha and Chris is paramount. Tabitha Cline-Mills is a funeral director and embalmer based in  Charlotte, NC who is the regional manager for Great Western Insurance Company. Tabitha's connection to organ donation is of close importance; after a nasty skiing fall, she received cadaver ligaments to repair her injured knee. Chris, also a funeral director and embalmer, is the Donor Recovery Liaison for Sierra Donor Services, based in Sacramento, CA. 

In this week's episode, Berto and Justin discuss the on-going debate in funeral service -- cremation. With the national cremation rate reaching almost 60% annually, it's evident that burial may soon be the minority. 

Funeral directors come across a lot of different experiences in their careers. While some of those experiences may be the same, there are certainly a lot that stick out in their mind. In this episode, Berto and Justin sat down with Nathan Womack, manager and funeral director with Freeman Harris Funeral Home in Rockmart, GA to discuss some of his more memorable moments in funeral service. Spoiler alert - there's a SWAT team involved in one of them. 

No one is perfect, not even funeral directors! Despite the fact that you only get one chance at a funeral and the goal is perfection, mistakes can and do happen. On this episode,  Berto and Justin sit down with Jim Dempsey, funeral director and manager of one of our Ohio locations, to discuss the mistakes he has made in his career. 

In today's episode, Justin and Berto dive into what exactly it is a funeral director does on a day-to-day basis. There's so much more to their job than just directing funeral and meeting with families! 

In today's episode, Berto and Justin spoke with Everett Huffman, the youngest location manager in Rollings Funeral Service, to get his views (as a millennial) on funeral service and where it's headed, especially in regard to more personalized services. Everett manages two locations and a cemetery in north Georgia. 

In the inaugural episode, Berto and Justin dive into their backgrounds in funeral service and why they wanted to start a death care podcast. With a combination of wit and humor, Berto and Justin want to open the casket on everything funeral related.