2023 Keynote Speakers

Vera_Jones

Vera Jones

Speaker · Author · Coach

Vera Jones is a Motivational Speaker, Communication Coach, Author, and Syracuse University Hall of Fame scholar-athlete. Women’s basketball fans may know Vera from her 30-year broadcasting career for networks such as ESPN, Fox Sports, MSG, NBA-TV, and the Big Ten Network. She has also coached women’s college basketball, worked with prominent Fortune 500 companies, acted with the Paul Robeson Performing Arts Company, and has even entertained audiences as a stand-up comedienne! An MTI Certified Mediator and Trainer in Workplace Conflict Resolution, Vera applies her varied experiences by engaging and empowering audiences across the country in various public speaking, communication, and leadership training forums. Vera founded the Perseverance Speakers Academy in 2020, where she helps ordinary people develop and confidently share their extraordinary stories and expertise.

Ruben_Rojas

Ruben Rojas

Creator, The Live Through Love Project

Ruben Rojas traded in his suit for a paintbrush. He began transforming blank walls into unique, empowering messages. Today, the messages provided by these murals are uplifting communities and challenging the public to create new dialogues. As an artist, muralist, and designer, Ruben's mission is to inspire others to live through love. Using the urban landscape as his canvas, Ruben encourages communities, across the country and worldwide from Paris to New York and Florida to Mississippi, to change for the better through optimism and collaboration. Ruben's portfolio of work extends beyond murals. He is also a TED speaker, a designer, and a corporate consultant. Ruben is also co-founder of Beautify Earth.

Session Presenters

Autumn_Cooper

Autumn Cooper

Sales Representative, The Dodge Co

Autumn is a Michigan native who currently resides in Rhode Island. She serves as sales representative with The Dodge Company, covering Connecticut and Western Massachusetts alongside her role as part time chemist for the company, a position she has held since 2020. Autumn holds both a Bachelor of Science Degree in Mortuary Science, as well as a Bachelor of Science Degree in Biomedical Sciences. She also serves as an Instructional Assistant for the Mortuary Science Program at Wayne State University. She is a licensed funeral director and embalmer in the State of Michigan and Rhode Island. When she’s not on the road visiting funeral homes or spending time in the lab, she enjoys collecting house plants, playing volleyball, practicing yoga, and cooking.

Megan_Coyle

Megan Coyle

President & Owner, Coyle Funeral Home and Cremation Services

Megan Coyle is president and fifth-generation owner of Coyle Funeral Home and Cremation Services, where she continues a 134-year tradition of serving the families of Northwest Ohio. Megan is an Ohio Licensed Funeral Director and Funeral Insurance Agent, and she is the recipient of numerous national awards and accolades for her work in preneed and her professional leadership. She is an active board member of organizations dedicated to supporting and empowering women, as well as those focused on improving her local community. Driven by purpose and positivity, she strives to stay balanced while putting service first.

Erin_Creger

Erin Creger

Chief Sales Officer with Envision Strategic Partners

Erin joined the Funeral Profession nearly a decade ago after a personal experience with her grandmother helped her discover her passion for helping families pre-arrange. Previously, she worked as an award-winning sales leader for 20+ years. She excelled as a Sales Counselor and Manager at Larkin Mortuaries & Cemeteries. She earned the Homesteaders Life ‘Rookie of the Year Award’ and maintained being a “Million Dollar Producer” along with multiple sales awards. Erin now recruits, trains, supports and motivates some of the most successful and compassionate pre-planning sales counselors in the country. In 2022, she co-founded the Death Care Collective. She enjoys traveling with her husband and teenage son.

Honnalora_Hubbard

Honnalora Hubbard

Regional Sales Manager at Coldspring USA

With a family background in funeral services and extensive experience in the death care industry, Honnalora currently serves as a Regional Sales Manager for Coldspring. Throughout her career, she has earned several prestigious sales awards and has 25 years of professional public speaking experience. Honnalora brings a strong sense of business acumen to her sales process including, business development, sales leadership and sales training. She drives world class value added solutions for permanent memorialization. In 2022, she co-founded the Death Care Collective. You can often find Honnalora in Las Vegas, enjoying her role as “PeaPa” aka Grandma.

Courtney_Jackson

Courtney Jackson

Director of Account Operations, Precoa

Courtney Jackson is Director of Account Operations at Precoa. For over ten years, her managerial talent for empowering businesses, teams, and individuals to harness their strengths and realize their full potential has taken her around the world from Taiwan to Texas. She is skilled at leading cross-collaborative initiatives and setting company-wide priorities. These continually improve the preneed experience for funeral homes and make a meaningful impact on Precoa’s award-winning company culture. A compassionate mentor, Courtney’s genuine curiosity inspires her to understand what drives people so she can guide them to grow their careers and ignite excitement in others.

Jessica_Koth

Jessica Koth

Director of Public Relations, National Funeral Directors Association

As the Director of Public Relations for NFDA, Jessica Koth is responsible for developing and delivering comprehensive and creative media and public relations plans to enhance the reputation of the association and its members and educate consumers about the value of meaningful memorialization. She also serves as the editor of the NFDA Bulletin, oversees the Pursuit of Excellence Award program, manages the association’s presence on social media, and writes a monthly column for The Director magazine. Prior to joining NFDA, Jessica worked at several public relations agencies where her clients included local, regional, and national companies and non-profit organizations.