Podcast

On "A Brush With Death: 5 Minutes On...," we spend 5 minutes providing listeners with quick insights into various funeral trends, products, events, organizations, and goings-on. In this episode, host, Gabe Schauf, talks with Kevin O’Connor, author of Two Floors Above Grief. Kevin shares his inspiration for the book he wrote about growing up in his family’s funeral home in Elgin, Illinois.

In September of 2022, the world watched as Queen Elizabeth was given a final farewell. The world watched as every news station and social media outlet broadcast footage and provided updates on the events of her passing and services as they happened. Meanwhile, funeral director, Tim Purves, and his staff worked on location to provide services and care fit for a monarch. In this episode, host, Gabe Schauf, speaks with Tim about those services and how the funeral profession operates on his "side of the pond". Tim Purves is the 5th generation owner of William Purves Funeral Directors, the largest, independent funeral business in Scotland, with a team of more than 100 staff across 25 branches in Scotland and northeast England.

In 2023, the NFDA sent film crews out to various cities to talk with consumers about their impressions of funeral directors. There were mixed reactions and a combination of positive and negative comments that gave an eye-opening perspective on the public’s views of the funeral profession. In this episode, host, Gabe Schauf sits down with funeral directors, Lori Sheeler, Anna Zvirman-Nesbit, and Naomi Bradbury-Marchand to discuss those impressions and what we can do to develop the public’s positive perception of funeral service.

Summer is here and along with it comes a new crop of funeral service program graduates. In this episode, host, Gabe Schauf, sits down with 4 of them to hear about their experiences, challenges and goals moving forward. Sponsored by Core-Scientific

Host, Gabe Schauf is joined by Victor Sweeney, "The Wired Mortician". Victor is a funeral director with DuBore Funeral Home in Warren, Minnesota who came into the national spotlight by just "doing the right thing". He has since been featured multiple times by Wired Magazine in videos created to shed some light on funeral profession. In this episode, Victor shares his story and some thoughts on being a funeral influencer and educating the public.

On "A Brush With Death: 5 Minutes On...," we spend 5 minutes providing listeners with quick insights into various funeral trends, products, events, organizations, and goings-on. In this episode we are talking about Chptr, a new mobile-first memorialization platform. Joining host, Gabe Schauf, is Rehan Choudhry, Founder and CEO of Chptr. Learn more about Chptr and try it for free at https://www.chptr.com/.

15 years ago, Janet McGee left the funeral profession due to burnout. In 2016, a very unexpected loss reignited Janet's passion to not only return but to take on the role of funeral educator. In this episode, Janet shares her story with host, Gabe Schauf, and brings attention to a cause that she has been a big part of since that loss.

Is staffing an issue for your funeral home?  How are we as a profession addressing the needs and demands of our employees and ensuring that the workforce challenges of the funeral home are taken care of?  Dr. Jzyk Ennis joins host, Gabe Schauf, to talk about his article, "My Manifesto", published in the October 2022 issue of NFDA's The Director.

In this episode, host, Gabe Schauf, is joined by 3 members of the mortuary college class of 2023. Kyle Dunn, from Arapahoe Community College, Suzanne Wyckoff, from Northeast Texas Community College, and Sunshine Smith, from Gupton-Jones College of Funeral Service share their experiences of the past year and provide some great advice for new students just starting out.

Looking for a glimpse into the history of funeral service?  Look no further than the National Museum of Funeral History in Huston, Texas.  Not able to travel anytime soon?  Just make it a virtual visit.  In this episode, host, Gabe Schauf, is joined by Genevieve Keeny-Vazquez, the museum’s President and CEO, to talk about the origin of the museum, some of the unique displays, and what guests can look forward to in the near future.