The Direct Cremation Podcast

At the helm of a successful funeral home, a new cemetery, and a growing online cremation service, Bryce Bunker exemplifies a family-focused, service-centric approach that has propelled him to success in competitive corners of death care.  In this episode of the Direct Cremation Podcast, discover how Bryce's innovative methods have redefined service in the cemetery. Learn about his strategic insigh...

Jimmy Altmeyer is as impressive as they come. As a fourth-generation funeral director, he started with 3 funeral homes and has grown his empire into 53 rooftops and serves over 12,000 families each year. While that accomplishment alone is impressive, when you hear how Jimmy talks about the profession and the level of service that he strives to provide to every family that his companies serve, that...

In this episode of the Direct Cremation Podcast, reveal the unexpected challenges behind creating the ideal online cremation service. While it seems straightforward with its streamlined offerings and minimal overhead, there's much more beneath the surface. Uncover the five crucial elements that are essential for success in this unique business. Watch to learn what really makes an online cremation...

From answering the phone wrong to nickel and diming your families all the way to the bank, in this episodes of the Direct Cremation Podcast, we discuss some of the biggest mistakes that will absolutely kill your cremation brand.  After managing one of the largest cremation brands in the world (5,000+ cremations/year) to now training and consulting for hundreds of cremation companies across the cou...

The stressful environment of the death care professional can be non-stop. Burnout rates are high, and turnover seems to be an ever-present issue withing the funeral profession. In this episode, Will de Michaelis shares his insightful journey into the world of breathwork and meditation.  While you might think that these are non-sense things for hippies, Will would respectfully disagree. See how bre...

With over 80% of new graduates of mortuary school being female, the need for a death care group centered around empowering women is becoming increasingly vital. Founded by some of the more influential women in death care, the Death Care Collective is just getting started.  Whether you're an owner, a manager, or even just a new graduate, understanding the challenges and support needed for the new m...

In this exclusive webinar, co-hosts Tyler Yamasaki and Will de Michaelis sit down with Poul Lemasters, a renowned death care lawyer and key advisor to the FTC’s changes, to speak about the upcoming changes. In this talk, we discussed: Why the FTC is amending the Funeral Rule now. Which amendments are likely to change. What impacts this will have on your funeral home. When these changes will take a...

Sandra Walker boasts an impressive career in the death care industry. She currently serves as the Chief Operating Officer of Fairmount Memorial Association, overseeing seven memorial parks and a few cremation brands. Additionally, she holds a position on the board of the Cremation Association of North America and is a founding member of the Death Care Collective. This remarkable journey follows ne...

Scaling a funeral home to serve more than 1,000 families annually demands competent execution and a well-devised business strategy. But to ramp that up to over 4,500 families in a single year requires phenomenal execution, a stellar team, and near-flawless operational efficiency.  Drew de Michaelis was the operational maestro behind Omega Society during its pinnacle, when it was serving upwards of...

Funeral home competition is becoming increasingly intense due to a combination of factors, such as the lack of future generations wanting to continue the family business and increased investment in the field.  An experienced death care professional had four clients call her in the week before a conference, expressing their intention to file for bankruptcy. This is unprecedented and raises concerns...

Maggie McMillan quietly runs the #1 funeral company in Southern California, one largest and busiest regions in the country. Serving thousands of families a year. Her expansive funeral empire covers everything from prestigious full-service funeral homes, an eco-conscious natural burial cemetery, a handful of online cremation services, and an essential B2B mortuary services company.  Just a few of h...

I want to show you how to let AI help you write email correspondence with your customers. It’s no shock that we write a lot of emails back and forth to our customers everyday. Let’s experiment with ChatGPT to see how it can help respond to a normal customer email.    For Innovative Funeral Directors Blazing a Trail. Find us at https://directcremation.com Listen on Spotify or Apple Podcasts Want to...

Now, while AI has some limitations, it also provides tremendous opportunities to save time and outsource things we’re not good at. In today’s video, we will share how to use ChatGPT to respond to google reviews. For Innovative Funeral Directors Blazing a Trail. Find us at https://directcremation.com Listen on Spotify or Apple Podcasts Want to start a cremation brand yourself? Learn how the some of...

Today’s guest is Jimmy Lucas. Jimmy is a licensed funeral director, a certified crematory operator, a licensed advance funeral planner, licensed social worker, co-owner of a quaint funeral and cremation business which consists of over 15 funeral homes, 1 online cremation business, 2 crematories. He has over 110 employees and they serve over 3100 families per year. He’s also currently on the board...

Today’s guest is Alexandra Jo. Alexandra is the host of the death positive Podcast, Death Curious, is a platform for death exploration and a community of like-minded, death positive people. They are also the Director of Outreach and Education of Parting Stone, the company responsible for creating solidified cremated remains — most famously known for their Shark Tank fame.  Death Curious Podcast: h...

Hi and welcome to the Direct Cremation podcast. I’m your host, Will de Michaelis, death care consultant and former manager of the Omega Society, a large cremation brand that served over 4500 families per year.  You’ll notice today, I’m by myself. I’m going to bring you a different kind of content than I usually do with Tyler. We'll be talking part 2 for self-care in the death care profession. My g...

Hi and welcome to the Direct Cremation podcast. I’m your host, Will de Michaelis, death care consultant and former manager of the Omega Society, a large cremation brand that served over 4500 families per year.  You’ll notice today, I’m by myself. I’m going to bring you a different kind of content than I usually do with Tyler. We'll be talking about self-care in the death care profession. My goal i...

In this episode, we bring on Chris Boggs. Chris Boggs is the Chief Operating Officer of the Cremation Society of Maryland, McNabb Funeral Home, Metro Crematory, and Myers-Durboraw Funeral Home.  Cremation Society of Maryland alone does 5,000 calls per year. Chris shares the insights in such a running a high volume and efficient deathcare operation. Timestamps  (00:00) Intro  (00:53) Welcome to Dir...

Will de Michaelis is the former manager of the Omega Society, a cremation brand that serves over 4,500 families per year. After spending over a decade growing the Omega Society, Will was able to identify some of the most important elements that made the Omega Society such a huge success. Today, Will is going to share that insight with us and let us know what he’s been working on.  Will's Mastercla...

In this episode, we bring on Welton Hong. Welton is the founder of funeral home marketing agency Ring Ring Marketing. Welton shares what successful death care marketing looks like in 2023. He tells us the biggest things you need to be doing as a funeral home owner to win more cases today. Timestamps  (00:00) Intro  (00:48) Welcome to the Direct Cremation Podcast  (01:54) What does Ring Ring do?  (...

Today's guest is Kevin Waterston. If you could dream up a list of professional death care accomplishments, Kevin has probably exceeded that list.  From living above the funeral home until age 21, to then starting, growing, and eventually selling one of the largest cremation societies in the world, and somehow mixing in being a past president of the Cremation Association of North America & Funeral...

In today's episode, we're putting Tyler in the hot seat to explore the story behind Parting Pro.  Timestamps  (00:00) Intro  (00:54) Welcome to Direct Cremation Podcast  (02:38) The origin of Parting Pro  (07:57) Getting into a program in silicon valley  (11:04) What were the conversations like during the pivot  (14:02) Parting Pro's first big sale  (17:45) Death care moves really slow  (21:07) Pa...

In this episode, we discuss the important topic of removals in the death care industry. Whether you're a new funeral home or an established cremation brand, deciding whether to handle removals internally or outsource them is a critical consideration. We explore the pros and cons of both approaches and provide practical advice for making the best decision based on your business needs. Join us as we...

Today’s guest is Leili McMurrough. Leili is a licensed funeral director and licensed attorney in Illinois. She’s also the Program Director AND OWNER of Worsham College of Mortuary Science and an expert on the Gen-Z workforce in the industry. Leili sits on the American Board of Funeral Service Education as the Accreditation Chair, overseeing all the Mortuary Science programs across the country. We’...

Today's guest is Pierce Dempsey. As the VP of Operations and Marketing of Leaf Cremation, Pierce has helped the business gather over 900 Google reviews with a 4.9-star rating. Pierce is a 4th generation funeral service provider. And his family business has created quite the funeral service empire in the North Georgia and Central Ohio areas.  Pierce is on the Board of Directors for both the Georgia...