The Direct Cremation Podcast

Jake Johnson is President and CEO of Johnson Consulting Group, the funeral profession’s premiere funeral home and cemetery broker and consulting firm.  Jake is also a successful multi-funeral home owner, a tech entrepreneur, a car collector that would give Jay Leno a run for his money, and a published author. With his book, “Staying Alive in the Funeral & Cemetery Profession.” His experience has m...

Nicki Wiedeman is the First Call Faciliator of Dead Ringers. Dead Ringers is the death care’s premiere mystery shop provider. Since its founding in 2015, they've placed 8,500 calls throughout the US and Canada. Dead Ringers specializes in systematically helping individual funeral homes improve their phone etiquette. They’ve mastered the art of customer service and help funeral home teams level-up...

Will de Michaelis grew Omega Society to one of the largest cremation brands in the world with over 4,500 cases a year. In this episode, Tyler sits down with Will to learn how he leveraged strong relationships with hospices to grow. Will walks through his hospice playbook for funeral directors to make their own. Timestamps  (00:00) - Intro (01:10) - How relationships with hospices helped Omega Soci...

Barbara Kemmis is the Executive Director of the Cremation Association of North America. Barbara gives us a sneak preview of CANA's latest Cremation Memorialization Research - Attitudes Towards Cremated Remains in Households. We’ll go through interesting data regarding COVID, death rates, and baby boomers. By the end of this, you’ll either have a new understanding of the cremation family, or you’ll...

Larry Stuart Jr. is the founder of Raven Plume Consulting. Larry has spent the last 26 years immersed in cremations. From understanding how to run and operate the crematory all the way to marketing to and arranging with the family, he is an expert when it comes to running an effective cremation company.  He is a former member of the Board of Directors of CANA, former editor in Chief of the Cremati...

Mandy Benoualid is the Founder and President of Keeper Memorials, an online memorial platform dedicated to memorializing the lives of the departed. She is the Editor of TalkDeath, a death-positive media company whose mission is to encourage positive and constructive conversations around death and dying. Mandy is also on the board of the International Memorialization Supply Association, the Ernest...

David Perfito is the founder of White Rose Aqua Cremation and was instrumental in developing California’s first alkaline hydrolysis facility. He is a technical school graduate of the U.S. Navy, a multi-certified medical equipment industry technician, and a crematory manager. He is pioneering the gentle water cremation movement. White Rose Aqua Cremation is the first alkaline hydrolysis facility fo...

In an industry concentrating heavily on cremation and burial, Death Doula LA is a shining light for those who are looking for a more personalized end-of-life experience. Founded by Jill Schock, a certified doula, DDLA aims to help her clients navigate end-of-life arrangements, embrace their own style in that experience, and empower them to have meaningful conversations with their loved ones. In th...

Kevin McKay is the manager of Cremation Recycling. He has quickly become the face of transparency of precious metal recycling in death care. In this episode we learn why transparency could save you from losing a LOT of money. Timestamps (00:00) - Introduction (00:37) - Introduction of Kevin McKay, Manager of Cremation Recycling (03:43) - The one minute elevator pitch of Cremation Recycling (04:30)...

Ryan Thogmartin knows how to make noise. No matter how you feel about him, the point is you (think) you know him. In this episode we learn about Ryan's background and see where he came from and how he's grown to where he is today. In this episode, we discuss: How Ryan got duped into death care. How his brand represents his authentic self. What companies have failed in death care and what companies...

Hey Funeral Directors! Just as the family needs are changing, so must the way we do business. In this episode, Tyler quizzes Will on some of the most surprising data points from over 150,000 online arrangements. Will you get them right? Timestamps (00:00) - Teaser Introduction (01:15) - First Video Podcast (03:00) - What is Parting Pro? (04:02) - Most Common Decedent Name (05:12) - How Should You...

Donna Baranyay has a long career in all things end of life. Even though she has been a hospice chaplain for 14 years, she is also a death doula and has her celebrant certification and a certificate in thanatology. If there's anyone who has the answers around dying, she's your person. In this episode, we discuss: What funeral directors can do to help families earlier in the dying process. What exac...

Garrett Ozar has a story that is nothing less than extraordinary. From pitching his company, Eterneva, on Shark Tank and securing an investment from Billionaire Mark Cuban, to playing college baseball, or to having to watch his survivor daughter battle cancer, Garrett's journey is quite remarkable.  In this episode, we discuss: His entrepreneurial journey and learnings through prior fails and debt...

Poul Lemasters wears many, many hats. He's a death care lawyer, a funeral director, entrepreneur, and a published author. In his book, Cover Your Ass: The Ultimate Guide to Protecting Your Business, Poul details the not-so-obvious situations that happen in your business that you should watch out for. In this episode, we discuss: Possible FTC changes to the funeral rule. What happened to Heritage/L...

Drew de Michaelis had a short, yet impactful stint in death care. With a background in customer experience and management at Harry's, a mission-driven consumer brand, Drew de Michaelis was brought in as the Director of Growth and Operations at The Omega Society. He helped turn the massive cremation brand into a technology-driven business that was able to serve over 4,500 families per year during C...

Barbara Kemmis is the Executive Director of the Cremation Association of North America. This year, CANA will be holding the 104th Annual Cremation Innovation Convention, August 17-19 at the Omni Atlanta Hotel in Atlanta Georgia. She can't wait to see you all there with her big hair, sharp glasses, and amazing lineup of speakers. In this episode, we discuss: Why join the Cremation Association of No...

Welton Hong is one of the most well-respected people in death care. As the CEO of Ring Ring Marketing, Welton Hong has made the unlikely journey of becoming one of the best to help funeral homes successfully market their services to families. His customers sing their praises and attribute a lot of their marketing success to his company. In this episode we discuss: Why pay a marketing company in de...

Glenda Stansbury has an impressive resume: certified celebrant trainer, licensed embalmer and funeral director, VP of marketing & development at Insight Books, Dean of College of 21st Century Services at ICCFAU, Adjust Professor at two different colleges, and the winner of this year's ICCFA Lasting Impact Award. In this episodes we discuss: What makes a celebrant so important? Who would benefit fr...

Scott Ginsberg and Joshua Siegel started Titan Casket only a few years ago. Since then, they’ve seen huge growth selling high-quality, affordable caskets directly to families. Being able to create and deliver customer caskets to a funeral home in only a few days puts Titan Casket in a class of its own. Started by a seasoned casket manufacturer and an Amazon alumni, Titan Casket gets a lot of thing...

Eric Neuhaus has grown his funeral home, Green Cremation Texas, to be able to serve thousands of families in only 3 short years. Green Cremation Texas touts itself as the most environmentally friendly cremation process possible, while keeping an affordable price, and amassing over 300 5-star reviews on all the social media platforms. In this episode we discuss: What role does technology play in op...

Ashley Jones started as an apprentice but grew to managing almost half of 60-person Cascade Funeral Directors, the massive operation averaging over 5,000 cases per year.  In this episode we discuss: What efficiency means in a funeral operation as large as Cascade Funeral Directors. Why phone etiquette is so important to the family experience. What COVID did to the staff. The similarities of Ashley...

In death care, few individuals will experience what Will de Michaelis has achieved. From growing and managing one of the largest cremation brands in the world (3,000 cremations/year), to thriving and keeping his sanity during COVID-19, to helping Omega Society through an 8-figure acquisition by Foundation Partners, Will is an expert at operating a low-cost cremation brand.  In this episode we disc...