A Brush with Death

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 Welton Hong, founder of Ring Ring Marketing, about what the future of the profession looks like in terms of overall call volume, and what funeral homes can do to prepare.

Welton is a leading expert in helping funeral homes convert leads from online directly to the phone line. He’s the author of the book Making Your Phone Ring with Internet Marketing for Funeral Homes and a regular contributor to NFDA’s The Director magazine and several other publications.

Welton has a graduate degree in Electrical Engineering from the University of Colorado at Boulder. Prior to starting Ring Ring Marketing, he was a senior technologist at R&D facilities for Intel, Sun Microsystems, and Oracle. He regularly speaks at conferences and other events for people in the death care industry.

Click here to learn more about Ring Ring Marketing.

The International Convention and Expo is taking place in New Orleans October 20th to the 23rd.  To get ready for the event we have 3 convention preview episodes for you to check out.  

In this final episode before convention, host, Gabe Schauf, is joined by the 2024 International Convention and Expo keynote speakers, Amy Herman and Jason Arday.  Amy and Jason will share a little about themselves and their experiences and give an idea of what to expect from their keynote addresses.  This episode is sponsored by NGL and Carriage.

Learn more about the 2024 International Convention and Expo

Learn more about our Keynote Speakers

The International Convention and Expo is taking place in New Orleans October 20th to the 23rd.  To get ready for the event we have 3 convention preview episodes for you to check out.  In those episodes, host, Gabe Schauf, is joined by the Innovation Award Finalists, some of the Workshop Presenters, and of course, the Keynote speakers.  In this second episode we will hear from 3 of our workshop presenters, Cate Collins, Cort Bluford, and Mandy Stafford.

Cate Collins’ presentation, “Ignite the Powerhouse in You”, will take place on Monday and Wednesday from 8am to 9am.

Cort Bluford’s presentation, “Embracing the Digital Frontier”, will take place on Sunday from 1:15pm to 2:15pm

Mandy Stafford’s presentation, “Nurture our Nature”, will take place on Monday from 8am to 9am.

To learn more and register for the convention – Click Here

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. 

Kevin’s book Two Floors Above Grief has reached Amazon best-seller status in categories such as Teens/Young Adults, Parenting, Family Relationships, Death/Grief, and Biographies/Memoirs.

Through his social media presence at thegriefnavigator, Kevin provides invaluable resources to those navigating their grief journeys. Kevin has been a guest on numerous radio broadcasts, podcasts, and videos discussing his experiences with writing, publishing, grief, education, and his unique family time growing up in an apartment above a funeral home in the 1950s through 1970s.

Kevin has performed in over 30 theater productions since the 1970s. His educational career spanned from 1973 to 2020, during which he served as an elementary teacher, principal, professor, and curriculum coordinator in California, Illinois, and Florida.

Kevin resides in Ft. Lauderdale with his husband, Leon. Their family includes five sons and seven granddaughters.

For more insights into his book, ongoing stories, and interests, visit www.kevinoconnorauthor.com.

The International Convention and Expo is taking place in New Orleans October 20th to the 23rd.  To get ready for the event we have 3 convention preview episodes for you to check out.  In those episodes, host, Gabe Schauf, is joined by the Innovation Award Finalists, some of the Workshop Presenters, and of course, the Keynote speakers.

In this first episode we will hear from the innovation award finalists.  The NFDA Innovation Award is sponsored this year by ASD and gives companies and organizations the opportunity to showcase their new product and service ideas designed to enhance the funeral profession its function.

The finalists this year are Nemu, Clear View Caskets, and 1Director.

To learn more about Nemu – Click Here

To learn more about Clear View Caskets – Click Here

To learn more about 1Director – Click Here

To learn more and register for the convention – Click Here

This episode is sponsored by ASD

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.

Sponsored by Johnson Consulting Group

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 Mike McKenna about Core Scientific, an industry leader and the go-to choice for some of the largest corporations and funeral groups in North America in cremation metal recycling.

Mike McKenna is a seasoned professional with extensive experience in the funeral and cremation profession. He is dedicated to educating funeral professionals on the latest industry trends and best practices in cremation metal retrieval.  Mike ensures clients' interests are protected and their crematory operations are optimized. He also excels in handling total logistics, providing clients with regular updates on the shipping and receiving of materials to provide a seamless and efficient process.

Click here to learn more about Core Scientific

In 2023, the NFDA sent film crews 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.

To view the consumer video CLICK HERE

Sponsored by Johnson Consulting Group

In May of 2023, the NFDA hosted its latest Future’s Forum, a highly focused, forward-looking session held on an as-needed basis to tackle serious challenges impacting funeral service providers.  The goal of Future’s Forum 2023 was to develop new growth and innovation strategies funeral providers could use to overcome current revenue challenges, increasing costs and staffing shortages. 

In the spirit of that theme, host, Gabe Schauf is sitting down with Brie Smith, Erica Hill, and David Hernandez Jr to learn how they are looking to the future and modifying and innovating at their funeral homes for the better.

Sponsored by Johnson Consulting Group

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 Bill A Johnston, president of Post and Boost and author of the new book, "The Consumer's Journey to Purchasing Funeral Services."

 Bill is a Facebook expert who invented a proprietary, scalable software platform that creates, posts, and boosts custom advertising for Funeral Homes on Facebook, and is dedicated to inspiring funeral home owners and operators to discover advertising can work for funeral homes.

Bill can be reached at [email protected]

Click here to learn more about Bill's new book!