A Grave Affair
There's so much the public doesn't know about funeral service! Through the podcast, we seek to give an inside look into the funeral industry, dispel common and not-so-common myths, and provide entertaining and educational insight into what we in the funeral industry do.
Episodes
31 episodes
Episode 32 - How a Near Death Experience Changes Your Life
Have you ever wondered what would you do if faced with your own mortality? Would you spend all your money or would you focus your remaining time on charitable works and making sentimental moments? In this episode, Berto sat down with his friend...
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48:41
Episode 31 - Jennifer Muldowney: A Chat With the Glam Reaper Herself
On episode 31, Berto is joined by a truly dynamic person in the funeral industry, Jennifer Muldowney of Muldowney Memorials! Jennifer (aka the Glam Reaper) is an internationally known podcast host, TEDx speaker, author, and memorial planner/cel...
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44:31
Episode 30 - Loss and the Closing of a Chapter
Have you ever lost someone very close to you and felt that you were also closing a chapter in your life? In this mini episode, Berto talks about the recent loss of his last grandparent and how it left him not only mourning his grandfather, but ...
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4:33
Episode 29 - A Chat with Jeremy Hicks
With all the funeral directors in Rollings Funeral Service, we have a vast array of experiences and viewpoints we can tap into! Wanting to hear more about those experiences and viewpoints, Berto spoke with Jeremy Hicks, funeral director and man...
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30:36
Episode 28 - Embalming With Everett and More!
Have you ever wondered what goes into preparing a loved one for their visitation? Wanting to learn more about embalming and everything else that funeral directors do behind the scenes when caring for your lost loved one, Berto spoke with one of...
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36:59
Episode 27 - Chatting With Two Mortuary College Students
Wanting to learn more about the new generation of funeral directors, Berto spoke with Alexandria Whitley and Andrew Vogel, both current students at the Cincinatti College of Mortuary Science and the Pittsburgh Institute of Mortuary Science resp...
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37:19
Episode 26 - Giving Back in Funeral Service
Funeral service and community service can go perfectly hand-in-hand. After all, a funeral home is serving the community by helping it celebrate and honor a life. However, a funeral home can do so much more than that. To learn about the differen...
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33:33
Episode 25 - What It’s Like Becoming a Part of Rollings
We understand there are a lot of questions when it comes to your firm joining Rollings Funeral Service. Wanting to educate some of our listeners that may be thinking of selling their firm, Berto spoke with brothers Ryan and Michael Bennett to d...
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51:24
Episode 24 - The Role of Our Regional Managers
In today's episode, Berto spoke with Jason Greer, one of the five regional managers in Rollings Funeral Service to learn more about how he and the other regional managers support the locations in their region. Jason's current region includes ou...
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34:42
Episode 23 - Learning All about Death Doulas
Most of us have heard of doulas for birth, but did you know there are doulas for death too that can help a person and their loved ones prepare for the ending of a life. In this episode, Berto sits down with Tara Lee and Angela Zimmer, two death...
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1:04:38
Episode 22 - Outside Looking In -- Again!
Death is such a large part of life and it rarely gets talked about. In this latest episode, Berto sat down with his cousin and another friend to talk about their views on death, funerals, and everything else in between. It's a great episode to ...
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58:55
Episode 21 - Dealing With a Personal Loss
Grief can be just as unique as the person going through it and it does vary from person to person. In this episode, Berto discusses his personal grieving process following the death of his grandfather this past month. Along the way, he also sha...
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21:19
Episode 20 - Lights, Camera, Action: We’re Acting Out a Funeral Arrangement
For many people, they don't know what happens when planning a funeral for a loved one or how the process goes. To get a better idea of what happens in the arrangement office, Berto sat down with Reggy Greene, one of the Rollings managers for a ...
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44:29
Episode 19 - Peoples Mortuary Museum and Funeral Service’s History
In episode 19, Berto sat down with Bill Peoples, curator of Peoples Mortuary Museum in Marietta, OH to talk about his museum and how it came to be! Bill has a fantastic collection of funeral service memorabilia from historic mourning garments a...
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33:32
Episode 18 - Outside Looking In: Getting a Different Perspective on Funeral Service
All of the guests of the podcast have some kind of direct ties to funeral service, but Berto decided it was time to get outsiders' thoughts on death and funeral service. This episode features two of Berto's good friends as they talk about their...
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48:56
Episode 17 - A Lively Conversation About Growing Up in Funeral Service
In this episode, Berto is joined by Lauren Duhon, Courtney Latham, and Meghan Peay to talk about their experiences growing up with dads that were in funeral service and how it shaped their childhoods. Lauren and Courtney are sisters and Greg Ro...
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50:47
Episode 16 - We're Talking Business Today: Mergers & Acquisitions
On this episode, Berto sat down with Tony Kumming, president of the NewBridge Group, to talk about the mergers and acquisition side of the funeral industry. The NewBridge Group is a funeral home succession planning, funeral home valuation, and ...
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39:13
Episode 15 - Cremation Liability Legal Round Table
One part of funeral service that many don't often think about is the liability side, especially when it comes to cremation. In this episode, Berto and Justin host their first round table with three incredible guests: Poul Lemasters, attorney an...
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1:09:46
Episode 14 - The Covid Dilemma
In this week's podcast Berto and Justin discuss Covid and it's impact on funeral service from an inside perspective.
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40:15
Episode 13 - Mortuary School!
This week Justin gives an in-depth look into his experience in Mortuary College and what to think about if you'r e interested in going.
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46:47
Episode 12 - Dead Body Myths!
We get a little cheeky this time around and tackle some common myths we hear about dead bodies, embalming, cremation, and absurd mistakes that TV and movies continue to make. This was a fun discussion and we hope you learn something fun!
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47:01
Episode 11 - Women in Funeral Service, Meet Your New Boss
So this week we sat down with Kelley Sheridan and Brittney Voss Rapp, managers of Livingston-Sondermann Funeral Home and Dugan Memorial Chapel, respectively. Kelley and Brittney are both licensed funeral directors and embalmers in Nebraska and ...
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48:17
Episode 10 - Cost Versus Value
In this episode we talk about that eternal question: "why are funerals so expensive?" Drawing from his own experience, Justin talks about why and what goes into the financial structure of a funeral and how we turn that into value for the family...
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36:36
Episode 09 - Balacing Emotions and Burnout
Berto and Justin talk in-depth about how a funeral director keeps a level head, doesn't bring the weight of emotional burden the job creates home, and how to balance their emotions effectively. We talk about some things that affected us and how...
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42:12
Episode 08 - Unsung Heroes in Funeral Service
In this episode we take a slight detour from our (ab)normal topics and sit down with Tabitha Cline-Mills and Chris Donhost to discuss organ donation. As embalmers we face certain challenges associated with donor cases and the insight we gain fr...
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1:05:20