Articles

Each November, business leaders in every profession pause to look ahead. For funeral home owners and cemetery operators, this isn’t just an annual exercise in forecasting; it’s an opportunity to figure out whether the next year will bring growth, stability or stagnation. If 2025 taught funeral home owners anything, it’s that they can no longer afford to coast. Consumer expectations are evolving faster than the profession can respond. Competition is intensifying. Technology– particularly artificial intelligence – is advancing at breakneck speed. The firms that thrive in 2026 will be those that prepare with clarity, intentionality and discipline right now. This past year, in this column for The Director, I’ve explored themes that point toward this moment. These include the education gap with families, the role of valuations as business self-care, the complexities of succession, the digital avalanche that’s shaping consumer […]

A personal account of the ways in which AI can preserve memories and facilitate the grieving process. “We should be very careful about artificial intelligence. If I had to guess at what our biggest existential threat is, it’s probably that … With artificial intelligence, we’re summoning the demon.” – Elon Musk, businessman and entrepreneur, Tesla, SpaceX and X “Artificial intelligence will never be a match for natural stupidity.”– Unknown “A year spent in artificial intelligence is enough to make one believe in God.” – Alan Perlis, computer scientist and professor, Purdue, Carnegie Mellon and Yale University “In a sense, artificial intelligence will be the ultimate tool because it will help us build all possible tools.” – K. Eric Drexler, engineer and author I usually begin my writings with a quote – sometimes sage, sometimes satirical – to highlight the general […]

Why ongoing education is funeral service’s secret weapon, and six actionable steps you should take. If you remember the era of the “after-school special,” you’ll probably recall that these television shows weren’t just entertainment – they were designed to teach life lessons. The programs aimed to leave a meaningful impression and often tackled important topics through storylines that helped the audience reflect, learn and grow. The funeral service profession could benefit from this sentiment regarding lifelong learning. Today, the profession finds itself at a point where education – education for your teams and the families you serve – has become more important than ever. As consumer expectations shift and the complexity of your services increases, your ability to inform must grow in tandem. The Education Disconnect Now in its sixth year, the 2025 “Funeral & Cemetery Consumer Behavior Study” (FCCBS), […]