The Legacy Series Podcast
On the Legacy Series podcast, we explore the world of funeral services with trailblazers in the industry. Through in-depth conversations and interviews, we gain insights into both the modern and traditional practices of this field. By studying the leadership, experiences, and effective strategies of our guests, we can inspire progress and innovation in funeral services. Let's learn from these game-changers to push the funeral profession forward.
The Legacy Series Podcast
Dead Serious About Growth: Kevin Quinn Jr's Path in Funeral Service
What happens when funeral service is quite literally in your DNA? Kevin Quinn Jr. takes us on a captivating journey from growing up in a multi-generational funeral family to becoming the keeper of the Fred Hunter's legacy for two decades. With refreshing candor and insight, Kevin reveals how his parents met in mortuary school, setting the stage for what seemed like an inevitable career path despite his initial plans to pursue business in New York.
The unexpected opportunity to acquire the renowned Fred Hunter's Funeral Home in 2004 marked a turning point, launching Kevin into a fascinating business evolution. He shares the challenges of learning cemetery operations from scratch, developing the Horizon brand across multiple states, and creating the Cremation Society of America to adapt to changing consumer preferences. His strategic thinking shines through as he explains how they transformed struggling locations through targeted marketing and service differentiation.
Beyond business tactics, Kevin offers profound wisdom about balancing professional ambition with family life as a father of three. His daily reminder to his children about controlling their "attitude and effort" reflects the same mindset that propelled him through a full Ironman triathlon and successful business transitions. This philosophy extends to his vision for funeral service evolution – moving beyond traditional spaces to create celebration venues that compete with hotels and event centers while maintaining affordability and personalized service.
The conversation culminates with Kevin's perspective on transitioning from family business to corporate leadership with SCI, where he now serves as Community Development Manager. His insights about organizational culture, employee development, and the importance of respecting every team member reveal why he's been so successful throughout his career. For aspiring funeral professionals or business owners in any field, Kevin's journey offers valuable lessons in adaptation, growth, and maintaining personal values amidst industry transformation.
Welcome back to the Legacy Series podcast, where we have conversations and interviews with game changers of the funeral profession about the funeral methods of today and yesterday. I'm your host, Mila Minati, and joining us today is one of the former owners of Fred Hunter's Funeral Home and was the keeper of the Fred Hunter's legacy for the past 20 years. Currently he is Community Development Manager with the Gold Coast Market Territory. Ladies and gentlemen, please help me. Welcome Kevin Quinn Jr. All right, Thank you so much, Kevin. I really appreciate you coming through and sharing a little bit of your experiences with us.
Speaker 1:This is going to be a really interesting podcast, I think, for me, for many different reasons, and for our listeners as well. So I think you are in such a unique position because experience-wise, especially in this profession, you've seen a lot, You've been able to do a lot and you know the exposure that you've had, I think, really has made a path for where you are today. But before we can really get into that, I want to know a little bit about how we got here. So I do know that you do come from a family of funeral directors. Tell me a little bit about that, Sure sure.
Speaker 2:Well, thanks, mila, thanks for having me.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so yeah, as much as I maybe didn't always think that this path in the funeral profession would maybe be my path I couldn't really probably get away from it. You'd probably think this was an April Fool's joke but my parents met in mortuary school my mom was one of 11, and my grandfather. They still have a funeral home today in Philadelphia Kohler Funeral Home and so my mom was a funeral director and my parents met in new york city in mcallister's, um and uh. And then my, on my dad's side, um, my great-grandfather started a funeral home and, uh, I don't know, I guess he said something about the guy was wearing nice suits, he had nice horses and uh, and then he wanted to be a funeral director because of that. And then, um, my grandfather took that business over and um, and then my dad and uncle took the business over from my grandfather and and sold that business in 97 to SCI. So so I I think the path of funeral service was kind of, it was almost like not even an option for me. You know it was.
Speaker 1:Well, what did you really consider prior to this? Because obviously there, even growing up, you know, as a little boy, you're thinking of all the magical things you want to do with your life. But how did it? Were there times where you felt like you wanted to go and discover other avenues, or have you kind of always felt interested in this?
Speaker 2:Yeah, so I obviously grew up following my dad around. It was nothing to go into the funeral home in Livingston Quinn Hopping which is run still by SCI today, quinn Hopping which is, you know, run still by SCI today. It was nothing to follow him around and, you know, go to his office, you know, a little kid walked down into the prep room and it wasn't really a big deal. So I never I was never scared of it or anything like that. But I guess when they sold in the 90s, you know, I guess I thought my path was going to be a little different. And then I was in business school at Villanova and friends of mine were, you know, starting to get internships in New York City and things like that. So I kind of figured that was going to be my path.
Speaker 2:And then the opportunity came about to buy Fred Hunters in January of 2004. And then the next thing I know my dad was like you want to come down and work with us? We're about to buy Fred Hunters and it's going to be a great opportunity. It's not a mom and pop, it's a good, nice, big business and there's going to be tons of opportunities. So that's how it came about. And then I'm also going to school in Philadelphia and I'm like.
Speaker 2:New York's pretty cold so I can come back down to Florida and, you know, maybe occasionally go fishing and diving or something like that.
Speaker 1:What was it that I guess stood out about Fred Hunters in 2004? Why?
Speaker 2:Fred Hunters 2004. Why Fred Hunters? And why then? So my dad was doing consulting for a friend and so at that point it was so we bought from Prime succession and Prime was divesting a lot of funeral homes. They were well, they were going bankrupt. And so my dad was, you know, looking at a business for a guy and he was like, wow, valuations have come down. Obviously, you know, early 2000, sti had some trouble back then and anyway, the valuations had come down, sci wasn't buying and so it kind of presented an opportunity for a family like us to come in and so, yeah, we were able to buy Fred Hunter's out of bankruptcy and yeah.
Speaker 1:So so when you take on I mean this is a big, big funeral home, especially in that area of Hollywood, Florida and the surrounding areas. It's something that I think a lot of locals have always known about Right the Fred Hunter locations you then take on the name and try to continue Mr Hunter's legacy, but also trying to be able to add some of the Quinn influence, if you will.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it's a good question, so I would say so the Hunter name is it's. You know it's legendary in our field. In our field, and you know Fred Hunter's was, everyone says that he invented the cremation with a rental casket. So the rental casket package was created by Fred Hunter, but I mean that was just the. I mean he did so many things in our profession that were pretty revolutionary and so, but then they sold in the early 90s.
Speaker 2:Fred Hunter passed away in the late 90s and then so it was corporately run until 2004. So when we bought Fred Hunter's, it had like a good, it had a pretty good mix of family run and people that had been at Fred Hunter's for a long time. Some are still there, still working for us today and then it also had a good mix of some corporate structure as well. So when we took it on, it was kind of it was really a hybrid of family owned uh as well as kind of with a corporate, um, some corporate, you know uh procedures in place as well. So, um, and then I guess, to really answer your question, um, I mean, yeah, so we never changed the name or anything. It was obviously always Fred hunters, but, um, but you know, we did feel a sense of pride into doing our best we could with that name, because it did mean a lot in the community, and so it still means a lot to me today.
Speaker 1:And so in that time, in 2004, obviously the cemeteries were also included, correct, correct. And that's how many cemeteries?
Speaker 2:Yeah, so it used to be two. And then at one point the state came in and ran the turnpike through our east and west cemeteries. That was way before we were there. So it's three cemeteries yeah, three cemeteries, but we had no experience in the cemetery, so our family was only running funeral homes. In New Jersey. You were only allowed to have—SCI is the only company that has funeral homes, cemeteries and crematories New Jersey you're not allowed to have funeral homes and cemeteries, so we had no experience there.
Speaker 1:What kind of trouble did you face with that?
Speaker 2:Do you think?
Speaker 1:just.
Speaker 2:Luckily not Luckily, I wouldn't say trouble. You know it wasn't like a situation, you know, with you know.
Speaker 1:But it had to be a little difficult, I would imagine, to go from, I guess, not really having too much of that experience other than assisting in burials and all that for your family. But were there any challenges trying to pick that up and add that in?
Speaker 2:Yeah, I would say challenges from you know, in time we were learning a new business. You know we would have to go to ICCFA conventions. We would have to. We would call on other cemetery owners to try to visit their properties, to try to learn from them. So we really didn't know about the cemetery, we didn't know about how trusting worked in the state of Florida. We had to learn all of that and so and then. So, yeah, we had to learn about a lot of things.
Speaker 2:And with the trusting comes the pre-need side of things, which in New Jersey was completely different. It was, you know, 100% trusted or you could do a, you know, a life insurance, an insurance policy. But in Florida it's kind of like, you know, it's completely different. It's much more favorable for the business to have pre-need. But once you start writing that pre-need you have to keep going or else you get into a bit of trouble there. And we kind of did. We got into trouble because we were seeing the benefits of pre-need that was written in years past and not replacing it. And so we were getting the payments but we weren't replacing it and then had to kind of, you know, learn like from hire someone from SCI to figure out how to get a sales program going and get sales counselors, because we didn't really know what we were doing. We were just kind of listening and learning from people that were working there.
Speaker 2:Well, what a gift.
Speaker 1:It is, too, to be able to have you know these resources, I think, for you and your family to be able to rely on.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:Because that seems like a whole you know area that otherwise just I mean that's a big deal cemetery and with the pre-need, but what would you say was the most successful approach that you had? In dealing with the situation with pre-needs, and how did you change that?
Speaker 2:Well, we had so throughout the whole acquisition, a gentleman named Jeff Casey, who worked with us for a long time.
Speaker 1:I feel like I remember Jeff.
Speaker 2:Casey. And so Jeff was Jeff really, you know, like my dad and my uncle, you know, taught me so much, but Jeff Casey did as well and so you know he really helped us get through the transition, you know, the acquisition of the business and you know help to, you know, really just keep, you know, keep us moving in the right direction. And then and now he's doing amazing things with Johnson Consulting. So he's been, yeah, he was, he was definitely a kind of mentor for me.
Speaker 1:Shout out to Jeff Casey. I've heard wonderful things, I don't.
Speaker 1:I never had the honor of meeting him, but many people along the way have mentioned that and, for those listening, I was lucky enough to so 2013,.
Speaker 1:I had just wrapped up mortuary school and was looking for an internship and I was with a different corporation at the time and things just were not working out and I just randomly received a message saying hey, we're looking for interns, you should apply and see what happens. And so I did, and I was very lucky to be able to be part of the Fred Hunter's team as well, especially coming straight out of school. What an amazing establishment, because I was able to learn, I think, more hands-on in that environment than I had in a classroom, and I think that, in particular, is one of the reasons because I primarily was in the prep room. But one of the reasons that I found it so amazing was the ability that the hunters team has to cater to every culture and every religion. Um, so the exposure I got from that and seeing those of the hindu faith, the muslim faith we even had a couple of the jewish faith like it's. It's such a broad area, I think, for who you are able to support and help in the community.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:So I'm wondering, because a lot of people once I started there had mentioned oh, I've heard of Fred Hunters. Oh, you know, of course, I've heard of Fred. It truly, till this day, still stands as a very reputable company, a very reputable company. Now, how do you continue getting the word out in terms of marketing and just being able to, of course, the people that live locally they tend to go to the closest funeral home traditionally, right yeah, can I back up one second?
Speaker 2:So when you worked with us and we were so lucky to have you and I know you learned a lot, probably from Fred Dobeck, yes, and so, yeah, you did such an amazing job with us and we were so— Thank you. I know you moved on to you know bigger and better things and so many opportunities here with SCI, but we were very, very sad to see you go. I know I tried to keep you, yeah, yeah, but, yeah, so, but. And then you mentioned about, like, all the cultures and religions and everything we serve. I mean it's really, it is unbelievable.
Speaker 2:You know how, you know from the Hindus and the Muslims and the Seminole Indians, and you know all the Christianity faiths and Catholic, and it's really it's fun to go and you can actually learn new. You might go to work and learn something about a funeral for a certain faith that you never knew before. So, and over the years I think we've, you know, tried to, you know, do our best to, you know, honor all of those cultures and you know, so yeah, it is, it is pretty, it's.
Speaker 2:it's definitely a very interesting and fun place to come to work, and you never know, on a daily basis, who you're going to be able to help. It's true.
Speaker 1:And thank you for saying that too, by the way, I mean, honestly, my time at Hunter's phenomenal. I it was even when I was in school if you were one of those people who could say, oh, I'm interning at Hunter's like it was a big deal for people to be able to say that. And again I thank you for that opportunity, because that was truly despite the fact that I was working at a different funeral home beforehand. It was primarily, you know, just some office stuff that I was doing. I was still in school, but that was my first real opportunity, real, proper exposure, and I I mean I couldn't think of a better place. And you've mentioned Fred Dobick, and I mean a better mentor as well. That's someone who you guys even eventually went on to name the care center, you know center after him, after he retired.
Speaker 2:I mean, yeah, he's one of the legends in funeral in embalming. I mean taught at the Miami school for so many years and just kind of, if there was a doctorate in embalming he would have it right.
Speaker 1:It's funny that you say that. Yeah, because I used to joke with him and say that he was the father of embalming, because he was someone that really cared a lot.
Speaker 2:Yeah, you know, yeah, and like we're really lucky at Fred Hunters to have you know, obviously today is like a lot more transient, you know a lot more. Or you know people move, people move to Florida, away from Florida, I mean there's a lot of people are moving right or moved companies and we are really lucky to have, you know, just so many key people that have stayed with us for so long, Like Ray Katerpa. Ray, you know, has been with us for 40 years. Oh, I don't know if I should have said that he probably doesn't want me to say that because he doesn't certainly look it but you know, guys like that have just been so critical to Fred Hunters and keeping you know that Fred Hunter way alive, you know.
Speaker 1:And that's something I think you guys definitely were able to do as best you can, because of course you can't be someone else, right, but you can only try to carry on parts of them into what you do. And sorry, I went on a little tangent there about my time, but let me get back to this. So, with marketing, because it's not just one location, correct, the University Drive location that was already established when you guys took over Right Downtown, of course, in Fort Lauderdale.
Speaker 2:Right, continue getting people through the door at a time where you were realizing that in terms of pre-need, that you know that's truly what keeps people coming through Right, right and like at. You know, our Taft Street, our Hollywood location. You know that sometimes gets so much of the focus and some of the outside locations, you know, don't get as much focus but at the end of the day, for one you have, the properties are phenomenal. I mean, you know you just don't get properties like those anymore. I mean the buildings. You know we spent over a million dollars in 2000, probably 11, 10 or 11, redoing the University Drive location in Davie. You know we really never had to do too much to the Fort Lauderdale location because it was such a historic building, other than just updating the place a little bit.
Speaker 2:But we've had some really good managers over the years that have helped those businesses, the years that have helped those businesses. But yeah, I mean I wouldn't say there's a secret sauce with marketing. I mean we've had marketing companies help us out over the years with building websites or we've done pre-need seminars and mailers and things like that. But I wouldn't say there's a secret sauce. I would say it's just more about consistency, right. So Consistency.
Speaker 1:That's the secret is trying to. I guess you know if you hit the nail on the head.
Speaker 2:Yeah, relationships and being consistent and having you know and, obviously, just treating families right. I mean, at the end of the day, it's all about helping families and you know we get to. You know help families on the worst day of their life and to be able to go in and, you know, just be genuine and help these families and do what we do and then you know at the end of the day if they say thank you and you know that's all that matters, right.
Speaker 1:So at one point. So you had three locations, with Fred Hunters, you were currently at four. So I'd really like to talk about the. That must have been 2013,. I want to say yeah. With what originally was a restaurant Right right, and you guys saw the potential for a new location.
Speaker 2:Right, yeah, tell me about that. So my dad was living in Lighthouse Point and and he uh came across an opportunity uh, the Fifth Avenue Grill was looking to uh sell their, sell their business, sell their real estate and take, and they needed the money quickly to go into another project. So, uh, so it was kind of a quick thing and we were. We all thought, you know the building which is now a horizon, it's such an amazing property it's, you know, it has a over 110 or something, uh, parking spaces. It's a beautiful building. So we just got really lucky and bought it.
Speaker 2:And actually just before the closing there was a gentleman who left like a Yelp review. I was reading the Yelp reviews on the restaurant website and he said you know, this place should be with the early bird special, this place should be a funeral home. And then our family bought it instantly and then turned it into a Fred Hunter's and anyway. And then we ran the Fred Hunter's for a couple years and couldn't really make any headway. And then we took the marketing that we had used at a location that we were building in New Jersey called Horizon Funeral and Cremation, and used that marketing plan and took that and put that in Horizon and Lighthouse Point and pretty soon doubled the business within a year.
Speaker 1:And you know pretty soon doubled the business within like a year. I've always been curious with that location. Not just why, but why in Lighthouse Point when the other Fred Hunter's locations are primarily, you know, sort of southwest or so? But what was it about that area that you wanted to be able to get into a different part of the county?
Speaker 2:completely. Yeah Well, for one, we lived up there and we developed some you know friends and contacts and things like that. Two, it just seemed like a good opportunity from, you know, just buying the real estate. You know, just buying the real estate. And three, we were, you know not, we were trying to compete with you know, all of the SCI locations as well. As you know, just like in New Jersey, you know, we put a place in a town with two or three SCI locations, one of which we used to own in the 90s, and a bunch of other independents. And then the thought process was be a little aggressive with the marketing, with the pricing. And you know, take 30 calls from that guy, 30 calls from this guy, 50 calls from them, right, so that was our plan. We got a little aggressive with the marketing. We had a bar graph with pricing. Sei ended up sending us a letter.
Speaker 1:I may have received it in the mail.
Speaker 2:A letter saying take down the pricing on your bar graph. So we did that, gotcha, gotcha. Yeah, we were trying to be a little aggressive.
Speaker 1:Well, I remember there was a billboard as well. Do you remember the billboard? Yes, because I remember seeing that on the way in the pricing billboard.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so our thought was, over time, start with a lower service charge and kind of go with, like the JetBlue business plan, where the prices in JetBlue started super low but guess what JetBlue airline is not cheap anymore. And so you know, over time it's just to inch the prices up a little bit because you know, the building was beautiful, the service was no less than a discount place, but it was just about trying to grow a business.
Speaker 1:So and so so many years later, well, which one opened? First the Jersey, one correct Horizon in New Jersey.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so, let me think, so, the we bought. Yeah, we finished building the Jersey location in 2013 because it was, yeah, my grandmother had passed away just before we opened the building and then we were able to do my grandfather's funeral at the New Horizon location in 2013. And then, yeah, so, and can I tell you a quick little story about the New Jersey location? Yes, so we were at and this is kind of showed me how in tune and connected to all their locations, sci corporate was right in Houston. So we were at a Johnson consulting event out in Las Vegas and it was, like, you know, the Memorial Classic, and we ran into at the time his name. So it was Mike Webb who was at the time. I think he was.
Speaker 2:I don't know if he was the president of SCI, but he was one of the top two or three, you know, and I think he just recently retired. And so, and Mike Webb is talking to at the time, I'm what is it? 12, I don't know. I'm a yummy young kid and me and my cousin were talking to the second or third guy at SCI and he's like don't you guys have a location in Toms River, new Jersey? And we're like, how does he even know this right now? And so he knew that our little Horizon Funeral Home in Toms River, new Jersey, was slowly picking away a few calls at their SCI places and I just thought, and it opened my eyes to know that how smart you know and you know they have a pulse on every you know place at the whole company. So I thought that was pretty cool.
Speaker 1:And you said that was around 12?.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so that was probably 2013. And then our Horizon location in Florida we rebranded in 2014. I think we ran it for two years and then we knew we had to do something different. So, yeah, so that branded in 2014.
Speaker 1:I think we ran it for two years, and then we knew we had to do something different.
Speaker 2:So yeah, so that started in 14.
Speaker 1:It's interesting to me to hear in the way that you talk regarding some of these things, because I can hear you know a little bit of a pep when you get into the topic of business and obviously I know that that's what you went to college for and you decided upon, but it's. It's cool to to see that you know, when you those little moments where you're just kind of like, oh, this is exciting, we could really do this. Or even, in that moment, just hearing these conversations and thinking like you know what they're onto something like I.
Speaker 1:I could start doing that too.
Speaker 2:I appreciate that. Yeah, it is fun, like you know, at the end of the day, obviously we have to do the best job we can with the family, right. But it is fun to grow a business, start a business you know from scratch, or you know obviously Fred Hunter's was an amazing business to start. It just needed a little love and care and you know. But to start another business you know on your own, you know pretty much. That's what we did with Cremation Society of America too. It's fun. It is fun for me, yeah.
Speaker 1:You know and that's something I forgot to mention as well is with Cremation Society of America. That was, I mean, that's a whole other venture, that's with direct cremations, correct?
Speaker 2:Right, right, yeah, yeah, when we purchased. So when we purchased Fred Hunter's, they owned the name. They owned the business Cremation Society of America Inc. That was established in 1979. And I don't know what they did with it exactly back then. But then when I started getting into learning about websites and things like that, I went in quickly and saw that nobody owned CremationSocietyofAmericacom. Wow, maybe it was GoDaddy or whatever, mm or whatever. And so I quickly bought that domain and then went out and I was like maybe we could start a different business here and try to compete with some of these low cost, you know, direct disposers.
Speaker 2:Direct disposers Because at that time, probably in 2010-ish or whatever, there was a lot of these people that were charging $4.95, $5.95 for direct cremation. They weren't our competitor, but it just ate away at some of your business. And so our thought was could we take this Cremation Society of America and, you know, build a business to compete with them? And so, yeah, and then it kind of grew over the years and we then made it so. It was weren't meeting families in person, it was, you know, it's more of a, a website. They can, you know, just select their. Basically a few clicks on the on the website, enter their credit card and then, um you know, but not meet the family in person.
Speaker 2:So, that's how. That's how we start. You know, started working on that business.
Speaker 1:That's really interesting. That's funny that you did like, went through all that, even checking the domain.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:But again, another great example of why you are a businessman you know, at heart your brain's thinking already ahead and getting that going, that's really cool. Already ahead and getting that going, that's really cool. So when you aren't, you know, doing all of the different tasks that you've had throughout your life, how are you finding ways to be able to relax, to get away from work, to get away from the pressure?
Speaker 2:Yeah, good question. Well, my three kids and my wife, who I'm grateful for, keep me very busy, and so now my kids are getting a little older 11, 9, and 4. And we have always soccer and golf and tons of activities. But, yeah, are you able to?
Speaker 1:make time for yourself at all or even before, I'm hoping soon.
Speaker 2:I think we could start maybe playing golf every once in a while. It would be nice Maybe go fishing or diving, is that?
Speaker 1:something you used to enjoy.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I would say used to Me and my brother used to go out all the time here in Lighthouse Point, go fishing and diving and take a random Bahamas trip, you know. So at some point we're just, you know, between work and the family life, you know kind of hit that time.
Speaker 2:where it's busy, it's you know, and it's busy it's. At the end of the day it's still a beautiful and it's only going to last a certain amount of time. So I always understand that I'm very lucky to be in this situation right now and have three beautiful, healthy kids.
Speaker 1:So the day-to-day gets—sometimes it's challenging, but at the end of the day it's a blessing. Absolutely, I don't know challenging, but at the end of the day it's a blessing. So it's absolutely. I don't know. I'm looking forward to, as a parent myself, the day that I can even turn the tv on and put what I want to watch or music and what I want to listen to.
Speaker 2:But well, so we'll get there so, uh, I'm a little, uh slightly, congested now. So my, my wife made me sleep downstairs and I had my son. He goes Daddy, can I sleep with you? So we watched the movie the Sandlot together, nice. And so now he's saying you're killing me, smalls. You know, it's just like stuff like that. It's so cool, it's worth it.
Speaker 1:I know, at the end of the day it is, it's worth it to sacrifice a little bit of yourself, because that's what it is after all. Right, it's kind of similar too, I've said, to running a business, because many times there are other people that need you first and it's difficult to be able to put your own needs at the front of it all. I agree.
Speaker 2:That's just how life is right now, but it's life and we're lucky. Yes, we are. That's just how life is right now, but it's life and it's you know, we're lucky.
Speaker 1:Yes, we are. I wanted to mention something. I've read that you have done half Ironmans, but also full. How many of each? Because I think that's important.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so I've done. I did one full Ironman in Arizona 2019, and done, I think, four halves and I did a half one time before the full, and I was wearing an Ironman hat that I bought at the Miami Half Ironman and my friend, who had already done a full Ironman, was giving me a hard time for wearing an Ironman hat without actually doing an Ironman. So at that point I was like, okay, I got to sign up for the real deal. So, yeah, so that's a Reluctantly, you signed up.
Speaker 2:Yeah, but it was an awesome experience. It was super cool.
Speaker 1:I trained really hard for like six months and what goes into that, into the mindset of preparing yourself for that?
Speaker 2:Yeah, you know honestly it, of preparing yourself for that. Yeah, you know, honestly, it was an awesome mindset to get into and I think it's similar it could be similar to the mindset that you apply to work in general and life because, yeah, you have to get into a mindset and you have to win the morning. You have to, you know, put the time in. You have to, you know, put the time in. And it was just an awesome mindset to be in because, like I felt, you know, cardiovascularly I was like felt amazing and I could eat whatever I wanted and stuff like that.
Speaker 2:But yeah, I was. You know, I just felt like I was crushing it and because I was training so hard which I didn't always I haven't always applied myself as much as I did for that race Because, like in college and stuff like that swimming, you know, sometimes I maybe slacked off a little bit, but to apply yourself and have the results was super cool.
Speaker 1:Well, what made this one different, I guess? Why did you?
Speaker 2:I think I realized that, holy crap, it's 142.6 miles, so I better put the time in, or else I'm going to be paying the price that day of the race. And I was also competing with my friends.
Speaker 1:Oh, okay. Well, that's good, because that's also something that helps to motivate you a little bit, I would imagine if you're in the same wave.
Speaker 2:Yeah, we have a fun competition between us.
Speaker 1:Back to your children real quick, because I feel like this kind of goes with what you're discussing in terms of being able to set goals and push yourself. You had told me before something that you say to your children every day. Can you share that with us? Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2:So, yeah, I ask every morning on the way into school I'm lucky Most mornings I'm able to bring them into school and drop them off, which is pretty cool. I'm lucky most mornings I'm able to bring them into school and drop them off, which is pretty cool. And I asked them I'm like guys, what are the two things that are 100% in your control? And they all jump back attitude and effort. Attitude and effort Because at the end of the day, if you got the right attitude and you're putting in the time and the effort and the energy, you can really do anything. You can choose to be negative, you can choose to be positive.
Speaker 2:I'm a positive person, maybe not as positive as Steve Miller, but I like to think I'm a positive guy and I think it's because. One reason I think it's because is because what we do for a living, we're seeing people at the worst moments in their life and I think it's just a reminder to be grateful for the time we have and to not sweat the small stuff and to not sweat the small stuff. So you know I don't talk you know a lot about work to my kids, but what I'm telling them is that, like your attitude, is everything right. So, with your teachers and your school and your sports, just have a good attitude, have a positive attitude, do your best and good things will happen.
Speaker 1:Is that something you heard yourself growing up, or did you kind of initiate? Yeah, I mean.
Speaker 2:I mean my yeah for sure, from my parents, my mom, my, you know, my mom was, you know if you're, if you're, if you're cold, you know just and you're, it's all in your mind. Tell yourself you're warm and you'll be warm. You know she's from one of 11 kids.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:And so she had to be tough and you know, and positive, and you know she'd say don't, you know, you're not going to say something, nice, don't say anything at all, you know. So I mean like, but yeah, I would say, my parents and you know, competition with my siblings, my brother is two years old.
Speaker 1:Well, you have. How many siblings do you have?
Speaker 2:One of five.
Speaker 1:Which I mean I'm only one of two, so I consider that to be a large family. Personally, where do you fall in line? Are you the oldest?
Speaker 2:I'm the oldest, yep, okay, yeah, I have a brother and three sisters. So, yeah, Three sisters.
Speaker 1:So being the oldest, did you sometimes feel like none of your siblings have gone through the same path? Correct in the funeral profession. Correct.
Speaker 2:Yeah, they had the option to. But my brother, he's a CEO at Ipik movie theaters and I have two sisters that are in the Navy and my youngest sister is a uh, a teacher at Pinecrest school Awesome, so yeah.
Speaker 1:So you guys kind of yeah, you all kind of figured it out.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, I mean, there's times where you don't think you're going to, but eventually, you know, we all, we all did and, um, you know, yeah, they're, they've done, they've done really well and I'm really proud of them, especially, you know, the ones that uh, toughed it out in the Navy.
Speaker 1:I can't even imagine just basic training alone.
Speaker 2:I think yeah, they're tough. They're tough girls, for sure.
Speaker 1:That's awesome, yeah, so Very cool. So, um, your current position now you were working as the community development manager. Right Now, in this difference of your role of where you were before, I think correct me if I'm wrong you're needing to get out within the community more Correct, and not that you really did before, but it's essentially you are the face Correct and so, with that, what are some challenges you may, you think you may face in in being able to continue letting others know that we're here, but without also being too pushy.
Speaker 2:Yeah, um, well, yeah, I mean I think for, yeah, I mean for one, um, for one.
Speaker 2:One thing I, you know, I've, I've told, I've, I've said is I want to be able to help still people I know, you know that, you know that have deaths and and and you know and and are struggling.
Speaker 2:So so I mean that's been, you know that that's probably number one, and then, and in that I'm, you know I'm still, I'm getting out and and and spreading, you know, all of the good things that SCI is doing, and two but two, I think through this acquisition process I've learned a lot more about SCI and about you know, just all of the good things that SCI does and the ways that SCI wants to promote from within and all the opportunities and all the good things that SCI is doing.
Speaker 2:And so from there I can then go out to local businesses and organizations I'm going to be speaking to Wells Fargo next week and then local churches and assisted living facilities just to show them all of the great things that SCI has to offer. You know, at Fred Hunter's we had great things to offer as well, but with SCI, with such a large organization and the national transferability, and you know and, just you know, a lot more resources at our disposal. So I think there's going to be some awesome things to be able to talk about and grow. You know, some affinity partnerships and I'm going to do the best I can, yeah.
Speaker 1:Well, I think you've naturally just have such a friendly personality and approachability as well that I think that should be quite easy for you to at least, you know, be able to engage with people, because I find it very easy to speak to you. Oh, thank you, and I think I always have really your personality. I think is just it's very calming and it's happy, and I think it's a little bit of what you had said. Just, you know those mottos and that mindset that you try to keep throughout your life, and what a wonderful one, too at that, because look at where it's gotten you.
Speaker 2:Yeah, well, thank you for saying that. I'm not super good at taking compliments, but yeah, I appreciate that. Thank you Absolutely.
Speaker 1:One thing that I do want to make sure that we can discuss with our listeners here is something that I often ask people where do they? See the funeral profession going, or you know what changes do they see and how do you plan on adapting? To those changes. Yeah, that's a good question.
Speaker 2:Is there anything currently? Well, so I think, with some of the leadership from, I think, what our market and our, with John I think John's doing some awesome things John Gildey and Steve Miller, and with Lee's leadership, with Lee Longino's leadership, and just kind of seeing the future of where funeral service is going and trying to be more of the local funeral home isn't necessarily our competitor, it's the Marriott, it's the event planning centers you know, and you know it's the event planning centers.
Speaker 2:And you know, one of my close, very, very close friends lost her mom just recently and you know, and we helped her and you know we helped her through a memorial service and a memorial mass. But her, she said to me, she said I don't want to have to have the celebration of life in a funeral home.
Speaker 2:So I think changing some of these names to these life event centers, and just not everyone wants a funeral home to have their funeral at. So I think, recognizing and understanding that, which, frankly, sci, they're leading, leading by far in in doing that, I mean, um, I think that's super important to just understand. You know how people do want to celebrate, uh, the lives of their loved ones and just having, if we can be a little more affordable than your local and offer an awesome nice space at a little less, maybe money, than your country club down the street is doing or the hotel space you know, then we can. I think there's a lot of opportunity, and then we can. I think there's a lot of opportunity.
Speaker 1:But again, and, like the renovations that SCI is making in a lot of these locations, it's going to pay off because to have a space that looks like a high-end five-star hotel and it's a lot of opportunity there. It's funny you mention that A couple weeks ago my mother-in-law passed away and we were in a similar situation that a funeral director took the family to see the different areas of the siblings had said I can't imagine a celebration of life here because in this room I came and we had a visitation for my grandfather. In the other room we had a visitation once for my grandmother and she was like I just can't imagine how anything can be happy in this area. And of course, I know the potential, I know what our teams can do in these situations. And it brings me back to what Lee had said you mentioned Lee's name of really taking the time to learn who this is for.
Speaker 2:Right.
Speaker 1:And the end of the night, after all was said and done. You know we ended up sticking with the funeral home on. You know we ended up sticking with the funeral home. The amount of people that approached me. It got to the point where I had to turn their bodies and direct them to any of. You know the staff members to say no, no, don't, thank me. Like these people saw the vision and they made it come to life. I think a lot of people forget that. You know just how amazing really the possibilities are that we can cater to families, and I know I would hope at least that moving forward, that the memories that the family had now in remembrance of my mother-in-law is just. It takes over all the sadness from their previous experience at the funeral home. And I mean, I think that's just what better situation than to have people at that time of a loss to be able to say, oh, this is beautiful, this is how it's done. And sometimes, if they don't know what we can offer, I think that's what it is.
Speaker 2:Well, I think, yeah, I agree, and I think it was kind of interesting Yesterday, Tony her team did such an awesome job at our Fort Lauderdale Fred Hunters setting up, for it was like a tropical themed Jimmy Buffemed event and the whole funeral home got decorated. And I took another family through who they're looking for very traditional and they weren't looking. That's not what they were looking for. They weren't looking for the staff to wear Hawaiian shirts and things like that, but they were blown away. They were like, wow, I had no idea that you guys could even do something like this, so to have her team and that whole opportunity in our market. Actually it's pretty cool Because I know before when we would try to do our little version of the tables and we had to go to Michael's and buy the stuff ourselves. It's not easy and it's a lot of work.
Speaker 2:It is our little version of the tables and we had to go to Michael's and buy the stuff ourselves. Or you know it's not easy and it's a lot of work and yeah so to have all that at our disposal is pretty cool.
Speaker 1:Have you been to her headquarters yet? Tony's headquarters, you know.
Speaker 2:I keep wanting to go into the facility. I have not actually seen it yet.
Speaker 1:I definitely recommend it and I think, especially in the position that you're in, it's not until that I went that I realized just every interest that you can think of they have it. They have something for everyone and, honestly, if they don't, they will get it for you. I've seen them do that for situations where people are like, well, I want this very obscure item, you know, or this lady really loved playing, you know backgammon, and they can just turn this whole thing. So it doesn't look cheesy either and it really tells a story.
Speaker 1:And I think, it's phenomenal and I had the same experience as that where, at the end of the day, people just said I didn't know you could do funerals like this. Like Same experience as that where, at the end of the day, people just said I didn't know you could do funerals like this, Like I didn't know this was an option.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:And I think that's the message that, like you're saying that we need to try to get out there, that if it's not going to be at a funeral home, we have options for you as well, and we're still here to walk you through it. That's another thing. A lot of people assume that, well, if you know, I'll just have something at the funeral home and then set up somewhere else. They're not aware sometimes that, no, no, we're here for that too, We'll get things set up. We can still paint a picture and tell a story.
Speaker 2:Yeah. So, and guess what? When you go somewhere else too, it's super expensive. I mean I just did it, I just helped, like I said, my friend's mom the other day and, yeah, the local country club. It is very expensive, yeah.
Speaker 1:It's true, so I do hope that more people are able to see that, go back home and share just how wonderful of an experience that was for them.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:So I mean that, ultimately, is where I hope that that does go. I'm curious, though, for you if someone wanted to enter the profession right now whether it be interested in becoming a business owner or they're just trying to get their foot in the door to understand a little bit more about this profession what advice would you give them?
Speaker 2:That's a good question. Huh, that's a good question. Um, I would. I would tell honestly, I would tell them to go work for SCI. And I'm not just saying that because I work for SCI, I'm saying that because, um, you, you don't, uh, there's so many opportunities. Um, you know whether you wanted to start, whether you're an associate support staff helping on a funeral opening doors, but I think that would give you the most.
Speaker 2:In hindsight, I wish I had gone to work somewhere else before I went to work, for my family To be able to see, to be able to get experience elsewhere. I've heard a lot of my friends have said, all right, well, you can come work at the family business, but you have to come work. You know, you have to go work elsewhere first. And so I think I love, like it's super cool, working with my family, my dad, my uncle, my cousin. Like you can't really replicate that, but I think if I would have seen something else first, it would have been helpful to be able to take. You know, there's so many things I've learned just working here at SCI, you know, for seven, eight months or whatever it's been, you know. So, I think, going to a larger company and being able to you know, see how they do it first is probably I'm not saying see how they do it and then go open up.
Speaker 2:I just think that would be the best way to learn probably.
Speaker 1:Well, I mean even for myself. Like I said, I started at one corporation and then I went to Fred Hunter's where that was family owned.
Speaker 2:Right.
Speaker 1:And then back to an even larger corporation, which I am at now with SCI, and I think that's a really good example really, because you're going to see where I think sometimes people or organizations are kind of lacking in certain things. And then you're going to see leadership, and how is that really going? How much dedication does a company really give to their leaders to be able to lead, to be able to have the resources?
Speaker 2:Yeah, I mean, there's training here that I've never you know, it's, it's, it's, there's, it's, there's so much there's. If you want to learn, there's so much opportunity to learn here, right, and so I think that's pretty cool. Um, you know, and I think the culture is great and, like at fred hunters, we tried to create a great culture. I was super, I'm pretty, I was pretty proud of ourselves knowing that, um, but not a lot of things I'm proud of, but like but, but this, but for the, from the standpoint of, uh, when a when an employee would. Uh, you know a lot of things I'm proud of, but like but this, but from the standpoint of when an employee would. You know a lot of times when an employee would leave Fred Hunter's? You know they would go out and you know, not typically to SCI, but like to some of the other like smaller mom and pop type places, and then they would almost always come back to us.
Speaker 2:You know, so I think the culture is very important, and I don't fault people for seeing what else is out there, because you don't know until you you know, you know the grass, you know it isn't always greener, but you don't know until you try right. So, but I think the culture is super important and I think SCI, our local leadership, has done an amazing job in trying to make that culture strong, and we have a great group here in the Gold Coast, so it's pretty great Was that to you, or maybe even how much did it help with the acquisition for you to today?
Speaker 1:we couldn't have done that without each and every to empower our associates, our staff members to you know, to be able to make decisions and grow and trust them, and provide a good place to work.
Speaker 2:And so in that transition I was, you know, I wasn't worried, but I was a little concerned, you know, and in the process of the acquisition, instantly I felt a lot more comfortable hearing, you know, jg and hearing Steve. You know, in that first meeting I don't think Lee was there in that first meeting but Lee came down a bunch and just hearing how you know positive and they just wanted everyone to succeed. You know, there was a my cousin, ryan, mentioned a quick little funny story. He mentioned that it's not telling our staff in the transition when we first mentioned it's not like SCI is going to have a bus full of people to come in and take our jobs and so. And then that got kind of twisted and SCI has a bus full of people.
Speaker 2:that are coming in and they're going to, you know, take our job and and so. But you know, the point is is that Everyone on a local level wanted us to succeed. They wanted to.
Speaker 1:It's only allowing everyone a chance to grow and you know there's already been a bunch of people that have been promoted, you know, to great positions and so yeah, You're 100% correct and I think, with this leadership team too, one of the biggest mistakes and I only say a mistake, because if you don't mean it, then don't say it, but one of the biggest mistakes you can make with this team is to say one day, I want to, or I would love to be able to, in terms of professional, with your work and I say it's a mistake because they're going to remember that and they're going to make sure that you are still working towards that goal. They truly do care and want to see everyone in this market and the territory to just be able to be the best and do your best, and sometimes that's hard to adjust to.
Speaker 2:If you say it out loud, you better be planning on backing it up, because you're going to ask to you know.
Speaker 1:Because and you'll have the full support, and I think that's also one of the things I found is extraordinary when I joined the SCI family was, like you said, the resources, the people, the tools, every single thing you need at your fingertips.
Speaker 2:Right.
Speaker 1:And it's like no matter what your interest is. I had a conversation not too long ago with an associate who was just looking for some inspiration in leadership, and I've reminded her. I said why don't you just go to Dignity University and take your time? There's so many courses offered on there as well, and I think that's something a lot of people do forget. But the importance for sure is having these people that support you throughout it all, and it definitely seems like you had that in the beginning, especially growing up and the beginning of your career with your family, and it's obviously very nice to hear as well that you feel it with this team now.
Speaker 2:Right, yeah, I would agree 100%.
Speaker 1:So now my final question to you. It's something I ask a couple of people. I want to know what legacy do you want to leave behind, both personal and professional?
Speaker 2:leave behind, both personal and professional. Yeah, no, I, you know it's, obviously it's the profession that we're in, it's, but I think I think you would think I had thought about this a little more, but I haven't. I would say that, number one, I want to be the best father and the best husband I can possibly be. And number two, from a professional standpoint, I think I want to just be remembered as somebody who you know, who empowered, you know their employees, who treated them with the utmost respect. You know, literally my mom, every day treat others as you would like to be treated, and I think about that every single day, whenever I'm talking to any. You know whether it's a manager or whether it's a new hire. That you know is the first day on the job. So I would say, just being remembered as somebody who just tried to again just treat others with the most respect and help people to grow, grow, maybe do better in life. You know, but to be honest, I really haven't thought about it a whole lot.
Speaker 1:It's not the easiest thing to answer, honestly, because I think sometimes with the legacy, that's a question that people only ask after you've passed, sometimes obviously not to the person who's passed, but you know what was their legacy and instead of asking what was, I would like to know.
Speaker 2:You know that's why I asked that. I don't know. I'd like to be known as funny. I don't know. I didn't say a lot of funny things today, but I like to make people laugh. We'll do.
Speaker 1:B-sides just your stand-up comedy after this For anyone who wants to join, we've got comedy session coming up next.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:Well, thank you so much. I really do appreciate it. It's been really interesting to learn so much about not only you but your background as well, because I think what I've learned especially is you have a great foundation, it seems, from the get-go, in both of your parents, and it seems like it's continued throughout your professional life as well and personal, and so I really can't wait to see what else that's going to bring for you, because it's going to only go up from here. I truly believe that.
Speaker 2:Thank you so much. I appreciate it Again. I'm not great at taking compliments, but I really appreciate it.
Speaker 1:I had a good time. Thank you for taking the time, and that will do it for us today. Thank you so much for joining us. Please be sure to listen next time. We'll see you then.