Starting – Caskets and Urns News Journal

Exit with Success: Starting with the End in Mind

Tony Ramos — Wed, 16 Jul 2025 02:55:28 +0000

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Johnson Consulting’s Jake Johnson to Present on Succession Planning at the CANA Convention

WHEELING, IL—A funeral home is more than a business—it’s a legacy. But what happens when it’s time to pass the torch? This August 6-8, at the Cremation Association of North America (CANA) 107^th Annual Cremation Innovation Convention, Jake Johnson, President & CEO of Johnson Consulting Group, leads a motivating session. Exit with Success: Succession Planning and Your Business is designed to help funeral professionals take charge of their future, their value, and their exit strategy.

Succession planning is often delayed until it’s too late, but this session brings it front and center—highlighting how proactive planning and strategic decisions today can unlock the full enterprise value of your business tomorrow. Whether you plan to transition ownership within your family, sell, or simply future-proof your firm, this information is essential for owners, managers, and key stakeholders alike.

“Whether it’s how you move up in your own career or how you succeed within your own business, succession planning to me means you use the name literally and start with the end in mind,” explains Jake. “Succession planning’s very important. You can’t start early enough. You should always be working on it. That way, when you get to the end, you’re right where you wanted to be.”

A respected leader with hands-on experience in both independent and corporate funeral service operations, Jake Johnson will break down the practical steps to building value and driving success across your team—from leadership to frontline employees. Attendees will walk away with a clear understanding of the “why” behind every business move and how to create tangible outcomes from service-based work.

Jake’s dynamic career spans roles in corporate development, funeral home management, and business ownership—bringing an invaluable perspective to this critical topic. His session will equip attendees with the insights and tools they need to lead with intention and exit with confidence.

The CANA Convention program offers practical strategies to transform your business practices:

In the keynote, Joan Fox, President of Inspired Solutions, asks Are You Creating or Killing Customer Loyalty?, and shares why customer satisfaction is an inadequate goal, how company culture and customer loyalty are connected, and what strategies measure customer loyalty to grow your business.

Take a close look at Ethics in Cremation: A Colorado Case Study with Faith Haug, Program Director of Arapahoe Community College Mortuary Science Program, and explore three pivotal cremation cases and how they directly influenced Colorado’s funeral service laws and public trust.

Two experts take the stage to share Data-Driven Digital Marketing Fundamentals with advice to build your business. Scott Jensen, Co-owner of FirstCall Marketing, offers Steps to Take to Know If Your Marketing is Working or Not. Then, Zack Moy, Co-founder/CTO of Afterword, guides you through The Efficient Funeral Home: A Data-Driven Look at Technology Implementation.

In Historic Cemeteries Facing the Future, Regina Harrison, Director of Sales of Mount Auburn Cemetery, shares how to think creatively with options for cremation memorialization—whether you’re managing historic grounds or guiding families through end-of-life choices.

Barbara Kemmis, Executive Director of the Cremation Association of North America and Chance Parker, Chief Research Officer of Fortitude Research + Marketing, present the Cremation Practitioner Benchmarking Study of insights into current practice and provides strategies to address future challenges.

What could be better than what’s happening on the CANA stage? It might be the backdrop! The Convention hotel is the Arizona Biltmore which offers seven relaxing pools, five appealing shops featuring hand-curated pieces, three unique dining experiences, two picturesque golf courses, and one award-winning spa and salon – plus two iconic bars where you can revel in a tequila sunrise. You’re invited to explore, to discover, and to feel inspired by the colors, culture and the captivating energy of the Valley of the Sun. Make your reservation now at canarooms.com.

To make the most of the resort experience, the CANA Convention schedule is revamped so you can enjoy all that Phoenix has to offer in the cool desert nights and mornings. First is a 9-hole scramble on The Estates Course at the Arizona Biltmore Golf Club with an 8am shotgun start. Not a golfer? Take in the scenery with the Arizona Biltmore History Tour to explore the bold Frank Lloyd Wright-influenced architecture, get the scoop on historic celebrated guests, and view the meticulous restoration. Moving at a different speed? Put relaxation first and take a yoga class or book your appointment at the award-winning Tierra Luna Spa and Sol Garden. Or take advantage of the resort pools open around the clock.

Success isn’t just about luck; it’s about preparation and perseverance. By working hard, you can create your own “luck” and ensure a thriving future for your business. Join Jake Johnson at CANA’s 107^th Annual Convention this August 6-8, 2025. Special rates are available for teams to learn, grow, and implement strategies together. Plus, the schedule is redesigned to ensure you can explore the Valley of the Sun in the cool mornings and evenings and fully savor the networking and learning in the air-conditioned Convention hall during the heat of the day. Visit cremationassociation.org/CANA25 to learn more and register today!

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About CANA

Founded in 1913, the Cremation Association of North America (CANA) is an international organization of over 3,700 members, composed of funeral homes, cemeteries, crematories, industry suppliers, and consultants. CANA members believe that cremation is preparation for memorialization.

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Starting Off 2023 on a New Note—Your Top 10

Tony Ramos — Fri, 06 Dec 2024 09:10:36 +0000

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Today is the first day of what could well become one of the best years of your life (so far). There’s nothing but potential awaiting you. There’s no greater feeling that filing away the prior year, peeling off the plastic of the new insert to your day planner and starting fresh.

Do you have a list of things you want to change in the new year? Or, have you come up with a blank sheet of paper because you like things just as they are?

Rather than stare at the computer trying to come up with resolutions just to have some, perhaps it might be helpful to give up on the idea of resolutions to make. Perhaps you might consider making a list of 10 people in your life who mean the most to you.

If you were to win the Texas Lottery, or if you were to win the top prize given to someone who works in your field, or if someone you care about is one you’d miss if they were not here tomorrow…those are the 10 people who you might want to tell first about your happy circumstances and good fortune. They also might be the ones who know the most about you and could answer the question: What was he or she like? What did they like and what made them angry or sad?

People you know and who truly know you well most have seen you in life at good times and at bad ones. They know how you respond to success as well as failures. They know if you are an encourager, or if you prefer to look at things in a less than optimistic, a more realistic way.

In your Top 10, these are people in whom you would confide your greatest sorrows and trust to be happy in your good fortune, should something special come your way out of the blue.

Now, say two people are taken away from your Top 10 due to illness or death. They’re not there anymore. What do you do? How do you fill that gap? How do you meet that need? What is missing in your life now that they are gone?

People cannot actually be replaced by other people who are similar to the ones you lost. You can’t fill out a menu when searching for your closest, most intimate friends. They are people you trust with your children, and you would leave your most precious commodities in their trust without fear or worry. How do you know if you have made the right choice as taking people on as friends? Do your friends always tell the truth? Will they tell you what you need to hear or what they know you want to hear? Your instincts are the best judge of who best interacts with you now and in the future.

One question to ask as we turn the page and enter a new year is: Have we told the people who mean the most to us how much they mean to us? Already? More than one time? Today is the first day of a new year, and it represents the first opportunity for you to call and tell your loved ones how much they mean to you. Better yet, drop by and see them in person and give them a big hug. Take photos with them today, now, and take time to record in some way or other for 5, 10, or more years from now, when you wish you would have done so.

I’m not suggesting that you look at everyone you love and see them in terms of final days. It’s absolutely the opposite. Life passes by so fast when you are having fun. We have cell phones that help us document the sights and sounds of joy and laughter as we spend time and live our lives to the fullest as best we can. Thanks to that, though, life moving so fast, we’ve almost given up writing in daily journals, taking time to get photos printed and pasted into photo albums, writing carefully in great handwriting when it was, who was there, and where you were when life slowed down for 30 seconds, long enough to snap a photo. There’s a lot we miss when we simply transfer photos into folders that sit on computer hard drives. How often do you go back into those folders to look at the pictures from last year, even?

There are at least 9 cell phone pictures taken for every actual professional camera photograph taken these days. Yet, how many photos could you take and store on your iPhone 3 or your Galaxy 4 compared to what you can today? Remember vinyl records moved to reel-to-reel and cassette tapes, then to 8-track tapes, then to compact disc and now we are also including a strong return to vinyl again?

Electronic imaging and media storage is a method that changes daily in one way or another. This is one reason why we are fortunate that we have our grandparents’ photo albums (if we are lucky) to have something to say “There, that person is my loved one!” If you want to stay with the computer storage, then maybe you want to spend a little extra time labeling folders completely and descriptively and tag the people in each one. It may not be identical to the photo album experience, but at least five years from now if you are missing someone special…you’ll be glad you did.

Please know how much we appreciate and regard highly each of you who has been our friend and client. You are family to us. Hoping you’ll stop in to say hello and have a cup of coffee this year when you’re in the neighborhood. That’s what friends do, all year long. Happy 2023!

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