Gila Kurtz: How Dogs Can Help You Deal with Grief, Therapy, and Bereavement

There is a reason why dogs are called man’s best friend. For professional dog trainer Gila

Kurtz, a dog can change the way you see the world. Technology is making people seem more connected, but we as humans are more disconnected than ever before. But when you are with your dog, there is that connection that has no interference, a genuine relationship because dogs connect with us in a very heart-centered way.

In this episode of the Glam Reaper Podcast, Jennifer interviews John and Gila Kurtz, who found the positive influence of dogs in their lives and decided to set up the business Dog is Good (DIG)—a lifestyle brand for dog lovers. In this podcast episode, Gila lets us in her world of dogs to bring awareness about how wonderful it is to have dogs in our homes. 

Learn how to cultivate a strong emotional relationship with your dogs based on what they can teach us when domesticated, and how they can help you through your journey of grief. Very interesting interview here so keep yourself glued until the end, where you can get a new perspective on being responsible dog owners. Well worth your listening time!

LITTLE NUGGETS OF GOLD:

• How did Gila develop her passion for dogs and see the good in them?
• What are the reasons why she thinks dogs are wonderful to have at home?
• Dogs are able to fulfill humans' basic need - the desire to be loved.
• Why does Gila refer to dogs as DOG?
• Are dogs superior to other animals? 
• Why did Gila create the “Dog is Good” brand?
• A look at therapy dogs and grieving dogs, and why their roles in both cannot be underestimated
• Gila's message to people about what they should consider before allowing dogs into their homes

Resources:

• Be a Dog is Good Pop-up Shop owner - https://www.dogisgood.com/pop-up-shop-opportunity
• Fur Covered Wisdom Email - https://www.dogisgood.com/FUR-COVERED-WISDOM-EMAIL

Connect with Gila Kurtz:

Website - https://www.dogisgood.com/

Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/dogisgood/

Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/dogisgood/

TikTok - https://www.tiktok.com/@dog.is.good

Pinterest - https://pinterest.com/digdogisgood/

Connect with Jennifer/The Glam Reaper:

Facebook Page - Muldowney Memorials: https://www.facebook.com/MuldowneyMemorials/

Facebook Page - Rainbow Bridge Memorials: https://www.facebook.com/rainbowbridgememorialsdotcom

Instagram - @muldowneymemorials & @jennifermuldowney

Twitter - @TheGlamReaper

Email us here: glamreaperpodcast@gmail.com

Did You Know... Cremation Started in Someones Backhouse?? We Talk to the Expert in All Things Cremation History (Part 2)

 

Cremation has gone a long way since the first known cremation in 1876. Who better can give us the history of cremation than the Historian of the Cremation Association of North America (CANA), Jason Ryan Engler. He holds this position as well as that of Cremation Historian for the National Museum of Funeral History (NMFH). The museum was completed in 2018 with 80% of the exhibit being his personal collection.

You will learn of his baptism of fire in the world of funerals which started as early at the age of 12. A lot has changed in the process of cremation, and with its growing acceptance in the United States, this method of disposition is becoming more popular. It's yet another informative episode of The Glam Reaper Podcast, so just sit back, relax, and enjoy the learning! 

LITTLE NUGGETS OF GOLD:

• Jason’s introduction to self, his qualification as a cremation thought leader in the deathcare space.

• What made Jacob so fascinated in the history of cremation?  

• The history of cremation from the historian of the Cremation Association of North America (CANA).

• How has the process of cremation evolved from the first known cremation in 1876 to now?

• What impact has Covid 19 had on cremation?

• The statistics of cremation in the U.S., what is the rate of change?

• What is the difference in people's acceptance of cremation as a method of disposition? 

• Jason’s thoughts around the controversy of cremation on its effect on the environment.

• Is there anything the funeral industry can do to improve the world into a better place?

Connect with Jason Ryan Engler:

Website 

Facebook

Connect with Jennifer/The Glam Reaper:

Facebook Page Rainbow Bridge Memorials

Facebook Page Muldowney Memorials

Instagram: @MuldowneyMemorials @JenniferMuldowney

Twitter: @TheGlamReaper

Email us here: glamreaperpodcast@gmail.com

Did You Know... Cremation Started in Someones Backhouse?? We Talk to the Expert in All Things Cremation History (Part 1)

Cremation has gone a long way since the first known cremation in 1876. Who better can give us the history of cremation than the Historian of the Cremation Association of North America (CANA), Jason Ryan Engler. He holds this position as well as that of Cremation Historian for the National Museum of Funeral History (NMFH). The museum was completed in 2018 with 80% of the exhibit being his personal collection.

You will learn of his baptism of fire in the world of funerals which started as early at the age of 12. A lot has changed in the process of cremation, and with its growing acceptance in the United States, this method of disposition is becoming more popular. It's yet another informative episode of The Glam Reaper Podcast, so just sit back, relax, and enjoy the learning! 

LITTLE NUGGETS OF GOLD:

• Jason’s introduction to self, his qualification as a cremation thought leader in the deathcare space.

• What made Jacob so fascinated in the history of cremation?  

• The history of cremation from the historian of the Cremation Association of North America (CANA).

• How has the process of cremation evolved from the first known cremation in 1876 to now?

• What impact has Covid 19 had on cremation?

• The statistics of cremation in the U.S., what is the rate of change?

• What is the difference in people's acceptance of cremation as a method of disposition? 

• Jason’s thoughts around the controversy of cremation on its effect on the environment.

• Is there anything the funeral industry can do to improve the world into a better place?

Connect with Jason Ryan Engler:

Website 

Facebook

Connect with Jennifer/The Glam Reaper:

Facebook Page Rainbow Bridge Memorials

Facebook Page Muldowney Memorials

Instagram: @MuldowneyMemorials @JenniferMuldowney

Twitter: @TheGlamReaper

Email us here: glamreaperpodcast@gmail.com

How Accepting Our Death Can Bring Life to Life

 In today’s episode, I have a very interesting conversation with a gentleman who wrote a book about the meaning of life and how accepting death can lead us to a better life. A famous author of a fascinating book on the role of death and life, Sheldon Solomon.

Our conversation started with a bit of introduction about Sheldon’s life and a story on how he became enlightened about life and death. He also shared how the author and cultural anthropologist, Ernest Becker made him feel blown away by the simplicity of the author’s ideas. He also added how he found this author psychologically discombobulating with all his fascinating ideas about life, existence, and death. And with this, it became his inspiration in writing his book.

Stay tuned for more scientific but interesting facts that revolve around life and death. Send us your comments and interesting ideas after listening to this episode. Enjoy!

LITTLE NUGGETS OF GOLD:

• A quick introduction about Sheldon Solomon.
• Sheldon’s enlightenment about life and death.
• How does culture influences the way we see life and death.
• Death, as a part of our lives.
• How people should embrace their lives.

Connect with Jennifer/The Glam Reaper here: glamreaperpodcast@gmail.com

https://www.facebook.com/MuldowneyMemorials/ (Facebook Page - Memorials) https://www.facebook.com/rainbowbridgememorialsdotcom (Facebook Page - Pets) 

Instagram - @muldowneymemorials 

https://twitter.com/TheGlamReaper (Twitter Account)

Listen to The Glam Reaper Podcast on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-glam-reaper-podcast/id1572382989?i=1000525524145

How Your Loved One Can Become a Real Life Rock

 

In today’s episode, we have a very interesting guy that I met a long time ago at a Funeral Directors Convention - the founder and CEO of Parting Stones, Justin Crowe. His incredible company developed a technology to offer families an alternative to cremated remains. Instead of receiving a bag of ashes, you may have the choice to receive a collection of solids that look very much like stones. They are the only company in the world that offers alternatives to cremated remains. This idea started when his grandfather died and he started to talk to people about their experiences. As he kept hearing the same story over and over again, about keeping the remains in a closet, basement, or garage as ashes. He thought there would be a great solution and he thought of an alternative. That is how Parting Stones began and solidified remains started. This wonderful process is also offered not just for human remains but also with our loving pets.

Check out more information - https://partingstone.com/

Connect with Jennifer/The Glam Reaper here:

Email us - glamreaperpodcast@gmail.com

No Story Left Untold With This Startup in the Funeral World

 In today’s episode, we have a wonderful guest that runs a company that deals with capturing people’s stories, Jeremy Bryant, the Co-Founder at No Story Lost.

No Story Lost conducts interviews people who are starting to reflect on life and while they want to look back and reminisce they are also looking forward to the next few years in their lives. They also ask fun questions about looking back on life and ask for wonderful advice for the next generation and their legacies. Also, this company helps families to capture their loved ones' amazing stories, and keep them around forever through records, CDs, or a beautiful coffee table book. These can all be done to document precious moments together. Jeremy also runs a charity in his spare time (!) named, Meal Share. This charity works with different restaurants across Canada to provide meals to youth in need.

Check out more information - https://nostorylost.com

• hello@nostorylost.com
• https://www.facebook.com/NoStoryLost/
• https://www.instagram.com/nostorylost/

Connect with Jennifer/The Glam Reaper here:

Email us - glamreaperpodcast@gmail.com

Girl Boss Glam plus Old Antiquated Funeral equals..?

 

In today’s episode, we have Mallory Greene, the amazing Girl Boss and Co-Founder of Eirene. We started our conversation with a bit about her background. She has worked in the tech industry for over seven years and has a great interest in the startup world. Mallory also likes helping people access certain industries through technology. She is the daughter of a nurse and a funeral director which makes sense. The conversation around life and death became normal for her and contributed to her adult identity.

Her company is called Eirene which means ‘state of peace’. Her co-founder at Eirene came to like the name - it is a very sentimental name to them. It is also an ode to women all over  the world because most of the time, women are the ones making funeral arrangements, also act as caregivers. Eirene makes the funeral arrangement experience simple, affordable, and entirely transparent to their clients. Eirene provides a different and easier experience during an already incredibly difficult time.

Connect with Eirene

• Website - https://eirene.ca/
• Twitter - https://twitter.com/Eirene

Connect with Jennifer

• Twitter - https://twitter.com/theglamreaper?lang=en
• LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/jennifermuldowney
• Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/jennifermuldowney/?hl=en
• Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/MuldowneyMemorials
• Youtube - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCWe3sNoPny6UsMGYoYDeXfw

How to.. Funeral 101 - The Larry Series!

 

In today’s episode, I am really excited to have our guest for today because he is one of my favorite people in the funeral industry, we have Larry Stuart Jr. He owns a business called Cremation Strategies & Consulting and works intimately with funeral industry greats CANA and ICCFA. Larry is also a Certified Funeral Celebrant and believes that every life deserves to be honored and remembered.

https://cremationstrategy.com

Our wonderful conversation started with how me and Larry met! We talk about how he started in the funeral industry and eventually became a consultant specialising in cremation. We talk about what cremation really is and how important the funeral director is to the death process. Whether the consumer wants to hold a ceremony or not after the cremation, respect should always be there. It isn't all about money and funeral directors are not all cowboys! Tune in as Larry and I get into it. This is part 1 of our conversation.

Little nuggets of gold

- A little bit of a background about Larry

- A deeper understanding about cremation

- The value that you give to your clients

- The importance of respecting people’s decision

- Having the willingness to have that open conversation

- Pricing transparency in the Funeral industry

Books mentions:

The Right Way of Death: Restoring the American Funeral Business to its True Calling, Eric Layer

The American Way of Death revisited, Jessica Mitford

Connect with Jennifer/The Glam Reaper here:

• Email us - glamreaperpodcast@gmail.com
• https://www.facebook.com/MuldowneyMemorials/ (Facebook Page - Memorials) https://www.facebook.com/rainbowbridgememorialsdotcom (Facebook Page - Pets) 
• Instagram - @muldowneymemorials 
• https://twitter.com/TheGlamReaper (Twitter Account)
• Listen to The Glam Reaper Podcast on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-glam-reaper-podcast/id1572382989?i=1000525524145

How to Grieve together in COVID Times

 

In today’s episode, we will be focusing more on grief. As we are all aware, thanks to the last 2 years with COVID, some of us experienced grief from a loss of a loved one due to COVID-19 and some were separated for a very long time because of lockdowns and travel bans. I speak with a gentleman living in Isral, Irad Eichler, who has a charity named Seven Chairs now called, Circles who wants to end the loneliness in the world. A big goal I think you will agree!!

https://circlesup.com

Connect with Jennifer/The Glam Reaper here:

Email us - glamreaperpodcast@gmail.com

How The Girls Run The (Funeral) World - a two parter!

 

https://deathwives.org

In this episode of The Glam Reaper Podcast....

- A wonderful introduction about the Death Wives

- How to become a Funeral Director

- The different sides of funerals

- The commonalities of Birth and Death Doula

- What is a green funeral?

- How can Death Wives help other people

- What is a water cremation?

Connect with Jennifer/The Glam Reaper here:

Email us - glamreaperpodcast@gmail.com

How to Navigate Through Letting a Pet go and the Love Loss left in your Life

In today’s episode, we have Anna Champagne from Lap of Love. Lap of love supports in-home animal euthanasia, a veterinary hospice, geriatric, and end-of-life care, and offers pet loss support. They make sure that your pet will be comfortable before its ultimate end. The interview progressed with Anna sharing more of the services that Lap of Love offers and how she became part of this wonderful Lap of Love. A woman-owned business that supports veterinarians in your local area, the business has spread fast and wide in only a few years.

An interesting chat with the lovely Anna that reveals a sad truth - when IS the right time for euthanasia? Stay tuned as Anna helps shed some light on pet euthanasia, our love of animals, and how you can take care of your pet and the end-of-life journey for them.

Little nuggets of gold:

- What is Lap of Love?

- Anna’s journey in becoming a veterinarian

- Other animals that Lap of Love takes care of 

- How Lap of Love hospice works

- When is the right time for euthanasia?

- How a stateside successful woman-owned business stays local

https://www.lapoflove.com

Connect with Jennifer/The Glam Reaper here:

Email us - glamreaperpodcast@gmail.com

Listen to The Glam Reaper Podcast on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-glam-reaper-podcast/id1572382989?i=1000525524145

How to Cope up With Grief and Loss when all you Have is Memories and Things With Allison Gilbert

 AllisonGilbert.com 

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/agilbertwriter;

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/agilbertwri... 

Twitter: https://twitter.com/agilbertwriter; 

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/agilbertw...

Welcome to another episode of The Glam Reaper. I am your host Jennifer, delighted to impart all my knowledge and experiences through my podcast episodes and together with my special guests about different aspects of life, love, loss, and funerals.

In today’s amazing episode, I had a wonderful time chatting with Allison Gilbert, a gifted woman who is an author of 4 books and currently working on her 5th. She has been writing for the New York Times, several magazines and newspapers for decades now while also counts as a producer at CNN and MSNBC in her resume! With her skills in writing and researching, she wanted to use it to share other peoples stories about grief and how to cope with it after her own experience with loss.

 

Allison is a very strong woman who experienced loss at a very young age with the death of her parents. This is one of the reasons why she wants to share with others how to cope with grief and loss. Especially with COVID 19 going on, there are lots of people who are currently experiencing loss and also other tragedies that happened to us in our lifetimes. Allison's books, blog and courses are a great resource, particularly in today's current climate.

Stay tuned to our conversation to know more about the importance of being resilient, overcoming loss and grief, Allison’s blogs and the magnificent overview of her online courses.

Little nuggets of gold

- An incredible introduction about Allison

- How to be resilient in times of loss and grief

- An overview of Allison’s written books

- The importance of being comfortable about what you do

- Focusing on what you can control

Allison’s Books

- Passed and Present

- Parentless Parents

- Always Too Soon

- Covering Catastrophe

One person's trash is another's Treasure in Life, in Love and in Loss with Alicia Williams

 www.tiktok.com - @ladytaphos

https://www.instagram.com/ladytaphos Welcome to another episode of The Glam Reaper. I'm your host Jennifer Muldowney, and together with my special guests, I am excited to impart all my knowledge and experiences through my podcast episodes about different aspects of life, love, loss, and funerals. I am truly fascinated with our guest today, a TikTok sensation Alicia Williams aka Lady Taphos! Her passion for caring and giving honour to the dead is truly remarkable. She went viral on TikTok cleaning gravestones during COVID lockdown in 2020. Alicia shared how she started cleaning gravestones as therapy for herself and how it truly resonated with people from all over the world. Doing what she does cleans up a long forgotten family's headstone and even benefits the community and town. This gave motivation to other people as well. Stay tuned as Alicia shares her journey! Little nuggets of gold - A wonderful introduction about Alicia - Everything about gravestone cleaning. - How everything started for Alicia - The importance of being remembered and honoured - Raising awareness through the viral video from Alicia

Feng Shui to help with Life, Love and Loss with Guru Patricia Lohan

 

https://patricialohan.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/PatriciaLoha...

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lohan.patricia

Twitter: https://twitter.com/lohanpatricia

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCTMK...

Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.ph/parashakti88...

LinkedIn: https://ie.linkedin.com/in/patricia-l...

Welcome to another episode of The Glam Reaper. I am your host Jennifer, delighted to impart all my knowledge and experiences through my podcast episodes and together with my special guests about different aspects of life, love, loss, and funerals.

In today’s episode, I had a very wonderful conversation with the powerhouse of energy and amazingness, we have the fabulous Patricia Lohan. She is a feng shui expert that will show you how to create the health, wealth, and prosperity you’ve been working towards.

Our conversation started with a bit of an overview of Feng Shui from Patricia. She gave amazing insights into how Feng Shui has been from the start. It is a huge part of Chinese philosophy as it is also connected with death and used to help the bereaved family find the best placement for their gravesites. Furthermore, Feng Shui can also be used in improving your life, love, and prosperity. In addition to this, Patricia shared how she met her husband by following what she learned from India.

Our host, Jennifer, also had a fair share of her experience following the Feng Shui tips from Patricia. It is one of the big things Jennifer took away was her fake plants. Patricia explained why she doesn’t recommend having fake plants because the chain energy gets stagnant with it. Feng Shui is all about movement and flow and fake plants have no sense of movement and life. As the conversation progressed, Patricia also shared 3 key things on how feng shui can help us in improving our lives. Want to know more about this? Stay with us and start collecting these nuggets of gold!

Little nuggets of gold

- What is Feng Shui?

- The beginning of Feng Shui

- How Patricia started with Feng Shui

- Deep understanding about Feng Shui

- 3 Key things how Feng Shui can help yo

Stepping into a Man Shoes in a Mans Industry in a Mans World and Winning with Alison Weaver

 

www.ness-sibley.com

Ness-Sibley Funeral Home and Covert Funeral Home

Welcome to another episode of The Glam Reaper. I am your host Jennifer, delighted to impart all my knowledge and experiences through my podcast episodes and together with my special guests about different aspects of life, love, loss, and funerals.

I am glad to introduce to everyone our guest for today’s episode. This is really amazing as I meet other females in the same industry as I am in. In today’s episode, we have Alison Weaver who owns not one but two funeral homes!

Our wonderful conversation kick started with an introduction about Alison, a bit of her background on how she started in the funeral industry. She started at a very young age, 15 and it made her realize what she really wanted to do. Alison made a realization that she wanted to work with people and became fascinated with the human body. She also shared her educational background and some of her experiences before she became successful in the business.

Alison also shares with us the basic steps on how to become a Funeral Director and while it differs country by country and state by state in The USA she gives us her path to becoming one of New York's most successful funeral directors which is a very male-dominated industry. We also talked about preplanning, COVID and the skills you need to become a funeral director and ultimately what it is like to work in the funeral industry as a female. Join us for this empowering conversation about diversity in an adverse world and stay tuned for more nuggets of gold!

Little nuggets of gold

- Allison’s journey in the funeral industry

- How to be a licensed Funeral Director

- The impact from some of our experiences in the funeral industry

- COVID and its effect to people

- The Importance of reading the situation as a person in the funeral industry

- The advantage of pre-planning

The Glam Reaper Podcast Episode 1 What is a Death Doula and How to Be One With Pet Guru Dana Humphrey

The Glam Reaper Podcast Episode 1 -

What is a Death Doula and How to Be One With Pet Guru Dana Humphrey

Learn more at http://www.danahumphrey.com/

https://www.facebook.com/danahumphrey... https://www.instagram.com/danakhumphrey/ https://twitter.com/danakhumphrey https://www.linkedin.com/in/danakhump... I would like to welcome all of you to my first ever podcast episode of The Glam Reaper. I am your host Jennifer, delighted to impart all my knowledge and experiences through my podcast episodes and together with my special guests about different aspects of life, love, loss, and funerals. In today’s episode, we are very fortunate to have a very talented woman as our guest. A life coach, the owner and lead publicist of Whitegate PR, and also known as “The Pet Lady”, no other than Dana Humphrey. Dana and I had a wonderful conversation about different aspects of life and our life experiences. We started out with how Dana became a death doula and what inspired her to be one. During this conversation, she deepens the meaning of what it is to be a death doula and some aspects that you have to be equipped as a death doula. She added that she enrolled in a death doula program that made her certified as a death doula. As our conversation progressed, we talked about how death should be accepted as part of our journey in life. Accepting death does not mean we want to speed it up, rather we learn more to appreciate what we have in life and be able to live our lives to the fullest. Little nuggets of gold - The real meaning of Death Doula - Dana’s transition from public relations to the funeral world - The right time to communicate with a death doula - Dana’s take on a death doula program - The acceptance of life, death, and dying Book suggestion: With The End In Mind How To Live and Die Well by Kathryn Mannix

 

The Glam Reaper Podcast Trailer

Finally after months of hard work and interviews and editing and re-editing (!) here is the trailer for my new podcast - The Glam Reaper. I hope you find some nuggets of gold in our interviews and please get in touch if you can think of any subject or guest we should have or have any comments in general. glamreaperpodcast@gmail.com www.theglamreaper.com