Business Management and Consulting

• Own and operate successful funeral planning and consulting company (www.heppell.com & www.heppellfuneralsolutions.com)
• Develop and improve effective business process solutions for funeral home operations
• Consult for funeral homes and funeral associations for related technologies, such as web sites, online funeral broadcasting, funeral home software
• Facilitate and manage multi-million dollar trust rollovers (placing funds from trust to insurance)
• Consult for companies in marketing and promotion (both funeral and general business)
• Presented ‘In-Person’ Continuing Education seminars for funeral directors in the areas of Preneed, Technologies, and Marketing
• Instruct students in Business Management in Western School of Funeral Service's Licensure Program (www.wsfs.ca)
• Bachelor of Commerce Degree (Entrepreneurial Management), Royal Roads University - 2004

• Successful pre-need experience in both management and sales (5 years)
• Ranked in the Top 10 in sales in North America for NSM's Monumental Life Plan every year and no. 1 overall in 1997 despite having the lowest cost per funeral average of all participants (75% cremation)
• In-depth knowledge of current market pre-need products
• Consult and oversee pre-need programs for various funeral homes (4 years)
• Supervise and train funeral directors, sales reps and support staff in all areas of pre-need
• Qualified Level II Life Insurance Broker (successfully completed IFATC 101, 102 & 103)

• Responsible for all marketing of McCall Bros. Funeral Directors, Victoria, BC (www.mccallbros.com)
• Canadian component of  NSM pre-need marketing group for 4 years
• Familiar with all forms of marketing media: direct mail, print, radio, television, Internet, etc.
• Experience in column / article writing and press release submission

• Eighteen years experience as a licensed funeral director and embalmer
• Extensive background in all facets of the funeral and cemetery industry
• Fourth generation funeral director

• Designed and developed a user friendly at-need / pre-need database system (Paradox and WordPerfect).  The system produces all documentation for at-need funerals, tracks and converts all pre-need files and provides extensive monthly and annual reporting
• Responsible for system installation and trouble-shooting, training funeral directors and clerical staff and Enhancing system based on end user and government requirements
• Contracted by an independent funeral home for the purchase and implementation of this funeral home software. Duties included: program installation, trouble-shooting, and resulting modification; training funeral directors and clerical staff; and purchase, installation and set-up of 15 additional workstations, complete with networking, file sharing and security issues

• Intermediate to advanced skills in the following:
• Windows 95, 98, 2000, and XP
• MS Word, Access, Excel, PowerPoint, Internet Explorer, Outlook & Outlook Express
• Corel WordPerfect, Quattro Pro & Presentations, Borland Paradox
• Netscape Navigator & Composer, Maximizer (Contact Management)
• ACD Systems Foto Canvas & Adobe Photoshop (Graphic Manipulation)

Work Experience

Heppell Funeral Planning Ltd. (Victoria, BC), Owner / Consultant, 1998 – Present
McCall Bros. Funeral Directors Ltd., (Victoria, BC), Funeral Director / Embalmer, 1986–1998
Egan Funeral Home Ltd., (Bolton, ON), Funeral Assistant, 1986


Education & Certification

Academy of Professional Funeral Service Practice: Certified Funeral Service Practitioner: 2006
PO Box 2275, Westerville, OH 43086-2275 – tel. 1-866-431-2377 – www.apfsp.com

• Successful candidates for certification in the Academy of Professional Funeral Service Practice may use the designation CFSP (Certified Funeral Service Practitioner)
  

Royal Roads University: Bachelor of Commerce (Entrepreneurial Management): 2002–2004
2005 Sooke Road, Victoria, BC  V9B 5Y2 – tel. 250-391-2511  -  www.royalroads.ca

• This is a two year on-line program which consists of: Business Communications, People At Work, Managerial Accounting & Control, Sustainable Development, Marketing, Entrepreneurial Expertise, Information & Technology Management, International Business, Finance & Investments, Organizational Change, Business Strategy, plus an Entrepreneurial Project.
• Member of the four person Case Competition Team that represented Royal Roads at their International Case Competition in the Spring of 2004.  This involved reading and analyzing a case study then creating a recommendation within a three hour time period, after which the recommendation was proposed to a simulated board of directors of the particular company.

• A Celebrant is a person who has been trained and certified through the In-Sight Institute to meet the needs of families during their time of loss. They serve by providing a funeral service or tribute that is personalized to reflect the personality and lifestyle of the deceased.

• These courses are the necessary requirements for Level l Life Agents to become a Level ll Life Insurance Broker

• Two year apprenticeship with two months of in class instruction and twenty-two months of correspondence courses and on-the-job training (at McCall Bros. Funeral Directors Ltd.)