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When my father passed away, I was juggling two toddlers and a grief I wasn't prepared for. I had no idea what his wishes were, and when I walked into a funeral home looking for guidance, I left feeling more lost than when I arrived. What I needed was a roadmap—someone to walk beside me through the process and actually see me as a person, not a transaction.

So I did what I knew how to do. I drew on my background as a production coordinator and planned the funeral myself—something personal, intimate, and real. Everyone came together and shared stories. It was messy and beautiful and incredibly healing. But it also opened my eyes to how broken the experience can be for families who are already at their most vulnerable.

I couldn't stop thinking: why doesn't this industry put the person at the center? Why does it feel so disconnected from the very human experience it's supposed to serve?

That question changed my life. I went back to school at the American Academy McAllister Institute of Funeral Services, spent a year working at one of the busiest funeral homes on the Upper West Side, and became a licensed Funeral Director. I needed to learn this industry from the inside out before I could reimagine it.

Then I went out on my own and founded Down to Earth Funerals. When COVID hit, I was one of hundreds of funeral directors across the country who stepped up to help families say goodbye in the most impossible of circumstances. That experience confirmed everything I believed—there is a better way to do this.

Down to Earth Funerals is built on a simple idea: funeral care should be holistic, human, and guided by what you need. I take inspiration from the wellness space because grief doesn't end at the funeral. It ripples through every part of your life, and you deserve support that acknowledges that.

This is the company I wish had existed when I needed it. Now it does.

— Caroline