Our sales team.
Meet your dedicated team.
I’m an experienced business development professional with a strong track record of helping my customers grow their business and operate more efficiently. I graduated from Washington & Lee University and received an Honorable Discharge from the United States Marine Corps. I have spent most of my career in sales leadership roles. I reside in Powder Springs, Ga., with my wife Carla. I enjoy golfing and spending time with our four adult children: Shane, Elly, Owen, Liam and his fiancé, Paige.
I joined Homesteaders because of the company’s outstanding reputation. My dad’s second career after retirement was running the cemetery for the Catholic Diocese in Roanoke, Va., and he loved it. I feel like I am following in my father’s footsteps. I enjoy knowing Homesteaders is focused on our funeral home customers and the families they support and serve. I have interacted with corporate and association customers for more than 30 years. Everyone is different and has different goals. My goal has always been to help them succeed and grow their business and personal portfolio. Throughout my career, I have focused on providing exceptional customer service to each customer. I enjoy seeing the Southeast up close and personal and meeting the different cultures and personalities that have dedicated their lives to the service of families at their most difficult times.
I’ve been around the funeral profession for most of my life, including living above a funeral home until I was five years old. My grandfather was a funeral director, and my dad worked in the funeral profession for 45 years. I have spent most of my own career working in the profession. It is my privilege to not only work with funeral professionals, but also to call many of them my friends. I enjoy spending time with my family, which includes my fiancée, Susan, two sons, Paul and Robert and two grandchildren. I like to be outdoors (especially in the mountains), golf and travel. It's also important to me to give back to communities by helping people who are less fortunate.
Homesteaders is known to be a leader in funding for advance funeral plans. It's an innovative, reputable company, and it brings a high level of opportunity for personal growth. I enjoy developing and building even stronger relationships with the funeral professionals I serve. I help funeral professionals experience the benefits of preneed for their businesses and share the importance of planning ahead with their families. Through my background in the funeral profession, I’ve seen how advance funeral planning can take the pressure off of families and allow them to focus on what really matters at the time of need. Helping funeral directors provide this important service to their families is very rewarding to me.
I hold a bachelor’s degree in accounting from Lipscomb University in Nashville, Tenn., and I am an active member of the Tennessee Sales Supply Club. I served as vice president for the club in 2019 before serving as president in 2020 and 2021. For more than 30 years, my wife Jennifer and I have called Hendersonville, Tenn., home. We have three children — Lauren, Ben and Claire — and four grandkids with one on the way! I am an avid golfer and enjoy investing, gardening and lawn care.
I joined Homesteaders because it is the best company in preneed funding. As a seasoned professional in the funeral space, I understand the challenges and opportunities that exist in this profession, and I take pride in knowing I’m helping families with advance funeral plans, minimizing their financial and emotional burden at the time of loss. I have more than 25 years of sales account management experience, with most of those years spent in the funeral profession. During my time at Homesteaders, I have been named Regional Account Executive of the Year three times, and in 2012, I received the Rising Star award — which recognizes an employee who demonstrates eagerness to learn, commitment to Homesteaders and engagement with the company and peers. It is my job to listen to my customers and truly understand their goals, so we can work together to develop solutions to help them reach or exceed those goals. Using my 30+ years of customer facing sales experience, I pride myself on providing an excellent vendor experience, helping funeral homes discover that Homesteaders is a great partner and delivering the most efficient and effective solutions for customers.
I was born and raised in Iowa along the Mississippi River. After graduating high school, I moved to the Des Moines area where I live with my husband, Chris. We have a combined family with four adult children and three fur babies. We have a daughter who is a special education teacher, a son who is a diesel mechanic, a son who works in the cellular tower industry and a daughter who is in grad school at the University of Iowa. (Go HAWKS!) We enjoy traveling, spending time with family and friends, watching football and entertaining at our home. I love reading, cooking and watching anything crime related. During my time at Homesteaders, I have the honor of meeting many great people and learning new things. I have learned skills from some of the best! I’ve received the Positive Attitude Award, Commitment Award and I’ve been named the Regional Account Executive of the Year twice along with many other recognitions. Several years ago, I became a Certified Preplanning Consultant through the National Funeral Directors Association.
I first joined Homesteaders in customer service in 2004 and became an account executive in 2010. I admired the company’s reputation for the concern and care it shows to customers and employees alike, as well as its strong values and solid history of success. I wanted to be part of a company where I felt I could grow and make a difference. Like many, I was unfamiliar with preneed and its important role in funeral service prior to joining Homesteaders. Today, because I see how families benefit from prearranging, I have an unwavering belief in the value of this option for my funeral home customers and the families they serve. I believe in what I do, and I can’t imagine doing anything else. I enjoy helping my funeral home customers plan and implement programs to grow their business. I am a self-appointed cheerleader and coach — I love seeing others succeed! I spend a lot of time listening and understanding how my customers define success then draw upon my ongoing training and the excellent tools we develop at Homesteaders to help them achieve their goals for success.
I earned a bachelor’s degree from Clarion University of Pennsylvania in marketing, and I am a lifelong resident of Pittsburgh, Pa. I enjoy spending time with my wife, Beth, and our three kids — Alexis, Ron and Ashley — as well as golfing and spending time outdoors. When I joined Homesteaders in 2008, I loved that I would be helping our customers design a better farewell for families. It’s very rewarding to be able to assist funeral home customers in achieving their goals and being successful.
My priority as an account executive is to help funeral home owners and preneed counselors share the importance of advance funeral planning. I strongly believe prearranging a funeral is the greatest gift a person can give their loved ones while ensuring their final wishes are met. I have been fortunate to work with great people in the funeral profession over the course of my time with Homesteaders. I look forward to continuing to build lifelong relationships and helping funeral homes grow their footprints in the communities they serve.