It’s nearly five months now since I visited my first funeral director as a new celebrant. That was very scary. It’s hard to walk in off the street and introduce yourself “cold”. Especially if you’re not great at selling yourself.
But when I met Andrea Baker at Gibson of Tayport today, I had the advantage of a body of experience behind me. I was able to speak about my style and approach knowing that I had real examples and wasn’t just speaking in the abstract.
But in fact I needn’t have worried. Andrea was welcoming and genuinely interested in what I had to say. She’s now the owner of Gibsons having taken over from David Gibson, whose father William started the business back in 1972. (Though I understand that David still contributes with his experience and wisdom.)
We chatted over a cup of tea and spoke a lot about how we try to tailor our services as closely as possible to the family’s needs. A bespoke service.
And we discussed how we like to be able to offer different sorts of venues and ceremonies. And even to work with people who are looking ahead and wanting to plan their own funerals.
A really good conversation and I hope we can work together to realize some of these ideas.