Victoria Sheppard is a woman of tenacity and vision, diligently taking the funeral industry and funeral services to the next level alongside her husband Mr. Dwayne Sheppard. She is the owner and president of A Good Shepherd’s Funeral Home and Cremation Services, established in 2013, serving families across the state of Florida with locations in Oakland Park, FL and Florida City, FL.
Following the establishment of A Good Shepherd’s Funeral Home and having observed the difficulties families faced when planning final arrangements for a loved one, Victoria saw that there were opportunities to alleviate additional stressors, compounding the grief of lying their beloved family member to rest.
To aid families in managing financial stressors, she established pre-planning services which allows individuals to pre-arrange their final arrangements and create payment plan options that span from one to ten years. By establishing this service, not only are families able to have services solidified in advance, but individuals are also able to choose options they prefer, and the cost is locked at the contracted rate.
Victoria created the first Funeral Pre-Planning Journal entitled, Planning Ahead. “This journal allows individuals coordinate their final wishes and document important information in one place, from preferred accommodations to assets. The Planning Ahead: Funeral Pre-Planning difficulties were due to lack of organization by the decedent or other factors. Families struggled writing their loved one’s life story, locating important documents, incorporating favorite colors or songs within the services, and much more. And upon careful research, I then brought forth a vision and created the first Funeral Pre-Planning Journal entitled, Planning Ahead. This journal allows individuals coordinate their final wishes and document important information in one place, from preferred accommodations to assets.
FWM: You are the Owner/President of A Good Shepherd’s Funeral Home. You work alongside your husband, Mr. Dwayne Sheppard. What challenges are families facing when it comes to preparing for a funeral?
One of the biggest challenges families are facing in my local community is lack of preparation. Often, we think we have time to prepare and because death is so inevitable, we really never know how much time we have.
We as humans will fail to put insurance on everything but “Our Life.”
FWM: “The ever-changing, competitive funeral industry, servicing and educating the community is my number one priority.” What pre-planned services does A Good Shepherd offer?
At A Good Shepherds Funeral home, we offer pre-arranged funeral planning. This tool is very essential to a funeral home, and it WORKS!!
This service allows families to lock in funeral costs at today’s rate and prevent future inflations of the economy. Not only does it prevent inflation, but it also eliminates burden tremendously that’s typically left upon the family in the event of ones passing
FWM: You realized that many families are still under financial duress when planning services due to lack of life insurance coverage and you decided to become a Licensed Life Insurance Agent with Ensure Financial Group. How are you helping families?
I host quarterly seminars, I am speaking in our churches, and wherever I’m welcome to educate families on the benefits of Advanced planning and/or having life insurance. I wanted to be able to maximize the help given which pushed me to become a life insurance agent, so I’m not limited in what I can offer those in need.
FWM: Please take us through important aspects when planning for a funeral of a loved one.
Some of the most important aspects of funeral planning is knowing and understanding your options. Therefore, it’s important to advance plan because it limits your family from having to do any funeral planning; everything would be planned by the person themselves. It’s important to know and really be able to honor what a person’s wishes were.
Knowing information like life insurance values, if they have a preneed anywhere, is the persons burial plots paid in advance if so where, favorite colors etc. There are so many aspects to planning the proper service for your loved one.
FWM: The Planning Ahead: Funeral Pre-Planning Journal has been locally featured in churches, seminars and now being expanded to people all over the world. What is your mission for the journal?
When I started this journal, it was because of the families we were serving during that time. I have always had a heart to help; and doing such I wanted to produce a way that our families coul have everything in place and written down in one book of what they have and where things are located.
When I did this, I began to get offers to speak at churches and different places because of the idea. My mission is to have my journal in retail stores and being purchased in bulk to help other funeral homes all over the world. I believe when a family is prepared it not only makes things easier on the family but also on the funeral home.
FWM: Entrepreneurship runs in your family, tell us about your teen children’s business, Red Carpet 360. What have you learned through your business that you have instilled in your children?
Yes, as a young girl entrepreneurship was always displayed to me from my grandmother “Charlene Howard”. I think grew up and married my husband who has always been an entrepreneur at heart. Upon us opening several businesses my husband thought it was time to introduce the children to a business of their own.
Our hope is to instill in them things that will last them a lifetime. How to create generational wealth for their children and grandchildren. Having a job is great but being able to have your own business and employee others is even greater.
http://www.agoodshepherdsfuneralhome.com
