Nashville Tennessee - National Funeral Directors Association

Bag: C/O Nena & Co.

You may have noticed a lack of blogging on my part, and for that I apologize. My new job has taken up a lot of my time and energy. By the time I get home at night I don't have as much time to give to it as I have in the past. Speaking of my job, I don't know if I ever formally mentioned what I have been doing since moving to Salt Lake. If you read my blog you know that while living in Provo I worked at Aveda, which they just opened up a brand new location by the way that is amazing! But I was not about to commute from Salt Lake to Provo everyday, so I found a new job and made the change from working in Marketing for the beauty industry to Marketing for the funeral industry! Yes, you read that right. In fact, this past week I attended the National Funeral Directors Association in Nashville, Tennessee. I saw that several of you on instagram were confused, or curious about what my new job was, so I thought I would share some of the details.

I work for a Financial Corporation called Security National in their Life department. I am a part of the Marketing team here, and have had a lot of fun the last few months learning all about the funeral industry and the insurance side of all of that. I recently started a side project for the company and started a funeral industry blog. Funeral Guy's Bow Tie is a source for funeral industry news; publishing insightful information, industry trends, and staring conversations that can educate not only funeral professionals but all those who have dealt with death in their personal lives. It has been a lot of fun and if you want to learn about some pretty funny and cool related things to death, you should check it out. Like this infographic about death ;)

So as I mentioned, I just spent the beginning of the week in Nashville, Tennessee. No, no Taylor Swift sightings, much to my dismay. But even without a celeb sighting, I had a blast. Of course getting there and going through the Dallas airport and hearing all about Ebola every five seconds was unsettling. I have yet to show any signs, but I will keep you posted.

This is pretty much how I wanted to travel home...

So why was SNL at the convention? Security National Life sells “end of life” insurance products and services, and works with funeral homes all over the country. I was able to really get some insight and learn a lot about the funeral industry, which is actually incredibly fascinating to me. I have never been to Tennessee before, or that south, so I was really excited to see Nashville. The green lush trees, and hint of humidity was such a nice change from the dry elevation of Utah. It really is a beautiful place! Add the rich culture and love for music, and it was a total win, win for me. I will definitely be making a trip back someday. I need to eat my way through that city! Speaking of food, the first night we got there we headed to the famous barbecue place called Jack's Bar-B-Que. It totally hit the spot and we ended up going again later that week. I ate my weight in meat, and was worried about the meat sweats with how much I took in. But of course, I was in heaven.

Our hotel was across the street from a Waffle House, which I have seen and heard so much about, so I had to try it. The waitress kept calling me honey, and sweetheart, it was pretty funny. It was your typical diner experience, and the pecan waffle didn't suck. In fact that whole southern charm is the real deal you guys. Everyone was so nice and it was such a nice change. Sometimes I feel like a freak because I am always waving and saying hi to strangers, I get some strange looks sometimes. It was nice to have others do that towards me for once. It was such a nice change to have others be so friendly. I could totally see myself living in the south and loving it. 

In the mornings I attended different classes regarding marketing and the industry with the last half of the day spent at the convention. I helped man the booth, and took time to walk around and meet different vendors and people. It was pretty crazy seeing things like embalming fluid, and all the different kinds of caskets. In another life I would totally be a funeral director, just saying.

Me and one of the Managers Rachel

After a long first day at the booth we went to eat at a steakhouse called Kayne Prime. You guysssssss... it was one of the best meals I have ever had. I mean, it was divine. Every single side dish was BOMB. That day there was a tornado warning, which totally freaked me out because I have never been around anything like that before. Earth quakes, bring it on, tornadoes, not so much. I decided that if that was to be my last meal, it was the perfect last supper. It was truly delectable and I would highly recommend it if you are looking for something truly amazing while in Nashville.

I am a mac n cheese lover, as you will know if you have been reading this blog for years. This one had jalapenos and bacon in it! YUM.

Not to keep going on and on about the food, but everyone had suggested I try Pharmacy Burger so much I made sure we hit that before we left. Before we headed to the airport we stopped and got lunch there. BEST BURGER EVER. Everything looked amazing that I am really sad I don't live by this place so I could try everything. I got the farm burger with some sweet potato fries and that amazing root beer off the tap. Every bite was great. Even the restaurant was awesome, I loved the vibe and their branding. It would be my top recommendation for Nashville!

This is Guy, the inspiration behind Funeral Guy's Bow Tie! :)

I really am lucky to work with such a great team. They also happen to be a lot of fun. I learned, laughed, and had some great conversations. There is nothing better to me than connecting with others, and this trip had all of that.