Holly Price
Founder of Sage & Grace

Holly Price, a recent University of Michigan MBA graduate learned a lot a while back when her mother was suffering from a cardiac arrest and funeral arrangements, and other life-ending decisions, looked like they had to be made.

According to a Press Release from the University of Michigan, Price used the experience – fortunately her mother recovered – as the impetus to design a portal that she hopes will help consumers who require estate planning, hospice information, funeral planning, and burial options.  Price hypothesis that most funeral homes want consumers to have proper information when they are making funeral choices and she believes her design will allow consumers to think about what is most important to them and design the services, and cost, around those important issues.

She believes that this service, entitled Sage & Grace,  will have the potential to shift how the funeral industry communicates with consumers and raise the standards on how funerals are planned.  It is expected to “go live” sometime this summer.

Funeral Director Daily take:  Might Price be on to something here?  She has the University of Michigan and its resources behind her and they are one of the top ranked entrepreneurial institutional programs in the country.

I like to invest small amounts in start-up companies and I have invested in some student start-ups -where their mind-set was far different than my own – and they have done very well.  I know from my own boys – ages 23 and 19 – that this new group of young consumers will have different consumer habits than my generation.  Look what is happening to bricks and mortar in the retail business today.

The young entrepreneur states that she hopes that this product will change funeral arrangements in the same way some wedding planning has been changed with the advent of “The Knot” website.  As I’ve said before, continue to be open to the evolution of funeral service.  Who knows what might happen.