Thinking about working with us? Or just want to know more about behind the scenes at Poppy’s? Six members of the Poppy’s team tell us about their roles and what they find most rewarding about working here.
What's it like working at Poppy's?
How long have you worked at Poppy’s and what attracted you to working here?
I'd reached a stage in my life where I wanted to do something more meaningful. I've had a wide variety of jobs — librarian, researcher, corporate finance analyst — so was used to new challenges and I really wanted to make a difference. I’ve been at Poppy’s nearly eight years now.
What does your job involve?
I meet with families to guide them through their choices for a funeral. I'm there on the day of the funeral as well, making sure that everything happens exactly as they want it to. I also get involved in bringing those who have died into our care.
What do you find most rewarding about working here?
Every day is different — one day I might be leading a funeral with a horse-drawn carriage with a service in a church and the next might involve a camper van hearse going to a beautiful natural burial ground.
It’s so rewarding to help families realise their vision of what they want the funeral to be. Being involved in the care of the dead is the part of my job that not many people see, but it is so rewarding to know that we are providing the highest standards of care to those we look after.
Vaishali, Finance Manager
How long have you worked at Poppy’s and what attracted you to working here?
I’ve been working at Poppy’s for 15 months now. I was attracted by the sheer amount of care and compassion we not only give those in our care but extend to each other too.
What does your job involve?
Day to day, I process client receipts and make payments to suppliers. I also produce accounts so we can review how our business is performing against our targets.
What do you find most rewarding about working here?
Knowing that I can use my skills and expertise to make an impact, as well as the opportunity to grow and develop with the business.
Aaron, Mortuary and Logistics Manager
How long have you worked at Poppy’s and what attracted you to working here?
In total I have been with Poppy’s for over eight years. Some of this time was spent as a freelancer before becoming full time. Reading the advert for the freelance role sparked a lot of curiosity.
Once I experienced the role first hand and felt the honour and privilege it is to care for someone’s person who has died, I was hooked.
What does your job involve?
Ensuring that the people we look after are cared for to the highest possible standards. Making sure our team are set and ready for the funerals they are leaving with.
Planning when and how we can bring the next people into our care as soon as possible. Helping families and friends when they come to visit their person.
What do you find most rewarding about working here?
Each day brings its own, sometimes unusual and unique, challenges. Most of all it’s the feeling we get when we help someone — like you have genuinely made one small part of the death process easier for the people going through it.
Nichola, Office Administrator
How long have you worked at Poppy’s and what attracted you to working here?
I’ve worked at Poppy’s for 11 weeks. I was initially drawn in by the website. I began researching and ended up reading every page, learning and being inspired along the way. I could see that Poppy’s really aligned with my values and that was something I was looking for in a job.
What does your job involve?
I am the office administrator, but I am very proud to have been able to experience the work that happens in all areas of the business. Day to day, I take care of all the administration and the building and greet our lovely clients when they visit us.
What do you find most rewarding about working here?
Being a friendly face to greet clients when they arrive, being able to offer an empathetic ear and assure them that their person is in good hands. Also working in the mortuary and having the honour of caring for the people in our care is extremely special.
Gemima, Client Support Advisor
How long have you worked at Poppy’s and what attracted you to working here?
I will have been at Poppy’s two years this May. I was attracted to Poppy’s by the values we hold.
Poppy’s embodies its values every day, in how we care for those who have died, how we care for our clients, and how we talk to the sector about what good death care looks like. It’s so refreshing to work at a company that walks the walk as well as talking the talk.
As someone who knows what it is like to arrange a funeral and move through grief, I know how important good death care can be immediately after a death happens; as well as for the months, or years after a funeral has happened.
What does your job involve?
The Client Support Advisors are the first point of contact for anyone contacting Poppy’s to arrange a funeral or talk about a future funeral.
We answer phones and emails, speak with new clients and existing ones, and book people’s funerals.
We speak with registrars, coroners, hospitals and GPs to ensure that the paperwork needed for a funeral is processed without delay, is correct and reflects our client's needs. We then organise the appropriate time for the client's meeting with their funeral director.
What do you find most rewarding?
I think it’s how I’ve developed personally and emotionally as a result of doing the job I do. Listening to stories about those who have died, and those who are bereaved, has meant I’ve had to become incredibly self-aware about how I am doing emotionally.
Caring for ourselves and our team at Poppy’s extends to caring for our clients; we cannot do our jobs well and serve the people who need us, without caring for ourselves and each other first.
Amy, funeral director
How long have you worked at Poppy’s and what attracted you to working here?
Just less than a year ago, I started as freelancer doing the role of Funeral Director on the Day. I started my current role this autumn, where I now work with families to plan, organise and direct funerals.
I have always been fascinated by the funeral sector, and coming from an events background, I realised very quickly just how many parallels the two sectors have. After all, a funeral is an event!
What does your job involve?
There is a lot of admin that goes into planning a funeral! I spend time putting together plans for services and getting paperwork to the right places, but when I am not at my computer I am meeting with families, checking in on their person in the mortuary, or out on the road at a service.
What do you find most rewarding about working here?
Sounds clichéd — but I really do mean it when I say that no two days are the same. I was once asked to apply red lipstick to a person who had died that had enjoyed a bold lip in life. I am a daily wearer of red lipstick and so for me, this was a really touching experience.
Find out more about working with Poppy's
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