Shari Stern earned her Life Cycle Celebrant ® Certification for Funerals in 2021 from the Celebrant Institute & Foundation. She always wanted to do work with a larger purpose, and has spent over 20 years helping to bring Natural/Organic products to market- driven by the desire to help the environment and support healthier lifestyles.   She took an interest in funerals after reading an article about the environmental impact of contemporary American burials.  She explored deeper and found a similarity to her work during the early stages of the burgeoning organic food industry. She wanted to get back into supporting old but new ideas, and share the options for more meaningful and sustainable- even regenerative funeral practices.  

 

Shari also had the fortunate experience of attending several personalized, beautiful funeral ceremonies that were life affirming and healing for the living. Years later, these  memories from these funeral ceremonies remain embedded into her soul.  She has also experienced some more traditional ceremonies that were unwelcoming, methodical, and did not leave the warm memories as she experienced with some others. Knowing there is a difference and options- she committed to embracing this path towards meaningful funerals, sustainable/regenerative burial options, and helping people feel more comfortable within the space of death.

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Shari has a Masters Degree in Environmental Policy from Tufts University and a Bachelors of Science from Rutgers University. She started working in the waste reduction industry in the 1990’s- spreading the word about composting, recycling, and reduction overall. She later “fell” into the then- small natural/organic products industry in various roles and enjoyed her experiences there. In between she did Public Relations for mostly food and restaurant businesses- when the Food Network scene was exploding- and even developed her own content- creating Aphrodisiac Cooking Classes which gained both local and national media attention on The Food Network and Self Magazine.  

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Shari loves a good story behind everything, and is excited to pivot into her new role in supporting people as they say goodbye to loved ones, share their stories, and seal their memories into their hearts.  She lives in the Philadelphia area with her husband, 2 daughters, and cat. When not working she enjoys her time in nature hiking, camping, reading a good book, and writing personalized Mad Libs for her kids and her friends.