Dan Madden, owner of Stark Memorial in Salem, Ohio and the face behind the viral social media brand “Dan the Funeral Man,” sits down with Ryan Thogmartin of DISRUPT Media and ConnectingDirectors.com for a raw, unfiltered conversation about faith, persistence, building a funeral home from the ground up, and what happens when a funeral director walks a runway with a butterfly urn and the internet loses its mind. In this episode:
- How Dan went from first-generation funeral home owner to viral social media sensation
- The origin story of the Fashion Urn Show and how it exploded to 15 million views
- Why TikTok, Instagram, and Facebook require completely different content strategies
- How social media grew Stark Memorial’s call volume by 30%
- The role faith plays in running a funeral home and serving grieving families
- Why “dignified” is the most overused and least defined word in death care
- The future of the misinformed consumer and what the profession must do about it
Dan didn’t inherit a funeral home. He worked for it, four years of persistent letters and calls before finally closing the deal on Stark Memorial. Now he’s shipping urns to Australia, walking caskets down runways at ICCFA, and building one of the most recognizable brands in funeral service. If you’re a funeral professional who still thinks social media doesn’t work – this episode is required viewing.
