Ashton Silva
Arlington,VA
Summary
Collaborative leader with dedication to partnering with coworkers to promote engaged, empowering work culture. Documented strengths in building and maintaining relationships with diverse range of stakeholders in dynamic, fast-paced settings. Dedicated to ensuring clients are satisfied about exceeding benchmarks and expectations, also bringing quality and warmth to a team-driven atmosphere.
Overview
16
16
years of professional experience
Work History
Manager, Licensed Funeral Director & Embalmer
Northern Virginia Burial & Cremation Society
01.2020 - Current
- Enhanced family satisfaction by providing compassionate and personalized funeral services.
- Managed two locations, and two funeral service team members
- to a positive work environment and improved team dynamics.
- Strong experience handling extreme duress and gently mitigating crisis situations
- Greatly capable of handling high-call, constantly fluctuating dynamics and personalities
- High standards in team effort and communication
- Multitask consistently and fluidly to best guide those in need of urgent assistance
- Able to lift 75 pounds or more if required
- Met with families as a pre-need insurance agent
- Arranged most cremations by phone, online or in person
- Supported funeral home operations by assisting with on-call dispatching, visitations, viewings, funerals, and other related events when needed.
- Liaised between hospitals, physicians, hospice organizations, Medical Examiners, National Cemeteries, and attorneys to coordinate final disposition of decedents
- Implemented innovative marketing strategies to attract new clientele while maintaining a strong reputation within the community.
- Assisted colleagues with challenging calls, contributing Conduit for all funeral arrangements, both in-person and electronically
- Received several accolades on Yelp, Facebook, Google and other social media platforms showcasing my exceptional customer service and high ethical standards
- Ability to raise call volume by over 30% over the past 4 years
- Commitment to excellence which has seen multiple referrals from attorney practices, nursing homes and families who have utilized my cremation location repeatedly
- Have spoken at various conventions, giving out brochures and instructing businesses on above-board ethics practices
Licensed Apprentice/Receptionist Administrator
Everly Community Funeral Home
06.2017 - 08.2019
- Learned wide range of simple and complex techniques from on-the-job training.
- Learned proper and safe use and maintenance of power tools, hand tools and safety equipment.
- Increased call volume by nearly 25% in 24 months
- Began 3,000 hour Virginia internship which entailed speaking via phone with dozens of families a week and meeting with almost 200 families a year
- Lead intern responsible for answering all general inquiries, welcoming patrons during services, and helping them to and from the facility
- Spoke with regional managing partners from the East Coast division of Carriage Services on a daily basis as pertaining to germane quality control
- Multi-tasked in a variety of high-intensity situations involving grief and sensitive familial dynamics
- In charge of training newly-hired assistants with all receptionist-related miscellany
- Thrived in highly stressful and delicate situations, maintaining composure on death calls in a variety of circumstances
- Obtained demographics information and generated death certificates on a daily basis
Director's Assistant/Corporate Lead Administrative Receptionist
Murphy Funeral Home
05.2014 - 02.2017
- Enhanced team collaboration through regular communication, goal setting, and performance evaluations.
- Assisted Funeral directors with the filing/consolidation of confidential, sensitive familial documentation
- Worked night visitations and funerals, greeting families and other parties to the appropriate parlors
- Provided excellent customer service, employing skills that assisted directors in acquiring J.D. Power score Service award for the 2015-2016 year
- Administrative assistant in charge of routing incoming calls, relaying them to the appropriate party and referring more complex situations to the Manager of record
- Maintained calm, unperturbed demeanor with families
- Responsible for creating an entirely new filing system that was both more user-friendly and less physically cumbersome; files were made more ergonomically sound, ultimately reducing company costs by nearly 17%.
Communication Center Operator/Dispatcher
Macy's Federated Communications Center
10.2008 - 06.2013
- Was one of five operators in charge of communicating on a daily basis with loss prevention personal from all 842 store locations to ensure audible alarm compliance
- Responsible for dispatching police/fire departments accordingly
- Typed up monthly statistical log of alarm activity, emailing reports to managers, particularly VP of Operations
- Worked in team setting under highly stressful situations, and implemented appropriate written weekly statements summarizing respective alarm activity
- Was voted “Most Improved Associate for Macy’s Federated in 2009.
- Responsible for ensuring East Coast division was alarm compliant, saving company nearly $75,000 a year in auditor penalties
Education
Assoc. of Special Tech. in Funeral Arts & Sciences - Mortuary Science
Pittsburgh Institute of Mortuary Science Inc
Pittsburgh, PA01.2021
Bachelor of Arts - Anthropology
George Mason University
Fairfax, VA05.2016
Associate of Applied Science - General Studies
Northern Virginia Community College
Alexandria05.2012
High School Diploma -
Yorktown High School
Arlington, VA06.2006
Skills
Strong competency in Microsoft Office
Ability to Multitask in High-Stress, high-call situations
Expert in time management
Excels in Team leadership and complex problem solving
Ability to life 75 pounds as needed
CPR certified since 2007
Notary Public for Virginia, Reg No 7694218
Timeline
Manager, Licensed Funeral Director & Embalmer
Northern Virginia Burial & Cremation Society
01.2020 - Current
Licensed Apprentice/Receptionist Administrator
Everly Community Funeral Home
06.2017 - 08.2019
Director's Assistant/Corporate Lead Administrative Receptionist
Murphy Funeral Home
05.2014 - 02.2017
Communication Center Operator/Dispatcher
Macy's Federated Communications Center
10.2008 - 06.2013
Assoc. of Special Tech. in Funeral Arts & Sciences - Mortuary Science
Pittsburgh Institute of Mortuary Science Inc
Bachelor of Arts - Anthropology
George Mason University
Associate of Applied Science - General Studies
Northern Virginia Community College
High School Diploma -
Yorktown High School
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