EP #406: Lying On The Floor Grieving = A Book and a Practice — with Esther Pipoly

This week's episode gives insight into the necessity of having the right support to help you navigate the complexity of things that occur before and after a loss. Esther Pipoly is the founder and owner of Loss of Life Advocates, a bereavement consulting firm that assists families in preparing for life's unexpected transitions, such as loss. She is also the author of Lying on the Floor Holding My Breath...: The Grief Experience and the Lessons I Learned After I Got Up.

What You’ll Learn From This Episode:

• 1:46 Esther’s personal experience with losing loved ones and the issues she faced while grieving.
• 8:50 Range of issues she helps people with.
• 12:10 The complications and considerations in buying/selling when there is a business involved.
• 15:03 Why it’s critical to make sure that the people you choose are up to the task.
• 16:47 Meaningful conversations that an insurance provider should be having with clients.
• 20:43 What STERBS are and why is it important to find them?

Quotes:

7:25 “I really learned that in those moments of total grief that you find out if your employer is really going to support you.”

8:07 “We have all these wonderful benefits that consultants and brokers out there provide. But it’s in those really rare moments of grief and tragedy if you are truly the best place to work, you’re focusing on those life changes for your employees because that’s when they need the support the most.”

10:18 “People need to know that somebody has their back because your family and your friends are there for you initially, but you don’t always want to share things like what I went through.”

16:33 “What I find is a lot of people, when they find out exactly what you’re asking them to do, if something happens to you, they will say no, I really think you should hire a professional. And so you know, it really is hard to put that team together a lot harder than people think.”

18:54 “As an advisor, the most meaningful thing that you can ask somebody is, how are you doing? How have you handled it? What are your plans? And do you have the right products in place in the event that something happens to your employees? How do you handle death in your workplace? How are you educating your leadership to talk about what to say, when to say it, how to identify when they see somebody that’s going through a loss.”

20:19 “The advisory position here is we are living in a time where if you’re an insurance, and you’re not talking to your clients and having these meaningful conversations, then you’re not really getting to know your clients