This is us...Leisha, Paul and Emmett Hodgson. Paul and I met in 2009, married in 2014 and had our son Emmett in 2016. Our life goal has always been to have a funeral home we could call our own - in fact the name of our Hartlepool business was something decided 14 years ago. Paul and I have been in and around the funeral service in some way, shape or form for over 20 years at least. Emmett knows that his Mammy helps people go to heaven and he has often expressed an interest to do the same, as well as being a ninja and a youtuber! My name is Leisha Louise Hodgson. I am a wife, a mam, a dog lover and I'm also a qualified Funeral Director and Embalmer with over 10 years experience. I actually hail from the town where 'Billy Elliott' comes from, however I was born into a military family and at a very young age I moved around the world and the UK and I didn't return back to the North East (except for family events) until 2002. As everyone does, I had dreams and aspirations to be all sorts of things; a nurse, a surgeon, a pilot and a lawyer. It was actually at the age of 15 when I came to choose my school work experience that I was most intrigued by a job with an independent family run funeral home in Essex. After a few odd looks from my fellow students and a quick phone call from my head of year I became a general assistant in the funeral home for two weeks...and I never looked back. When I moved back 'up North' I knew that no funeral home was going to take on a 16 year old with no life skills and no driving license. So I went to Hartlepool Sixth Form College and studied psychology, media and business. I got a part time job in a call centre (yes, it was Garlands) to pay for my driving lessons and I continued to look for work in the funeral sector. Life went on for a few years. I applied for jobs anywhere I could, I even looked into professional courses and read up on anything to do with funeral directing. In 2009 I secured some work experience and then a full time job with an independent funeral director. I learnt a great deal at my time there and this is where I became interested in the art of embalming. Fast forward 3 years to 2012 and I had fully funded and sat my BIE (British Institute of Embalmers) theory and practical exams...and passed. I had left the independent firm and was offered a job with a large funeral company firstly as a Admin/Arranger and then I reached my ultimate goal - I became a full time Funeral Director in 2014 in Durham and in 2018 my final move was to Strathmore House in my now home town of Hartlepool. 2021 was a year of change and in August of that year, with great sadness, I took voluntary redundancy and after many a day and night deciding what to do with myself, I set up my funeral consultancy firm and then finally decided it was time to do what I had always wanted to do - open my own funeral home I'm honoured and privileged to say I have looked after hundreds of families and helped to bring them comfort and reassurance in their time of need. Coming into the funeral service felt like more of a calling, I'd never been more sure of anything in my life. I am also honoured to hold the role as a Quality Assurance Assessor for the largest funeral trade association in the UK for independent funeral directors in which I support other like minded businesses to offer the highest level of standard to their clients. I qualified as an embalmer in 2012 after two years of dedicated study, weekly tests, 6 written examinations and two practical examinations. The choice to become an embalmer is not one to be taken lightly, I spent every spare moment revising and studying. To this day I still attend educational weekends and workshops because the art of embalming is ever evolving and I feel that taking care of the deceased is one of the most important aspects of a Hartlepool funeral service. We have 2 sausage dogs called Winston and Poppy. We're all quite creative, Emmett loves Lego, Paul is very arty with drawings, paintings and photography and I am an avid cross stitcher and I also love to sing. We're a normal little family who love days out and quiet nights in. Our family and friendships are the most important thing to us as well as our role in the community to support those who need our services.