Shamiah

Born and raised in the greater Pittsburgh area, I graduated from Schenley High School. While in high school, I worked in the community with Nego Gato Inc., a local dance company, where I taught African-Brazilian Martial Arts and Dance. This experience furthered my desire to serve the community, therefore, provoking me to volunteer my time and gifts to several other organizations. At the age of fourteen I wanted to become a funeral director as I had experienced quite a few deaths in my family. At that time my grandma encouraged me to find another career as the funeral industry was a male dominant profession. Only is she was alive to see the percentage of women in the industry now. I took heed and decided to use my abilities in the medical field. I worked as a Surgical Technician for 6 years, providing skilled medical support in the UPMC Heath Network. After my grandma died in 2014, I realized my true gift was in honoring and comforting families during their greatest time of need. In 2016, I graduated from the Pittsburgh Institute of Mortuary Science class 153. Completed my apprenticeship at Burton Funeral Home in Erie, PA as it was the better move to become well a rounded Funeral Director. Working at Burton’s I was able to serve families of all different religious and ethnic background. Through experiencing loss and death in my family, I strived to ease the burden and stress of funeral arrangements for the families I serve. When returning back to Pittsburgh I found it hard to either find a place of employment that wanted to pay a newly hired funeral director a decent wage or there wasn’t a great home/work life balance, and/or the work atmosphere really wasn’t conducive to effectively serve families in the manner I desired. I then stepped away from the funeral industry for a couple years to regroup.  Then an opportunity of a lifetime presented itself and even though my short-term goal was not to open my own funeral home, God opened the door for me to do so. This is a very small industry be careful who you come in contact with and how you treat them as you never know who is attached to your next move. I ended up opening up my funeral home with the help of my old co-worker from Burton Henry Howze Jr. and my old PIMS classmate Lydia Alvarez.

The two most important things I learned at PIMS was one maintaining a posture of professionalism. Opening my own funeral home without having a family name to stand on in the city of Pittsburgh in the black community hasn’t happen in ages. Being the youngest, female black funeral director/owner, I wanted people to take me seriously. That despite my age or how long I have been in this industry, I wanted to gain their trust that their loved one will be treated with the utmost dignity, compassion, and excellence. So, it was a must to carry myself with professionalism to help gain the trust of the community. The other thing I learned at PIMS is “remember why you did it”. I fortunately learned this earlier on as I began to see my classmates quit left and right. Times in school were very challenging as I went to school full time and worked full time, but when I wanted to quit, I had to remember why I started. This still rings true in opening my own funeral home because it was not easy. Remembering why I did it keeps me going.  In about 15 months of opening my first location I was able to open my second location in Erie, PA. There are still challenges to face but the gratitude from the families we serve make it worth it.

My mother Faye Cosby is my overall inspiration. Her hardworking nature, her heart to serve and help those around her gave me the desire to do so as well. In the industry my role model, though I don’t think he’s aware would-be Peter Burton, his innovative way of staying in front of the industry and its changes, along with making sure his staff feels like family and are taken care of, fostered that mentality in me as well. With my mother’s heart and Peter’s business ambition I believe will continue to inspire me in the many decades to come. Thank you both.

The advice I would give to anyone interested in this industry have a reason you want to achieve it, a reason that not even yourself can stop you from achieving it. I have faced odds of the impossible my whole life but with God are things are made possible.