WHITE PLAINS, Md. — The funeral service industry has traditionally been male-dominated. However, there is a new shift towards women leading in the field, and that trend can be found locally. Jessyca Hart and her funeral home, RMT Funeral Services, is leading the way as one of the most notable women-owned funeral homes in Southern Maryland.
Hart, a 38-year-old Charles County native, says she has always been fascinated with the mortuary process. In 2007, she started her collegiate journey and entered a mortuary science program at the Community College of Baltimore County. But her journey was not easy.
Hart is a single mother of three, having her first child at 19-years-old. On top of that, one of her children suffers from sickle-cell anemia.
“For the first two years of her life, we were in and out of the hospital. If she caught a fever, we were in the hospital,” Hart explained.
At that time, she was working in the hospital. She would have to work, then check on her daughter, and stay caught up on her homework. Balancing work, college, and parenting was challenging for her. She ended up having to restart the program three times. She would go on to receive her degree in 2017.
Once she completed her apprenticeship, she wanted to start her own funeral home. Back then, she was known as a hairstylist. She thought that her connections would help boost her funeral services. And while they may have helped, she admits it was more difficult than originally anticipated.
“I thought, I’m just gonna set my funeral home up, and it was gonna be easy, but no,” Hart said.
Once she got RMT up and running, her main goal was to make funeral services more affordable for families in the community.
“It’s tragic that families look to direct cremation or do not have the type of funeral service that they would like due to the fact that they don’t have enough money,” she said. “If families can’t afford flowers, me and my mother would make our own centerpieces for them and decorate.”
Not only does she want to make funeral services affordable, but also make them special and unique.
“I got tired of attending the same funeral service for everybody… I’m young and a lot of people in the industry are older and they’re kind of used to doing it the old-fashioned way,” Hart explained. “I’m trying to break away from that …the funeral is more for the living, it’s more for the people who are there.”
Hart said she believes that funerals should be more of a celebration of life for the person who passed, and therefore it should be unique to them.
“There was a young girl who passed, and she loved nature…instead of having a traditional program book that people would sign, I did kindness rocks…people would decorate them, sign them, and leave messages on them…and then after the funeral, I hid the rocks and created a hashtag called “candy rocks” and then people would find them and post them,” Hart explained.
Hart has a unique vision for what the future holds for the funeral service industry. With more women entering the field than ever before, Hart explained how she felt being a part of one of the few women-owned funeral homes in the area.
“I do feel proud of myself, and I just feel really excited. I’ve had a lot of good training, a good support team, and a great network. I’m just excited for what the future holds,” she said.
Hart then offered her best advice for any woman with a goal or dream that they are determined to accomplish.
“The average person would have quit and thrown in the towel. I thought, if there was this much opposition, that means there was greatness on the other side of it…” Hart explained. “I would say, just keep pushing regardless of what the circumstances look like. I’m so glad that I didn’t quit because if I did, I wouldn’t know what was on the other side of the door.”
Contact our news desk at news@thebaynet.com
Keep your faith and GOD will continue to provide as you grow the vision that makes you who you are. He makes no mistake continue to climb the mountain in front of you.
I so very much appreciate your wise words of encouragement. I am striving to do just that I want to be a blessing as God blesses me.
Good luck, wish you success!
Thank you so much
Congratulations Jessyca!
Keep the faith. You are doing something my husband said would really work in the funeral business. Most funerals do not take into consideration the life of the individual that needs to be highlighted. If a person loved a certain sport that could be the theme to make it fun—a celebration of the life lived. Way to go. Very proud.
I sure do appreciate the well wishes and your comment let’s me know I’m on the right path and I made a good decision. Thank you so much
VERY impressive Jessyca! Even with a growing family you were smart enough, driven enough, organized enough and determined enough to stick with it until you became a success!
You deserve everything good that comes your way and you’ll be an inspiration to anyone that reads your story. Hat tip to you, young lady!
Thank you so much I feel like I wanted to give inspiration to anyone who has a dream and goal you can make your dreams come true! You can and will will just need dedication, drive and yes sometime perseverance. Thank you for the compliment.