How We Accidentally Had the Most Fun Talking about Death
When you think, “fun” podcast episode, you probably don’t picture a deep dive into death. And yet, there Dana and I were — laughing and giggling in one of the most unexpectedly life-affirming conversations we’ve had.
Our guest? Meredith Parfet. Her résumé includes a fancy MBA, asset management, hedge fund and venture capital leadership, operations, crisis management, as well as an uncanny commitment to studying death. Yep, that death — that thing we all avoid thinking about until we absolutely have to.
The Unlikely Joy of a Death Chat
You’d expect a conversation with a death doula to be heavy and uncomfortable. But from the moment Meredith started talking about her decades-long obsession with mortality, it was like flipping a switch. Instead of dread, there was curiosity. Instead of fear, there was freedom. And somehow, in the middle of a conversation about sitting with the dying and meditating on impermanence, we found ourselves… smiling. A lot.
It was weird. In the very best way.
The heart of Meredith’s journey is deeply personal. In business school, she lost her younger sister to an opioid overdose — an unthinkable tragedy that was only the beginning of a much longer journey.
Death didn’t just visit her once. It kept showing up over and over again in quick succession — derailing her from the roadmap to success she thought she was supposed to follow.
And rather than continuously divorcing her grief from her professional life, she finally invited death in by opening herself up to chaplaincy work.
Let’s be real: You don’t often hear “Chief Operating Officer” and “death doula” in the same breath. But Meredith blends them together beautifully. She runs her own crisis consulting firm, Ravenyard, where she blends her operational expertise with the human heart of grief work. She’s a modern-day chaplain in a fabulous power suit — fluent in SWOT analyses and existential dread.
Meredith didn’t just survive her grief. She built with and through her grief, making it her guide. And now, she helps others do the same.
If you’ve ever been afraid of what’s on the other side of loss, this conversation is a reminder: there’s something beautiful waiting for us there — maybe even a little joy.
Dr. Michelle Weise is the co-host of the new podcast, “A Life Worth Working,” available wherever you listen to podcasts.