Tavia McKenzie – The fresh face of the funeral home industry

TWENTY-SEVEN-YEAR-OLD Tavia McKenzie, a graduate of The University of the West Indies (The UWI), has achieved her lifelong dream of opening her own funeral home. McKenzie, a Portlander, tells All Woman that she had always been interested in forensics, and when she was younger, would spend her time watching murder documentaries.
“This is something that I’ve always wanted to do. My parents and other family told me that they knew I would either go into the forensics field or the funeral home industry, and if you and I have ever had a conversation you would always hear me say that I am going to open my own funeral home. This is something that I definitely knew I wanted to do!”
The owner of Mck’s Funeral Arrangements and Services said she worked in the morgue after graduating from The UWI. Now she is on her own.
“What makes my funeral home different is that it is run by myself, and I am the mortician/embalmer at my establishment,” she shared. “I am also bringing a whole different vibe to the funeral home industry, as I am young and very creative.”
After graduating from university with a bachelor’s degree in basic medical sciences in 2020, McKenzie went on to study embalming and restorative arts at Montego Bay Community College. Regardless of her being qualified, she said she struggled to get a job.
“When I graduated university during COVID I printed some résumés and cover letters, and I went to some funeral homes and some hospitals in Kingston. Most of the funeral home workers, especially the men, were kind of sceptical as to hiring a woman; they were like, ‘Are you the person that wanted the job?’ ”
This experience not only motivated her further to start her own funeral home, but also to take an alternative approach as to how it would be operated. McKenzie, who believes women are natural caretakers, hopes to hire mainly women to work for her.
“I am trying to hire more women to work in the morgue with me because, compared to other funeral homes, usually when you go on the compound it is always like 99 per cent men, so I am trying to step away from having a male-dominated funeral home,” she said.
“I am trying to step away from the norm, bringing something different — especially to Portland which is my hometown — that is not so exposed to things that happen outside of Portland.”
She said she will use new and creative techniques to differentiate herself from the established names in the industry.
“I’ve been watching and observing so I kind of know the norm and I am trying to step away from that in many ways — in the way how we do the funeral service decorations, in the way how we’re going to do candlelight decorations, wake decorations…”
McKenzie said though she is assisted by family members, she has first-hand involvement in every aspect of her business — from embalming the body to executing the funeral. The business currently operates mainly from a storage unit in Kingston; however, a new location is being renovated in Port Antonio, Portland, and McKenzie said she hopes to hire as the business expands.