Local StoriesNovember 18, 2024

Meet Lynn Principe

Local Stories

Today, we’d like to introduce you to Lynn Principe. Lynn was introduced to us by the brilliant and talented Terri Chaplin.

Lynn, thank you so much for joining us today. We’d love for you to bring our readers up to speed – can you introduce yourself and share your story?
I am often asked how I became an End of Practitioner and Grief Coach, mostly because it’s a very uncommon career path! Like most of us, I don’t remember death or dying being normal topics of conversation when I was growing up and any grieving that I’m sure was happening, was done behind closed doors. It wasn’t until I was an adult and had relocated to Florida that I had my first intimate experience with death. My father’s aunt and uncle, both in their late 80’s lived in Florida and had no children or other family to look out for them. I became that person. As my great aunt’s health declined, I spent a lot of time at her bedside and served as a liaison to the rest of our family up north. She was very generous in sharing what was happening for her physically and emotionally. There was both beauty and sadness to the entire process. She was a beautiful teacher for me. After our visits, I would go home and write down all of my impressions into my journal.

After she died, I became a hospice volunteer. I spent the next 7 years now caring for my great uncle and volunteering where I could. His journey was less gentle, yet he taught me so much about the importance of advocating for your wishes. He used to say to me, “Lynn, I’m being treated like a potted plant”. He was adamant that he live and die with dignity and I’m grateful that he taught me what that means.

After he died, I wanted to learn everything I could about how to support dying people and to create opportunities for sacredness and beauty in the process. I studied ceremonies and became a Funeral Celebrant and in 2018, I began my training to become an End of Life Doula.

As and End of Life Doula, or Death Doula, I support dying individuals and their loved ones through the entire process; not just in practical ways, but also emotionally, spiritually, physically and through legacy work. I have had the honor to walk many folks home and to support and witness their journeys.
It was a natural next step to become a Master Grief Coach. I always felt like there was something missing when I said goodbye to families after their loved one had died. Then, while I was grieving a deep loss of my own, I met Terri Chaplin and decided that the perfect time was now to study grief.

Let’s talk about your work and career – what else should we know?
Because I am there for my clients from terminal diagnosis, through the dying process, offering funeral services and now grief coaching, I can confidently say that although death can be a challenging journey, you don’t have to walk it alone. one of my favorite quotes that appears on my website is Ram Dass’ line, “”We’re all just walking each other home”. Another aspect of my work that I’m passionate about is education. I am a frequent guest speaker for podcasts, universities and various organizations. I encourage my audiences to consider death as a part of life and to initiate important conversations.

Terri Chaplin has been a great friend to us and I know you’ve got a great relationship as well. Maybe you can tell our audience a bit about Terri and your experience with them.
When I found Terri’s work, I was at a low point personally. I had just experienced more than one deep loss in my own life. Although, for years, I had been the strong back and soft heart for others, it was hard to be that for myself. Terri and I had a couple of conversations that made me feel supported and heard, not just as a fellow solopreneur, but as someone who had walked through their own grief and now had the tools and resources to help others. I wanted to experience the content for my own healing and be more equipped to help my own clients through their grief journey.

I found the content in the Healing Hearts Master Grief Coach Certification to be very thorough. I appreciate how she explored grief from many angles and belief systems. The course sparked many ideas of how to incorporate coaching into my own offerings and I took many many notes along the way!
One of Terri’s greatest strengths is how she lifts others up. She has been an incredible support and cheerleader for her students and is very accessible along the way. I feel very comfortable reaching out with questions or suggestions and I have felt that my experience has been valuable to her. That personal touch has made all the difference.