Caitlin Doughty Speaking Fee: $10,000 to $20,000

Caitlin Doughty is a licensed mortician, bestselling author, and advocate for death acceptance and funeral industry reform. Born in 1984 on Oʻahu, Hawaii, she developed an early fascination with mortality, which led her to earn a degree in medieval history from the University of Chicago. After college, she entered the funeral industry, working at a crematory in San Francisco, where she gained firsthand experience with the realities of death care. This experience highlighted for her the need for greater transparency and family involvement in end-of-life practices. In 2011, Doughty founded The Order of the Good Death, an organization that promotes death positivity and advocates for alternative funeral practices, such as natural burial and home funerals. Through this platform, she has collaborated with professionals across disciplines to challenge the taboos surrounding death and to encourage more personal and environmentally conscious approaches to dying. Doughty is also the creator of the YouTube series "Ask a Mortician," where she addresses questions about death, decomposition, and funeral customs with a blend of humor and expertise. Her approachable style has attracted a wide audience, helping to demystify death and encourage open conversations about mortality. As an author, Doughty has written several books, including the New York Times bestsellers Smoke Gets in Your Eyes & Other Lessons from the Crematory, From Here to Eternity: Traveling the World to Find the Good Death, and Will My Cat Eat My Eyeballs?: Big Questions from Tiny Mortals About Death. In these works, she combines personal narrative with cultural analysis to explore how societies deal with death and how individuals can reclaim agency in the dying process. Currently, Doughty resides in upstate New York, where she continues her work in funeral service and public education. Through her various endeavors, she remains committed to transforming the way people think about and engage with death, advocating for practices that are more meaningful, sustainable, and inclusive.