College class sparks Family Business of Robinson family

EASLEY — Sometimes in college, it’s taking that one class that helps jump-start your life.

That was the case for Anna Robinson. She’s currently a dual license apprentice at Robinson Funeral Homes in Easley.

Robinson grew up going to Forest Acres Elementary School and Gettys Middle School. Then, she went to J.L. Mann High School and graduated with a bachelor’s degree from Texas Christian University with a Health and Fitness major and a minor in Entrepreneurship and Innovation from TCU Neeley School of Business in May of 2023.

“It was not until I took Family Business the spring of my senior year at TCU where I truly understood my upbringing and relationship with family business,” she said. “My professor, Michael Sherrod, practiced what he preached which I strongly admired in the sense that he also shared experience with family business. There were other colleagues in my class that had a passion for family business. Those who were not involved in family business got a taste of what it is like as the class itself had a hypothetical family business where we had a board of directors and family that owned a calendar company. We had to decide what we were going to do as each of us had an individual role. After each class, it led me to think hard about what I am going to do because I do have a role as Chris’ daughter whether I like it or not.”

Anna is grateful for her upbringing and the family values that she has gained in life. Her dad, Chris, also went the extra mile to see her in college and that one class (Family Planning) really hit home for her even more.

“I was fortunate enough to have my father, Chris Robinson, fly into Fort Worth and share his experience with Robinson Funeral Homes. I will never forget the enlightening feeling I had not only hearing about his passion for the business but also seeing the care in his eyes. I saw a different side of my father that I had never seen before. Growing up, it was hard for me to fathom him working almost every day out of the year but now I see that this was his way of supporting not only me as his daughter but the community of Easley. I am incredibly grateful and proud of his values, morals and work ethic. Not only is my father one of the funniest people I know but he is one of the smartest. As I become more and more of the woman I have dreamed of becoming, I see myself wanting to inherit the strong values that have been instilled in him by his father, and 3 generations before that.”

So, Anna is proudly the fifth generation of Robinson Funeral Homes. She is quick to also mention her brother, John who is a rising senior at Clemson University. He is majoring in Political Science and is interning this summer in Washington, D.C. “My brother means the world to me and we are both very supportive of each other,” she said.

Anna started working at Robinson Funeral Home in August of 2023.

“After finally convincing him (her dad) to let me work for him,” she said. “I made a PowerPoint presentation in our living room with my goals to work at the Funeral Home in mind and what I could bring to the business. He was adamant that I do my own thing first which I appreciated and deeply considered. After much thought and deliberation, I decided I wanted to take this on as my full time career. Chris offered me a position to start working funerals to see how I liked it. I loved it and applied for an apprenticeship which I obtained in December of 2023.”

Anna is continuing her education remotely and is going to school remotely at John A. Gupton College in Nashville, Tenn. She will complete her clinicals at both Robinson Funeral Home and in person at Nashville. Then after graduation, she will take her National and State board exams to officially be licensed.

Added Anna, “Growing up in a small town with a family business that has been running for almost 150 years, it is evident that we are loyal, honest and constantly working to help the community in any shape or form whether that is through funeral service or other forms of community outreach. My main goal is to hold myself to a strong standard of integrity because that in my opinion is what makes our business stand out.”