Angela Watson is a mother, wife, U.S. Navy veteran and the founder of Parting Gifts, a condolence and memorial gifts company located in Kansas City, Missouri.
She joined the U.S. Navy shortly after finishing high school and spend the next 12 years working in the naval medical field, as a Master Training Specialist and clinician. After her retirement, she completed an M.B.A in healthcare leadership and joined the University of Kansas Medical Center in the Family Medicine Research Division where she worked as a Programs Manger for 13 years.
She has worked on multiple National Institutes of Health (NIH) research projects aimed at increasing preventative health screenings and awareness in underserved and rural communities. Ms. Watson has extensive experience leading community based participatory research projects and teams, working with community partners and leading community based trials.
In June, 2018 Angela unexpectedly lost her beloved sister Melissa and brother-in-law. Together with her family she helped to raise two of their four sons. In 2020, she was inspired to found Parting Gifts after the COVID-19 pandemic halted funerals and changed the ways people were able to provided comfort to loved ones after a death.
The idea for Parting Gifts came after Melissa's funeral. At her funeral, a friend gave Angela a beautifully embroidered handkerchief and simply said, “some tears are meant to keep.” She was deeply touched by her gesture and has carried the handkerchief with her since that day. Its presence in her pocket brings her comfort and reminds her in some way, her sister is still here.
Angela believes that while flowers and other customary sympathy gifts are thoughtful, they often don’t last and lack meaning. Determined to offer more compassionate memorial gifts, she started her company with the the mission to offer thoughtful and personal gifts that will be cherished long after the flowers fade. She explained, "Our goal is to provide gifts which help all who give and received them find peace and comfort in their grief."
You can find Angela at the Parting Gifts website, Facebook, LinkedIn, and you can email her at awatson@partinggiftsco.com.
Don't forget to like, subscribe, or follow this podcast!
You can also support this podcast by clicking "Donate to the Podcast" on the right side of this page. Subscribe to Radiate U, our premium Facebook group, to catch replays of all of our classes by clicking "Subscriptions" here.
She joined the U.S. Navy shortly after finishing high school and spend the next 12 years working in the naval medical field, as a Master Training Specialist and clinician. After her retirement, she completed an M.B.A in healthcare leadership and joined the University of Kansas Medical Center in the Family Medicine Research Division where she worked as a Programs Manger for 13 years.
She has worked on multiple National Institutes of Health (NIH) research projects aimed at increasing preventative health screenings and awareness in underserved and rural communities. Ms. Watson has extensive experience leading community based participatory research projects and teams, working with community partners and leading community based trials.
In June, 2018 Angela unexpectedly lost her beloved sister Melissa and brother-in-law. Together with her family she helped to raise two of their four sons. In 2020, she was inspired to found Parting Gifts after the COVID-19 pandemic halted funerals and changed the ways people were able to provided comfort to loved ones after a death.
The idea for Parting Gifts came after Melissa's funeral. At her funeral, a friend gave Angela a beautifully embroidered handkerchief and simply said, “some tears are meant to keep.” She was deeply touched by her gesture and has carried the handkerchief with her since that day. Its presence in her pocket brings her comfort and reminds her in some way, her sister is still here.
Angela believes that while flowers and other customary sympathy gifts are thoughtful, they often don’t last and lack meaning. Determined to offer more compassionate memorial gifts, she started her company with the the mission to offer thoughtful and personal gifts that will be cherished long after the flowers fade. She explained, "Our goal is to provide gifts which help all who give and received them find peace and comfort in their grief."
You can find Angela at the Parting Gifts website, Facebook, LinkedIn, and you can email her at awatson@partinggiftsco.com.
Don't forget to like, subscribe, or follow this podcast!
You can also support this podcast by clicking "Donate to the Podcast" on the right side of this page. Subscribe to Radiate U, our premium Facebook group, to catch replays of all of our classes by clicking "Subscriptions" here.
RSS Feed