Our Story

About Ripple

Building a community where no one faces grief alone


Our Mission

When someone experiences loss, the effects ripple outward - to family, friends, and community. At Ripple, we're building a community that transforms those ripples from waves of isolation into circles of support.

How It Started

Our Story

The Beginning

Some partnerships start in boardrooms. Ours started in a yoga class.

Caroline and Mary met on their mats, never imagining they'd one day be building a company together. But as they got to know each other, they discovered something they both understood deeply: when someone dies, the people left behind need more than sympathy cards.

Caroline
Co-Founder

Caroline

Licensed Funeral Director | NY License #14621

As a licensed funeral director and AAMI graduate, Caroline has spent years walking alongside families through their hardest days.

Time and again, she saw people struggling not just with grief, but with everything that comes after: meals no one coordinates, yard work that piles up, paperwork that overwhelms, isolation that sets in when casseroles stop coming. Caroline knew families needed more than a funeral service - they needed community, ongoing support, and practical help.

Mary Matyas
Co-Founder

Mary Matyas

Managing Director, Ironbound Group LLC

Mary's background is in media, advertising, banking, and technology - not funeral services. But she understood the challenges from a different angle. She'd watched people navigate the emotional, logistical, and financial chaos that follows a death.

The mounting bills. The insurance confusion. The decisions that need to be made when you can barely think straight. And she saw something else: people who plan ahead fare so much better. Yet almost no one does.

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The Vision

Together, they saw the gap - and the solution.

What if there was a place where grieving people could find real community, not just condolences? Where friends and family could actually help, not just offer? Where people could plan ahead, so their loved ones wouldn't be left scrambling?

That place is Ripple. Caroline brings deep expertise in grief, caregiving, and funeral services. Mary brings strategic and financial know-how from building platform businesses. Together, they're building something that didn't exist before: a community that supports people through every stage of loss - from planning ahead, to navigating the immediate aftermath, to finding your footing in the months and years that follow.

Because grief doesn't end when the funeral does. And neither should support.

What We Believe

Our Values

The principles that guide everything we do at Ripple.

Compassion First

Every interaction, every feature, every decision is guided by genuine care for those navigating loss.

Community Over Isolation

We believe healing happens together. Connection transforms the grief journey from lonely to supported.

Practical Support

Beyond emotional support, we provide real tools and resources for the overwhelming logistics of loss.

Join Our Community

Whether you're navigating loss, supporting someone who is, or planning ahead, there's a place for you at Ripple.