Wake-Up Calls Named a Distinguished Favorite in the 2026 NYC Big Book Award

September 4, 2026

Wake-Up Calls just received one of the highest honors a book can earn. The 2026 NYC Big Book Award named it a Distinguished Favorite in Death & Dying, standing alongside some of the most meaningful voices writing about this profession today. I am deeply honored, and I want to be honest about something. The award is not what moves me most. What moves me is you.

This Book Was Never Just Mine

I wrote Wake-Up Calls from forty-four years of lessons that landed on me like a swing from a baseball bat, the failures, the self-doubt, the moments I wondered whether I truly belonged at the head of the table. I wrote it as my story because that was the only story I had the right to tell.

But this recognition does not belong to me alone. It belongs to every woman who has stood in the arrangement room second-guessing herself. It belongs to every woman who has led with her whole heart while wondering if it was enough. It belongs to every woman who has shown up for families on their hardest days while quietly, privately, building the confidence to lead. If you have ever done any of those things, this award is yours as much as mine.

Why the Recognition Matters

I will admit there is something deeply validating about a national panel of judges looking at a book about grief, leadership, and women finding their voice in the funeral profession and calling it distinguished. Our profession is not always seen. The women in it are not always seen. This award is a small, public signal that our stories, your stories, matter far beyond the walls of the arrangement room.

But I have never done this work chasing recognition. I have done it because I believe our profession needs its women equipped, supported, and unafraid to bring their whole hearts to work. The award is a beautiful moment. It is not the mission.

The Goal Was Always You

One hundred percent of the proceeds from Wake-Up Calls continue to fund women’s scholarships and Funeral Women Lead Foundation initiatives. That has not changed, and it will not change. Every copy purchased becomes coaching, mentoring, and access to community for a woman who might not otherwise find her way to it. The goal was never the award. The goal was always you and what you are capable of becoming.

So today, I am celebrating with you, not for you. If you have picked up Wake-Up Calls and found a piece of yourself in these pages, this recognition is proof that your story, and the profession’s need to hear it, is being seen on a bigger stage. If you have not yet read it, I would be honored to have you join us.

Grab your copy, and let’s keep writing this story together.

Cheering you on, always!

Lisa

Wake-Up Calls is available now. One hundred percent of proceeds support women’s scholarships and Funeral Women Lead Foundation initiatives.

#WakeUpCalls #FuneralWomenLead #HeadHeartGrit #WomenInFuneralService #HeartCenteredLeadership

Every copy of Wake-Up Calls lifts another woman forward, with all proceeds supporting scholarships and initiatives that advance women in funeral and deathcare. If the book has spoken to you, a two-minute review helps carry its message further. Leave your review here.

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Wake-Up Calls: A Journey of Learning to Lead and Succeed in the Funeral and Deathcare Profession

Lisa Baue recounts her transformative journey from a grieving daughter to a successful business owner in a male-dominated industry.

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