Your Community & Your Estate

Hello! Happy Wednesday!

You might be wondering what the heck estate planning has to do with community building. But I’m here to tell you two reasons I think these things go together.

1. I think part of community building is knowledge sharing. Sharing knowledge with people can empower them and it can help us all build a better world. And conversations can lead to even more exciting ideas.

2. From my conversation with Jen, what I can tell you is that Estate Planning is the polite thing to do for the awesome community of people you’ve built in your life. If something happens to you, don’t you want you want to leave your affairs in order so they don’t have to worry about it later?

And MAYBE. Just maybe, you’re wondering what the heck is estate planning.

Estate planning is the preparation process you partake in to organize your financial assets and after-life plans for if/when you become incapacitated and/or you die. (Yeah, I decided direct was the way to go here.)

In Season 2, Episode 2 of Things I’m Working On, I have a one-hour conversation with attorney, legal educator, speaker, and podcaster Jen Gumbel from An Organized (after)Life. We talked about what you need to know and the types of questions you should be asking yourself (and your loved ones) in order to prepare for the worst while things are still going alright.

And honestly, it’s just a really logical, direct conversation. Which I appreciate. I ask a lot of questions, and she gives a lot of answers. (Not only that, but she actually developed a workshop on it all.)

Why did I want to do an episode about estate planning this season? Because now that I’m planning a wedding I’m trying to better understand what that means from a legal perspective and what sorts of adult things I’m supposed to have done that I just hadn’t gotten around to yet.

Please consider sharing this episode with your loved ones - and start having some conversations - with both friends and family. The more we talk about things, the less stigma there is about them.

This email isn’t only about estate planning, it’s also about personal development and community building. Please continue reading below for additional resources I’m excited to share with you.

Things I’m Working On Podcast

Speaking of podcasts, you will all be excited to know that Season 2 of the Things I’m Working On podcast launches today. We’ve got a great season lined up for you, and I’m excited to launch the first four episodes over the next two months.

In case you need a recap, Things I’m Working On is a podcast that is part journal, part conversation starter, about how to be just a little better than we are right now focusing on topics ranging from professional development to personality tests to financial planning.

Upcoming episodes include:

• Episode 3: Merging Financial Lives Together
  An interview episode with certfied financial planner professional Beth D’Andrea from PlumTree Financial Planning about the financial questions you should be discussing with your partner if you are getting married.
  Launch Date: March 24, 2021

• Episode 4: Prenuptial Agreements 101
  An interview episode with divorce lawyer and family law attorney, Mindy Previtera, from Petrelli Previtera law firm in Philadelphia, PA.
  Launch Date: April 7, 2021

• Episode 5: Virtual Party Planning for a Guest of Honor
  This solo episode discusses what you should think through when hosting a virtual party for a guest of honor. This includes birthdays, bridal showers, bachelorette parties, retirement and farewell parties, and more.
  Launch Date: April 21, 2021

Be on the lookout for these new episodes, I’m so excited to share them with you as I learn more about this journey towards becoming a married woman.

Things to Check Out:

Here are just a few resources from around the internet I’ve loved in the past few weeks related to community building & personal development:

• This Medium article by Misha Glouberman on how to host a cocktail party on Zoom.

• This Real Simple article by Jancee Dunn about how she learned to throw amazing parties every time. (This article often references Priya Parker.)

• This 18-minute Writing Excuses podcast that talks about how to write endings. (It never hurts to be able to tell a good story.)

• This 5-minute video where new friend Steph Trujillo walks us through her process for creating her vision board.

• Friend of the podcast (S1E7) Justin Shiels’ new free download: 30 journaling prompts for deep self reflection.

• Loving Creative Mornings virtual field trips. Last weekend I did one called “Discover Your Next Creative Idea through List-Making!" with Leya Van Doren, a creativity coach and podcaster.
  Note: John (my fiancé) joked that if someone was going to satirically come up with a name for a workshop that was just for me, this would be it. He was correct, it was amazing.

• I pre-ordered two children’s books this week. (Links below are affiliate.)
  Is this something everybody does? I always feel like I need to try them before buying them for people.

  • Change Sings: A Children’s Anthem by Amanda Gorman

  • What Are Your Words? A Book About Pronouns by Katherine Locke

And for all the women out there - I hope you had a lovely International Women’s Day. I had the opportunity to speak to a small group at the office about goal setting based on how you want to feel, habit building, and the innate value each human has. It was a very fun evening, and I hope for more vulnerable converastions like that at the office soon.

And please, if you think they would like it, consider forwarding this newsletter to a friend. It would mean so much to me!

xo Chrystina