Willful

I’m very excited to welcome Chris Long to the Willful team as our new Chief Product and Technology Officer! Chris is an software developer by trade, and a seasoned product executive who has worked at tech companies including Shopify and most recently, Axonify. Chris writes about his approach to building empowered product teams on his personal website (https://lnkd.in/g5f-c-WP), and during the hiring process our leadership team and product trio were so impressed by how Chris exemplifies Willful’s values of empathy, accountability, and agility. In his spare time, Chris tinkers with emerging technology (in a LinkedIn post last week he showcased his AI-powered recipe manager), and he’s also a seasoned traveller and foodie. We're so excited to have him overseeing the product & eng org at Willful moving forward, and to see how he accelerates our product vision. We had the opportunity to work with executive search firm True Search on this hiring process, and I can’t say enough good things about their team (specifically Marianne Bulger, Mark Sylvester, and Olivia Penciner). They did an amazing job at building a diverse pipeline of candidates, thanks in part to their inclusive hiring platform, Aboveboard (https://lnkd.in/gyEfGT6m). Highly recommend Marianne and her team if you’re looking for an executive hire in tech (in Canada or globally; they work on searches around the world). Welcome Chris to the team!

Thanks to all the Willful customers who came to our will signing pop-up at Staples this week! We welcomed some longtime customers, and some who completed their will that day, all of whom printed their documents for free at Staples, and executed their wills thanks to our Willful witnesses. Did you know you have to print/sign a will on paper in Ontario in front of 2 witnesses to make it legal? Doug Downey, when are you going to make digital wills a thing to save some paper and make it easier for people?! Thanks to neighbourhood network Nextdoor for partnering with us on this event - we hope to host more of these to make it easier to execute your will, and to host more Wills 101 sessions to educate folks on the myths about creating a will, and how we're making it easier, more convenient, and more affordable at Willful. Thanks to our team at Willful for organizing - special shoutout to our partnerships lead Maya Patel for all your hard work on the event!

Is it smarter to invest in an #RESP for your children? Or something else? Willful CEO and co-founder Erin Bury discusses these questions and more in her latest article for The Globe and Mail. Read it here: https://lnkd.in/gWHNAjg4

A huge thank you to Erin Bury and Willful for their incredible workshop yesterday for neighbours, about the importance of a will. Neighbours on Nextdoor had their questions answered during 'Make a Will Month' which continues through end of November. Download nextdoor.ca or, via the app store today, to learn important information from neighbours nearby. No need to build a following, neighbours are already there waiting to connect. Don't have a will yet? Check out willful.co today for a cost effective and simple way to protect those you love. Christopher Doyle Anne Morello #makeawillmonth #community #neighbours #november #helpaneighbour

Reminder: we're hosting a free Willful open house tomorrow, November 19th from 10am-4pm, at the Corktown Staples in Toronto in partnership with neighbourhood network Nextdoor. Get your will printed & witnessed for free, hear a Wills 101 session from me at noon, and meet the Willful team. Lunch and coffee/tea will be provided. If you've had your will sitting in your Willful account without a printer, or if you've been trying to figure out who to witness your will, come on out and finally check it off your list (oh and meet Willful team members Kevin Oulds Dave Haber Julia Wilkie Maya Patel Sara A.). Grab a free ticket - your attendance supports Daily Bread Food Bank: https://lnkd.in/gX6E-biH

Did you know? November is "Make a Will Month." We’ve teamed up with Willful to offer an information session on estate planning. Join Carleton alumna and Willful Co-founder and CEO, Erin Bury on November 26 from 11:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. (EST). Erin will debunk common estate planning myths and you'll have a chance to ask questions during the live Q & A. Register at: https://lnkd.in/e6zxSgq5

I've become the "will woman" in my friend and peer group, which means I talk about estate planning everywhere from the local park in Prince Edward County, to dinner parties, to online with our customers at Willful. And I consistently hear the same misconceptions from folks, which I try to dispel in this Scotiabank Perspectives podcast: 👫 I don't need a will, everything will just go to my spouse anyway 💁🏻♀️ I'm too young to need a will 💰 I only need a will if I have a lot of assets 📅 A will is set-it-and-forget-it 👔 I have to visit a lawyer to create a will Check it out wherever you listen to your podcasts! Thanks Stephen Meurice for being a great host.

If you’re like many Canadians, a common item that just sits at the bottom of your to-do list is to create a will. That’s because the process can seem intimidating if you don’t know what’s involved. Do my spouse and I need our own wills? Where do you even keep a will? A safe? The freezer? Or the most common misconception, according to Erin Bury, co-founder and CEO of Willful: do I need to list out all my assets in my will? Erin is the guest on our latest podcast episode and she’ll answer all these questions and more as she taps into her years of expertise and dispels ten common myths around estate planning. Follow Perspectives on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts. Or listen to the full episode on our website: http://ms.spr.ly/6040WiSQM

My latest for Today's Parent: why every parent should have a "death binder," and what to put in yours. Kevin Oulds & I travelled to Morocco without our kids earlier this fall, and before we left we sent a super fun text to my sister telling her where all the documents/info was in case something happened (why is it always getting on a plane that causes this existential reflection?!). Death binders don't have to be physical binders; mine is all stored in the cloud and a password manager. Some key things to put in: ✅ Important paperwork (wills, POAs, life insurance policies, asset & liability list - something we offer at Willful) ✅ Key contacts (insurance brokers, financial advisors, paediatricians) ✅ Any cohabitation, separation, child support, or divorce agreements ✅ Health information and other instructions for your children Thanks to Debbie Stanley, TEP, MTI from professional executor firm ETP Canada for helping to flesh out the list of things parents should put in their binder! A full list of items in the article: https://lnkd.in/gPS2tdEt

📢 It’s Make a Will Month! 📢 Did you know? 72% of Canadians have delayed key financial decisions, including making a will! Now is the time to act—protect your family’s future with Willful and get 25% off all plans, plus a $25 gift card of your choice when you choose the Premium x 2 plan. 🗓️ Offer runs from Nov 5-18. Learn more at https://bit.ly/3Fb97pZ Sign up today: https://bit.ly/4e5KOdG #MakeAWillMonth #EstatePlanning #Willful