We recently connected with Anthony Villiotti and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Anthony thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. What sort of legacy are you hoping to build. What do you think people will say about you after you are gone, what do you hope to be remembered for?

To leave a legacy is to outsmart mortality.

The recognition and practice of this mantra is the essence of the legacy I aim to leave on the world. We (especially in Western Culture) have such a strange relationship with mortality in that it is the ultimate and inevitable truth underlying the human experience, yet the notion of being mortal – being temporary – is a thought that is often often feared or suppressed and rarely embraced or celebrated. I want to change that. There is so much beauty to realize in being fearlessly impermanent, with countless ways to acknowledge and commemorate your life and existence prior to its conclusion.

I want to be remembered as an agent of change in terms of how we anticipate death.

Anthony , love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

My name is Anthony Villiotti and I am the Co-Founder of Morte.

In its simplest form, Morte is an event planner. Except we’re not planning your bridal shower or annual members luncheon. We’re planning your Last Impressions Event™.

A Last Impressions Event™ is a formal and intentional observation of your existence that shares certain similarities with what one may recognize as a funeral – but wait, you’re still alive! We bring forward the benefits of having a celebration of your life to a time and place where you can be present and actually enjoy them, and by lending our expert white glove assistance, Morte affords you the opportunity to personally select and incorporate your wildest indulgences, designing an experience to present, share, and cherish that is sure to leave a last(ing) impression.

Morte is all about perpendicularity and expression, which are two concepts that are extremely important to me, especially in the context of my mortality. The problem that Morte solves is one I face multiple times a day: the fear of dying. Not a day goes by without me thinking of the fact that I will one day be gone and that there is factually no solve for that. So given that I can’t solve the actual act of dying, I figured I would set out to find a solve for how I perceive and react to that fact, and the Last Impressions Event™ was born.

The Last Impressions Event™ came to be as a way of identifying a form of luxury that can be associated with the end of your life, without it being experienced and activated at the actual end of your life. This way, clients can seek solace in planning something spectacular throughout their middle and older ages and then experience the night of lifetime all in a state of awareness, vigor, and peace.

Plus, who doesn’t need one more reason to party?

Can you tell us the story behind how you met your business partner?

Once upon a time I worked at a notorious real estate startup based in New York City that was not super great at filing S-1s. I had been in my position for about three months when we decided we would hire a Manager in my team that would sit a level above me. I was enlisted to interview the candidates and I did not care for this one specific candidate as she struck me as being “too proper,” which I made loud and clear to my team. Turns out, this candidate co-founded Morte, a company that blends death and luxury into your next must-have status item. Good thing my team didn’t listen to me!

I was dead wrong about my co-founder. We became such great friends, both moved on from that Company, and naturally made our way back to each other professionally. Sometimes, first impressions are erroneously received and influenced by specific facts and circumstances that have nothing to do with the person’s attributes or characteristics. See? Last impressions are the new first impressions.

We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?

The whole concept of a taboo.

In developing the idea for Morte and the Last Impressions Event, my mind was constantly writing it off and doubting its ability to come to life given its unconventional nature. Every time I thought I was getting somewhere, I would shut it down and say to myself that nobody would ever go for it because it’s just too weird. But as I spent more time with the concept, I realized that its unique and peculiar nature is exactly why it will work – it’s 2023 and you can make a market out of anything. Of course sailing in unchartered waters will feel bumpy at first, but then at some point those waters are not unchartered – you’ve chartered them.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.mymorte.com/