We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Estrella Quiroz a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Estrella, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Can you talk to us about serving the underserved.

My father passed away with nothing, yet he left me a gift worth billions.

Despite having no money, property, or job, he gave me something unexpected and priceless – his last voicemails. In those messages, he sang me happy birthday, wished a million angels to look after me, and assured me that things would soon change. A man who left this world with “nothing” somehow managed to give me “everything” I needed for my grief journey.

When we think of end-of-life planning, we often picture wills, life insurance, estate plans, or trusts. These are crucial, but they mainly cater to a certain economic class. There’s a vast, underserved community that doesn’t plan for end-of-life because they feel they have nothing to leave so there is no point in spending hundreds or thousands on estate planning.

This misconception—that not having material wealth means having nothing to give—is what we aim to change. Words alone hold incredible power. A last message to a loved one can be read, listened or watch over and over throughout the years.

My dad’s beautiful last messages are what inspired me to become the co-founder of Last Farewells.

Last Farewells is an end-of-life planning platform that focuses on emotional planning. We help people create their last letters, videos, audio messages, and digital legacies, which are delivered to their loved ones after they pass. My wish is that everyone can have a meaningful message like mine, something that can be a silver lining during their darkest times.

These messages can be scheduled for future milestones like birthdays, weddings, and more.

We envision making this platform accessible in 100+ languages and dialects, so that billions worldwide have the opportunity to leave a Last Farewells. Our goal is to democratize access to a service that offers comfort, closure, and inspiration to individuals and families across all backgrounds in their native language.

Our mission is to ensure no words are left unspoken by anyone, anywhere.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

‘m Estrella, a self-proclaimed Life Enthusiast working in Death! Currently, I’m building an end-of-life planning platform called Last Farewells that helps people ensure no words are left unspoken through last letters, videos, memorial pages, and more.

Choosing an entrepreneurial journey in the “death-tech” industry was inspired by the unexpected passing of my dad when I was 18. Missing his phone call but saving his last voicemail is why I can still listen to his voice even now, ten years later. This deeply personal experience made me realize the profound impact of final messages and inspired me to co-found a platform that could provide this comfort to others.

Last Farewells is designed to fill the emotional gap in end-of-life planning. While traditional planning often focuses on logistics like wills and estate planning, our platform centers on emotional planning. We believe these messages can offer a peace of mind that your words will help loved ones with their grieving journey and serve as the ultimate acts of love.

My degree in Tourism & Hospitality has helped me travel to nearly 50 countries (40 of them alone). This global perspective inspired the vision of making Last Farewells accessible in 100+ languages so that no words are left unspoken by anyone, anywhere.

As a proud First Generation Nicaraguan-American, I honor the sacrifices my parents made and aim to pay it forward by helping as many people as I can worldwide to grieve and celebrate their lives better.

We believe that our platform can truly transform the grieving process by providing lasting, meaningful connections even after a loved one has passed.

We’re aiming to make our website accessible and available by the end of 2024!

How’d you meet your business partner?

Troy Peden is a true hero in my life journey. When I was just 22 and interning at his company, Goabroad.com, he took the time to get to know me over lunch. I opened up about my dreams, including a heartfelt wish to place a gravestone on my dads unmarked gravesite in Nicaragua. Touched by my story, Troy went above and beyond, raising the funds needed to make that wish come true. Shortly after, I was overcome with emotions staring at the gravestone that read my dads name.

A few months later, I was fresh out of college. Troy gave me the freedom to carve out my own role at his company as a Global Ambassador. This landed me in a dream job, traveling solo across Latin America, from Bolivia all the way up to Mexico, meeting clients and creating content for Goabroad.
Four years later, when I asked for his advice in starting a small business to support my family, he did one better. He offered me a chance to join him as a Co-Founder & CEO at his startup, Last Farewells, an idea he had to put on hold due to the pandemic and wanted to restart.

Troy has blessed me and countless others with opportunities beyond measure. I’m determined to pay it forward and give back to the world just as much as he has, starting with my journey at Last Farewells!

How did you build your audience on social media?

Building an audience on social media has been amazing and intimidating! Inspired by companies that openly share their founder journeys, I decided to adopt a similar strategy for our social media presence. Our approach has been a blend of behind-the-scenes looks, authentic storytelling, and emotionally compelling content like last messages. This combination has worked well for us!

We’ve gone viral three times, with people from all across the globe commenting on our content. The first instance was when we shared a voicemail message Bob Saget left for Dave Coulier. The second was a video of a mom reading a heartfelt letter at her daughter’s wedding. The third was a deeply moving clip of a dad listening to a last message from his son. These videos collectively garnered 15 million views and boosted our following to thousands in a short period.

Our goal is to create a mix of user-generated content and founder stories, aiming to build a community of people who are genuinely open to creating their last farewells and sharing them with their loved ones. I focus on posting things that I feel genuinely good about.

For those just starting to build their social media presence, my advice is simple: be authentic, share your journey, and connect emotionally with your audience. Use CTA’s to increase a chance of follow or someone becoming an email subscriber!

Since we are early stage, I edit my own videos using the application Capcut! There’s still so much more to go on this journey, but I’m honored to be where we are at the moment.

Now my next aim is to nourish our current followers and get to know them, ideally so they can help us build Last Farewells in the process!

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.lastfarewells.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lastfarewellsapp/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/lastfarewellsapp
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/lastfarewellsapp
• Other: Sign up to be a test user! https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1e1vuwCV77A7rzY4TLn4EJzt2E7KIz2YpNEUQZDjWI9c/edit