For the past two years, I’ve watched Willful grow from an idea spurred by personal experience to a thriving platform that has helped thousands of Canadians create their estate plan online simply, easily, and for a more affordable price than a traditional estate lawyer. From day one when my husband Kevin Oulds, Willful’s founder, told me the idea, I knew he was on to something.
We’ve seen technology change the way we get around our cities (Uber, Lyft), how we invest our money (Wealthsimple), and how we travel (Airbnb). But despite the fact that everyone will at some point face death - their own, and those of their loved ones - preparing for and dealing with death has remained largely untouched by technology and digital tools. We’ve long admired companies like Wealthsimple, who used technology to build a beautiful, user-friendly consumer brand that spoke to millennials like us. Investing money isn’t new, but their platform approached it in a new way for a new generation, and that’s similar to our goal at Willful. We know there are lots of estate planning options out there already, from estate lawyers, to other online alternatives. But we know that our user-friendly design, educational platform, beautiful brand, and team will help us stand apart.
And We’re Just Getting Started.
We know that a will is just one small part of the planning that goes into wrapping up someone’s life. There are so many other questions we’ve heard from customers: how do I take care of my online accounts after I pass away? How can I ensure everyone in my immediate family has a plan in place as well? And what else am I missing when it comes to ensuring not only that I’m prepared, but that my family will have an easier time wrapping up my estate when the time comes? Our mission is to build a suite of digital products that help address these questions, and all of the other unknowns associated with death.
I’m excited to be joining Willful as CEO today to help build towards that mission. I’ve been involved with the company as an advisor and investor since day one, and as Kevin and I have gone through our own life events like getting married and buying property, we’ve seen the need for an estate plan first-hand. I’m passionate about the problem we’re solving, and how we’re helping Canadians ensure they have peace of mind for their families. Thank you to everyone who has been a part of this journey so far - I can’t wait to show you what we have planned for 2019.
Erin Bury
Co-founder and CEO, Willful
