‍<sup>Hello,

I’m QuyenZi, Founder of Hello I’m Dead. This is where I’m supposed to provide the origin story for why I completely pivoted my career and decided to start a platform to embrace death. As someone who has been in marketing and advertising for over 20 years, I should have knocked this one out of the park, but to be honest, I’ve been struggling with what to write because it’s been a life’s journey to get here.

What I can do is tell you about what (and who) led me here, inspired me to build and give purpose to Hello I'm Dead: COVID, my son, and my mother.

During quarantining, I became obsessed with death. Like many, I felt helpless, alone and terrified about what the future had in store. I started planning for that dreaded day when I pass. I had been putting off creating a Living Trust and Will but decided it was time, so that my son would be taken care of in case something happened to me. Completing these tasks gave me a sense of relief, it felt good to be able to leave my legacy and allocate not just my finances, but the beloved things I’ve collected in life, to my loved ones. I also decided that my funeral would be one kick ass party where all my loved ones would celebrate instead of grieve.

Then, on March 26, 2021, a tragic shooting took place in Atlanta that took the lives of 8 women. This one hit me hard. I thought about my mother and how much she meant to me. I come from a devout Catholic, Vietnamese refugee family. We were raised on tough love and communicating with emotions was never taught nor practiced. COVID made me want to change that. I wrote a Letter to the Lotus Flower for my mother and shared it with the world. Things I learned from my mother that give me purpose for Hello I’m Dead:
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1) We can design, create, and make whatever our heart desires – often with very little resources. All we need is determination, passion, and grit.
2) We should always celebrate holidays, birthdays, and milestones with detail and personal touches.
3) Take care of your loved ones, and don’t be a burden.

I used to say that I “came from nothing” because I measured value with money. I was very wrong in saying this. The more I think about it, the more I realize that I came from so much. Each of us has a collection of unique experiences and fond memories that hold personal value that should be shared and celebrated. Hello I’m Dead was created for this reason. That’s my story. So, tell me...what’s yours?</sup>‍‍