Margaret Chiavini turns end-of-life planning into a guide for living

Business leader and author Margaret Chiavini has released It’s Your Party, a new book that uses farewell planning to push readers toward more intentional living. The book is available now in paperback and ebook through bookstores nationwide and includes practical tools for organizing personal wishes, documents and digital assets.

Why it matters: - Margaret Chiavini frames end-of-life planning as a way to reduce stress for families and sharpen how people live now. - The book aims to help readers make clearer choices about relationships, priorities and legacy before a crisis forces those decisions.

What happened: - Chiavini released It’s Your Party: Design a Celebration of Life (and a Life Worth Celebrating) through Advantage Books. - Simon & Schuster distributes the book. - The title is available in trade paperback and ebook formats through national and independent bookstores nationwide. - Chiavini is a business leader, mentor and author based in Nevada.

The details: - The book invites readers to plan their own celebration of life by choosing music, selecting speakers and hosts, and writing the words they hope appear in their eulogy. - A checklist asks, “Could your family find these tomorrow?” and covers passwords, important papers, personal wishes and day-to-day information loved ones would need. - The guide also includes direction on managing digital information and identifying assets. - The goal is to spare families from logistical confusion during a difficult week after a death. - Chiavini said the book is about “designing a life worth remembering” and giving yourself permission to dream big. - The book draws on her experiences at more than 50 funerals. - One influence was her mother-in-law’s carefully planned farewell. - Another was the sudden death of a close friend. - Chiavini says that contrast changed how she thought about life and legacy. - At 40, Chiavini decided to climb Mount Kilimanjaro before age 50 despite having little mountaineering experience. - She later reached the summit, which reinforced her belief in taking small steps toward large goals. - Her mother also shaped the book’s message by becoming a stand-up comedian at 70 and competing in the Ms. Senior America pageant at 72. - Chiavini urges readers to think about the stories others will tell about them decades from now and use that reflection to guide present-day choices. - She writes, “Don’t wait to tell the people you love what they mean to you.” - Her approach centers on three pillars: optimism, gratitude and responsibility. - Those pillars also anchor her keynotes and workshops. - Chiavini says that once readers clarify how they want to be remembered, those values begin shaping how they spend each week.

Between the lines: - The book blends practical planning with a broader message about purpose, showing how estate-style prep can become a prompt for emotional and behavioral change. - Chiavini is positioning legacy planning as a life-design exercise, not just a grief-management task. - The book’s emphasis on gratitude and relationships suggests a self-help angle aimed at readers who want structure as well as motivation.

What's next: - Readers can learn more and order the book at more information. - Chiavini is likely to continue using the book’s three-pillar framework in her keynotes, workshops and retreats. - The message behind the book points readers toward immediate action rather than delayed planning.

The bottom line: - Chiavini’s pitch is simple: plan the farewell, and you may start living with more urgency, clarity and joy today.