Connect Who or what is your inspiration in business?

My greatest inspiration is the intersection of grief and life itself. I watched people I love leave without a ritual worthy of them and I couldn’t really find a product that honored that: So I built one. As a Mexican artist, I grew up understanding death as continuation, not ending. That cultural truth became my business model. Every artist, entrepreneur and abuela who ever transformed pain into something beautiful inspires Afterleaf.

How do you stay motivated?

Sally. She’s a pothos plant growing from the ashes of a rescued dog and Afterleaf’s first prototype. Every new millimeter she grows is proof that the concept works and that love doesn’t end, it transforms. On the days when everything feels impossible, I look at her and remember why this exists. I’m not trying to build a product, I’m trying to give us a new way to grieve.

What would you do with the $25,000?

Every dollar goes directly into production, bridging the gap between a validated prototype and Afterleaf’s first commercial manufacturing run. This funding is the one thing standing between a living proof-of-concept and a product in the hands of families who need it. Afterleaf is ready. The science works, the market exists, and the demand is real. We just need to scale.