Cianna Stewart

Dying has been a fact of Cianna's life.

Cianna was first drawn to reading about death and death rituals in childhood and never stopped. Maybe it was growing up next to a cemetery. Maybe it was from knowing many people who died in all kinds of circumstances at all different ages. Maybe it was being a teenager when her mom died.

For whatever reason, death has always been part of Cianna's conversation and experience. This was amplified and reinforced by working in HIV during the 1990s in San Francisco. During this period, Cianna experienced the death and memorialization of many friends, and became the primary caretaker for her roommate who died from AIDS.

After Cianna's father and stepmother died in 2019, she resolved to get her own paperwork and other affairs in order so that she wouldn't leave behind the same kind of disorganized mess she and her siblings were left with. To support that effort, she started a group on Facebook. The Dying Kindness podcast emerged out of that group as an effort to encourage others to join in the effort to make key decisions now, well before they're needed, as an act of kindness to those left behind.

Professionally, Cianna has been a writer, documentarian, speaker, coach, event producer, startup founder, nonprofit manager, consultant, workshop leader, and more. Her tagline is "super curious about nearly everything."