As a child, I loved to be with my grandparents and ask them questions about their lives. My favorite stories were about how they overcame challenges and got through hard times.

It turns out that begging them for life lessons benefitted me in many ways. When I faced major challenges in my life like homelessness, missed years of schooling, parental abuse, and mental illness, family stories helped me to pull through. I felt that if my ancestors could overcome and achieve difficult things in life, I could too. Today, I owe much of my success to the lessons, identity, and strength I derive from the stories of those close to me.

The positive effects of knowing family stories are not unique to me. Many academic and professional studies from the past two decades have shown that there is a quantifiable positive correlation between how much one knows about their family history and how resilient and successful that individual is. In fact, family stories affect everything from our personal identity to our mental health, relationships, and career success.

As an award-nominated professional historian and published author, I founded Everyday Legacies to help people record their stories for their families, themselves, and the world. Beyond the material assets you leave behind, your true legacy is your story. And my team and I have the passion and the skill to help you tell it.

I'm so glad you are here!