I learned more in 90 minutes than in 37 years - Behind the Pod

Four years ago, I spent 90 unforgettable minutes recording a conversation with my dad.

The goal was to capture his life story. In his words.

As is his way, he bobbed and weaved around a few questions, told some brilliant stories, was deliberately difficult in parts and incredibly thoughtful and insightful in others.

It was a huge success. And though he would never admit it, I think he enjoyed it too!

Having his personality, stories and distinct 'style', captured forever, brought me a surreal kind of peace. My prediction is it will one day be my most valuable possession.

I learned more about dad in that structured, long-form conversation than in the 37 years prior.

And I remember thinking after he left, ‘I'm going to enjoy sharing that with my kids one day’.

Three weeks later, we did the same with my best friend’s dad. And I thought the same thing for him.

And it planted a seed for a business; how can we help do this for everyone? Because one day, the stories will stop.

Our Reflections vision started to take shape.

For the next 12 months, Seamus Marten and I travelled up and down the country, capturing the magic of people's lives; private recordings, for families to treasure for generations. It was incredibly fulfilling work.

But until now, it's been a Between Two Beers side hustle. A neglected side hustle, even.

Last year, as demand grew, we added award winning journalists Suzanne McFadden and Mark Stafford to our team of interviewers, brought in the incredible Kerry Quin as chief problem solver and partnered with Caley Wilson a Kiwi visionary who had the skills and time to help build our service into the business we’ve dreamed of.

And last week, after many months of graft, we're super excited to launch our new company, and website.... www.reflections.life

You can hear the thoughts of families who've had a Reflections interview, we walk you through how the whole process works, and give you information on our team of award winning interviewers.

We’ve put a ton of work into building it right and would love you to check it out.

And if there’s someone you know who’s life story needs to be captured before it’s too late…. You know where to find us.

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