30: Dawn Roode of Modern Heirloom Books

The Life Story Coach

Before we jump into today's interview...

I want to give a quick shout-out to my former coaching student, JoEllen Anklam of Story Canoe.

A professional voice actor, JoEllen takes events from her storyteller's life to create an old-style radio show. Check out the sample that kept me on the edge of my seat here.

Now, on to the show...

Dawn Roode of Modern Heirloom Books creates visually stunning life story books

In this episode, Dawn talks to us about transitioning from the magazine world, where she worked on publications such as Vogue, Vanity Fair, Harper's Bazaar, and Parenting, to creating a life story business.

Listen as we discuss:

• how a creating a tribute book after the sudden loss of her mother spurred Dawn into founding Modern Heirloom Books
• the difficulties of selling
• how life's milestones—a wedding, a funeral—are the times when people most want to take stock of their lives, and recognize the value of saving their stories

The longer you speak, the deeper the narrative becomes."

(By the way, the above is an example of a pull-quote, something we also discuss in the interview.)

Modern Heirloom Books' "Dear Daughter" Signature Product

The wedding industry is huge. So from a business standpoint, it made sense for Dawn to create a line of beautiful books for brides. Parents hire her to record stories about their daughter's life and surprise her with the book on her wedding day [Hint: It's best to do it before she's ready to walk down the aisle; inevitably, the bride reacts with tears of joy!] This is also a way to build the opportunity for future life story projects within the family.

Life Story Links, a Roundup of All Things Life Story

Every two weeks, Dawn does a great service to the life story professional community by publishing her Life Story Links. The round-up gathers together all the blogs, videos, tweets, and posts that pertain to life stories, biography, and personal history.

If you've posted something online that you'd like to appear on the Life Story Links round-up, submit it to Dawn here. And if you don't have anything to post, check it out anyway. You're sure to get some great ideas from other life story writers, genealogists, photo organizers, and more.

Thanks for listening. Now go out and save someone's story.

Links and Stuff:

Modern Heirloom Books

Submit your post to Dawn's blog round-up

Story Canoe; the sample that kept me on the edge of my seat is here.