The Early Me Project

We help you record memorable experiences from your personal history and securely share them with your family and community.

Why share memories?

You are unique. Your life journey has created a wonderfully original perspective that only you have experienced. Sharing gives others a chance to understand and relate to the world through your eyes.

Preserve memories for your descendants

Have you ever wondered why you do things the way you do? So much of who we are is influenced by family that established traditions, shared family stories, raised us in a particular culture, taught us their skills, and, of course, shared their genetics. Our families and our family histories are a significant part of who we are.

Years from now, your descendants will similarly have questions about the people who have influenced them. They will want to learn about you, such as how you overcame challenges, what made you happy, and how you responded to the world you lived in. The experiences you share will help provide valuable insights into their personality. The Early Me Project will preserve your memories for future generations.

Share with your community

Communities are stronger with a diversity of backgrounds. New approaches, ideas, and perspectives cultivate a rich and vibrant culture that fosters creativity, promotes unity, and enables community growth.

But only when community members share their diversity.

Differences make us uncomfortable. Sometimes they feel scary. That feeling is caused by the unknowns surrounding the differences and a lack of understanding of their origins.

Sharing our life journey provides context to how each of us became who we are and what influenced our life choices. The path to our differences becomes more clear. We start to see why others believe or behave the way they do. We start to find the incredible beauty in each other’s unique journey. Perhaps we even find strength and solutions to our own life challenges. Inevitably, we gain understanding which brings us closer together.

What to share

The Early Me Project volunteers will help you identify stories that highlight your unique life journey. You’ll be guided to think through significant events in your past and pull together the details that made each experience so impactful.

For example, we’ll ask questions such as:

• What 3 people had a significant impact on your childhood?
• How did you choose your career path?
• What emotions did you experience when you held your first child?
• What was your favorite song as a young adult and why did it resonate with you so deeply?
• When did you volunteer for a cause in which you believed passionately?

Where the stories are shared

Once you have a few experiences you would like to share, you, a friend, or Early Me guide will video record you telling each story. You will have a chance to review and approve each recording. Once approved, we will add the recording to the Early Me Project site and database and help you share it with your family, friends, and community.

Share your story

Let us know if you are interested in sharing your personal story or you would like to host sharing sessions at your facility.

Our volunteer guides love helping people share their stories. They aren’t professional videographers or personal historians, but they are passionate about getting you to rediscover your past and share your unique experiences.

Each guide is trained on our Share Me process. They will help you select and record the stories that best portray your life journey. Each session is structured to be confidential, safe, and fun to help you explore your past and select the best stories. You decide which stories and details to share. You can add more details at any point, edit existing memories, or even remove a shared memory.

Become a guide

If you would like to become an Early Me guide and feel you have the passion and dedication to help your community share their amazing stories, please complete the form below and we’ll reach out to you about next steps.