Personal stories of courage for your family and future generations

Have you ever listened to the voice of a loved one (who is no longer alive) but without a photograph in front of you? It’s powerful. It’s as if they are right there with you.

Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to capture your story of courage –  through audio – so that family history is preserved for your children, grandchildren and future generations.

There are times when you want your family to know about a personal story of courage but you just can’t share it with them. It’s too personal. This is where I step in.

Consider me an impartial third-party support, bearing witness without judgement. Let me be your guide and help you gently open up through a recorded conversation.

You and me.

We work through what you want to say. I create questions from our initial meeting and we then record it as a conversational interview. There may be some light editing afterwards. Once done, it’s yours to pass on.

Why do it?

• Don’t let your story be forgotten. Be an inspirational and courageous voice for your family and future generations.
• Capture family history through voice. As I said earlier, it’s powerful.
• Pass story on to the next generation. Let them understand where they came from and their connection to you.
• Emotional connection. Your voice will help keep them connected to you.
• Preserve family history
• Create a legacy through traditional story telling
• Your story can act as medicine and healing for someone in your family.
• You can make a difference.
• Your story matters. Your voice matters.

I want you to imagine sitting in your living room, with a cuppa, beer or glass of wine in hand. The lights are low and you’re listening to a recording of your loved one. Just you and them. It’s like they’re with you in the room. Listening to them share their story of courage. It’s an experience you can have over and over again.

Who is this for?

• Anyone who has a story of courage they want to share with family and future generations
• Defense service veterans and returning soldiers
• Emergency services/front line men and women
• Immigrants who have left their homeland to start again elsewhere

Don’t wait until it’s too late to tell your story. Capture your story of courage NOW while you still remember the details and can provide a clear account for your loved ones.

Send me an email today, so we can make a start!

Terms and conditions

Thank you for entrusting me to put together your story of courage, grit and/or resilience to share with family and future generations.

So that you and I have a fabulous experience working on your project please read the following:

The brief

Your role

You share what is required with me so that I can create the best story for you to share with others.  You are available by phone, zoom, email or in person (if you live locally) to fill in any gaps that may arise as I am crafting the story framework or interview questions.

This means, I may need to ask personal questions in order to understand. It’s not about being nosy. It’s about crafting the best story for you. If you feel uncomfortable about doing this, you may not be ready to tell your story and it may be best you hold off from undertaking this project for the time being.

You are of sound mind and/or have a professional support person you are working with to support you if you are triggered by anything we discuss. You fully understand this and are responsible in maintaining your mental, physical, emotional and spiritual wellbeing.

My role

Understand your story, ask you the right questions to capture your story, make you feel comfortable to tell your courageous story via a conversational interview and edit your audio. Editing will be done to capture the essence of your story without interfering with your delivery.

I am not mental health professional so am not equipped to assist you if you are triggered. Understand and know that I show compassion and kindness and use these as part of working through the interview questions and process with you. We can pause the interview at any time or reschedule if need be.

Time taken

Seven hours is dedicated to capturing your story from the time we initially meet to the finished product being dropped into your inbox or somewhere similar.

Anything over that time will be charged at $170 per hour or part there-of.

Location

Meetings are undertaken is via zoom or phone. Email may be required too, to fill in story framework gaps. The interview however will only take place via zoom (not phone) unless I am travelling to you. Please see ‘travel’ section below.

Technical stuff

There is a level of technical stuff in this service, mostly at my end.

Should tech become problematic during an interview (based on tech or platform faults, power failure or something outside my control) it will be rescheduled.

To get the best sound quality during our interview, you are required to be in a quiet space and not be disturbed for an hour. You are also required to take off bangles or jangly jewelry and wear headphones or an earpiece which connects to your device. This will help with noise cancellation at your end. If this is not done, there is no guarantee that you will get quality audio as sound interference is usually the outcome. If you choose not to wear headphones during the interview and this happens  please be aware I am not to be held responsible for sound quality and the interview will not be done again.

Your audio file will be provided to you using the technology platform I use at the time. It may be MP3 or MP4 format. It may be shared via DropBox, Mailbigfile.com or something similar.

Marketing and promotions

Your story will remain yours to keep. There may be times when I use snippets of a story for marketing and promotional purposes. You full name will not be used.

If you like (love!) the service you receive, please let people know by writing a Google review, emailing me a review so that I can share it, or  you can write a review on my FB page: Courage Unravelled.

Your information

I abide by Australian Privacy Act legislation 1988. Whatever you share with me will become part of your story to share with whomever you wish as, by using my service this is what you want. IF you have committed a crime and not told the police, you put me in a very precarious position ethically and legally. Please do not put me in this position as legally I will be obliged to contact the police.

Personal information such as contact details, address and credit card details are not shared publicly unless I am legally obliged to do so.

Age

This service is open to people 18+. Should someone between the ages of 12 to 17 want to utilise this service, they will need to do so with the consent of their main parent or guardian. The parent/guardian may need to be present during the meetings. This will be gauged at the time of engagement.

Payment

50% of payment is made at the time of booking with the balance being paid prior to handover of the audio file.

Balance of payment is to be made within 5 working days of completing the project.

Payment can be done via direct deposit or Paypal (via the website)

Refunds

If for some reason, you change your mind and do not wish to proceed with the package, there is no refund due to the nature of the work involved. You will receive the work that has been done to that point –  to use later if you wish, however no audio file will be released unless the service is paid in full. This includes the raw audio version (if the interview has been undertaken).

Exclusions

GST currently.

Travel.

If travel is necessary, it will be considered on a case-by-case situation as I am not always available to travel. Costs will be determined based on requirements.