Former award-winning journalist Dan Scott admits it's probably the worst time in history to start a business, but he hopes the service he's offering will transcend these troubled times.
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After all, timelessness is very much at the essence of his new project, My Memoir For You.
A comprehensive digital memoir service, My Memoir For You seeks to capture the life story of an individual for the younger generations of their family to cherish and enjoy.
So much about our elders tells us about who we are.
- Dan Scott
Utilising professional videographers and drawing on Dan's 25 years' experience as an international travel journalist, the service sees Dan conduct an in-depth face-to-face interview with the individual before incorporating personal photographs and music into the memoir, creating a final product that Dan describes as "a living, breathing gift of experience for younger generations."
"So much about our elders tells us about who we are," Dan said.
"A lot of the questions I ask, particularly towards the end of the interview, are about their philosophy on life and the lessons they've learned."
Having lost his own parents relatively early in life, Dan knows these lessons and philosophies can resonate long after a person is gone.
"I'm pretty well-acquainted with the sense of loss that happens when someone dies," he said.
"Not just the emotional loss, but the loss of heritage. I think it's important to try to preserve that."
He also believes it can be a rewarding and enjoyable experience for the interviewees themselves.
"It's lovely to see people come alive in the interviews," Dan said.
"I think it's enormously valuable for them to look back on their lives."
So far Dan has completed a number of digital memoirs in the Hunter and Great Lakes areas, including with a plastic surgeon, a former Socceroo and a musician.
But he's quick to point out it's not just a service for people with interesting job titles.
"You scratch the surface of anyone and their life experience and stories are amazing," he said.
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With restrictions currently in place to combat the spread of the coronavirus, Dan has had to find an alternative to the face-to-face interviews he usually conducts - and it's helped him expand his services in creative ways.
Apart from transitioning to video interviews for the digital memoirs, he's also started capturing kids' views on life, and he believes it's a service that'll appeal to parents and their children alike.
"Parents can really enjoy their child at a certain age and the child can look back at themselves," Dan said.
"When we look back on our childhoods it can be really hard to remember what it was like to be 10 and what our view of life was like."
To find out more about My Memoir For You, click here.
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