When I first launched Modern Heirloom Books more than a decade ago, I was reluctant to put my photo anywhere in my branding. I wanted to seem like a “real” company. Despite decades working at a high level in magazine journalism, in this then-new entrepreneurial venture I faced my share of imposter syndrome—and truth be told, maybe I was trying to seem “bigger” than I was. 

Who would want to hire a single individual to create their family history book?, my thinking went. They’ll expect a whole team. What if they think I look too young? What if I look too old? What if, by seeing my white face, they jump to the conclusion that I might not be the right person to capture their (fill-in-the-blank) stories?

I was a one-person operation then (still am, though now I rely on a bevy of freelancers when appropriate to allow me to serve more people), but you wouldn’t have known this from looking at my website. 

Then, somewhere along the line (maybe as my confidence increased and I had more business under my belt), my thinking shifted. 

The aha moment: If someone is going to share their stories via interviews, they darn well want to know who they’ll be sitting across from, right?

This industry that I’m in of capturing people’s stories, preserving their memories and their family history, creating printed legacies…well, it’s come to be known as “personal history.” And “personal” it is.

It makes sense that my business should have a personal feel, as well.

So a few years in I added my name to the company—now it’s Modern Heirloom Books by Dawn Roode. Then I began adding my pictures here and there; despite my discomfort with being photographed, I can now be seen in my element (usually at a computer or wielding an audio recorder) on my website and across my social media.

And the best part? People who reach out to me are reaching out to ME. So many clients call because they read a post about my own journey with grief that resonated with them, or they understand from following me that I will be a compassionate listener. Maybe they’ve delved deep into my experience and like the fact that my approach to writing and editing life stories is contemporary, informed by that lifestyle magazine experience I mentioned earlier. Or maybe they don’t notice these personal details at all.

Whatever the case, they know there’s a person behind the business. And that matters to me. And from what my clients have told me, it matters a great deal to them, too.

Would you like to see if we might be a good fit to work together? Whatever type of life story preservation project you have in mind, remember that all my projects are fully custom—so let’s chat, and see how we can best capture your stories for the next generation. I look forward to meeting YOU 💕