Two Utah Tech students have found a way to change the way family stories are told through their new business.
Ben Werner, a senior information technology major from Palmer, Alaska, and Nathan Brown, a sophomore digital film major from Truth or Consequences, New Mexico, have been partnering up for their business Gold Soul Family since the spring of 2022.
Werner has always liked the idea of hearing stories from older family members. While driving to Arizona in the fall of 2021, he had the idea of how to preserve stories in the modern world.
“A lot of the times we don’t get those stories from them [family members] in person,” Werner said. “I really just wanted to have a business where I could help people preserve their family memories.”
Brown and Werner met each other through X-club, one of the oldest clubs on campus.
“As soon as he pitched the idea, I thought it was great, and St. George is the perfect place to launch it,” Brown said.
Werner handles the marketing and business side of the company and Brown handles the filming and editing.
Their goal is to reach out to family members to record personal stories to tell now and after someone has died. These videos are intended to be told to current and future generations.
“Ideally, this is something the kids will buy for them [people being recorded],” Werner said.
Ads will be targeted through Facebook. This way they can find the correct demographic and reach more people in St. George. Together they have filmed about six videos and are looking forward to filming more in the future.
A video session can be anywhere from one to four hours long.
“It depends on the kind of person they are,” Werner said. “A lot of people do have great stories and love to talk about it,”
The documentary can be filmed in a home or a rented studio if needed. Filming in a person’s home helps the process of being interviewed more comfortably. It also is filmed in a place where the person can show memorabilia or their personality.
In a session, the person or couple being recorded will be asked about early childhood, married life, what it’s like to have kids, religious experiences and anything they want to tell their children or other family members.
When editing out pauses and distractions that may occur, the videos can take weeks to finish. Families are able to hear and listen repeatedly to stories of loved ones they can have forever.
Classes at Utah Tech have greatly helped Werner and Brown make this idea a reality. Classes like entrepreneurship, accounting and editing have given them inspiration and insight to improve the business and get it started.
“All of them [classes] have had insights from the teachers who have actual experiences working in it,” Brown said.
Werner and Brown said juggling student and entrepreneurship life is hard, but finding ways to stay organized helps them keep things in order.
“Finding the little minutes that I have free time… even 10 minutes can add up over time,” Brown said.
Making time for the little tasks and planning out tasks in advance has hugely impacted how they get things done on a daily basis. They have both learned how to juggle different aspects of life in a healthy way.
The takeaway both Brown and Werner have learned from this has been to live a life worth telling.
“One message I’ve heard all across the board has been live a life worth telling stories about,” Brown said.
Werner said the message he takes from these videos is beauty is in the eye of the beholder.
“These videos, to the families that are going to see it and watch it at holidays, are extremely valuable,” Werner said.
Werner’s inspiration for making these videos is the importance of family.
“Family really actually matters and is something you shouldn’t throw away over disagreements,” Werner said.
The mission of the business is to “help preserve family stories through personal documentaries.”
If you are interested, you can find them on Instagram @goldsoulfamily or you can email them at [email protected] for pricing and inquiries.
