Chase Jarvis on Loss, Legacy, and Reconnecting with His Dad

In this episode of Identified, Nabil Ayers sits down with acclaimed artist, author, and entrepreneur, Chase Jarvis, for a candid and deeply reflective conversation about family, memory, and the evolving nature of connection.

Chase talks about growing up as an only child in a tightly knit but unusually small family—no cousins, no siblings, and early exposure to adult conversations. He reflects on a childhood full of contrasts: thrift and sacrifice at home, but also travel across Europe thanks to his parents’ clever savings and his dad’s unexpected connections to pro athletes and musicians.

Much of the conversation centers around grief. Chase opens up about the recent loss of his mother to Alzheimer’s and how it’s changed his understanding of family, purpose, and presence. He shares the strange beauty of feeling closer to her now than he did in the decade before she died, and what it’s like stepping into a new role of caretaker and companion for his father.

Through stories of childhood creativity, repressed artistic urges, and a life that’s circled back to his creative roots, Chase brings warmth, honesty, and insight into the evolving role of family—how it’s inherited, how it’s chosen, and how we hold onto it, even as it changes shape.

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