August 29, 2024 • 29 mins
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There is Power in Telling Your Story: a conversation with Daniel Findlay
In this episode, host Erin sits down with Daniel Finley, founder and CEO of Kin Capsule, to discuss the transformative power of personal media storytelling technology. Daniel explains the concept of personal media storytelling, emphasizing its role in creating a safe, ad-free space where users fully own their content. The discussion delves into the importance of legacy and life review, sharing insights on how storytelling can enhance social connection, mental health, and cognitive function, especially for senior living residents. They explore the emotional and therapeutic benefits of sharing life stories, citing real-world examples and the profound impact witnessed in various communities. Erin and Daniel highlight the importance of living one's legacy and how Kin Capsule facilitates this process through its innovative platform.
00:00 Introduction to Daniel Finley and Kin Capsule
00:40 The Concept of Personal Media Storytelling
01:48 The Power of Storytelling and Legacy
02:51 Founding Story of Kin Capsule
04:34 Impact on Senior Living Communities
05:31 Cognitive and Emotional Benefits of Storytelling
07:44 Personal Reflections on Storytelling
10:33 The Importance of Legacy and Life Review
13:45 Practical Applications and User Experiences
21:37 Encouragement to Explore Life Review
26:40 How to Get Started with Kin Capsule
28:05 Closing Remarks and Final Thoughts
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Erin (00:00):
Today is an excellent day where I get to talk to master
storyteller, Daniel Finley,who's the founder and CEO of Kin
Capsule.
Which is a personal mediastorytelling technology, which
is a mouthful, and it very muchintrigues me.
So Daniel, thank you for beinghere, and tell us what that
(00:21):
means, personal mediastorytelling technology.
Daniel (00:25):
Yeah, absolutely.
Erin, thank you so much forhaving me.
we've had a few discussions andI'm really excited to be here
today and tell my story and helistened to yours and share this
with everyone.
Now everyone's got a story thatmatters.
and that's really part of why wegot into this, space in the
first place.
But, personal media.
So we are, there, there are,there's a little bit of overlap
with social media.
(00:46):
but we are personal by design.
A hundred percent of yourcontent is owned by you, the
user.
there's no advertising.
There is no selling of personalinformation.
So in that sense, it's a verypersonal digital creative space,
a safe digital creative spacefor people to create really
meaningful and authenticcontent.
(01:07):
That's the first thing in astorytelling platform.
We are, we're purpose built forlife story and for building
legacy.
And through these through thestorytelling of life story and
life review, and there's anumber of things and ways that
you could call that, but this isthe mission is to drive
meaningful social andintergenerational connection.
(01:27):
And I think in a world wherewe've never been more divided
and isolated and lonely.
particularly coming out of COVIDand, but ironically with the
most social platforms everavailable, it's ironic that
we're in this state.
So that's our mission.
That's why we're in this spaceis to help connect people more
meaningfully.
Erin (01:47):
Yeah.
I love storytelling.
I love life review.
I like You know, creatinglegacy, all of that is so
important.
I have a friend, Jean Hartnett,who focuses a lot on, overcoming
trauma and resiliency and traumainformed care.
And she always leads webinarsoff with this Maya Angelou quote
(02:08):
about how, there's no greateragony than having an untold
story inside of you.
And so I just believe that.
and in a lot of ourconversations, I have seen and
heard some of the transformationstories that you have been able
to bring out.
And in my own journey.
(02:29):
Telling my story has been verycathartic.
I can only imagine what it doesfor senior living residents to
tell their story to have the.
Ability to tell their story, doyou have evidence that untold
story was something that washolding people back?
Daniel (02:49):
Yeah, absolutely.
I love that quote.
First of all, it reminds me of aquote that we found early in our
journey, in, in, ideating andcreating Kitten Capsule, which
came from a personal anecdotalexperience for my, my, my
founding partner and I.
and the quote is from AmadouHampateba, who was, an African
ethnologist and philosopher inthe 60s, and his, he's quoted by
(03:12):
saying, when a person dies, alibrary burns to the ground, and
it's an extension of the quotethat you shared, and it's true.
It's, everyone has a story.
And whether you believe it'simportant or exciting or
interesting or influential, itdoesn't matter.
It will have an impact, apositive impact on someone and
(03:33):
someone can learn from you.
So I completely, identify andagree with the quote that you
shared.
and our, the whole, it's true ofour, of Lev and myself, Lev's my
business partner and co founder.
we had people In our familieswho had passed away and it meant
that these libraries of familyhistory and life lessons and
(03:53):
experiences, wisdom, they allburnt to the ground.
And so when we connected duringCOVID, when we were shut down
and we shared these experiences,we really got to know each
other.
And it was this magic ofstorytelling like we're doing
right now.
sharing stories, theseimportant, meaningful stories.
And we never, we became reallyclose and we thought, We're not
doing anything right now.
(04:14):
we're both technologyprofessionals.
Maybe we should, maybe we're notthe only ones with this problem.
And with this experience, andmaybe we should let's figure
that out and that if it's aproblem, we can help solve.
Let's do it.
And so that was the inceptionfounding story and that led us
to creating can capsule as aplatform, which then evolved
into services.
And so to answer your question,we have many projects.
(04:39):
Some are pilots, some are livewith senior living and
retirement communities.
Across the whole span fromactive and independent living to
memory care and everything inbetween.
and it's so true.
we've had, in the, theirstorytelling sessions and, their
group sessions or one on oneand, we're helping people
connect, right?
(04:59):
There's this, to help combatisolation and loneliness, but
there's also this huge cognitivebenefit by an emotional benefit
and mental health benefit Fromactually telling your story or
life review or life story andlegacy building, people are.
Part of our story.
So no one's life story is onlyabout themselves.
(05:20):
it's, even if you don't havemany people around you, it's, it
involves other people.
So by, by in its own DNA, itincludes and activates
connection and meaningfulconnection.
the cognitive benefit, we'veseen people who have the onset
of Alzheimer's and dementia and,story number one, when we ask
them something simple, hey,what's your name?
(05:41):
And what's the story behind yourname?
Who gave you your name?
And it's such an easy question,simple, but not everyone tells
that story.
And it's not until you starttelling the story that you
realize that, wait, this is aninteresting story.
And it's a really great piece ofour family history.
And that your friends probablywant to know, too.
And just a simple story like,tell us about the meaning of
(06:02):
your name.
What does it mean in yourlanguage?
Who chose your name?
Are you named after someone?
This whole sequence, it forcesthe person to, first of all,
find the topic and theinformation in their head, then
go to the files in the brainthat are associated to the
story, and then to put ittogether in a way that you can
actually communicate And thenyou have to tell the story.
So that's that brain to mouthconnection to actually
(06:25):
articulate your story.
And if there's a, if there's a,if there's a, an audience or a
group in front of you, there'sthis coming out of your shell
and getting out of your comfortzone and growth is personal
growth that happens when you'retelling your story.
and while you're doing this.
you're processing things aboutyour life.
And so you can unlock trauma orunlock sadness or sorrow.
(06:47):
And we've seen, so to finishthis story, story number one,
typically is a little morescattered.
It's not quite as cohesivestory.
Number two is a little bit of animprovement.
Story number three is not evenin the same ballpark.
It's the transformation, thecognitive transformation and
that brief exercise isincredible to watch it happening
(07:08):
right in front of your eyes.
and then just to close out onthis, the, there's tears of joy.
There's tears of processingemotion and trauma that we've
seen.
And we are just so honored andprivileged to.
to be a part of that.
We've had our own tears of joyand of sorrow and grieving and
processing.
And so when you're doing it withother people, I don't, there's
(07:30):
not more, there's no more humanexperience to share with someone
than real life, humanity andexperiences.
So it's been a, it's been a verycool ride for us.
Very meaningful.
Erin (07:42):
Yeah.
I was named after Erin from theWaltons.
Um, my, I was born of a certaintime, my mother decided she
liked that name.
So that's fun.
Cool.
and she liked Irish Gaelic names.
and she liked four letter namesand my grandmother made a dress
for me and she wanted, if shehad girls for every daughter to
(08:05):
wear that dress.
And so then.
My sister's names were IrishGaelic with four letters, so
they can wear the same dress,which is funny.
Daniel (08:15):
Very
Erin (08:16):
funny.
The life review and telling thestory and the catharticness of
change, of transformation, I amcurrently going through that
right now, just, Through a lotof hard work and healing and
unlocking things and sitting inthe story to look for a
(08:39):
different way to discuss it thatserves me versus torments me,
there is no greater joy than tobe able to tell a story that.
Is true, but in a way thatserves you versus the way that
you've always thought about it,that may have hurt you, to know
(09:04):
that pain in your life, you'rethankful for, because it turned
you into a new.
It's a new creature into a newperson with different thoughts,
with different experiencesversus sitting in that pain and
allowing it to stew.
And for people who never havedone a life review, can you
(09:25):
imagine being 80 years old,telling a story, looking back at
your life and saying, wait aminute, if that didn't happen,
then XYZ wouldn't have happenedeither.
and there's gratitude for thatexperience.
Whereas there may have been alot of resentments for that
experience before.
(09:46):
So I can only imagine howpowerful that is, to build that
legacy in that life story.
Because exactly like you said.
as we age, we appreciate ourstories more, but as we get
older, so do our grandparents.
And now I have all thesequestions and I can't talk to my
grandmother about it becauseshe's not here, or my
(10:09):
grandfather about it becausehe's not here.
So it's just, it's a powerfulway.
And like you said, it helpspeople with dementia.
They're actually have a, they'reworking on a skill.
they're improving.
Okay.
And it gets better.
I can just tell you Mystorytelling has gotten better
because I've been practicing itfor so long.
(10:30):
So definitely
for
sure.
Daniel (10:33):
100%.
And there's this idea of, yousaid a few things that made me
light bulbs going off.
And, one of them is, legacy,It's important because of all
the reasons that we've just beentalking about, right?
it's this life review.
It's unlocking things.
And if A didn't happen, then B,C and D wouldn't have happened.
All that connection, all thatconnectivity and associations
are incredible to processemotion and trauma and stress
(10:58):
and very positive things in yourlife too.
And relating it to older adults,this idea that kind of legacy
just falls on your lap when youget older is just not true.
It doesn't happen like that.
And so part of what we do is,and what's so important about
this intergenerationalconnection and starting this
life review when you're young,is that you need to live your
(11:19):
legacy in order to leave yourlegacy.
And because your legacy is.
Your life.
And so it doesn't mean that youhave to have all the answers and
you know exactly what you'rerunning at right from a young
age, but it does mean that, thedecisions that you make, like
you say, if I do a, then B and Dand C are going to happen.
And if you're aware of that andliving your legacy, then there's
(11:40):
this, the legacy that you leavewill be the legacy that you live
and that's a more powerful, wayto, to look at things.
And that's how certainly we lookat it.
And then the other thing is.
Life review doesn't have to becompletely public and exposed,
right?
So one thing we've done in KenCapsule is.
You decide what you're going totalk about, if you're going to
(12:03):
share it, you don't have to.
but if you do share it, you getto choose who you share it with
and when you share it too.
And so it's, we're strongbelievers that human beings are
equally private and social.
And so the more healthy yourprivate life is, the more
healthy your social life is.
And the more healthy your sociallife is, it's going to, it's
(12:24):
going to give you, a really goodbalance of what you need to keep
for yourself as private and thenmaybe eventually share it, but I
think the two feed off of eachother and, so it's important as
well.
The life story and life reviewcan be private and social.
Erin (12:38):
Yeah, for your family or for anyone.
Yeah, I, I recently met anauthor.
And she's in her late eightiesand she wrote a book and, I'm
going to interview her for thispodcast.
And wow, it was so like, shejust put her trauma out there
and then was teaching people howto overcome it.
(12:59):
And it was about forgiveness andit is a legacy and she is living
it now.
it was so powerful.
And I can only imagine.
What her family feels when theyread that and how you offer that
same thing for people who can'twrite a book, in their late
(13:20):
eighties.
Daniel (13:21):
Absolutely.
I can't wait to hear her on yourpodcast.
First of all, by the way, it's,it sounds amazing because that's
how we communicate.
we always communicate, humanscommunicate through
storytelling, everything we'redoing it right now.
And, if you're at, in theworkplace or you're at the
dinner table with the family, oryou're out with friends, it's
always, that's how wecommunicate a storytelling.
So I can't wait to hear her, aswell.
(13:41):
That sounds awesome.
Erin (13:43):
Yeah, it's, It's amazing.
so tell me about what you'reseeing.
Do you see the benefits?
Do the communities see thebenefits?
we know that the people feel thebenefit right?
I feel and I can attest to thepower of storytelling in our own
life, but the communities.
(14:06):
I assume it's a great way forthem to know the residents when
because then the residents willbe able to tell them more
because they've gone through theexercise of identifying more so
I can only assume the benefit tothe community is off the charts.
Daniel (14:23):
It's a great point.
and something you said in whatyou were sharing with about your
next guest, is it's an importantpoint.
If you can't physically writeyour story.
One of the options that we giveour users is you can tell your
story.
You can just.
you can, you can tell your storyverbally and create audio.
you can video record it.
So a single story might havethree videos, five audio files,
(14:46):
10 pictures, you can write thetext, and it might have a
document that you've attached toit.
So you can really bring thesestories to life with multimedia
options.
in terms of impact, yeah, 100%,it's, so what we typically do is
we'll go on ourselves.
We sometimes have students thatcome in with us as well.
So that's that intergenerationalconnection connectivity where
(15:08):
you might have lots of energyand curiosity and this kind of
stuff coming from the youngerperson and the older person just
completely vibes off and feedsoff that and becomes energized
and curious and childlike joycomes out and it's amazing.
and then the older adultsbringing like this life wisdom
and life experiences and these.
advice and all the stuff thatthey can share with the younger
(15:30):
adults as well.
but there's also staff.
some of the benefits we see isthrough storytelling alone, but
also with King capsule is, theprocess of creating this is, not
all the residents can createtheir own stories.
So if they can't, there's thisbig trust building and
relationship building thathappens, right?
maybe it's a personal supportworker or a caregiver, a
(15:51):
professional caregiver, or mightbe part of the, the, activities
and, resident engagement team,and there you become really
involved, and other activitiesare great to singing can be
great and all these activitiesare great.
The unique part aboutstorytelling is when you're
listening to someone's lifestory, someone is listening and
someone is telling.
(16:12):
So there's this bi directionalexchange of meaningful stuff
that you're helping someoneprocess.
And it builds trust andrelationships between residents
and family members around theirloved ones and staff.
and that's a big one.
And we've also got, you can havean organizational account for,
with Kin Capsule, so you can bebuilding your retirement
community legacy.
(16:32):
And it's your, theorganizational legacy is made up
of personal stories from yourresidents.
And so there's this really coolconnection that happens as well.
So yeah, big value that we'veseen and touching people's lives
is always just a privilege andan honor.
Erin (16:47):
Yeah, it is.
When I was inside the community,residents, we would do music
videos, and, or even havetestimonials from residents, and
they loved telling their story.
they just loved it.
Even if it was, for Valentine'sDay, and we made a music video,
and they just had held a pictureof their wedding day.
(17:08):
that was telling a story.
That was honoring a piece oftheir life that It's past and no
longer gets to talk about it asmuch.
when my grandmother moved intomy community.
One of the most important thingsI realized was her story that
she told over and over again tostrangers, to check out people.
(17:29):
She could tell them all the timeand people loved to hear them.
And I'm like, peace out.
I've heard this a thousand timesin my lifetime.
have fun.
And I'll be honest with you.
what I wouldn't give to hear hersay the same story that I heard
her say over and over again.
To every checkout girl that weencountered every Saturday
(17:49):
morning for 15 years, and sothere is value to that.
And we think that our seniors.
Our elder loved ones don't like,technology, but they like to see
themselves on camera
Daniel (18:05):
a hundred percent.
I've got stories.
I've got stories like that withmy parents.
my dad in particular has storiesthat or comments or things that
he'll with perfect strangers allthe time.
And we've got that saved.
1 of the exercises I'm doing inmy personal account.
In my personal life is myselfand family members, my, my niece
(18:25):
and nephew, we are interviewingour parents.
That's a big one.
And it's this really fun.
So if we're around atThanksgiving or Christmas or
whatever the holiday might be,we get together as a family and
it's, we do our usual stuff.
that's always fun.
We kind of joke around, there'sfood going and there's
conversation.
But now what we do is we grabour mobile device and we
actually just record.
(18:46):
Some of these stories and thereare stories.
So we have an advisory boardactually that's that guides us
and advises us on senior livingretirement communities, the
whole space age tech as a space.
we have, a PhD socialpsychologists that have helped
us create.
Story prompts.
So questions that will promptand guide you through
storytelling.
And we just work through those.
(19:07):
And now we've got this wholelibrary of my parents.
And, you never think thatanyone's gonna be gone, but it's
just human inevitability.
And we have to write part ofbuilding like one of our PhD
social psychologists, hisspecialization is in legacy.
And the reason why legacy is soimportant at its real root core
(19:28):
is that.
It's a way for us to cope with.
Mortality.
That's really at the core of whylegacy is so important.
There's other reasons too, butthat's really the core is we
start to, once you're happy,closer to the end than you are
in the beginning, you start to,you feel it even subconsciously,
you're feeling mortality.
And so building legacy becomesnaturally and organically more
(19:51):
important.
And, and so this is a great wayto do that.
Now we've got, we're building alibrary and our users build
libraries of, for people I thinkof that have passed on, if I
could just have a library oftheir voice, just clips to hear
some of the things I love themsaying is incredibly powerful.
And, that, that will help withgrieving too.
When you have this library of.
(20:11):
Of, of experiences and video andin multimedia, it's, it makes
the reminiscing more and moreenjoyable.
It makes the grieving a littleeasy, a little easier.
It's never, nothing's going toalleviate it for you entirely,
but having these incrediblethings and then for future
generations, so for the folks,50, a hundred years from now,
who will never meet any of us,it's nice.
(20:32):
It'll be nice to have these,these logs of family history
here too, from an anecdotalperspective.
Erin (20:39):
Yeah, I, I know that we have a mutual friend in Anna
Hall and there is certainly, shepreaches and emphasizes purpose
so much.
And when we are talking aboutresidents inside of a senior
living or a long term carecommunity, they can feel the
absence of purpose, right?
(20:59):
If we're not careful, if we'renot intentional about
understanding.
Where some of the despair comesfrom.
And it sounds like Ken Capsulegives them the opportunity to do
a life review and see the legacyand that you can still have a
(21:22):
legacy and live it inside seniorliving and you have purpose
because people work insidesenior living.
And if you're alive, you can addvalue.
It does not matter what yourphysical state is.
and redefining what successlooks like at every stage with
(21:43):
life review, legacy building andpurpose is important and that is
certainly something that seniorliving communities can give
their residents with thisproduct.
Without it, but preferably, I'msure with this product would be
great.
Daniel (22:00):
Absolutely.
I, we love Anna Hall, as well.
she's actually one of ouradvisory board members and, so
we, and early on too, soeverything we do, product or
service or even personalized, wetry our best to look through the
lens of purpose as well.
And, I think.
On, you said the word unlockearlier, on, on covering,
(22:21):
unlocking and unleashing purposeis just so powerful.
And one of the tools that canhelp you to achieve those things
is life review.
With King Capsule or without,life review as a, as an exercise
is, it's a mental exercise, it'san emotional exercise, it's a
spiritual exercise, it's a, it'sall of the above, it's a human
(22:44):
thing and everyone should do it.
and, and certainly purpose andmeaning and your life.
They're all so connected at thecore that yeah, a hundred
percent, I agree.
And, and it's never too late, ifyou don't feel like you're in
tune with your purpose and, orhave gone through the life
review experience or exercise,it's never too late.
And we, again, we have, a lovelylady named Rose at one of the.
(23:08):
the senior living, communitiesthat we work with.
And, she's 97, 97 years old.
She has an incredible story.
and, same with her.
The first couple of stories werescattered and not as cohesive
and then, three, four and fifthstory, it like it's the
transformations happening beforeyour eyes, but they have found
new purpose and new meaning inAt a very, at an amazing age of
(23:34):
97 and, she carries her iPhonearound so she can access, things
from her iPhone.
And it's, she's incredible.
I only hope to be in hercondition when I'm at 97, if I
even get to 97, but, but yeah,so just to, to emphasize your
point, it's never too late and,it's always.
a blessing, regardless of whatstage or age you're at in life,
(23:55):
to go through these exercises
Erin (23:57):
and it's a gift, a community can gift this
experience to family members,people want to know what their
heart ROI is.
That's a question that getsasked a lot.
What is my return on investmenton this, but there's also this
soft ROI, right?
(24:17):
And I talk a lot about how afamily member feels or a
resident feels when they leaveyour community for the last time
is just as important as it iswhen they first walk in.
And what an amazing gift to givea family member as a thank you.
(24:39):
Then the life story and legacyof their loved one.
And that's just not somethingthat's an uncommon hospitality
effort and a gift that will,from a selfish perspective,
consistently bring referrals andfrom a man, I just did the right
(25:01):
thing.
It will be the gift.
That keeps on giving because youare changing people's lives and
really, that's the goal of whatsenior living is.
So I'll give
Daniel (25:11):
you the
Erin (25:12):
final word.
Daniel (25:14):
Yeah, on that point, you're as a, as an operator,
you're, a big part of yourpipeline are the loved ones
around your residents.
And if they're happier and ifthey are aligned with purpose
and with meaning, and they havea voice and they feel heard.
And they can share their lifestories, which, you know, as an
older adult, you're, these arethings you'd love.
(25:36):
You want to share.
You want to, there's so much toshare at that point, at that
stage in your life.
And so being able to do thatabsolutely translates into.
Happier, healthier, more engagedresidents and the loved ones see
that and they're involvedbecause they're a part of it,
right?
They're a part of your story.
And again, in King Capsule,there are free accounts.
(25:57):
We have free accounts.
We've got, subscription modelsfor upgrades, more storage, more
functions, et cetera, but there,we didn't want any barriers for
anyone.
And so there's an account.
That's suitable for you.
And I would just encouragepeople with King capsule or
without, to really explore lifereview as an exercise that you
should go through.
because again, things likemeaning and purpose and.
(26:20):
really getting to know someoneand, at the core of who we
really are.
When we take off the digitalmask and we really just connect
and you can feel a person'senergy, storytelling and life
review are just such incredibleways to do that.
And I encourage everyone to dothat.
Erin (26:36):
Absolutely.
Absolutely.
It really does changeeverything.
So tell us how, someone canreach you at Ken Capsule.
Daniel (26:46):
Yeah, absolutely.
we are, we have a, a web, appand a mobile app.
So you can go to kincapsule.
ca or.
com and you'll check, you'll seesome information.
You can sign up.
we'd love you sign up for a freeaccount and check us out.
and then, you'll see upgradeoptions there.
and, if you have questions,email us at, support or contact
at kin capsule.
(27:07):
com.
So that's support at kincapsule.
com or contact, at kin capsule.
com.
and you can download us from theapp store or Google play for
your iPhone or your Android.
and those are the best wayswe've got.
we have tutorials and a helpmenu in the app so that we have
a whole library of videos and,documents that will help guide
you through it.
(27:28):
or can Daniel Findlay, connectwith me on LinkedIn.
I'd be happy to set up, I getthe actual, the contact and
support, they do go to a fewpeople, but I want, I'm one of
the recipients.
So you'll get me if you get, ifyou email us and I'm happy to
hop on with anyone to, to chator to demo the.
The product to you or, and toanswer any questions that you
have.
So we're really, we're small,we're startup, we're growing
(27:49):
fast and we're hungry to engagewith people and to make a
difference.
So reach out.
Erin (27:55):
Absolutely.
And he's from Canada, Alabamaand Canada people.
Love it.
So
absolutely.
I'm proud of that.
So thank you for being here.
I appreciate it.
I, believe in your mission and Ihope that, all of your
customers.
Thank you for sharing that.
(28:15):
I appreciate it.
Daniel (28:17):
Thank you very much for having me, Erin.
Always a pleasure.
And, we love you and yourmission and it's just such
incredible important work.
So we're happy to be a part ofwhat you're doing and likewise.
So thank you for having metoday.
Erin (28:27):
You're welcome.
And always for my listeners.
Aspire for more.
For you.
Today is an excellent day where I get to talk to master
storyteller, Daniel Finley,who's the founder and CEO of Kin
Capsule.
Which is a personal mediastorytelling technology, which
is a mouthful, and it very muchintrigues me.
So Daniel, thank you for beinghere, and tell us what that
(00:21):
means, personal mediastorytelling technology.
Daniel (00:25):
Yeah, absolutely.
Erin, thank you so much forhaving me.
we've had a few discussions andI'm really excited to be here
today and tell my story and helistened to yours and share this
with everyone.
Now everyone's got a story thatmatters.
and that's really part of why wegot into this, space in the
first place.
But, personal media.
So we are, there, there are,there's a little bit of overlap
with social media.
(00:46):
but we are personal by design.
A hundred percent of yourcontent is owned by you, the
user.
there's no advertising.
There is no selling of personalinformation.
So in that sense, it's a verypersonal digital creative space,
a safe digital creative spacefor people to create really
meaningful and authenticcontent.
(01:07):
That's the first thing in astorytelling platform.
We are, we're purpose built forlife story and for building
legacy.
And through these through thestorytelling of life story and
life review, and there's anumber of things and ways that
you could call that, but this isthe mission is to drive
meaningful social andintergenerational connection.
(01:27):
And I think in a world wherewe've never been more divided
and isolated and lonely.
particularly coming out of COVIDand, but ironically with the
most social platforms everavailable, it's ironic that
we're in this state.
So that's our mission.
That's why we're in this spaceis to help connect people more
meaningfully.
Erin (01:47):
Yeah.
I love storytelling.
I love life review.
I like You know, creatinglegacy, all of that is so
important.
I have a friend, Jean Hartnett,who focuses a lot on, overcoming
trauma and resiliency and traumainformed care.
And she always leads webinarsoff with this Maya Angelou quote
(02:08):
about how, there's no greateragony than having an untold
story inside of you.
And so I just believe that.
and in a lot of ourconversations, I have seen and
heard some of the transformationstories that you have been able
to bring out.
And in my own journey.
(02:29):
Telling my story has been verycathartic.
I can only imagine what it doesfor senior living residents to
tell their story to have the.
Ability to tell their story, doyou have evidence that untold
story was something that washolding people back?
Daniel (02:49):
Yeah, absolutely.
I love that quote.
First of all, it reminds me of aquote that we found early in our
journey, in, in, ideating andcreating Kitten Capsule, which
came from a personal anecdotalexperience for my, my, my
founding partner and I.
and the quote is from AmadouHampateba, who was, an African
ethnologist and philosopher inthe 60s, and his, he's quoted by
(03:12):
saying, when a person dies, alibrary burns to the ground, and
it's an extension of the quotethat you shared, and it's true.
It's, everyone has a story.
And whether you believe it'simportant or exciting or
interesting or influential, itdoesn't matter.
It will have an impact, apositive impact on someone and
(03:33):
someone can learn from you.
So I completely, identify andagree with the quote that you
shared.
and our, the whole, it's true ofour, of Lev and myself, Lev's my
business partner and co founder.
we had people In our familieswho had passed away and it meant
that these libraries of familyhistory and life lessons and
(03:53):
experiences, wisdom, they allburnt to the ground.
And so when we connected duringCOVID, when we were shut down
and we shared these experiences,we really got to know each
other.
And it was this magic ofstorytelling like we're doing
right now.
sharing stories, theseimportant, meaningful stories.
And we never, we became reallyclose and we thought, We're not
doing anything right now.
(04:14):
we're both technologyprofessionals.
Maybe we should, maybe we're notthe only ones with this problem.
And with this experience, andmaybe we should let's figure
that out and that if it's aproblem, we can help solve.
Let's do it.
And so that was the inceptionfounding story and that led us
to creating can capsule as aplatform, which then evolved
into services.
And so to answer your question,we have many projects.
(04:39):
Some are pilots, some are livewith senior living and
retirement communities.
Across the whole span fromactive and independent living to
memory care and everything inbetween.
and it's so true.
we've had, in the, theirstorytelling sessions and, their
group sessions or one on oneand, we're helping people
connect, right?
(04:59):
There's this, to help combatisolation and loneliness, but
there's also this huge cognitivebenefit by an emotional benefit
and mental health benefit Fromactually telling your story or
life review or life story andlegacy building, people are.
Part of our story.
So no one's life story is onlyabout themselves.
(05:20):
it's, even if you don't havemany people around you, it's, it
involves other people.
So by, by in its own DNA, itincludes and activates
connection and meaningfulconnection.
the cognitive benefit, we'veseen people who have the onset
of Alzheimer's and dementia and,story number one, when we ask
them something simple, hey,what's your name?
(05:41):
And what's the story behind yourname?
Who gave you your name?
And it's such an easy question,simple, but not everyone tells
that story.
And it's not until you starttelling the story that you
realize that, wait, this is aninteresting story.
And it's a really great piece ofour family history.
And that your friends probablywant to know, too.
And just a simple story like,tell us about the meaning of
(06:02):
your name.
What does it mean in yourlanguage?
Who chose your name?
Are you named after someone?
This whole sequence, it forcesthe person to, first of all,
find the topic and theinformation in their head, then
go to the files in the brainthat are associated to the
story, and then to put ittogether in a way that you can
actually communicate And thenyou have to tell the story.
So that's that brain to mouthconnection to actually
(06:25):
articulate your story.
And if there's a, if there's a,if there's a, an audience or a
group in front of you, there'sthis coming out of your shell
and getting out of your comfortzone and growth is personal
growth that happens when you'retelling your story.
and while you're doing this.
you're processing things aboutyour life.
And so you can unlock trauma orunlock sadness or sorrow.
(06:47):
And we've seen, so to finishthis story, story number one,
typically is a little morescattered.
It's not quite as cohesivestory.
Number two is a little bit of animprovement.
Story number three is not evenin the same ballpark.
It's the transformation, thecognitive transformation and
that brief exercise isincredible to watch it happening
(07:08):
right in front of your eyes.
and then just to close out onthis, the, there's tears of joy.
There's tears of processingemotion and trauma that we've
seen.
And we are just so honored andprivileged to.
to be a part of that.
We've had our own tears of joyand of sorrow and grieving and
processing.
And so when you're doing it withother people, I don't, there's
(07:30):
not more, there's no more humanexperience to share with someone
than real life, humanity andexperiences.
So it's been a, it's been a verycool ride for us.
Very meaningful.
Erin (07:42):
Yeah.
I was named after Erin from theWaltons.
Um, my, I was born of a certaintime, my mother decided she
liked that name.
So that's fun.
Cool.
and she liked Irish Gaelic names.
and she liked four letter namesand my grandmother made a dress
for me and she wanted, if shehad girls for every daughter to
(08:05):
wear that dress.
And so then.
My sister's names were IrishGaelic with four letters, so
they can wear the same dress,which is funny.
Daniel (08:15):
Very
Erin (08:16):
funny.
The life review and telling thestory and the catharticness of
change, of transformation, I amcurrently going through that
right now, just, Through a lotof hard work and healing and
unlocking things and sitting inthe story to look for a
(08:39):
different way to discuss it thatserves me versus torments me,
there is no greater joy than tobe able to tell a story that.
Is true, but in a way thatserves you versus the way that
you've always thought about it,that may have hurt you, to know
(09:04):
that pain in your life, you'rethankful for, because it turned
you into a new.
It's a new creature into a newperson with different thoughts,
with different experiencesversus sitting in that pain and
allowing it to stew.
And for people who never havedone a life review, can you
(09:25):
imagine being 80 years old,telling a story, looking back at
your life and saying, wait aminute, if that didn't happen,
then XYZ wouldn't have happenedeither.
and there's gratitude for thatexperience.
Whereas there may have been alot of resentments for that
experience before.
(09:46):
So I can only imagine howpowerful that is, to build that
legacy in that life story.
Because exactly like you said.
as we age, we appreciate ourstories more, but as we get
older, so do our grandparents.
And now I have all thesequestions and I can't talk to my
grandmother about it becauseshe's not here, or my
(10:09):
grandfather about it becausehe's not here.
So it's just, it's a powerfulway.
And like you said, it helpspeople with dementia.
They're actually have a, they'reworking on a skill.
they're improving.
Okay.
And it gets better.
I can just tell you Mystorytelling has gotten better
because I've been practicing itfor so long.
(10:30):
So definitely
for
sure.
Daniel (10:33):
100%.
And there's this idea of, yousaid a few things that made me
light bulbs going off.
And, one of them is, legacy,It's important because of all
the reasons that we've just beentalking about, right?
it's this life review.
It's unlocking things.
And if A didn't happen, then B,C and D wouldn't have happened.
All that connection, all thatconnectivity and associations
are incredible to processemotion and trauma and stress
(10:58):
and very positive things in yourlife too.
And relating it to older adults,this idea that kind of legacy
just falls on your lap when youget older is just not true.
It doesn't happen like that.
And so part of what we do is,and what's so important about
this intergenerationalconnection and starting this
life review when you're young,is that you need to live your
(11:19):
legacy in order to leave yourlegacy.
And because your legacy is.
Your life.
And so it doesn't mean that youhave to have all the answers and
you know exactly what you'rerunning at right from a young
age, but it does mean that, thedecisions that you make, like
you say, if I do a, then B and Dand C are going to happen.
And if you're aware of that andliving your legacy, then there's
(11:40):
this, the legacy that you leavewill be the legacy that you live
and that's a more powerful, wayto, to look at things.
And that's how certainly we lookat it.
And then the other thing is.
Life review doesn't have to becompletely public and exposed,
right?
So one thing we've done in KenCapsule is.
You decide what you're going totalk about, if you're going to
(12:03):
share it, you don't have to.
but if you do share it, you getto choose who you share it with
and when you share it too.
And so it's, we're strongbelievers that human beings are
equally private and social.
And so the more healthy yourprivate life is, the more
healthy your social life is.
And the more healthy your sociallife is, it's going to, it's
(12:24):
going to give you, a really goodbalance of what you need to keep
for yourself as private and thenmaybe eventually share it, but I
think the two feed off of eachother and, so it's important as
well.
The life story and life reviewcan be private and social.
Erin (12:38):
Yeah, for your family or for anyone.
Yeah, I, I recently met anauthor.
And she's in her late eightiesand she wrote a book and, I'm
going to interview her for thispodcast.
And wow, it was so like, shejust put her trauma out there
and then was teaching people howto overcome it.
(12:59):
And it was about forgiveness andit is a legacy and she is living
it now.
it was so powerful.
And I can only imagine.
What her family feels when theyread that and how you offer that
same thing for people who can'twrite a book, in their late
(13:20):
eighties.
Daniel (13:21):
Absolutely.
I can't wait to hear her on yourpodcast.
First of all, by the way, it's,it sounds amazing because that's
how we communicate.
we always communicate, humanscommunicate through
storytelling, everything we'redoing it right now.
And, if you're at, in theworkplace or you're at the
dinner table with the family, oryou're out with friends, it's
always, that's how wecommunicate a storytelling.
So I can't wait to hear her, aswell.
(13:41):
That sounds awesome.
Erin (13:43):
Yeah, it's, It's amazing.
so tell me about what you'reseeing.
Do you see the benefits?
Do the communities see thebenefits?
we know that the people feel thebenefit right?
I feel and I can attest to thepower of storytelling in our own
life, but the communities.
(14:06):
I assume it's a great way forthem to know the residents when
because then the residents willbe able to tell them more
because they've gone through theexercise of identifying more so
I can only assume the benefit tothe community is off the charts.
Daniel (14:23):
It's a great point.
and something you said in whatyou were sharing with about your
next guest, is it's an importantpoint.
If you can't physically writeyour story.
One of the options that we giveour users is you can tell your
story.
You can just.
you can, you can tell your storyverbally and create audio.
you can video record it.
So a single story might havethree videos, five audio files,
(14:46):
10 pictures, you can write thetext, and it might have a
document that you've attached toit.
So you can really bring thesestories to life with multimedia
options.
in terms of impact, yeah, 100%,it's, so what we typically do is
we'll go on ourselves.
We sometimes have students thatcome in with us as well.
So that's that intergenerationalconnection connectivity where
(15:08):
you might have lots of energyand curiosity and this kind of
stuff coming from the youngerperson and the older person just
completely vibes off and feedsoff that and becomes energized
and curious and childlike joycomes out and it's amazing.
and then the older adultsbringing like this life wisdom
and life experiences and these.
advice and all the stuff thatthey can share with the younger
(15:30):
adults as well.
but there's also staff.
some of the benefits we see isthrough storytelling alone, but
also with King capsule is, theprocess of creating this is, not
all the residents can createtheir own stories.
So if they can't, there's thisbig trust building and
relationship building thathappens, right?
maybe it's a personal supportworker or a caregiver, a
(15:51):
professional caregiver, or mightbe part of the, the, activities
and, resident engagement team,and there you become really
involved, and other activitiesare great to singing can be
great and all these activitiesare great.
The unique part aboutstorytelling is when you're
listening to someone's lifestory, someone is listening and
someone is telling.
(16:12):
So there's this bi directionalexchange of meaningful stuff
that you're helping someoneprocess.
And it builds trust andrelationships between residents
and family members around theirloved ones and staff.
and that's a big one.
And we've also got, you can havean organizational account for,
with Kin Capsule, so you can bebuilding your retirement
community legacy.
(16:32):
And it's your, theorganizational legacy is made up
of personal stories from yourresidents.
And so there's this really coolconnection that happens as well.
So yeah, big value that we'veseen and touching people's lives
is always just a privilege andan honor.
Erin (16:47):
Yeah, it is.
When I was inside the community,residents, we would do music
videos, and, or even havetestimonials from residents, and
they loved telling their story.
they just loved it.
Even if it was, for Valentine'sDay, and we made a music video,
and they just had held a pictureof their wedding day.
(17:08):
that was telling a story.
That was honoring a piece oftheir life that It's past and no
longer gets to talk about it asmuch.
when my grandmother moved intomy community.
One of the most important thingsI realized was her story that
she told over and over again tostrangers, to check out people.
(17:29):
She could tell them all the timeand people loved to hear them.
And I'm like, peace out.
I've heard this a thousand timesin my lifetime.
have fun.
And I'll be honest with you.
what I wouldn't give to hear hersay the same story that I heard
her say over and over again.
To every checkout girl that weencountered every Saturday
(17:49):
morning for 15 years, and sothere is value to that.
And we think that our seniors.
Our elder loved ones don't like,technology, but they like to see
themselves on camera
Daniel (18:05):
a hundred percent.
I've got stories.
I've got stories like that withmy parents.
my dad in particular has storiesthat or comments or things that
he'll with perfect strangers allthe time.
And we've got that saved.
1 of the exercises I'm doing inmy personal account.
In my personal life is myselfand family members, my, my niece
(18:25):
and nephew, we are interviewingour parents.
That's a big one.
And it's this really fun.
So if we're around atThanksgiving or Christmas or
whatever the holiday might be,we get together as a family and
it's, we do our usual stuff.
that's always fun.
We kind of joke around, there'sfood going and there's
conversation.
But now what we do is we grabour mobile device and we
actually just record.
(18:46):
Some of these stories and thereare stories.
So we have an advisory boardactually that's that guides us
and advises us on senior livingretirement communities, the
whole space age tech as a space.
we have, a PhD socialpsychologists that have helped
us create.
Story prompts.
So questions that will promptand guide you through
storytelling.
And we just work through those.
(19:07):
And now we've got this wholelibrary of my parents.
And, you never think thatanyone's gonna be gone, but it's
just human inevitability.
And we have to write part ofbuilding like one of our PhD
social psychologists, hisspecialization is in legacy.
And the reason why legacy is soimportant at its real root core
(19:28):
is that.
It's a way for us to cope with.
Mortality.
That's really at the core of whylegacy is so important.
There's other reasons too, butthat's really the core is we
start to, once you're happy,closer to the end than you are
in the beginning, you start to,you feel it even subconsciously,
you're feeling mortality.
And so building legacy becomesnaturally and organically more
(19:51):
important.
And, and so this is a great wayto do that.
Now we've got, we're building alibrary and our users build
libraries of, for people I thinkof that have passed on, if I
could just have a library oftheir voice, just clips to hear
some of the things I love themsaying is incredibly powerful.
And, that, that will help withgrieving too.
When you have this library of.
(20:11):
Of, of experiences and video andin multimedia, it's, it makes
the reminiscing more and moreenjoyable.
It makes the grieving a littleeasy, a little easier.
It's never, nothing's going toalleviate it for you entirely,
but having these incrediblethings and then for future
generations, so for the folks,50, a hundred years from now,
who will never meet any of us,it's nice.
(20:32):
It'll be nice to have these,these logs of family history
here too, from an anecdotalperspective.
Erin (20:39):
Yeah, I, I know that we have a mutual friend in Anna
Hall and there is certainly, shepreaches and emphasizes purpose
so much.
And when we are talking aboutresidents inside of a senior
living or a long term carecommunity, they can feel the
absence of purpose, right?
(20:59):
If we're not careful, if we'renot intentional about
understanding.
Where some of the despair comesfrom.
And it sounds like Ken Capsulegives them the opportunity to do
a life review and see the legacyand that you can still have a
(21:22):
legacy and live it inside seniorliving and you have purpose
because people work insidesenior living.
And if you're alive, you can addvalue.
It does not matter what yourphysical state is.
and redefining what successlooks like at every stage with
(21:43):
life review, legacy building andpurpose is important and that is
certainly something that seniorliving communities can give
their residents with thisproduct.
Without it, but preferably, I'msure with this product would be
great.
Daniel (22:00):
Absolutely.
I, we love Anna Hall, as well.
she's actually one of ouradvisory board members and, so
we, and early on too, soeverything we do, product or
service or even personalized, wetry our best to look through the
lens of purpose as well.
And, I think.
On, you said the word unlockearlier, on, on covering,
(22:21):
unlocking and unleashing purposeis just so powerful.
And one of the tools that canhelp you to achieve those things
is life review.
With King Capsule or without,life review as a, as an exercise
is, it's a mental exercise, it'san emotional exercise, it's a
spiritual exercise, it's a, it'sall of the above, it's a human
(22:44):
thing and everyone should do it.
and, and certainly purpose andmeaning and your life.
They're all so connected at thecore that yeah, a hundred
percent, I agree.
And, and it's never too late, ifyou don't feel like you're in
tune with your purpose and, orhave gone through the life
review experience or exercise,it's never too late.
And we, again, we have, a lovelylady named Rose at one of the.
(23:08):
the senior living, communitiesthat we work with.
And, she's 97, 97 years old.
She has an incredible story.
and, same with her.
The first couple of stories werescattered and not as cohesive
and then, three, four and fifthstory, it like it's the
transformations happening beforeyour eyes, but they have found
new purpose and new meaning inAt a very, at an amazing age of
(23:34):
97 and, she carries her iPhonearound so she can access, things
from her iPhone.
And it's, she's incredible.
I only hope to be in hercondition when I'm at 97, if I
even get to 97, but, but yeah,so just to, to emphasize your
point, it's never too late and,it's always.
a blessing, regardless of whatstage or age you're at in life,
(23:55):
to go through these exercises
Erin (23:57):
and it's a gift, a community can gift this
experience to family members,people want to know what their
heart ROI is.
That's a question that getsasked a lot.
What is my return on investmenton this, but there's also this
soft ROI, right?
(24:17):
And I talk a lot about how afamily member feels or a
resident feels when they leaveyour community for the last time
is just as important as it iswhen they first walk in.
And what an amazing gift to givea family member as a thank you.
(24:39):
Then the life story and legacyof their loved one.
And that's just not somethingthat's an uncommon hospitality
effort and a gift that will,from a selfish perspective,
consistently bring referrals andfrom a man, I just did the right
(25:01):
thing.
It will be the gift.
That keeps on giving because youare changing people's lives and
really, that's the goal of whatsenior living is.
So I'll give
Daniel (25:11):
you the
Erin (25:12):
final word.
Daniel (25:14):
Yeah, on that point, you're as a, as an operator,
you're, a big part of yourpipeline are the loved ones
around your residents.
And if they're happier and ifthey are aligned with purpose
and with meaning, and they havea voice and they feel heard.
And they can share their lifestories, which, you know, as an
older adult, you're, these arethings you'd love.
(25:36):
You want to share.
You want to, there's so much toshare at that point, at that
stage in your life.
And so being able to do thatabsolutely translates into.
Happier, healthier, more engagedresidents and the loved ones see
that and they're involvedbecause they're a part of it,
right?
They're a part of your story.
And again, in King Capsule,there are free accounts.
(25:57):
We have free accounts.
We've got, subscription modelsfor upgrades, more storage, more
functions, et cetera, but there,we didn't want any barriers for
anyone.
And so there's an account.
That's suitable for you.
And I would just encouragepeople with King capsule or
without, to really explore lifereview as an exercise that you
should go through.
because again, things likemeaning and purpose and.
(26:20):
really getting to know someoneand, at the core of who we
really are.
When we take off the digitalmask and we really just connect
and you can feel a person'senergy, storytelling and life
review are just such incredibleways to do that.
And I encourage everyone to dothat.
Erin (26:36):
Absolutely.
Absolutely.
It really does changeeverything.
So tell us how, someone canreach you at Ken Capsule.
Daniel (26:46):
Yeah, absolutely.
we are, we have a, a web, appand a mobile app.
So you can go to kincapsule.
ca or.
com and you'll check, you'll seesome information.
You can sign up.
we'd love you sign up for a freeaccount and check us out.
and then, you'll see upgradeoptions there.
and, if you have questions,email us at, support or contact
at kin capsule.
(27:07):
com.
So that's support at kincapsule.
com or contact, at kin capsule.
com.
and you can download us from theapp store or Google play for
your iPhone or your Android.
and those are the best wayswe've got.
we have tutorials and a helpmenu in the app so that we have
a whole library of videos and,documents that will help guide
you through it.
(27:28):
or can Daniel Findlay, connectwith me on LinkedIn.
I'd be happy to set up, I getthe actual, the contact and
support, they do go to a fewpeople, but I want, I'm one of
the recipients.
So you'll get me if you get, ifyou email us and I'm happy to
hop on with anyone to, to chator to demo the.
The product to you or, and toanswer any questions that you
have.
So we're really, we're small,we're startup, we're growing
(27:49):
fast and we're hungry to engagewith people and to make a
difference.
So reach out.
Erin (27:55):
Absolutely.
And he's from Canada, Alabamaand Canada people.
Love it.
So
absolutely.
I'm proud of that.
So thank you for being here.
I appreciate it.
I, believe in your mission and Ihope that, all of your
customers.
Thank you for sharing that.
(28:15):
I appreciate it.
Daniel (28:17):
Thank you very much for having me, Erin.
Always a pleasure.
And, we love you and yourmission and it's just such
incredible important work.
So we're happy to be a part ofwhat you're doing and likewise.
So thank you for having metoday.
Erin (28:27):
You're welcome.
And always for my listeners.
Aspire for more.
For you.
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