The "O" Oprah Magazine Story

It's official...

Heritage Makers has been invited to be featured in one of the fall publications of O MAGAZINE under the section, "The O List !" Do you want to know the rest of the story?

When the first storybook was written by my daughter, Candace May, some nine years ago, the storybooking movement began. Our dream was to place a storybook in each home in America and to believe that Oprah, someone who held the same enthusiasm for the power of story as we did, would call us someday and say, "Come on down."

Just over a year ago, my youngest daughter, Angi Hirsche, was invited to be on the Oprah Show and talk about how she handled a very difficult situation when she was robbed and the assailant attempted to kidnap her. When Angi traveled to Chicago for the show, she took with her a small box of our Heritage Makers' storybooks and products. She presented them to Oprah. Oprah was impressed!

Then, seven weeks ago, Gayle King, the Editor-at-Large of O Magazine, and Oprah's best friend, invited Angi to New York, to revisit the topic of women's safety. Again, I packed Angi with a great variety of our books and products. After the taping, Angi sat with Gayle for five minutes of uninterrupted time.

Gayle said to Angi, "We are interested in companies like this for O Magazine, FIRST. This is incredible!" She then asked Angi about the company's history and was intrigued about the mother-daughter aspect, and how the company began with a storybook of an ordinary little grandfather. She ended the conversation with, "Your mother will hear from me."

Two weeks ago, I received two emails and a phone call from Gayle's assistant asking for some further information. She also told me that our products were being prepared to be featured in one of the fall publications of Oprah's favorite things (the O List) in O Magazine

Dreams do happen! The next part of the dream, to place a storybook in every home in America (and then the world!), will only happen because of you! Thanks so much for carrying the vision and enthusiasm for storybooking.

"Sharon Gibb Murdoch"
Founder of the Storybooking Process

Storybooking Your Business

By Dr. Sharon Murdoch
Founder of the Storybooking Process
Co-founder of Heritage Makers

Throughout my years as a teacher, mother and grandmother, I have seen the magic of story. I have pondered its power knowing that it is story that endures the generations, provides meaning to lives and has a healing power beyond the strongest drugs.

Recently, Melanie Davis, a Heritage Maker Director in Texas sent out an email. Upon reading it, I felt again the energy of why this company started some six years ago in the basement of Chris Crandall’s home, and why it will grow to financial heights beyond our imaginations! It is all about the magic of story!

“My name is Hondo Goodrich. By way of introduction, I would like to tell you about an event that gave me direction for the rest of my life. I graduated from Arkansas State University in Jonesboro, Arkansas. That is where I learned an important concept that has led me to this instant. I had a professor who gave his class a final test. The test consisted of one question. The one question consisted of one word. The word was: Why? Since this was an essay question, the students began writing feverously to fill up the essay book hoping to say something that might convince the professor to give them a passing grade.

However, one student aced the test by answering the one word test question, why, with a one word answer, because. That story taught me that why and because can be applied to just about anything we do.

“In March of 1945, a young girl died in Bergen-Belsen. Bergen-Belsen was a German prison camp. The young girl was named Anne Frank. After the war, her uncle visited the secret annex where Anne and her family lived until they were compromised and sent to the prison. He found some scattered papers and upon close examination, he realized that Anne had been keeping a journal while living in the secret hide-a-way. These papers were subsequently published as “The Diary of Anne Frank.” Why did she keep a diary? Because, she wanted to be remembered. She had a story that like all of us, needed to be told.

What's Your Story?

Quick! Take a picture! Is this phrase familiar to you?Are you one of those people who have boxes and boxes of picturesfrom life events and now they are stored away to become faded?Are the memories they are supposed to preserve going to fade with them?Have you ever wondered why we take pictures, only to let them fade away?

In today’s world, so many things that we do will not have a lasting effect on our families or us. We are constantly searching for that one trip, that one gift that someone will always remember. You know, the one that when given makes you feel like you have given part of yourself. Yet, as we search and move forward, things of the past become forgotten. How do we preserve those life events and memories that were once so important to us? How do we make sure that what we are doing today doesn’t become the faded pictures of tomorrow?

Intuitively, we understand the importance of sustaining, and where necessary, creating family, community and national heritage. But how can responsible, caring people and parents find, teach and sustain their heritage? Home is where your story is told, but where did it begin? Your story is a composite of the stories and memories of the events and relationships of the past and the present. Only when we are clear about where we have come from are we certain of where we are going.

Storybooking founder, Dr. Sharon Murdoch said, “Photos without stories are memories lost.” How many times have you looked at a photo that was taken years or even months ago and cannot remember the details of the memory – the event, the person, or the place- that you swore you would never forget? We place our photos in a book, but does that add to the detail of the memory? Storybooking was developed so people could easily share photos as well as the stories that go with them. Storybooking is the new and exciting trend that captures and preserves the images and stories of the events, heroes and heritage that are lost when all that is left are pictures.

Have you ever sat down to scrapbook some pictures, and when you were done looked at the beautiful page and said, “Wow, that looks great, but I wish it didn’t take so long?” Now there is a new way to do just that. Going digital is quickly becoming the new trend in scrapbooking. Now, you can take your pictures, put them in your computer, and finish many pages in the time it used to take to finish one. Digital scrapbooking programs offer many of the same embellishments and notions that we love to use on our hand-made pages. And, not only do we have to make just one, but we can easily duplicate our books to share with our loved ones. Toni Terry, a director with Heritage Makers, said “I love digital scrapbooking because they have allowed me to get caught up on my scrapbooking and easily duplicate my work for other family members.”

Now, you can choose which you want to do, and how you want to do it. There are many different digital scrapbooking websites out there. They vary in options, price for printing, printing options, page sizes, photo archiving, and so on. Make sure you don’t allow your photos to just gather dust in a box in the closet. Don’t wait so long before you write down what you wanted to remember that you couldn’t remember what it was. Whether you choose to storybook your memories or scrapbook them and whether you use digital photos or real prints, take the time today to preserve them. Don’t let the memories you are making today fade away tomorrow.

Digital Scrapbooking

Digital scrapbooking is a fun way to preserve your memories for years to come. Using digital scrapbooking software, it is not only fun...it's easy! There are many different digital scrapbooking websites out there. They vary in options, price for printing, printing options, page sizes, photo archiving, and so on.