When I was growing up in Florida during the 70s and 80s there weren't mobile devices that we spent most of our day staring at, Netflix available on a TV in every room of the house with unlimited on-demand content, and AI on our computers to “think” for us. Our family and I'm sure yours too, did things like sit down together around the dinner table every night at 6 pm and talk to each other about our day - school, work, relationships, sports and future plans. We took family vacations in the station wagon using an actual folded map, and played baseball with a broomstick and tennis balls on the street with my brother and friends. We visited Blockbuster video for the big family movie night. Quite simply, there was a real connection with my family, something that is hard to come by nowadays.
My dad was a financial advisor who helped people invest their money and get the necessary insurance they needed. My grandfather was an accountant and my older brother became a financial advisor like dad. However, when I grew up, even though I did well in school, all I wanted to do was something creative, and music was my passion. This dream didn’t stop even after I graduated high school. I played with two different “garage bands” into the summer hoping to be the next big thing.
Well, dad didn’t really agree, and certainly did not want me staying in his house playing music as a career. He told me a month after high school graduation, “Get a real job, go to college, or go to the Army!” He even had a recruiter from the Army try to sign me up at home. Ouch.
While I worked in Corporate America for Bank of America as a financial advisor into my 30s (with 12 branches and a $350M client portfolio under management), I thought I had it all. I owned my dream car, bought my first house, traveled around the world, and built a recording studio in my home to quench my creative desires. The only thing I was missing was a family of my own. I guess I should have been happy. However, It’s not easy to tell a person who is creative by nature that they can’t live the real life that they want. It was around that time that I realized that with enough hard work, and some smart risk-taking, I wouldn’t have to choose between my creative passions and my business skills. I could actually build my own business. Not long after, the concept of what would become Forever Studios started to form.
It was 2005 and Hurricane Katrina and Hurricane Wilma did untold damage to Florida, Mississippi, New Orleans and Louisiana. A banking client of mine was starting a company called Arkiva. The idea was to help people create a secure digital home inventory of their possessions on a secure web portal. It included pictures of their home for insurance claims and a scanned copy of every important document they had, so they were safe in the event of a natural disaster. I was bored with what people had told me was “success”, and was intrigued by the idea, so I let my creative juices flow and stayed up all night to diagram the entire software platform. I even created an entire “mini business plan”. The founder was blown away by my vision for his original concepts, and literally hired me the next day. I was now juggling two full time jobs, but finally had my shot at creating something.
My Dad grew up poor and worked for everything he ever earned in his life. Asking him to give me money for anything without it being earned was usually met with a hard “NO”. Not to mention the fact that my own sense of pride made it incredibly difficult to ever ask to begin with. Even though he was pained watching me go through this experience, I still think he was proud of the fact that I came at my first serious opportunity with everything I had. That’s when he decided that he wasn’t going to let me fail, providing just enough capital to buy the remains of Arkiva. Somehow, I now owned my very own company. That company was named (you guessed it) Forever Studios. Thanks for believing in me, Dad.
There is nothing quite as satisfying as working hard and having success. With a little money in the bank and some real confidence in my ability to steer the ship, I took one positive growth step at a time. We invested in some key employees, built out a new studio space, moved our Digitizing Studio into a separate facility and launched the Creative Studio. I felt like we were finally on our way and a lot of the challenges we had faced seemed a distant memory. My challenges to this point had taught me to find the balance between risk-taking and stable leadership.
From the start, I always believed that if I wanted something to happen, that I could just do it all myself. But it eventually became clear that if I wanted to achieve the things I dreamed of, I needed to surround myself with great people, treat them with respect and kindness, and give them a comfortable and rewarding space to grow. I am unbelievably proud to present you with an amazing team of talented, hard working individuals that are completely dedicated to making you happy. They handle your family memories like their own and are truly passionate about making you feel like you're one of our family. It is all part of the Forever Studios way. It’s what our amazing and passionate team of creators, engineers, historians, archivists, technicians and customer success team members build and support for you each and every day. What I may be most proud of though, is that I can confidently guarantee we’ll be there for you anytime you need us, and serve as your trustworthy guide through an important family experience.
Well, thanks for tuning into our story and considering being a special part of it yourself. So now that you know our story, what about yours? Pretty soon you will relive the analog moments of your past. You’ll probably remember a special someone you haven't seen for decades, show your kids photos of when you were children like them, and share a whole bunch of new unforgettable moments together. If you’re feeling up to it, I would love to go on this trip down memory lane with you and hear about the most impactful memory that you’ve rediscovered. Drop me a line and tell me about it: zg@foreverstudios.com. Forever Yours,
