Porch Swing started as an idea developed while driving from the Lake of the Ozarks, Missouri, to Michigan. When we lived in Metamora, one hour north of Detroit, we drove to Jayme’s parents’ home 3-5 times per year. The drive back was a killer, so we would leave at 3:30 or 4 am, get through St. Louis before the traffic hit, and arrive at home in Michigan, after an hour time loss, around 4-5pm.
In August, 2013, on one drive back, I spent the first 1 1/2 hours thinking about the concept of capturing life stories. I had thought about this on several occasions before, but this time I went from wondering why no one has done it successfully, to the point of wondering what it would take to get there.
So, at my traditional 5 am stop at I-70 in Kingdom City, in addition to a coffee refill, I picked up a small notepad and a package of pens at a truck stop. I spent the next four or so hours, driving, drinking coffee, listening to am radio, and jotting notes on my notepad. I sketched out a rough business plan, website strategy, and marketing strategy. My first name for the business was rodstory.com, in honor of Grandpa’s friend, and later, our first customer.
After Jayme woke up, I shared my thoughts with her, and she added some really cool thoughts regarding the Story Coaches who would help folks write their stories.
On subsequent trips back from the lake, I would pull out the notepads (there were two before long), and continue the process.
In January of 2018, I found myself between jobs. By then, I had done research on intellectual property and competitive analysis. We had hired a young lady to prepare the website, after several (5-7) meetings with firms/individuals who ultimately weren’t interested or weren’t the right fit.
We met Annie, who agreed to provide our initial words. We met Tim, who at first told us that he was not looking for any more clients for digital marketing, but came back later and decided to join.
We met Reagan (Publishing) at a coffee shop, reconnected with Mikal (Social Media) who we had worked with in Michigan, met Kelly (Design) at Cozy Café after a referral from Annie, and reunited with Becky when she relocated to KC.
Chris (Website) was a Reagan referral and joined the team a few months later.
The team was set, the product was looking pretty spiffy, and we started sampling with family and friends.
A couple of quick victories included Rod Storey, Jayme’s dad Jammie’s best friend from high school. We got Rod’s story completed, largely by him dictating to Jammie or writing on his Boogie Board, and Jammie telling me the stories while I was driving home from work. We completed Rod’s book, he ended up ordering 12 of them, three months before he passed away. The smiles, and comments from friends and family were worth the effort.
Next, I worked with Jayme’s mom, Pat. A chronically lovely lady, Pat was at first hesitant because of a concern that her story wasn’t very interesting, and wanting to avoid some early memories. I interviewed her several times, mostly with Jammie there. We quickly found that the high points were numerous and the difficult early times were easy to avoid.
As we sit at August, 2018, we believe we have cleared the first hurdle to success, we have a product and have launched our digital advertising. The next hurdle is cracking the code to getting people to buy. We’re just starting, and we’re not sure how high this hurdle is. We don’t believe that any of our predecessors have approached this hurdle with enough momentum and gumption to succeed. Or it could be that the hurdle is forty feet tall.
We are looking forward to the challenge with a great group of people.
