Pine Ridge Estates Business Spotlight - Jan Goldsmith with Video of a Lifetime

Jan, I see you bounced, then I was bouncing too.

Good morning. It was good. Good morning, Renee.

I am so honored to have with me Jan Goldsmith today. We are going to talk to her about her fabulous business. It's a video of a lifetime, and we're going to talk a little bit more about that. But before we do, Jan, just a quick introduction for those watching near and far, either live or on replay. We have— this has been a great opportunity for me living in Naples to start to get to know some of the local businesses. And these started— these interviews started as a part of a response to COVID when COVID started shutting businesses down, physical— the physical presence of the business down. I wanted a way to leverage some of the technology that I've purchased for my personal business and share it with others through these broadcast, we've now started to expand it a little bit. And you happen to be a business owner in an area that we do some partnership things with too. So I'm just so honored to have the opportunity to get to showcase your business. And in doing that, Jan, what I'd like to do is give the audience an opportunity to learn a little bit more about you before we flip to the, to the business side. So please share.

Okay, and thank you for having me. And thank you for doing this. You've done a great job of pivoting, as they say, in the time of COVID So this was a great idea to do this. And also having the ice cream truck was a wonderful idea as well. I thought coming around the communities. I started, I'm from the Northern Kentucky area near Cincinnati, and I was still in college at University of Northern Kentucky and was offered a job as a disc jockey at a rock station. Back then it was, they were just beginning. And so I thought, ah, I always wanted to be a news reporter, but I did that for 3 years. It was incredible. And then one day a news director called me, at a time when it was a beginning for women being on the air, really. And so he called me and offered me a job at the CBS affiliate in Cincinnati as co-anchor of a daily news magazine that followed CBS Evening News every night. And that was wonderful. And I stayed there for 4 years and then decided I needed a change since I'd lived in that area my entire life. And I took a job with the Catholic Church, actually, in Washington, DC at Catholic University and worked on a show like PM Magazine, if you remember that, traveled all over to all the diocese and did stories, and I was the producer and the host and everything of that. And that lasted for a year, and then I was hired by WUSA-TV, the CBS affiliate in DC, and asked to start a new show on Sunday morning, which we followed CBS Sunday morning with Charles Kuralt, and now, I forget who's, Jay Pauley is now hosting it. But anyway, we followed them on the air, and we did that for like 7 or 8 years. I was the senior producer and then also one of the reporters, and then, When the host quit, then I became the host of that show too. And so we did that and we did a lot of primetime documentaries for the station. And one of the things we did, it ended up, I ended up marrying the host of the show. And so when we had our first child, we did a whole documentary because he was 50 years old when our daughter was born. And so we did a documentary on giving birth 50 years later. We interviewed his mom and other women and what it was like. And so that was really a fun, a fun show, but we did a lot of them. We did a documentary in Canada on, I mean, not Canada, I'm sorry, Alaska. And during that, we spent a whole day with James Michener, 'cause he was writing his book on Alaska at the time. And we just got to do some really wonderful things. So it's been a very rewarding career. And that's why I started so late having kids, 'cause I enjoyed working, but then I got to be an age and I thought, ah, if I'm gonna do it, I better do it now. So I have two children. Both of them were raised, they were both born in DC, but they were raised here. Here at Naples and they both went to school here at Naples. They went to Naples High and Gulfview Seagate and then Gulfview. So it's, we've really become embedded here. My mother-in-law lived here, which was why we moved down to kind of take care of her. And it's been wonderful. We always thought we'd move back to DC so the kids could go to school there, but it's just been so nice here. And we've really come to love this area and especially Pine Ridge Estates. I used to live downtown. But I'm telling you, being up here in the north, this is just a great area.

Now, I wanna pause for a minute because what an awesome story. One of the things I love about Naples, and I've been here about 7 years now, is I meet the most interesting people with the most, not to repeat the word, but truly interesting backgrounds. I think this is such an area where we benefit greatly from people who have had talented, very successful careers, but because this is paradise, they've decided at some point in those chapters to kind of start a life here. And it's just been a collection of, I don't think people realize the talent that we have in Naples. And I think you're a prime example of that. I mean, listening to the background you have, and we're gonna talk about how you're applying that today, You know, what a phenomenal group of experiences that you've had to culminate in where you are. And I see some of your statues in the background, and those might be some really interesting photos behind you. I can't see, but, you know, those are the kind of— you're the kind of person that people would love to go have a glass of wine with and listen to all of this because it's quite impressive.

Oh, thank you. I'm always up for a glass of wine. So, yes, I mean, we've been so fortunate because back when we started in television in D.C., cable was just starting, you know? So there were like 4 stations, so everybody watched. And we interviewed, besides Mitchener, Roy Rogers and Ron Woods of the Rolling Stones and Rod Stewart. I mean, it just— all kinds of people. Went and spent a day at Carly Simon's house. I mean, we've been so blessed to do that. So when we moved here, the station that we worked at gave us the rights to all the stories we ever did. So we repackaged them once we moved to Naples, which was 25 years ago. My son was 2 weeks old when we moved down. And so we started this show called Picture This America. And it was all about what was right with America, you know, all the good stories. And we did it around holidays, like Black History Month, we did one, and then we did Memorial Day, July 4th, Thanksgiving. So it was all positive stuff, which we personally, I think we could use a lot more of right now on television. But it was those kinds of, make you feel good about our country kind of stories. So we did that for a couple of years and then having two kids, it was getting involved in the school system. We kind of stopped that. And then I went to work for the local school district channel here in Collier County. And I did like, I don't know, 6, 7 different shows for them over 8 years. So that was kind of fun because my kids are in public school here. So it was fun to do that and to be involved with the school system too. But then my parents moved down here, which was another reason we never went back to DC because they moved down because I had the only grandkids. And all of a sudden back in 2010 in September, my mom was diagnosed with ovarian cancer and was already like stage 3, 4. And so right away within 3 weeks, she was going to be operated on and they thought everything would be fine. They'd take it out, she'd be on chemo and stuff. So the night before she went in, I said, let me interview you. She looked nice. It was my parents' wedding anniversary. She said, oh no, wait till I get out. Out. I said, no, I've never interviewed you. When you get out, you're going to be losing your hair and you're not going to feel good. Let's do it. So she said, okay. So we fired up the camera and we interviewed her for an hour and a half, and she was very funny. And she had this wild— she was— she's Lebanese, and I'm half Lebanese. And she told the stories about her brothers and growing up in Northern Kentucky and what that was like. And she was also a community actress. She had played Mame and Dolly, so she was a great singer. Anyway, so I interviewed her for an hour and a half, and after dinner she said, you know, you didn't get me singing. You want me to sing? I'm like, really? Yeah. So she sat on the fireplace and we fired up the camera again and she sang 5 songs. So she went into the hospital the next day and they operated on her and everything was fine. And then she died 4 days later. So we had this video. And so for her funeral, we did a 15-minute video of her life, funny, but where she was born and all that kind of stuff. And then at the end, she sang 3 songs and the last one was Que Sera Sera. And then she said, that's all. Ended it, and it was like, it's her final gift she left for me because I know how important these things are. We watch it, my kids watch it, my dad who passed away last year, he would watch it all the time, and it just— to hear her voice and hear her laugh and tell stories is very different than reading a book about their life or even just looking at pictures. So that's— that's why.

Yeah, I was going to say it just gives it a sense of flavor that you probably aren't going to get in the written form. Well, that's— Jan, first of all, that's a very touching story and a personal one. So I appreciate you sharing it. I'm guessing that that may have spawned the, the idea for what you guys do today. Would that be accurate?

Yes, absolutely it is. I mean, we did a couple. I first started off with just doing my relatives because then I wanted to do my dad. I did my aunt. We went up to Kentucky and we did a bunch of them up there and just had them all talk. And then I just started talking it up and just talking it up in town. And some people said, one lady came up to me and said, "My son really wants to know more about his grandfather." So we did that one, which was incredible because he was from India and then moved to England and was one of the first doctors here in Naples back in 1971. And it was so great because now when we do these stories, unlike when we were in TV in DC, we'd have to go to the Library of Congress and get video or whatever pictures. Now, you know, with Google, we can, We can zoom in right to where they all grew up. The houses even. I just did a story on a woman recently and where she lived in Ohio, Kentucky, and Indiana, and we could find every house she lived in. And so it was like she was amazed that because you can do all that stuff now. So it's really a fun walk back in history is what it is if you want. I mean, I think I would love to hear my grandparents talk about what it was like for them. You know, my grandfather came over on the boat. I mean, wouldn't you love that to have them tell their stories and what Capture history.

I mean, you think about— so I go through the same thing. I'm just— my mind is racing because I think back to all the questions we have about where did my family come from, what were, you know, the generations before us like. And you used the word earlier, Jan, gift. I mean, it is a gift to be able to share that. And I couldn't help but wonder when you were talking about the woman that engaged you because she wanted her children to get to know their grandparent more, how How often, even though we think we know people, that through these interviews do you help introduce things that people may not have even known about living with that person or growing up with that person simply because there was never an occasion to talk about it? I'm gonna pause. I was gonna, I'm gonna pause for a second, Jan, because what I want to do as we get deeper into these services is just frame up a little bit. So you had done this wonderful video of your mom. Mother. You've, you, you obviously found a way through, um, others' encouragement and seeing the need to create a business around it. And I believe, Jan, you've got a partner in this business, is that correct? And so let's, before we get into some of the services, talk a little bit about the formation of the business. And let's talk about, um, you know, what services and the different ways that that could be. You gave one example, I'm sure there's others, um, but let's launch into that side of it. And then I want to continue with the stories because I think, I think it really helps us envision how you would use this service.

So please. So my partner now, in addition to John, who's still the editor and photographer sometimes, we also use local crews here, but my partner now is Jerry Hannett. And Jerry and I met because we worked out together at the 7:30 AM class at Burn Bootcamp for like a year and a half together. And we just got to know each other and She is in sales, she's in real estate, but she's very good at marketing and say, I'm not good at that stuff, but I'm not a salesperson. You know, I'm the artistic type and I can put the stories together. And so we got together and she has been really a great addition because she, you know, she would come up with flyers and all this stuff that, you know, I wasn't really good at that stuff. And she has been really, really good at helping me do that. And helping to get the word out in certain ways. So that has been great. And we do different kinds of things. I mean, we do, we have a, like a different scale of how deeply involved you want to get with the story. We've done some stories where just the person is interviewed. Most of them are like that. The person's telling their life, but other ones have family members comment on it or someone else, partners. Business partners may comment on it. And so we've had all of those, but we also have done some surprise videos, which is always fun. And, um, we did one on a local media person here in Naples, and for his birthday— I think it was like his 75th birthday— and it was held at the Ritz. And so they invited me and they played this video. We started with his wife opening up and reading a birthday card to him and saying Dear, this is for you, and then went into his whole life story, how he started his radio stations and from the people that he worked with back in North Carolina. So it was all of those people, and he— I sat and watched him and watched everyone. There was a tear in everyone's eyes in that room. It was so touching, and he was so touched to see all these people, some of which he hadn't seen in years. And then all of his children commented and the grandkids, and it was It was very touching. So we've done some of those too. I did one for, um, a couple of years ago for the guy who was— this was another surprise one. He was retiring from Humane Society here in Naples. So we did a surprise video on his life for him at his farewell dinner. So he had no idea. And we had interviewed a lot of the people who had come to work with him at the Humane Society. And of course, got great footage of animals at the Humane Society too. So, and that was really fun. So those are the different kinds. Of videos that we do. And again, they can just be straight on. They can just be— sometimes people want to, you know, they have wills and everything, but they want to leave some words of wisdom, their legacy, what was important to them. Sometimes they just want to do that. And so we've done things like that too. So really, we'll do anything that the customer wants us to do and put it together. And with our years, John's— John and I together have probably 60 years together doing these kinds of videos and putting this stuff together. So it's fun. And I'll tell you, the other thing is a lot of people do it themselves, which is fine, but when you have an outsider asking people stuff, they tell you way more than they would tell their kids because they figure the kids know, they don't want to be bothered. But they tell me lots of stuff. Like every— even some of my friends, I've done their parents, and they couldn't believe the stuff they didn't know that her mother, she was 100 years old and they had no idea that she had done all of this stuff in her life. So it's— and I love it, you know, because I know deep down how important this is going to be for the family years to come. So I always approach it that way and get very involved. And, you know, I get very emotional with these people just hearing their life stories because it's so interesting and times have changed so much. It's very fun to interview people that are older, you know, like in their 80s and just what they lived through. And what it was like then. It's fun.

Well, I love it. So one of the things that's helpful for you walking through that is it's a gift that can give both ways, right? So I heard the, the, the first version, which is the invid— the individual who may want to have their experiences and their life recorded so they can pass it on to others. But I love the idea of others recording things about those individuals to give as a gift back to them. So it really is, and you know, we talk about the gift that keeps on giving, but you know, this really is a great example of that. Do you find— oh, go ahead, please.

I just, I did one recently on a man who was only 50 years old, but then interviewed his kids, and it was wonderful to hear their, their, what they say about their father. So yes, you're right, it continues giving to him too, and the people that are in it, just to hear, you know, what their family members say.

Well, and that it's interesting, I was listening to you talk about the 100-year-old, the 50-year-old. Do you find, as I was just thinking to myself, gosh, this would be really cool for my husband and I to do for our kids, is there a point at which you, you, is a good point in age where you wait to do it so that it's reflective, or have you had anybody yet do sort of chapters of their life? You know, we, we worked with you 10 years ago, but now a lot of life has happened over the last 10 years. It's time to do an update. What, what have you found?

We haven't really done any yet, but I think there's some that are probably in the making, ones that we've done on younger people who may want to 10 years from now or 15 years from now. And somebody said to me, well, you ought to really start kind of appealing to people like are in their 60s and people who you know, still have a better memory. Although I'll tell you, the people I've interviewed, the elder, they have had very good memories. It's been, it's been very— I'm positive about that since, you know, we're heading that way, all of us, that they have such vivid recollections. And that's the thing, too, is we all remember stuff when we're younger because, you know, we don't have that many other things interfering in our brains. And so all that stuff from, you know, up to like your age 22, people have a very good memory. Of what that was like. So yeah, it's— sometimes I have interviewed husbands and wives together. That's the other thing, telling the story of their life, which is interesting because then they play off of each other and, oh yeah, remember this and remember that. And, and so it's fun. And then we just, we edit it together. And most of the time, sometimes we just let the interview go, just editing out when they pause or they want to stop or whatever. But most of the time I'll narrate it or John will narrate it. Someone will because it looks more like it is broadcast quality, but it's a story and you can say a lot more. You know, I can say something in 3 sentences in a narration that they maybe took 3 minutes, kind of summarize it and then go to the next thing, if you know what I mean. So that's always nice to have that. And I'll tell you, they watch it and I know, One of the ones I did, unfortunately, they were all going to get together with the mother and her kids and the grandkids back in May for her birthday, and because of COVID they couldn't. So they played the video, they all did it on Zoom so they could see each other, and they're— so that was kind of— it was fun for them, I think.

Yeah, well, that's great. I'm, I'm thinking I like want to buy a membership, right, so that I can do a video diary that I give to you with you every year and collect them.

I love it. Great idea. You know, I wish I had done that. I wish I'd just written some stuff down about what I did. But that's a great idea. It really is. And have people just start thinking that way, too. You know, the important parts of their— what legacy they want to leave. But it is a gift. It's a gift that they are giving to their family when they do this. And I know a lot of people, oh, I'm not worth this. Everybody has a story to tell. If you know how to tell the story, it'll be interesting. We use music, we use old footage of when they grew up. Like this lady we just did, she was born in like 1930 or '31, and you know, everything that was going on then, and kind of opened it up that way. And it was— they love it, you know, because that was their time. It's like us, you know, go back to when we were born and the stuff we went through when we were teenagers, and it's always fun to kind of go back there. So anyway, it's fun doing it.

Yeah, well, and I'm even thinking, you know, not to bring up a topic that's not a great one, but my mother-in-law has Alzheimer's, you know, and I think about if this was something we had considered doing before her memory started to go, we could have captured those things that now, you know, are lost because as her memory has progressively gotten worse, she doesn't obviously remember those stories and what a great opportunity something like this would have been even at a time, moment in time when we knew that was likely to be the path. So I could see so many applications for this. Gian, I know you talked about the recording process is obviously longer than what the end video might look like. What's the proportion of that as people are thinking through? Is this a few hours on the front end and then a few minutes on the back end? What I recognize, they're probably all different, but what's the range of what you see both on the recording and the, the video?

The average one, if I'm just doing a person telling their life story, I always meet them in advance and sit there for 2 or 3 hours talking because they really don't talk about things and then they'll show me pictures and then I kind of go on that. I never give everybody the exact questions I'm going to ask them because there's a lot of follow-up questions. I give them an idea. Of the stuff they're going to talk about. So that way they're much more spontaneous because you don't really want people memorizing answers and they don't look natural when they're on. So that was, um, it's fun. I'm sorry, what was your question? There was a question.

So the first, the videotaping is usually a few hours, and then when we trim that down, what's the range of the length of the video that gets produced after?

Anywhere from 30 to 35 minutes to an hour long video. And yes, the interviews, if I'm just doing one, the interview's probably like 3 hours. But then, like this one that I did, we ended up having 10 hours of interviews and trying to cut that down into a 45-minute or an hour video is a lot. So that was very much more time-consuming to have to interview all these different people about it. And then I hope, you know, when we're there, we shoot pictures around the house, take pictures home with us. And then tape them ourselves. We don't send stuff out, so we try to do it all in-house, and we can do a lot of that because we have a lot of old cameras that people have stuff on that we can do. So, um, I'd say the interview is probably 3 hours. And see, like you, my dad passed away last year of Alzheimer's, but when my mom passed away and we started doing the videos, I did him right away, and I'm so happy because he already had a little bit of memory loss. So I actually interviewed him with his sister, who was fine. So the two of them together told stories, and that was kind of fun too. But I'm so glad that I did him then, because at the end, you know, he, he didn't remember my mom's name. So it was good that— you're right, and that's kind of the stuff you see now and you think, oh, you wish you had done it. I'm lucky that this happened with my mom, so I saw the benefits of doing it.

Yeah, no, that's great. And I imagine from— if somebody's interested, Jan, pricing is going to vary depending on how many different people you're interviewing, the time required. If somebody's interested, do they just contact you and you guys do a rough quote based on what you've gathered? How does that work so they understand what something like this may run?

They would contact Jerry Hansen. Hannon, and, um, yes, yes, that's her number. Yeah, that's her number. So they would contact her and then she would just get a feel for what they wanted. You know, how many pictures do you think? It's usually way more pictures than you think, and the more pictures, the more engaging it is, really, you know, it's telling the story. So there's that. If there's a lot of video, if they want other people interviewed too, Everybody has their own idea, and then the more we talk to them, then they kind of come up with their own idea what they want to do.

Well, I love this. I am, you know, I'm always looking for cool gift ideas. I'm one of those that gets stressed out because sometimes after years and years of giving to my parents or my children, I run out of ideas. And I think this is such a fresh fresh ideas. So think about, for those of you watching, you know, we're rolling into the holiday season. Regardless of, of what holidays you, you celebrate, they all seem to be packed in at the end of the year. And this would be a great opportunity. And I imagine they could engage you. Think about crafting this as a gift that would be produced next year. So it doesn't have to be something you have to feel like is, is a done product by the end of the year. But what a great way to think about the holidays and gift ideas, Jan. So I'm— I think our interview was very timely, and I hope that this sparks some, you know, some potential interest. I think your business name, Video of a Lifetime, is so fitting and descriptive. And I think this video gives— this interview will give people an opportunity to really understand the service that's right here in our backyard.

Thank you. Yes, thank you so much. And it is, it really is the time. And I think a lot of people, since they've been home during COVID have kind of started going through some of their photos and some of the things they have and trying to organize. I know I have. It's like a nightmare, but have tried to organize, you know, dividing everything up. I was on vacation last week with my sister and my cousins in South Carolina. I have a whole box. We have, we've had a family reunion in Indiana now for 54 straight years. This was the first year was canceled. But I was the photographer, so I have a box. I took all those pictures and had my cousins and my sister sit down, and we actually divided them up into years. So I'll probably— we've only done a couple of years on family reunion, but now I've got them in order. So it's just that kind of stuff too. I mean, organizing the photos that you have and the ones that are important is also— and this is a good— this is a good time while we're stuck at home to do some of those kind of things too, and to also think about your life. I think a lot of people are in that frame of mind and, you know, we've been reflective because we've been home. And so it is— you're right, it's a very good time of year to be thinking about something like this if they're interested.

Absolutely. And if you're interested, below you can see their web address, www.videoofalifetime.com, or Jerry can be reached on the phone number there, 307-8500. Well, Jan, I again, I thank you so much for coming and sharing a bit of your story as well as sharing these services because, like I said, I— who would have known, right? And not just, you know, when— what I hope people gain from this is not only is this a service, but this is, you know, it really is an experience. And to be able to go through that with someone with your caliber of experience and talent, and I have to say the documentary Uh-oh, can you hear me?

Renee, can you hear me? You have frozen. I don't know if anybody can hear me, but thank you so much for doing this. This is a great thing that you're doing.

I lost you, but I kept talking, so hopefully it would— it at least caught our video. I was just saying thank you so much for joining us and sharing your talents with Naples, and it sounds like even other areas. So it— for those of you that live in different places, um, you know, we are— we've through COVID realized just how great technology can be. To work across state lines and even country lines sometimes. So again, Jan, thank you so much for joining us and sharing your gift.

Thank you so much for inviting me and for doing this for our entire community. It's very needed and much appreciated. Thank you.

Well, have a wonderful weekend, everyone. We'll talk to you soon.

Bye. Bye.