Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Ashley Kenny. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Hi Ashley, thanks for joining us today. Let’s start with the story of your mission. What should we know?

Heirloom Video Books was born from a need to make it possible for special moments to be shared with family and friends. It’s meant to bridge the emotional gap for families separated by distance and is inspired by our 92-year-old Grandma Fran during the pandemic. We noticed she was feeling lonely and missing out on family events. Heirloom mails your videos and photos in a physical book that automatically plays when opened. As a sister-and-brother team, we combined my experience in documentary filmmaking and my brother’s engineering skills to create a product that delivers the power of connection through visuals, bringing joy to loved ones. Our mission is to solve the deeper issue of isolation by making it easy for friends and families to share memories, and we’ve transformed that mission into a company that serves families nationwide. By reinvesting profits and focusing on our purpose, we’re committed to creating meaningful connections, one video book at a time.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

As a journalist, I know firsthand the power of a well-told story. I’ve spent 15 years making award-winning documentaries for National Geographic and The Atlantic, earning the prestigious Edward R. Murrow and Alfred I. DuPont awards.

Being a mom of two young boys, the experience of raising my kids has given me a foundation to build my small business to capture my family’s milestones and share them with loved ones. The joy I feel in creating Heirloom books is passed onto our customers who see our value and commitment to each custom book.

What recent years have taught us is that we all yearn for connection. Heirloom provides individuals, families, and businesses a unique opportunity to customize a video book for many purposes. Heirloom video books are held in your hand as physical books that play the loaded videos and photos when the cover is opened (no technical ability required!). The book instantly plays your video message with sound when a user opens the cover.

Individuals and families struggling to remain close to those far away have become a growing customer base. Military families and their friends have become a very special customer base as they want a way to easily hold close life’s captured moments, conveniently storing and watching their videos and photos.

On the business front, businesses have found an Heirloom video book to be an excellent gift for their current clients, a unique add-on product they can offer, or a way to show off their work to future referrals. Realtors, for example, use our product to promote their current listings with great success and a thank-you gift for their clients after the sale. Videographers are another professional group using Heirloom, appreciating the value of videos for creative storytelling. They have also seen the book as a great add-on product for current clients. Nonprofits are another group who have found benefits to using Heirloom to tell their heartfelt stories.

How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?

As a growing small business, just beyond the startup phase, we understand the value of listening to our customers, especially when they provide honest feedback. Their insights often revolve around product features and how these can enhance their experience. From a business perspective, we see these requests through the lens of feasibility—can we implement the features they want without sacrificing affordability or losing customers to lower-cost competitors?

One example of this dynamic actually led to a boost in interest, sales, and, most importantly, customer satisfaction. While customers appreciated our artistically designed book covers tailored for various occasions—like new babies or birthdays—many began requesting the option to design their own custom-printed covers. After conducting research, we recognized the potential in offering this feature. Our talented engineers developed a user-friendly platform that welcomes customers to create their own personalized designs. This adaptation has become one of our standout features, driving both brand awareness and sales.

We’d love to hear about how you met your business partner.

We’re a brother and sister team! With my background in documentary filmmaking and his experience in computer engineering, we put together the very first video book in November 2020 for our grandmother. We continued to upgrade and refine the intergenerational product, called it Heirloom, and officially launched our business in February 2021.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://sendheirloom.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sendheirloom/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sendheirloomofficial/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@heirloomvideobooks

Image Credits

Heirloom