By Kayla Hayes
Inheritances are continually passed down from one generation to the next, but according to Brandon resident, Amber Karlins, there is something of a legacy gap between the generations. More than an inheritance, a legacy is about preserving memories, stories and life lessons. Karlins has teamed up with a year-old company called Legacy Keepers to help families, siblings and couples preserve their legacies through books, videos and audio CDs.
Karlins represents Legacy Keepers as a personal historian, which allows her to sit down with clients individually to record their stories in a comfortable manner. “It is important that personal historians have a high level of emotional intelligence to help people feel comfortable,” said Karlins. With a degree in psychology and a background as a writer/journalist, Karlins feels she has been preparing for this job for most of her adult life. Karlins published her first autobiography, My Year of Living Fearlessly, in 2011. Besides being a personal historian, Karlins is also a Direct Sales representative for Legacy Keepers, which allows her to meet with potential clients to share examples of finished products before any decisions are made.
Clients will decide on a package, photos and other memorabilia to include in their product, and a certain number of interview questions from a booklet of more than 100 questions based on the package they choose, with Karlins as their one-on-one consultant through the entire process. Once the individual interviews have taken place, Legacy Keepers handles the rest.
Legacy Keepers has also teamed up with the Alzheimer’s Foundation of America (AFA) to help individuals with Alzheimer’s disease record their stories. Karlins has been through extensive screening and training to help in this area, and is able to meet with patients, as well as their families, to help record these special stories.
Karlins thinks everyone should consider having their legacies recorded. She learned first-hand the importance of keeping “memory insurance” (as she likes to think of the legacy books) after her grandmother was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease. They also make great gifts for parents and other family members.
To read more, visit LegacyKeepers.com/AmberKarlins or email her at AKarlins@gmail.com.
