The Life Story Project with Yve Lavine and Jane Jackson

Speaker A: Welcome to youo Career Podcast with Jane Jackson where I help mid career professionals overcome self doubt and gain career clarity and the confidence to create the life and career they desire. Book a zoom chat with me@jane jacksoncoach.com I'd love to meet you and discover what's happening in your career. Welcome to episode 284 of youf Career Podcast. Eve Levine is the founder of the Life Story Project, a purpose driven business helping individuals preserve their life stories, memories and legacy for future generations. After building extensive experience connecting with people through photography, project support and community engagement, Eve has made the bold career pivot towards meaningful storytelling work that combines deep listening, empathy and structured project delivery. She's passionate about helping people recognize that every life holds extraordinary value and that preserving personal stories can strengthen family connection, identity and belonging. I know you're going to love this episode and welcome to your Career Podcast. You.

Speaker B: Thank you. Thanks. Jane. How are you going?

Speaker A: I'm going very well and I'm really delighted that you're back because we've known each other for many years now and we have our work together. I know how well you capture the moment as a photographer and also how well you tell a story through your images. And your own career and life journey is fascinating too. And you'll remember that we discussed your career transitions in episode 145 of youf Career podcast way back in February 2018. Now you've got this published book, Sweet Sixteen, and an important new business that's going to be for everybody called the Life Story Project. So I'm really glad that you're back on the show to tell us about that. But first off, tell me about Sweet Sixteen and that book.

Speaker B: Sure. Thank you. So Sweet Sixteen was, um, uh, it was a project of love really, because I wanted to bring my past into the current situation of me being a photographer. Because I love being a photographer. But I've always wanted and connected with people. I wanted to be telling stories and connecting with community. I was also a little bit angry at the time because I had found out a quote from, um. Ah, the lady's name escapes me. Eve Ensler. That's right, Eve Ensler. She, um, quoted the fact that one in three women would be assaulted or had been assaulted in their lifetime. So that's the statistics that's out there.

Speaker A: 1 in 3.

Speaker B: 1 in 3. 1 in three. I know. And I was angry. This is 2013 and I was angry and I'm like, why? Why is this still happening? And I Look, we're 2026 and it's still happening. Um, the rates of violence against women and girls is horrendous. But at that point I wanted to do a project which brought together um, my history of youth and community work. I wanted it to be intergenerational, I wanted it to speak to a number of people. So I did a lot of research and thinking about how could I do that? Because I was a Portugal trait photographer and event photographer and I'm like, how can I do that? And I did a lot of research. I was watching things on, on uh, the Internet and I came across this little video which was what advice would you give your 16 year old self as a, as a melon? It was about melanoma and it was about, you know, how to protect yourself from the sun. And I thought there it is. What would you tell yourself when you were 16? So I wanted to specifically talk to women and girls, um, and particularly women because women over the age of 60 talk about becoming invisible and being less seen, which is really quite relevant right now for me. I am 60, I just turned 60 this year and finding it difficult to find a job and things like that and then coming about and creating my own job because I had to. But I also love to. So that'll come up a little bit later. So get back to the sweet 16. So I decided on um, interviewing women over the age of 60 and asking them about their 16 year old selves. So I created um, a questionnaire and took women back to the time and place of when they were 16 and got them to answer those questions and um, look at where they thought they might be, where they wanted to go and where they were now. And if their 16 year old self was still in the room, what would they say to her? So it was just a really beautiful um, experience talking to these ladies. They were just wonderful. I put a call out to a whole host of people through the networks that I knew and referrals came to me on their own. Um, people that were um, I was teaching at the time. Some of my students were doing photography. Um, we're over 60 and they were my. One of, one of the ladies and then one of her friends and friends of um, friends and their mothers or a bunch of people. Yeah, so I had, I had 16. In the end I was only going to do one a month, over a year so that I could exhibit in the um, for International Women's Day the next year on the 14th, sorry, the 8th of March in 2014. So I did that. Um, but I, but because it was about being 16 I thought, I've got to speak to 16 women. So it kind of like all brought it together. So then I had the book Sweet Sixteen. So I know you know, that and the pictures on my LinkedIn profile, as you say, there are, uh, there, some of the pictures there. And um, I'm actually going to be showing that exhibition again at an aged care facility next month, so.

Speaker A: Oh, that's wonderful. You know, when you think about it, and I'm over 60 as well, there's so much we can tell ourselves and there are so many lessons that, you know, women have learned over the years that, you know, there are a number of things I would have done very differently had I known, uh, what I know now. And, and I think the, the wisdom from parents and grandparents to their children, it's, it's like a legacy that you can leave. And when you lead on to the legacy thing, Sweet Sixteen has actually led very naturally to this huge project now that you have on called the Life Story Project, which is amazing. Um, and so tell me, what is the Life Story Project?

Speaker B: So the Life Story Project is basically an individual sitting down and sharing their stories from their perspective. It's their voice, it's, um, their life and it's what they want to share. Now if they want to share it with others, they can. If they just want to use it as a reflection for themselves, they can. It's entirely up to them. But it's spending time looking back over those years, the early years, um, going to work, the getting married or in relationships and um, hobbies or um, accomplishments. But you know, it's just a personal journeys of an individual that they want to revisit the people that have come into their lives, um, and the wisdom and experience that they've had. Um, so it's really, um, you know, it's a therapeutic kind of thing, but it's not therapy. Um, it's affirming the life that we've lived because that's interesting. It's very interesting. And you don't have to be famous. You definitely do not need to be famous. Or, um, have. Lots of people will say, my life's not really that interesting. But if you didn't have a telephone in your household when you were growing up and there were times when you really needed a telephone because somebody in your family was sick and you relied on maybe the public phone or, um, a kindly neighbor to enable you to be able to call emergency services, that is social history. And that is like affirming that the people around you are really quite incredible. And amazing. Um, so those little moments are quite precious, I think. Um.

Speaker A: Yeah, I think reflecting back on Community, I know a lot of people now are feeling quite nostalgic for the way things were before. And it's funny that you mentioned, you know, like, telephones and things. I remember when I was a teenager spending hours on the phone. My mum was always saying, get off the phone, get off the phone. But it was an old black phone.

Speaker B: Yes.

Speaker A: That had the silver dial. Oh, I love those silver dials. I wish I kept it. And it was wonderful because I could remember, I'd say about 30 or 40 phone numbers just off the top of my head. Now I don't remember my own phone number because I don't need to. So I think stories like that, everyone loves to share them and I think everyone, no matter how ordinary they think their lives are. Ah. When they actually tell it, and the number of experiences that they had over the years, it's really quite extraordinary. So every ordinary person is extraordinary.

Speaker B: Extraordinary, yes. Because if you think of now and 100 years from now, we think we know what it's going to look like. I remember being a kid and thinking, uh, nothing new can happen. Right. It's all happened. How can I be inventive or anything like that? Because it's all happened. And then, of course, the Internet pops up. And then, of course. Well, we had computers first and then the Internet and all of these things. And now we've got AI and all of that. You know, everything is just changing so fast. So, yes, um, it's kind of important to see the. The journey. The journey for all of us. Yes.

Speaker A: You know, I've just thought of something that would be really fun. Is anyone who's listening? Um, send Eve, Eve Levine, or myself, Jane Jackson, a note on LinkedIn and tell us your favorite early, early memory of something that you miss now that maybe. Yeah, anymore.

Speaker B: I'm gonna make a note of that and I'm gonna put that as a post. Yes.

Speaker A: Because honestly, we've all got something that we miss that we've kind of forgotten about. And then when you talk about it, you go, yeah, yeah. You know, like cassette players. I was actually talking about this with a friend the other day that. You remember cassette players? I do. And we'd listen to the radio and we create our own playlist.

Speaker B: Mix list. Yeah.

Speaker A: Legal playlists in those days, wasn't it?

Speaker B: Oh, yeah.

Speaker A: But, you know, I'd get so angry with the DJ who would talk at the beginning of the song and talk at the end when I Was trying to record it and then I was fine. Cut off the. The beginning and the end when there was all this waffle from the, from the disc jockey and then record the next song. The next song. And we all did it, didn't we? We all made our own.

Speaker B: You're absolutely right. I remember those days back in the day.

Speaker A: And when you tell someone who's, oh, 15 or 16 years old, they go, what?

Speaker B: No clue? No. And they will have their own stories like that of their time and things that, ah, are no longer happening. And that's all quite beautiful. They're little tiny nuggets of joy, basically. Little bliss bubbles. So I love that.

Speaker A: I thinking in like 40, 50 years time, um, the young ones now will be telling their children or grandchildren and they'll be saying, what, what's AI? What do you mean, AI?

Speaker B: True, true.

Speaker A: Everything moves so rapidly. Now back to the Life Story Project. Is the Life Story project for specifically.

Speaker B: So, um, it's for individuals and their families. Um, so it's for our loved ones and, um, it's for ourselves. So I keep. I don't know about yourself, but I keep a bit of a diary and I love personally reminiscing. And I keep little stories of, um, the people that pop into my head from like, you know, when I was in my 20s or my family, and the little stories that I can tell from, from there. And I love keeping just, um, information basically. So it's for ourselves and it's for our loved ones. So often, um, as you say, we reminisce as we get older. A lot of people are interested in where did they come from, but not just dates. It's like, we don't want to just leave dates and like, got married, had children, blah, blah, blah. And it's like there's more to it than that. And so, um, when you go back to Ancestry.com, that's pretty much what you get. And then you have to kind of like imagine their life. So this is leaving, uh, information about the life that was lived. So my grandfather was, was, um. My grandfather was one of those wardens during the, uh, um, Second World War. So he would go out after the bombs had finished to check the local area. Um, but like, my, my uncle was telling me about that earlier this year. I had no idea. So it's like, well, what, what was that like? And apparently didn't speak much to them about it either. So those little stories kind of get lost. And also he was in a band, he was in an orchestra and Travele I'm like, oh, I'm only asking these questions now. My father died last year and like, I didn't know so much. Like.

Speaker A: So you're finding out from his brother.

Speaker B: Indeed.

Speaker A: Stories. Oh, and that's why the life story project is so important. You want to tell your own story because if someone else is passing it down, it's. It might m. Get lost in translation.

Speaker B: Yes, very much so.

Speaker A: True meaning and what it was truly like, I think that that's one of the most special things. So if someone works with you and uh, decides, okay, I want to do the life story project, what get at the end of it.

Speaker B: So I'll take you from the beginning. So basically I'll go through a set of questionnaires, a set of questions in a questionnaire to get to the idea of what it is, the journey that the person wants to go on. Um, because we will create a book, a booklet, um, for them to keep. So it will be a printed book. So we get a, we do an in depth questionnaire. Who is it for? Is it personal reflection? Is it for a family member? Is it for a family legacy? Is it part of a bigger story that you've already started with, um, family? And then we'll set up regular meetings. So, um, I do prefer sitting face to face with somebody. I mean obviously we've got the technology, um, but, but it really will depend on where people are and their access to technology. So we can potentially do the face to face and online conversation and record as we're doing here. Um, but I sit, talk and listen and will record the information and it's all the person's own words. So I will be taking out snippets and then pulling that together, drafting uh, the, the story with the map in mind of what they've already create, wanted. And you know, someone might say to me, oh, I don't really want that in there. So no, no problem. We will be taking that out. So they might have shared some information, but it's gone. The tapes afterwards will be taken away as well. So we record the stories and it's a guided conversation as well to keep people on track. But you know, it's, it's their time. Um, and each, so each interview is, is recorded and transcribed and we collaboratively review that and amend basically. And so it's, you know, it's. Then I collate it, I edit, I format it into a book. I've got a version, a ring bound version which I did for. Oh, Archie, sorry, my dog's jumping on my lap.

Speaker A: Archie part of your story too?

Speaker B: Yeah, he's part of my. I've got the one which I. Oh, sorry. I've got the screen on, obviously, and, uh, that's harder to see. Uh, I think I've got to move it backwards anyway, so. Oh, that's right in front of me is the best way to go.

Speaker A: Oops.

Speaker B: Making noises. So there's my mom.

Speaker A: Yeah, so. So anyone who's watching the video of this episode, you'll be able to see the. The image of, um, Eve's beautifully bound life story of your mother.

Speaker B: Is it? That's my mum. That's. That's just a spiral bound. So that's really the draft copy. I'm actually getting a hard copy of this sent to today. I'm hoping they don't come while we're talking, but it's definitely coming today. So, um, yeah. And Mum spoke a lot about her travels. That was what was important to her. She didn't, you know, she didn't go on about us as her kids and stuff. It was her travels. That's fine. It's her life, not mine.

Speaker A: And that's how she wants to be remembered as the world traveler. Yes. And so I think the important thing is, is with the Life Story Project, it's your story as you want to be remembered and of course, because it's your own story, but there are things that you might not want to talk about and things that you want to talk about. So it's not, it's not like a documentary of somebody's life. It's memories that you want to have to leave with your loved ones. And. But this is not only for personal, uh, use as well. I mean, it could be really good for businesses too, couldn't it?

Speaker B: Oh, look, it really could. Uh, um, there's lots of businesses out there that have, um, members working like, like Rotary, um, or uae or uae. Uae, yeah, University of the Third Age. Um, they, they are all run by volunteers and those people have loads and loads of stories and they're. What they're doing. And also other organizations that are, you know, have members doing their, their work, um, sharing the story and history of that organization. It's a, it, it, it could be applied across, across there as well, of course.

Speaker A: So, yeah, I think one of the most lovely things is that, say if someone was working with you on the Life Story Project, first of all, I can let you know Eve is really warm and lovely and she puts you at ease. You sit down with a cup of tea or coffee and you have a Chat and there's, there's never any pressure, you know, when, when we're together and we're having a chat, it's always a lot of fun. And you have a really beautiful way of drawing stories out of people so that they will tell you a little bit more. And, and I think one of the most wonderful things is that when you are sitting down talking to someone, they feel heard as well. And so back to saying, you know, sometimes you feel a bit invisible after a certain age as a uh, woman, then this is your time to be heard, isn't it? To really have someone listen and understand. Understand your story, appreciate it and then document it so it's there and no one will forget. I think that's one of the most special things about the Life Story Project. So if someone wanted to find um, out a bit more, uh, or work with you, where would they find you? Eve?

Speaker B: So thank you for your kind words. That's very sweet. That's very nice. Um, I, you could contact me through LinkedIn. Um, you could contact me through the website. So that's the uh, like I know you're going to put the links there so I won't shout them out now. Um, but if you were to do a search for what's that side. The life story project.com au um, contact me there. So yeah. And uh, my phone number's on the. Oh there's a contact form on there so people can contact me basically.

Speaker A: So what I'll do is I'll put in the show notes.

Speaker B: Mhm.

Speaker A: On this particular episode which is episode 284 of youf Career Podcast. I'll put the links where you can uh, find Eve on LinkedIn. Also the life Story Project, uh, website and details on, on how to um, book in for a chat with Eve. Even if it's just to find out a little bit more about how it all works.

Speaker B: Yeah, absolutely.

Speaker A: I'm so excited about this because I think it's very important thing that you're doing for so many people and everyone deserves to be heard. Everybody has a story and now here's your opportunity to have it documented and you can share it with your family, your friends or the rest of the world if you wish. The world is your oyster now.

Speaker B: Yes, absolutely. Absolutely. Yeah. Uh, thank you Jane.

Speaker A: Oh, you're very welcome. Well, thank you so much for coming onto your career podcast to talk about the Life Story Project. I'm excited. We've worked together for so many years now and from the quality of the work that you provided for me. And remember, Gillian, when we did the LinkedIn local Sydney networking events, those images always told a story. And so now you've got sweet 16. Oh, I'll put the link to sweet 16 as well.

Speaker B: Sure. Yeah, I'll, uh, make sure you've got that. Thank you.

Speaker A: Ah, yeah. And now you can write your own life story project with the assistance of Eve Levine. Okay, so thank you, everybody. And until next time, this is Jane Jackson and Eve Levine saying bye now. Want more career inspiration? Go to jane jacksoncoach.com and take my free career quiz to find out how to gain career clarity and the confidence to go for that job you'll love. Or book a complimentary zoom chat with me, Jane jacksoncoach.com. i'll see you soon.