I deal with nervous people a lot.

What do I have to say that’s interesting?
What will the end product look like?
How’s my hair?
Can we edit that out?

As StoryKeep’s Founder and head Interviewer, I have the great fortune of talking with fascinating people who aren’t regularly in front of a camera or an audio recorder. Nearly 100% of the individuals I sit down with are nervous about “documenting” their life stories. In fact, the only person who ever looked “calm as a clam” was a woman who worked as a TV anchor!

Like so many before her, Wendy Sinton was nervous.

In 2013, Wendy’s son and daughter-in-law contacted StoryKeep. They wanted their five-year-old daughter to know how incredible her grandmother was as a younger woman, what adventures Wendy had during during the Peace Corps, what values Wendy held – things their little girl or may not learn from her grandma directly. Wendy and I met on a sunny morning in her son’s kitchen. As Wendy shared her life story with me (at least some of the important and interesting bits), she loosened up. She looked more like herself. She got into little stories she hadn’t planned to tell but were the ones she was meant to tell – to document, to pass on. After we were done, I asked Wendy if there was anything she wanted to add, anything she hadn’t yet shared.

This video is what she said. It’s short and sweet. If you’re feeling nervous, take a look.