A (2:09)

Well, my name is Almeda Rogers and I am the CEO of Unspoken Memories. Originally from Chicago and currently reside in Nashville. Happily married for 20 years and loving what I do.

C (2:22)

Good.

B (2:23)

Yep. And I am Sharon Sattler and I am the Chief Technology Officer of Unspoken Memories. I have had a background in the past 15 years in the tech space with varying degrees of responsibilities. And I too am married almost 20 years, also have two sons and am excited to explain our platform. Great.

C (2:50)

And you have the harder job because when anything breaks, it's all your fault, right? Yeah. Yeah. So tell us about the app. You know, we were talking offline. It's an awesome idea. So to everyone listening, if they don't understand it can you walk us through it?

B (3:03)

Yes.

A (3:04)

So what we are basically in a nutshell is we are a platform that has been created to allow individuals to send time release videos either to themselves from, for self help or self awareness or to other individuals for maybe closure or different things like that.

C (3:21)

Good. And I would love just for the user, the listeners, a couple of examples. Right. Give me maybe three examples of how you could use this.

B (3:28)

Yeah, I'll take this one. So. Cause this was kind of the baby that I've birthed. So one use case that we have will be for yourself if there are any visions and milestones that you want to track and you actually want to even maybe do some personal journaling. Right. And you want to not have to rely on pen or paper or. Yeah, your mobile phone.

C (3:53)

Journaling in the 21st century.

B (3:55)

Exactly, exactly. And so you can record this video to kind of keep yourself accountable and scheduled it. Right. We'll hold it almost kind of like escrow and release it.

C (4:05)

So, so let me say I shoot a video now, tell myself in a month's time, I want to be here a year's time, and then I upload it, set a date. And what does it do? Like it just notifies me in the app, hey, your videos.

B (4:17)

And this is actually what's the beautiful part about it is it's going to send you text message as well as email notification. Yep. Based on your profile to let you know, hey, you've got a video for you. And the reason why we do that is because on the other use case, when you want to send a video to someone else, they don't need to have the app. They will be notified by text message and by email that the recorder will input and they'll get this notice and.

C (4:48)

Then they have to, they click it, download the app, watch the video.

B (4:51)

They don't even have to download the app. They can actually retrieve the video from the website, from our website. So you can utilize a mobile browser if you're on your laptop. But yeah, you can easily retrieve the video even if you want to send it to someone else.

C (5:05)

Great. And then. So that's one use case, the kind of keeping yourself accountable videos yourself. And I love that because a lot of people do letters to themselves and stuff. So it's kind of like a cool new version. Uh, what, what, what's another one? You know, you said something interesting and it's kind of how the origin story almost came about. Let's talk about that.

A (5:22)

So another use case is again what I use for the purpose of the Company. And what it was was I dealing with conflict, being my background is in human resources, and I know what can happen when there's conflict or there's in the workplace. So when I began having problems in the workplace, I had to make sure that I was handling in a way that. That was professional but didn't jeopardize my position. So when I started realizing that what I needed to do is talk with the individual that I was having the conflict with, but I didn't know how to do it. So my platform, or the platform that we created, allows an individual to prepare for that, practice it, make sure you're not doing it to be. You're sticking to the point, you're sticking.

C (6:08)

To the facts, maybe, maybe when the tempers calm down. Right?

B (6:12)

Yes.

A (6:13)

And the good part about it is once we. Once you send that message to an individual, they have the right to watch it or not. So they. They also have power to say, you know what, I don't want to deal with this. And they can also decline.

C (6:26)

Yeah. Okay. And then any other uses that you see? Like, obviously, I mean, it's great for the personal development side, handling conflict, maybe getting a message across in a concise, maybe calmer way than you'd have done an hour before. Right. Any other uses?

A (6:42)

Well, another one, I'll say is goal setting. You know, we have a lot of individuals nowadays that have these goals set, and then sometimes you put a goal in place and you forget about it.

C (6:51)

Yeah.

A (6:52)

What this app does allows, if you set that goal, we're going to hold you accountable. We're asking people on this platform to be authentic as well as hold them accountable.

C (7:01)

Love that. So that's a little about the app. Right. How do you see this rolling out over the next five, 10 years?

B (7:08)

So because we are leveraging tech, we want to make sure that we use it to continue that human connection, either through improving yourself or through relationship building. And so where we see this is as the landscape of the tech changes, there are so many things we can see this going. Right. I joke a little bit, but when our phones are maybe able to show holograms.

A (7:38)

Right.

B (7:38)

How cool would that be for you to send a message to someone? Maybe you don't have a conflict with them, but you want to send them maybe something that's special occasion.

C (7:48)

Right.

B (7:49)

And so where we see this going in 5 to 10 years is being kind of that go to platform being known that when I have an issue, if I can't get professional help, I have an alternative that I can go to and still resolve issues or still even use a platform to send meaningful, loving messages.

C (8:10)

And then in terms of user base, right. Like obviously tech and apps, they take so long to build and you know, it's an uphill battle for many years. You know, obviously you kind of. That's the biggest hurdle is getting there. How in terms of expansion do you see this worldwide? Eventually that US based.

B (8:30)

So we are beginning US and Canada. So US and Canada based to begin with. But we do see this having the ability to scale further and to grow and just more tech, because that's clearly where my focus is. You know, with the invention of AI, we're able to also be able to scale faster and be able to provide our users with information and insights that they maybe not have before.

C (8:58)

Well, that's pretty cool too, is, you know, it'll start to compound the growth because someone has the app, they film text someone, then they're like, oh, what's this app? Right. It's really cool that you're going to get a lot of that, you know. And those apps generally do best when user traction is generated from other users on the app. Right. So let's ask. Let's talk of the business side. Right. Building an app. I've owned part, owns some software companies and app companies and they're very tedious, slow, hard, you know, everything, you know, you want to change one thing, it becomes a month of project. So how's it been growing the business?

A (9:35)

So so far we had success with it. And the biggest thing is we did. Oh, no, that's not right. We did get a app or hire an app company overseas. That has been wonderful. We've been working well. But what we did, Sharon and I, is we hired a IT team.

C (9:52)

Yeah.

A (9:53)

Internal. So what we've been able to do is take the information and what they have given us to use our team to go through it with a fine tooth comb. So it gave us time to get people on board, get them vetted into what we're looking for, that they follow our culture and believe in the company while letting it be developed overseas.

C (10:12)

Love that. In terms of growing, you know, if people want to start an app or grow a business like this, what tips would you give them from your experience so far?

A (10:21)

One first thing I would say is do your research. It literally we went in thinking one way and as we start talking to people and networking, some things were different.

C (10:32)

Market research.

A (10:33)

Market research, just even how to set up the company the correct way. Depending on if you're going to just be one company or A corporation, different things like that. We didn't have it all down and we're actually incorporated in Delaware. So being in south and I'm sorry, being in Nashville, that was something that we didn't know what, what your direction is, where you're trying to go and who you need to contact to get that support.

C (10:58)

Love that. And let's talk about the legacy side. Long term, obviously this app's designed to help people, whether it's personal development, keeping themselves accountable, whether it's clearly communicating and approaching problems or conflicts, rightly, which I love. But what's the legacy side of it? Maybe for you guys personally, through the app, the business. Where do you see this long term one?

A (11:18)

I see it, like you said, we want to be the go to place where people are safe and feel comfortable with being their authentic self. That is one thing that we're losing. Everyone looks good and wants to be a certain way for something. We have to have a space where we can truly, truly not worry about the cameras. And that's the thing. When you're worried about the cameras 24 hours a day, boo's taking pictures of you. My background is in education as well, and I was always in high school. And in high school, the kids were taking pictures of you every day. And it was literally anxiety thinking about, did they take a picture of me and do it? So having that and then turning around and trying to create a platform where you're still video, but you're doing it at your expense.

C (11:59)

Yeah.

A (12:00)

And so that's what we want. We want you to be safe and find closure.

C (12:04)

And what does the word legacy mean to both of you?

A (12:07)

Legacy to me means starting something that hasn't been there, something that is useful for everyone, regardless to race, regardless to gender, anything like that. Both of I have experienced that a lot. So being able to make a platform that is not biased is something that the legacy we want to make.

C (12:29)

Love that.

B (12:29)

Yeah. And you know, for me, legacy is also something to be remembered by and so forth. For me personally taking on this challenge and I've been in corporate America, still am, but using this as an avenue to create something that we've co founded together and to be remembered Right. For the mark that we plan to leave.

C (12:55)

Good. One more question on legacy. I always like to ask people that are pursuing it in this show, if someone else is out there, they're inspired by your story. Right. And they want to go chase their own legacy, pursue their dreams. What tips would.

A (13:09)

One thing I would say is utilize technology. Technology changed the game for Me, it was a lot of other adventures that I tried to do without having technology the way it is now. To help guide you on what's the next thing to do can be very difficult because of the challenges that I went through. Personally, my education was not the best starting out and I've worked really, really hard to get where I am. So using education to also learn what to do and duration to go in it is what I would say.

C (13:42)

Okay.

B (13:43)

Additionally, really be committed to this. You can't have money, be the, the one and only.

C (13:52)

Kind of very passionate.

B (13:54)

Yeah, you really do. And that's what I love about this, is that this gives me an outlet. I always joke about me being kind of this tech geek. So this gives me my, my outlet and I absolutely love it.

C (14:07)

Yeah, I think it's great because a lot of people say or you shouldn't chase your passion, which sometimes can be true. Like if you love ice cream, it doesn't mean you should make an ice cream shop, you know, but like you should be passionate about your business still. Right. Might not be a number one hobby that you've done for 10 years, but you should believe in the idea, the goal, the vision and wake up. And that's the great thing about entrepreneurship and most people here in this studio and the show is we love what we do. Right. And that sometimes needed too because you can often make not much money for a long time while you get it going, you know, so you got to love what you do. You got to work long hours, work weekends to bring the legacy to life. So last couple of questions, two questions really. Number one, if someone wants to try the app, how can they? And number two, you know, most apps and startups in the tech space do seed rounds, investment rounds. So is, are you ever going to raise money as an investment opportunity too? Over to you.

B (15:03)

So for the first question, we are currently going to be in the app stores, so direct to consumer with designs of scaling for B2B in the future. And then for the second question, where we are, we've bootstrapped ourselves to getting to the app and so we are focusing on our seed round. And so we have a really great pitch deck that we are compiling and we've been working with some, some external help to make sure that the brand that we're trying to convey is actually what's getting communicated good.

C (15:46)

So they can go to the app store, download the app just quickly, what do they search when they get there?

B (15:51)

So we have been going through our branding and so we plan that that app should be unsaid memories in the App Store. So for Apple and for Google Play, great.

C (16:01)

And if there's an investor listening, tech expert, someone that knows tech investors, how do they contact you guys on that side to get involved?

A (16:09)

That's a great question. I'll definitely take that one. They are welcome to email me directly and I could be emailed@ceonspokenmaidities.com and then we will be able to just let them know and let them see where we are, what our vision is and what we have to offer. Amazing event, you know.

B (16:26)

Yeah.

C (16:26)

Good, good. Well guys, super excited for the main episode. Dive more into your lives too and the whole story to get you to this point as well with the app and obviously excited to see the app keep growing and help more people and gonna test it out myself. So thank you. Thank you guys.

B (16:41)

That's a wrap.

C (16:42)

As always, everyone keep working hard, change lives and build a legacy. I'll see you guys soon.

A (16:48)

Thank you.