Transcript
Speaker: Welcome to another episode of One of Us Knows What They're Talking About and the other one is you. I'm Lori Burch, your host. Join us as we discuss and unpack wills, trusts, estate planning, and probate law in a way that's actually informative, interesting, and well, hopefully entertaining. Because if you don't have a will, the state of Texas has one for you.
Speaker: Let's dive in.
Speaker: Yes. So really excited to have my new friend and now Sarah, i Sam and Cynthia's new friend, Byron Walker, um to meet with us. And so just as a refresher, because I don't I don't know if Cynthia and Sarah remember this and Sam, this will mean less to you because you haven't interacted as much with Happy Box.
Speaker: as we have, which by the way, we need to have them as guests. anyway, that's yeah how I got introduced to Byron. And of course they know how much i we, our firm.
Speaker: That's how Sarah said it. We had this whole incident yesterday where do we call it, do I call it my firm? Do I call it our firm? And then I said the firm. I'm like, I don't want to be the firm. Like if you read John Grisham.
Speaker: And so then Sarah said it in the most Birch Law way possible. She said, our firm? She said it as a question mark. And I think that's probably pretty accurate.
Speaker: Because our mantra around Birch Law is, when in doubt, doubt. Doubt. okay I mean, it's not mine. my mantra is the exact opposite of that.
Speaker: When in doubt, steamroll. Yeah. When in doubt, do it anyway. ah But everybody else, we have we have very cautious, anxious,
Speaker: um insecure... You can probably find any of those those check marks there. But anyway, that's how we got introduced some of our favorite people. And so they've known that we slash i whomever, firm, our firm, our firm, has wanted to do more in the realm of of helping people have a lasting legacy or Sam, what do we call it Oh, it's been so long.
Speaker: The long-lasting, fantastic... Lasting? so No, and then there's a... Fantastic legacy lasting... Yeah. Estate plan. Yeah, this is a ridiculous thing. You guys see it more than I do at this point.
Speaker: long-lasting, fantastic legacy lasting gift of a estate planning. There we go. That's amazing. yeah You do it more than I do. It is amazing. Sure it is. Is it... Afterwards, I'll have to email you a video that we made of the statement this statement. So And it's it's nightmare producing what we did. and is I had a vision yeah and Sarah executed it to perfection is what I like to say.
Speaker: yeah anyway that's gonna so and you would think that that would teach sam to double check the things that she's gonna say before she posts it for the rest of us to say it's not it's not long lasting fantastic legacy lasting yes mistake planning but anyway so vira if you would um If you would introduce yourself, tell us a little bit about your background um and really the what brought us together is this app
Speaker: ah that you are developing. And i'm i'm kind of surprised because apparently Sam and Sarah have put together some thoughtful and relevant questions to ask. And I i don't know what's happened to them.
Speaker: Character growth. didn't read i don't read appreciate it. Yeah, growth. That's what it is. Wait, Sam, what do got? feel like you might have misread them. Yeah, listen, I'm just going to let Laurie believe what she wants to believe, and then when we get there, I will apologize, Byron, on their path. That's all is a stretch.
Speaker: I'm so sorry. Let me be careful. like This is way more work in research than you've ever done before. Yeah, they were there for a few minutes in Sarah's office. that That's how low the bar is, is that this is thoughtful and relevant.
Speaker: But anyway, Byron, let's talk about you. Tell us about you. Yeah, sure thing. um I'm Byron. I was born and raised here in Dallas, Texas. I'm you know a father of two wonderful daughters and an amazing wife.
Speaker: um And I've always had a passion for technology in general, even since I was ah as far back as I can remember, maybe like six or seven years. So ah technology has always been my deal. I went to school for computer science and have since worked, I think, something like 17 years in the industry at this point.
Speaker: um And so yeah, that's a little bit about me. I just i I like to nerd out a bit, um have fun. I'm into a lot of different things, music.
Speaker: um and into a development, like I mentioned, and I'm a retired powerlifter. and i just kind of dabble in a lot of different things. Wait, what? Yeah. yeah Yeah. and for my weight class, I competed in the um a drug-tested international powerlifting championship and placed fourth for my weight division across the world.
Speaker: Wow. Wow. I know I don't look it though. You see these arms like I like to catch everyone by surprise. but yeah Wow. that ah There might be a little bit to unpack there, but that's super cool. Like that's something very interesting and outside the box. I don't think any any of us have anything like well actually Cynthia.
Speaker: has lived like a hundred lives she might be a vampire because every every doubt like some random shit like of expertise that she has comes out of her mouth like if you want to know because i read i would call them pens but she calls them writing implements and if you think that you can't have an hour-long conversation about a pen you are wrong sir come at me Yes. Amazing. I can't wait to hear more.
Speaker: She also baton twirling. Did boxing for a bit. feel like that's not one I mention very often. yeah And... um Sam is from New Zealand, so that's what she's got.
Speaker: Yeah, that's really good. That's what she's got going on. yeah what but She pikes? She did a ah yeah marathon? Was it technically a marathon? She did a bike cycling thing.
Speaker: Like 80 miles, right? i Yeah. Just for fun. Like in a row? Yeah. like in a row I would hope so. Yeah. Wasn't it also raining? I think like it was two or seven a time.
Speaker: That's right imagery that I'm having right
Speaker: Great. All right. So um you are developing app or have developed it called. Connected. I want to say it in my way.
Speaker: yeah can Connected. Yes. Yes. But it's your app, so you can say it the way you want to say it. But i I'm going to have to say Ken Nekted. Anyway, tell us about this.
Speaker: Yeah, ah so this is an app that I decided to venture into creating. ah Really, the concept of the app came from a lot of feedback from friends and family.
Speaker: We are all, ah or most of us are all users of tools like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, things of this nature. And and as my myself and my friends have all grown older and wiser,
Speaker: ah I've, you know, them more so than me, I've been learning a lot about, you know, safety concerns that that folks have around the data and information that they put out there.
Speaker: um which So that's one of the pillars of Connected is is around privacy. But the second piece is around legacy. So we have tools that exist today, such as Ancestry,
Speaker: ah dot com or even things like 23andMe, right? Where um you can kind of sort of piece together some of your ancestral data. And this is all great if you're just wanting to look back, but no one's really created a way for going forward.
Speaker: And so that's what Connected does is it it creates a way in which you can connect with both the past and the future um by leaving behind ah pieces for your future dice ah descendants to discover.
Speaker: Yeah. so there's So there's so much there to to look at. You showed me a little bit, ah you know, took me for a little spin, as it were.
Speaker: But um tell me, what but did you, what's this one thing that you call it a quest? Is that? ah Yes. and yeah so Yes. a ques Yes. This is so cool. I love this. Cynthia, you'll like this in your hundred years of living. ah and sorry so the Yeah. right. the core idea behind a quest, right, is it's just as it sounds like there is a quest for someone.
Speaker: um But this quest is coming from an ancestor of yours. So each of your ancestors can define something that they really feel strongly that their descendants should do or experience.
Speaker: ah So ah just as an example, right, let's say that I go to Tokyo, Japan today and I fall in love. It's an amazing experience.
Speaker: The food, the culture, the scenery, just everything. And i I just feel so strongly that my kids should come visit Tokyo, Japan one day when they're older.
Speaker: um i can define this as a quest. um And only my descendants can see these quests, right? So it's not, you know, my cousins won't see it. My aunts and uncles, whoever else, friends, they won't see it, right?
Speaker: Only my descendants. So that would be like my children, my grandchildren, and so on. They would see like, hey, my father, my grandfather really... felt strongly that I should go it try to have the similar experience that he had in Japan.
Speaker: um And so, yeah, they can opt in to decide that that's something that they want to do. um And a part of the feature that we're trying to bake into that is ah really capturing the experience, right? So while you're there presently in Tokyo, you could...
Speaker: take pictures um or you know like check into particular locations. And all of that would be bundled into the quest so that when your child does go, they could try to go to some of the same places and have that thought of, wow, my father was standing right here.
Speaker: I'm going to recreate this picture that they took. right um So I think that'll really help a lot with connecting in the future. and connect. i think that and no I think that's so neat. ah Yeah, that's cool. Santita, what quest would you send somebody on?
Speaker: Um, food related. It would be like a good, either a hole in the wall crawl or like a good pup crawl, something like that. Yeah.
Speaker: Whenever, um, before I moved, I had a roommate and every Friday we would do, um, shady taco places. So every Friday we would find a different shady taco place and it was some of the best food, but it was just like real shady.
Speaker: And we had a lot of fun. Like that's something that I feel like everyone should do. Like pick, pick a, yeah pick a type of food and then just look up for like shady places and go there. Now that's a quest.
Speaker: Sam, what would you do? What quest would you send people on? I really like on road trips going to like, you know, like the big bowl of yarn or the random like really big chair, like really dumb things like that.
Speaker: So I think that would be it to like on a road trip and go to like those. There's some place, and I can't remember the state now. It's probably the South, maybe the Midwest. It's definitely one of those called Hello, It's Jell-O.
Speaker: And I think they have like 400 different kinds of Jell-O there. Something like that. That's cool. I don't know if Hello, It's Jell-O is still around. I'm trying imagine 400 different flavors of Jell-O. I mean, maybe it was 40. I don't know. Don't hold me to it. I mean, anything's possible, I suppose.
Speaker: Sarah, what kind of quest do you have? Um, I think I would do like national parks or something like that. It's like do a lot of like sightseeing in the, the main, um, you know, attractions at the parks.
Speaker: think that'd be cool. You know, Byron, so I, um, you know, part of, part of, to and we'll get there in just a second of where i really can see something that I've wanted to do for our clients is,
Speaker: we talk a lot about legacy, like estate planning, probate, wills, trusts, all that's called legacy planning. And i mean, I get it, but at the same time, I think it's one of those things that gets used so much that people don't think about the real meaning to that.
Speaker: And so one of these days I was looking up the definition of legacy and the first one was, you know, what you would leave behind money, assets, inheritance. But then the second one is the long lasting effect of someone's life or impact of someone's life.
Speaker: And for me is kind of doomy and gloomy as planning your will and estate can feel that in my As I've gotten older, but never wiser, ah i've my view of this of this practice and this kind of planning has changed. I used to just really completely lean into it being depressing, but necessary, you know like buying insurance or getting a colonoscopy.
Speaker: Right. So I've I've leaned into that. But in the last couple of years, as I you know, I've got kids now and I think about things and I've developed this amazing team.
Speaker: I've started thinking about, well, I'm not going to say it's fun, but the idea that you're doing something and putting things together so that your family and loved ones, what they experience when you're gone, because it's going to happen.
Speaker: Is it going to be a mess? Is it going to be a lot of courts and hoops and and ah that to jump through? Or are you going to be setting something up so they have the ability to really celebrate you, to honor you, to get to know you or...
Speaker: um you know learn the I think I told you one of the things I had to learn at my grandmother's funeral was that she was the first woman to take wood shop at UCLA in the nineteen thirty s To me, that like that's so cool. And that blood is running through my veins. like That's part of you know what I've got in me and what my girls have in them.
Speaker: And to me, that that's what it's all about. And so the idea of this quest thing, so for for people who know my story, ah I started my practice in the wake of Lucy, my stepdad, who was very, very close to me, very dear to me.
Speaker: And it wasn't the reason I chose this type of practice, but it did put an interesting spin or thought as I encountered people going through things or contemplating things that my family was really experiencing.
Speaker: And so one of the things for him is that both my parents wanted to be cremated, had their ashes scattered on the island of Kauai. ah We spent a lot of time growing up, going to Hawaii, all the different islands, but they really fell in love with Kauai.
Speaker: And they never imagined it would be happening so soon to one of them, but we did. we um you know He was cremated and then there were six of us because blended family, all of that, total Brady Bunch style.
Speaker: We went to Kauai, spread the ashes, did all of that. And we've again, we've just had a family love of Hawaii. And a few years ago, I was able to take my wife and kids to Maui because we were able to get it. And not actually, my sister was married.
Speaker: We were were able to go there. And then we've gone. that We actually spent Thanksgiving a couple of years there. And then the Maui fires, Lahaina, which is just devastating. And so it just hasn't been so a place where we've gone back to.
Speaker: So this year i was able to exchange some points out to go to Kauai. And so I'm, we are taking, i'm getting to share with them journey.
Speaker: island that is just so special and so spiritual and so this this has got to be a quest right like i was looking at because i haven't been there in probably 10 years or so so i was looking at places some things are you know puka dog still open but you know kalapaki beach hut has closed and i'm looking up all of this stuff and kind of reliving some of the experiences that i had with them and that were important to them so this is like one of those quests right Definitely. This is exactly. I need to make sure I've got the app. This is July that we're going, and that I've got the app and that I'm like documenting this stuff. Because one of the things I really love about the app that you said, and that's why i feel like I really want to get people on it, is it's so much easier to document and share things in real time.
Speaker: Rather than, and oh gosh, I think I can make an analogy that it's so much easier to get your estate planning done um when you're younger and not on the, you know, when death is not at your doorstep. Not at real time.
Speaker: right and Um, because having to go back and reflect on things, it's, it's harder. And i don't, I would, I really don't want people to do with this, this part of the app or just concept in general.
Speaker: It's to just wait, wait and tell, well, I'll get to that and share those stories. Like so the more you're sharing those things now, um, the more you're creating this really ongoing legacy of who you were.
Speaker: Right. And that's what it's about, right? Is, you know, as we in the present day try to look back and discover our ancestors, right? Like whether that was your grandmother or something to that effect.
Speaker: Um, the goal is to try to find out who was this person, right? Like I am a descendant of them. Who were they? And what sort of things do I get from them, right? Like we mentioned the woodworking class, like, oh, yes, I feel that. i see that in myself. I see it in my children that ah we have this sort of ambition.
Speaker: And um so I think people really want to feel that connection and want to have that understanding of where they come from. And i my hope is that this app will help them be able to accomplish that.
Speaker: Right. And so part of what I the the big part that I've wanted to do is to create sort of these. some but It can be written, but I think video journals are cooler concept. But whatever somebody wants to do and they can come up with the their own like life lessons or, you know, biograph biographical things they want to share.
Speaker: But some people need the prompts. Right. Or maybe they need, you know, like I can ask my kids, hey, what something you'd want to know? Well, what was your favorite you know class you took in school? Because that would not think be something I would think of sharing on my own. But that could be something that they ask.
Speaker: So what how can that be part of the app where there's either something where where whether it's pre-created, like here's a question, record yourself answering that question. Or if you just have your own message, like the biggest lesson I learned in life, or if I wanted my, you know, the top 10 things I want my kids to know about me or life lessons, like that sort of thing. Like, how can that, because that's where, that's what I've been talking to Happy Box about.
Speaker: And that's where they were like, when they were talking to you they're like, oh, you two got a me. Yeah, and that's that's exactly the kind of thing that we want to bake into the app, right? So we've discussed a lot about Quest, but another feature in this application is called Stories. and Stories is where you have that space to sort of talk about, here's what has happened in my life.
Speaker: And the hope is to move that more towards real time rather than, like you mentioned before, going all the way back, trying to remember. I can barely remember what I did yesterday or the day before. So if you give me a book...
Speaker: like 30 years from now, ask me, what was I doing? I'm going to be like, I think maybe I was doing this. I have no idea. oh So yeah, the goal is to try to capture more of that stuff ah real time. And we will have those prompts that um that can offer you assistance. But we also want to give people the creative freedom to say, like this is what I want to talk about.
Speaker: This is what I want to make sure that my descendants hear from me. Now, can you do something where it's like Duolingo, which all of us, by the way, engage in where this owl is going to stalk you until you do your lesson? Oh, gosh. What kind of notification system you set up?
Speaker: On this where it's like, you know, this is you like you can set your own goals and stuff, but we all know these apps where you can put in notifications. But I don't think anybody hunts you down like the Duolingo all yeah does.
Speaker: um and And it's it's such emotional manipulation to their messages. Yeah, definitely I love it. I'm here for it. Another thing with Duolingo, have all my notifications turned on It's the fact that I have the widget like on my home screen. so when I open it, I see the red.
Speaker: Or at night, it's like time's almost up. Or just the whole... um i don't know, Lori, if you were... doing it whenever it would do like the series of paintings so it did like the scream it did like a couple of others and oh you used to screenshot them daily and i used to screenshot them daily when they were wild it also has like a live widget like on your notification screen when you like turn on your phone and don't unlock it with a countdown If you haven't done that. And then you connect with other friends and then you can nudge them. Right. And so then it's not only the owl that's, that's shaming you, but it's your friends and just the sheer guilt that you feel with, uh, like it's totally cool to blow off art of Frank streak. No big deal.
Speaker: You know, especially if it's Lily, I mean, she's so vicious, but anyway, we don't have to get into Duolingo characters, but that might be a good episode. So we'll, uh, put a pin in that. Right. Sarah. Uh,
Speaker: you and So what kind of notifications are built into the app? Yeah. So right now we only have discussed the idea of something called snapshots, which is still a name that is in the works right now. we don't, we don't know if that's where we're going to land out exactly.
Speaker: But what snapshots does this is it's a more frequent check-in with what are you doing in your life right now? I know that sounds super stalker-ish, right? um No, I like it. Right.
Speaker: But it's it's more of a prompt that's like, and hey, you know, are you, you expressed interest in reading? What books are you reading right now? Do you like that book? Or is it, you know, pretty bad?
Speaker: ah What movies or TV shows? ah What, you know What sort of activities are you traveling? What are you doing? So we're trying to really get a sense of who you are. And um what's going to be cool about Snapshots is that they're going to feed into something which is going to be known as your timeline.
Speaker: right So we can see the evolution of you over time. right So when you had this app, let's say we had it, right and you were in middle school, it asks you, hey, what are you what songs are you listening to right now? It's probably a lot of like Backstreet Boys and Sync or something like that, right?
Speaker: And then, you know, you fast forward to today and it's a whole different genre. you referring to me or the rest of them? Because if you think middle school was Backstreet Boys and Hensync for me, I love you. Yes.
Speaker: Yes.
Speaker: I don't think that was even for Sam and Sarah. it? I was doing his brothers all the way, man. Where do we sign up? Do you need these sisters?
Speaker: Anyway, not to derail you, but yes, for proceed. no Yeah. So that's, that's the concept there, right? Is eventually we want to create this timeline of who you are, right? So we can see how you've evolved over time and, and really get a true sense of, of what you were about. Right. And um i think that,
Speaker: you as the individual that is viewing your timeline or is going to find that valuable. But I also believe that your descendants will find that valuable, right? As you look back and say like, okay, yeah, grandpa didn't really have it all together until he was 40, right? And so so i feel a little bit better and I feel like I can blame him for this, right? So ah ah So, yeah, that's the the the goal there is to to have those snapshots. But we haven't fully tuned in, you know, how much is too much.
Speaker: Right. Like Duolingo. They're amazing. I don't know how they pull it off. They're amazing. It's the guilt. Yeah, it's the guilt. Yeah, for sure. um This is. I'm going to sidetrack for a second. So Duolingo is the first app that I've ever seen where the app icon can change dynamically. Right. what it That's what gets me.
Speaker: It's not the notifications. All that's off. Yeah. I get the widget, right? like The widget is kind of live and updating. The app icon in itself is like an amazing feat. But yeah, you know i I went a couple of days without doing it. And I noticed it's like the the eyes look kind of weird on this thing.
Speaker: Did they mess up? I thought like they messed up. But I think he was like getting sadder and sadder or something progressively. And then he got angry. And was like... you now feel like i need some very emotionally abusive relationship i just need them to know and they know it duolingo oh yeah they that's their own social media is that they just capitalize on that we'll take some um yeah family passes if you're if you're offering them duolingo yeah well and then and then he died right yeah yep it hour bit yeah and then he's back yeah he died yeah they killed him a little bit of you
Speaker: oh No, no, no. It was like a whole social media campaign that they did. He was hit by a cyber truck. Oh my gosh. And it caught on fire. And then, like, the World Health Organization was tweeting about it. Dua Lipa was tweeting about it. Like, it was a whole thing. Everybody was getting in on it. Like, oh, no, you owe How has this owl gotten this sort of notoriety?
Speaker: Hold on. Do you not know about the latest collab that um Duo did with Scrub Daddy? There was a video that they did and there's like duo for some reason gives birth to a bunch of little dual shaped scrub daddies. It was disturbing. And I had to show Sarah.
Speaker: It was disturbing. Yeah. I had to share that with somebody and Sarah was the only one in the room. All right. So Byron, I am married.
Speaker: I have four daughters and that range from age 20, well, they don't range this, they are this, 20, 14, six and two. How would I use this app?
Speaker: Maybe not how it's currently, but like what's the vision of how like I would use this? Yeah, so I think um in the way that most people hope to use Facebook today, right? Like a lot of people that I've spoken with have said... give arguments with strangers and to put cavities? No, no, no,
Speaker: Exactly the opposite that, right? So a lot of people say, well, I only... This is getting to arguments with your family. Right, right. Exactly. Yeah, keep it in the family, right?
Speaker: No, I'm just kidding. Just kidding. Just kidding. So, yeah, a lot of people that I speak with today, they say, well, you know, I primarily stay active on Facebook because I want to check in on how my family's doing and I want to share about what my family's doing.
Speaker: um So a lot of people i feel are more drawn towards Facebook. you know, being collaborative and sharing stuff about what's happening and their family. But then you also have the public there and you have your friends there. You know, you have the ah random people that you met one time at a party 10 years ago that somehow you ended up Facebook friends with.
Speaker: Right. So I met first day from lot of people. Like, how did you get here? yeah oh remember you added me at that party. ah yeah Laurie has to delete people to be able to add anybody new.
Speaker: but you know like The cap is 5,000 and I don't want to like change it to like a public figure page or anything like that. And so if I meet someone like Oh, you know, let me f friend you on Facebook. I'm like, Oh, let me go through my list and find somebody to, to remove as a friend and mix your space.
Speaker: Someone's not making the cut. Yeah. Yeah. but like it you There's people who've passed away and that I feel also, and they don't do the thing on Facebook where you can do like the legacy account or whatever. And it feels really bad to unfriend a person who's passed, but at the same time, like, I got to make space somewhere.
Speaker: Where's that? and got to stay under the cap. not singing So would it be something then if we're using that as kind of our, our model ah of, of the concept, would it be something that my kids would also have their own accounts and we're all just like exchanging that information?
Speaker: That's the hope, right? So right now we're we're thinking through ah things related to safety and privacy, right? And yeah we're trying to find that that perfect line of what is the minimum age that we should allow someone to create their own account?
Speaker: So the right the the concept that we have right now is maybe 13 to 16, somewhere in there. You can have your own independent account. But prior to that, we're exploring some ways of, you Lori, like maybe you could create an account that is the...
Speaker: decision maker for your two-year-old's account, right? And so that way, they're not missing out on being tagged in photos and and things of that nature because that's an important part of of things captured about them. So let's say that, you know, your 20-year-old takes a picture of them and um and wants to tag them in it. And then that way, when they turn, you know, 16, they're like, oh, wow, i have this picture of me from when I was two that I never would have come across.
Speaker: um And so we want to create a way in which you can transition that account and say like, this is a parent control account. And now this person's of age, they're going to set up their own credentials and take over the account going forward.
Speaker: Yeah, no, I think that's cool. Right right now. So the six-year-old has an iPad. And then, of course, everybody else has a phone. And so we actually have a chat, a text chat.
Speaker: And it's called Herd of Turtles. And I'm only going to share this with you because it does have to do with legacy. Because... When we would get in the car ready to leave when I was younger, this is ah my my father. It's not my stepfather that i was talking about earlier, but my father. does say, and we're off like a herd of turtles.
Speaker: And so I've got all my kids saying that when we get in the car and I'll say, and we're off. And all of them say like a herd of turtles. So the 20 year old, and she probably set this up.
Speaker: three or four years ago, titled it Herd of Turtles. um For some, not for some reason, the three of you will know why, but the picture she created is a turtle, but with Taylor Swift's head anyway.
Speaker: um And now Poppy, the almost three-year-old is going to get her very first iPad this week sometimes. So she can be added to this, but what I'm thinking is, you know, ah it's, it's a, unless you're Cynthia Kimberly, like that text thread is going to go away. Like people are going to delete it. It's just not going to be Cynthia never deletes it. But this would be a way to like kind of archive and document some of these these silly pictures and stuff and that we're that we're exchanging.
Speaker: Yeah, and honestly, when you look at the platform, the whole thing kind of bakes in this content discovery right aspect. So um we have some products out there that exist today.
Speaker: One that I've looked into a little bit is called Story Worth, for instance, where it says, hey send you know all of these prompts to your grandmother and have her fill in all these answers. And um and then we'll convert that into a book, a physical, tangible book, which is so cool to be able to hold and feel and look at and see you know grandma's story.
Speaker: However, as time continues to go on, things start to get a little bit more complicated with grandma's story being able to be discoverable, right? So, you know, suppose grandma had five children. Who gets to inherit that book?
Speaker: It's just one book. Who gets to get it? um And then, you know, suppose we're we're getting into dealing with the great-grandchildren or great-great-grandchildren. that point, are they still interested in the actual physical, tangible book, is it still in good condition where it can be read? Or did it end up in an attic, somewhere in a box in the attic somewhere, or you know accidentally tossed out somehow?
Speaker: um So one of the things that Connected offers you is the ability to... centralize the discovery of all those things, right? Your story is within a platform in which all the people are already connected.
Speaker: And so you can just traverse upwards of your family tree and find those relevant artifacts. Yeah, that's so cool. so i ah is there So where are we in the launch of this? Like, what are the next steps? And then, of course, like any good platform, it'll continue to be tweaked and updated and it'll evolve.
Speaker: But where are you from the point of launching this where people can actually start using it? Yes. So um I have a team that I work with that's helping out with the development of this because we needed a lot of hands on decks to build this thing out. um and the the latest information that i have is that we should be entering beta towards the end of ah next week.
Speaker: And from there, we're going to try to do something like a four week beta or so and then go public. you know, watch the thing and then just get the feedback and iterate quickly based on all the amazing, ah you know, responses that we hope to hear from you all.
Speaker: Yeah. Well, we can't wait to be a part of that. Is there any element of the app now or as you envision going forward that you feel like you haven't gotten to really discuss? Ah, there's there's one thing and my mind that I would... I was i go ahead and throw it out there. We're so close to launch and I think we're so close to making it happen. and um So you may have noticed that a lot of people are leveraging AI in everything today, right?
Speaker: Now, with all the things that we discussed here, right, like we you're posting onto this platform, um you're creating snapshots, you're creating quests, you're creating legacy stories. We're starting to get a really strong sense of who you are. And one of the things that I just would love to be able to do with this platform is to leverage ai to create your biography, right? So this is...
Speaker: Yeah, this is, you know, and it updates in near real time, right? So the moment that you change something on our platform, we regenerate your biography, and it's there available for you and your descendants to read.
Speaker: That's cool. Wow. I actually was almost going to ask you about where, you know, playing the long end, because we were talking about the book and then it's not digitized and this and that. I was going to ask you about ai and then I didn't know how far we wanted to go with the idea of then, you know, one day creating like versions of your ancestors that you could like walk and tie. Then at some point it's just going to like be a hologram or something, right? That you can have in your paper. Like, I don't know anyway it's That's cool. Like how you're describing it sounds pretty cool. like
Speaker: Yeah. i would this pain Sounds a little Skynet, but we're not going to worry about that. yeah ah So Byron, it wouldn't be our podcast.
Speaker: One of us knows what we're talking about. Another one is you. Unless Sam and Sarah got to have a little bit of hijinks. And so they have. ah
Speaker: Yes, I'm trying to find where. Well, they're just gonna have to hopefully behave somewhat, but they have a some features.
Speaker: But see, I think this is good because it it is actually relevant to to you. And you might actually take some of this to heart. So Sam and Sarah have a few features that they that they don't know if you've considered or that you may want to consider. so Sam and Sarah, please, I really want to have an ongoing relationship with Brian. Don't ruin this. All right.
Speaker: And go. but All right. So, number one, have you considered a way to block family members? No. Absolutely.
Speaker: Absolutely. Yes. You have a customer in Sarah as of now. Yes.
Speaker: Okay. Number two, an option to order food by Uber Eats, but specifically for family, but you do have to pay. It's like, Laurie, whenever you want your mom's tacos, you can just like put in an order.
Speaker: Yes. And then you're committing to dinner with her. Yeah. You you don't have to take any of these suggestions seriously, Byron, and comment on them. But if you wish to, you may.
Speaker: Think about it. If you're like you know about to go in for i yeah whatever holidays everybody celebrates for like Easter or Thanksgiving or something, and Grandma or somebody puts it, okay, we're putting a request in now, and we're going to narrow it down from here, that would be pretty cool.
Speaker: I think so. i think I think there's something to that idea, right? And in our platform, we have an events organizer. So, you know, if we say like, hey, yeah Thanksgiving event on the app, put in, you know, a special section for food.
Speaker: I've actually, I've got the best thing about how my mom would use that because this is not a lie. Several years ago, first of all, I see my mom all the time.
Speaker: But I'm her baby and it'll never be enough. So she has said things to me like, oh, I'm so glad I have pictures of you up in my house. So I remember what you look like. And yep oh, if you invited me over to your house, I'm not sure I'd remember how to get there. Like that's the kind of stuff she would say. But here is the, what's that expression? The coup d'etat of what she did.
Speaker: I get home one day from work. I go to my mailbox and there's a party invitation. And the party invitation is for a party at my house where my mom is the guest.
Speaker: Like it's one of those things that we had a barbecue and a date and a time and everything. Basically inviting herself over to my house on this date at that time. So I think what my mom would do with your events tab is basically create an event where she is coming over.
Speaker: ah that's amazing. That was so clever. Yeah. That's hilarious. She is clever. That is a very good way to put it. Actually, i don't i don't want to derail from Sam and Sarah's derailment.
Speaker: But I do think if you haven't thought about this, it could be fun to have a section with like family sayings like that whole and we're off like a herd of turtles yeah sort of thing. Because if I want my parents have any sort of legacy, it's like all the ridiculous things that they that they've said. might my My two biological parents, my mom and my... I'm always saying it that way because I was talking about my stepdad who i was very close to.
Speaker: But if you met them, you would have no idea how I turned out so sane. And I'm not sane. I'm not sane. But like truly, you're like, Wow.
Speaker: But they are characters and they are fun. And when I started having kids, and this may have been your experience too, all these things start coming out of your mouth that you're saying to them.
Speaker: And... but you know I think what's my you know biggest life lesson is a cool thing to share with them, but I also think some of these these sayings are pretty fun as well.
Speaker: so Anyway, ah if you haven't thought about that, I would say there's got to be something where you keep like a running tally. but Actually, to Sarah's question about blocking family members, can my sister and I set up something where we just um like trauma share about our mom, but she can't see it?
Speaker: Oh, that's interesting. But we need to document it. We already do. I mean, if you have our mom or mom is pretty similar, every now and then I just text my brother. I'm like, yo, you need to call your mom.
Speaker: and he's and me And he's like, um you really need to text your mother. We don't claim our parents unless it's like we have to. Yeah. ah Yeah. You know, one thing that I thought of in that in that area, and this is just still so much of a concept, it needs a lot more thought to it, but is what if, you know, let's say you're visualizing a family tree and what if you could broadcast things across your tree? Right.
Speaker: um But you have control over the direction of the broadcast. So, you know, you say like broadcasting. everywhere broadcast up only broadcast down only right um this would give you that ability to be a little to broadcast things that you know you and your sister would see and then you know perhaps later on your de descendants could come back and discover yeah i love it all right what sam and sarah what's the next one you've got okay um we were thinking a range of emoticons that you can use so you can tell a family member when you are mad at them
Speaker: Oh, yeah. yeah I never had a MySpace, but I do understand that people could like rank their friends. Can you rank your family members? Oh, my gosh. Rank your family members? I stole one of ours. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. All right. Well, now you don't have to say it.
Speaker: It's a good idea. See, I told you I liked your list, but I don't remember. Oh, no. We lost Sam. She'll be back. I mean, you can still hear so Sam can keep talking.
Speaker: Yes, it is mostly a podcast. It is a podcast, Sarah. That's okay. What's the next one, you guys? We're going to wrap up here. All right. um Number four is a notes app on your profile so family members can post apologies to you.
Speaker: Next one. but Similarly, you you already mentioned the family tree, but we were thinking of a family tree section so you can see, you know, strained relationships and, you know, oh know who you may or may not get a Christmas gift from or whatever. boy Yeah. Okay.
Speaker: Okay. I'm sorry. I didn't even see the MySpace thing. I totally stole that from you guys. I'm sorry. It's okay. So, yeah. A top family members list so they can know where they stand. But also, we did include a bottom five family members. So they know they're at risk of being cut out.
Speaker: you know Or being disinherited. Ooh. See, i just like the be like, hey... yeahmoto called in one so you can individually be like hey Y'all are cool.
Speaker: Y'all are cool. But once we get to this point, it's like, hey, y'all are iffy. Like, you know, it changes. After Thanksgiving, some may go up, some may go down.
Speaker: just saying. oh my gosh. this is This is so great. The right right. So next is eBay, but with family.
Speaker: So when someone dies, the executor of their estate can list their personal items and people can bid on them. And whoever wins gets the asset. Cynthia loves using that spinning wheel, like when we do drawings or like... yeah you like that like who wants this uh strawberry teapot and then i'll say glory and i'll be like oh no and it's like a live stream or something it's like oh no wait hold on sam put me on to this um to this auction website yeah that's yeah live live bidding essentially yeah and that's what we do but like you know with with your mom's teapots
Speaker: yeah All got one last one. And now that Sam's back, do you want to bring it home? All right. Thanks. Hold on. I have to back.
Speaker: A Birch law section, um but it's only for people in Texas because we can only practice in Texas for them to get their estate planning done.
Speaker: Or it could be like a state planning resources. Maybe you like they connect you with a attorney or law firm. Yes. is Yeah. Yeah. at it so So I hope you appreciate this Birch Law brain trust that we've created for you.
Speaker: Just more ideas. I mean, feel feel free to discard some. But I think we've got some real... think the bottom side and top five has some real possibilities.
Speaker: Yeah. I mean, I know that that top five was a really big deal, big hit with MySpace folks. So you may be on to something there, you know, make people competitive a little bit, make the family get together is a little interesting.
Speaker: Yeah. On social media, there's this grandma who has, um who like by her fridge has a board and every like there's however many grandchildren slots and there's a magnet with each grandchild.
Speaker: So depending on how she feels, she'll rearrange them so that whenever they go to grandma's house, they know what number they are. That's wild. and it's like one of them And there's a video for them getting a tattoo. She took his picture off and put it on top of the last spot.
Speaker: They didn't move a sibling or a cousin up. They just both them are at the bottom now. Oh, wow. I like that. I like that. Well, Byron, we really appreciate you sharing ah this. and We look forward to seeing how it how it develops.
Speaker: We look forward to participating and helping spread the word. And we really appreciate you spending this time and hopefully you found it as valuable as we did. Oh, for sure. Thank you so much for for having me. This was ah so much fun. I love the questions.
Speaker: ah I was ah really honored to be here. Thanks for having me. Thanks for listening. And just to cover all our bases about what you just heard, I'm sorry and you're welcome.
Speaker: Make sure you subscribe so you never miss an episode and tell your friends about us. We do webinars and live events. The best way to stay up to date is to follow us on Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, and YouTube.
Speaker: Links are in the show notes. If there's a topic you'd like us to cover, maybe you have a question you'd like us to answer, or maybe you just want to say hi, hit the link in the show notes or go to birch-law.com forward slash podcast and fill out the contact form.
Speaker: Much better. Yeah, I thought that had a lot of energy.
