Episode overview

Russ speaks with storyteller and filmmaker Rick Stevenson about why our personal stories are our most valuable legacy, and how families can use storytelling to connect across generations, strengthen decision making, and shape their philanthropy. Rick shares insights from 8,000+ interviews, the origins of the 5,000 Days Project, and practical ways advisers and families can start capturing stories with care, consent and purpose.

Key themes

• Your story as your greatest asset: Identity, purpose and self-knowledge as the foundation for a lived legacy
• Safe, consent-led storytelling: Why participants should retain control and how privacy builds honesty and depth
• From emotion to insight: How telling a story moves feeling into language and reduces its hold on us
• A “family voice,” not just a founder’s voice: Interviewing every generation to reveal shared values and differences
• Philanthropy and purpose: How stories surface what people truly care about and guide meaningful giving
• Advisers as humans first: Do your own story work to build trust with the whole family, not only the patriarch
• Getting started at any age: Simple, repeatable practices for capturing stories from early childhood to later life

Next steps

• Institute members can access the Legacy Playbook in the member portal and resource library
• To explore a Family Voice series or personal story mentoring, get in touch via the Institute website - https://www.uhnwinstitute.org/