It All Begins With An Idea

It all begins with an idea.

One night, during the beginning of the quarantine lockdown, as I got into bed, I turned to my husband and said “I want to do a podcast about FTD… FTD Facts… FTD Talks… something like that”. My husband gave me that look like, it’s time for bed, I’m tired, please don’t start right now, but then he said “I like it, let’s talk more in the morning.”
As I tried to fall asleep I kept brainstorming all the things that “FTD Facts” could be. For days I was daydreaming of my podcast. I thought to myself — We’re not going anywhere for awhile — I can do pull this together — I did radio in college, I even interned for MTV radio, I can figure this out!

For weeks, the more I worked through the idea in my head I thought, what would people want to listen to? What did I most want people to know? And then I thought about one of the hardest parts for me that I wish people understood - that the disease takes away the person they once were. Let’s try to remember them. The idea transformed into a storytelling podcast that would educate people on the disease, but also help tell stories of who their loved one was before.

I posted on my @artforamalia instagram account at the end of May:

Rachael was my first reply!

Rachael and I setup a time to Zoom and chat. We clicked immediately. We realized we were basically living the same life on opposite coasts. The next day I called Rachael and said… I’m thinking of changing up the podcast format and I want to have a co-host… do you want to do this together?

And the Dream Team was formed…. lots of calls, interviews, editing, brainstorming and dreaming began…

…and on August 3rd, my mother’s 56th birthday, we launched Remember Me with the story of Rachael’s sweet father Frank.

Remember me started as an idea. It sparked a friendship. It created a community. It provided a healing space, outlet, and passion project for me and Rachael.

Can’t see where it goes next.

Thank you for listening.

xo Maria