In this inspiring conversation, Lorie Jones sits down with Iris Wagner—founder, CEO, and executive producer of Memoirs Productions, a company specializing in video biographies and ethical wills.
Iris’ story is as impactful as the legacies she helps preserve. From her early days in finance to finding her true passion in capturing people’s stories on film, Iris shares how a profound “aha” moment led her to create a unique business centered around legacy, values, and love. Lorie and Iris discuss the power of ethical wills, the importance of reflecting on our personal journeys, and how women can tap into their own intuition and creativity to uncover career paths that are both meaningful and rewarding.
This episode is a treasure trove of advice for young women forging their way in any field, with insights on following your passion, seeking wisdom from those who came before you, and leaving a mark that goes far beyond financial success. If you’re looking for the courage to pivot, the inspiration to listen to your inner voice, or simply love a good story—this episode is for you.
Show Highlights:
- The power of storytelling, legacies and life lessons through media. [03:56]
- Iris Wagner’s professional journey, including her midlife pivot. [06:06]
- The value of video biographies over written memoirs. [12:22]
- Find out what an ethical will is. [14:24]
- Discover unique aspects of spiritual storytelling in women’s ethical wills. [17:59]
- Advice on recognizing and following your true calling. [22:53]
- The benefits of self-discovery through diverse experiences for young women. [31:36]
- Have you ever considered interviewing your elders? [33:00]
- Fearlessly trust in success, be flexible, and “ski the whites.” [36:35]
- How to get in touch with Iris Wagner. [47:55]
To get in touch with Iris Wagner, email her at iris@iriswagner.com.
To contact Iris Wagner, please visit http://iriswagner.com/
If you enjoyed this episode, please go to Apple Podcasts and leave a review!
For more information about Lorie Jones, go to https://fearlessfinancialadvisors.com/fearless-females.
00:02.21
Lorie Jones
Good morning, fearless females. Thank you so much for joining us today. so I’m really excited that we get to talk to Iris Wagner today. She is the founder, CEO, and executive producer of Memoirs Productions.
00:16.02
Lorie Jones
That’s a video biography and ethical will company. And I’m really excited for you to hear what she does and kind of get, I had a chance to spend just a few minutes with with Iris and kind of getting to know her. And I’ve thought about it for three weeks since. So I’m really excited for you to have this opportunity. Thank you, Iris, for joining us. I appreciate it.
00:37.94
iris@iriswagner.com
Oh, thank you, Laurie, for having me. And i really enjoyed our pre-production discussion also. It was very memorable. So thanks.
00:46.87
Lorie Jones
You brought up a lot of things that I’ve been thinking about for a while going over in my head. So i i really appreciate you. um kind of joining us and just sharing your experience. So the very first question I always ask is, I’m a reader. i love any and all books.
01:03.15
Lorie Jones
Tell me what your favorite is.
01:06.32
iris@iriswagner.com
Favorites? Okay, I have a few and it’s all related to the work that is my life calling and my work, which is um that I produce video biographies for people to leave as a legacy to next generation, focusing on their ethical wills, their values, beliefs, lessons learned.
01:22.62
iris@iriswagner.com
And one of the first couple of books that really impacted me, one was Tuesdays with Maury by Mitch Ablam, which is a very big New York Times bestseller. And I believe it has a 25th year anniversary as well, just like my company, it’s come out again.
01:39.86
iris@iriswagner.com
um Obviously, if you know about Maury Schwartz, he had, ah well, gosh, ALS, he had a, okay, start again.
01:52.27
iris@iriswagner.com
um The book that I love is Tuesdays with Maury by Mitch Albom, who wrote 25 years ago this story of… min um of Okay,
02:06.08
iris@iriswagner.com
start again. I don’t know why I’m so nervous all of a sudden. Okay, let’s talk about Tuesdays with Maury is a great book. Mitch Albom. wrote about him 25 years ago, a gentleman with ALS who imparted so much wisdom from life and his values and everyone could relate. And he talked about how to live life as he was near the end of his.
02:27.84
iris@iriswagner.com
Another book that I always look back to is Randy Pausch’s The Last Lecture. He was, that went viral. There’s like a hundred million views. He did a last lecture at Carnegie Mellon, where he was a professor when he was diagnosed with cancer.
02:44.80
iris@iriswagner.com
And that last lecture was what he felt was most important in life to communicate. And in the end, the punchline was that he really was doing that recording for his kids who were under the three kids under the age of seven, who would really never get to know him.
02:59.48
Lorie Jones
Thank you.
03:01.48
iris@iriswagner.com
And it was so powerful. he did the lecture, it was put into a book, he was all over Oprah and All the TV shows grabbed him and it was very poignant and very, very much an ethical will, which is where I live and work. So those two books totally influenced me at the beginning of my career.
03:21.77
Lorie Jones
I think that ah last lecture, I’m pretty sure I’ve read that one. And I thought it was really impactful as well. And i’d i I love hearing like biographies or stories or, you know, like people’s journeys. Obviously, that’s why I do what I do. So i love listening to these ideas of where they’ve come from. i I’m going to put those on my book list and add them to my stack of books. So thanks, Iris. I appreciate that.
03:51.07
Lorie Jones
So tell me a little bit about your journey. um How did you start out? um how did you get where you are today? Kind of what do you do? Just talk to me a little bit about that.
04:02.19
iris@iriswagner.com
Well, I graduated ah from university with a degree in finance and business and started my career in banking, landed up ah going into high tech finance at that time.
04:14.53
iris@iriswagner.com
um and landed up in the end in real estate, all related to financial work, which wasn’t exactly my thrill. I did well, but I was working 100 plus hours a week. I was making a lot of money, but I wasn’t really too thrilled.
04:29.99
iris@iriswagner.com
What thrilled me was my volunteer work. I was involved with a large nonprofit. And I was doing and working in the communications and it was actually a 50 year nonprofit that was rebranding. And I got so involved in the project and all these older men on the board looked at me and said, you’re so talented at this. You should do this for like work. And I said, I love doing this stuff.
04:51.08
iris@iriswagner.com
So I went back to school in my thirties and got a degree in film and communications after which i did
04:59.12
Lorie Jones
Mm-hmm.
05:02.44
iris@iriswagner.com
The Artist’s Way, another book I love by Julia Cameron. It’s called How to Unblock the Creative Spirit Within You. And it’s a 12-week course that you do on your own. And one of the things…
05:13.84
iris@iriswagner.com
that happens when you do it is you write morning pages every morning, stream of consciousness thinking ah as to what is going on in your head. And just like any other day, I was doodling and I wrote memo to Iris to make a list of things I was going to do that day or whatever.
05:31.29
iris@iriswagner.com
And my pen skipped on the T and the second I. And when I looked down at the page, I saw memoirs. Whoa, oh my God, did you hear the angels singing? Did you hear the aha moment I was having? It was unbelievable, but I realized that’s what I wanted to do. I wanted to record and film people’s memoirs.
05:53.12
iris@iriswagner.com
So I sat down and wrote a business plan, went in two-page business plan, ran to the one of the individuals I knew through my community service who had an incredible story to record.
05:53.14
Lorie Jones
Mm-hmm.
06:05.32
iris@iriswagner.com
And he hired me to do his parents right on the first sales call. That was 25 years ago and I have never looked back since. It is my calling. It is my life’s journey. It is my life’s legacy. It is my passion. i plan to do this work until the day before I die.
06:23.79
Lorie Jones
I love that. And I think that’s funny that like like I feel the same way a lot about finance. like I feel like it’s my life’s calling. It’s my journey. It’s the thing I love to do most. And I think it’s so funny that you started out in finance and you’re like, yeah, this is not for me. But this this this idea of taking people’s legacies and and making a memoir out of them is speaks so so much to you. But you couldn’t really go to college to be like How did you find this place? I mean, like, it, it was just a happy accident?
07:01.19
Lorie Jones
Or were you in a place where you could, like it could come to you?
07:06.69
iris@iriswagner.com
Good question. It wasn’t easy. And I kind of felt like, and I sometimes still feel like I’m on my own little island in a big blue ocean, right? Because people look at me sometimes still to this day, 25 years…
07:19.28
iris@iriswagner.com
wow, that’s such a cool idea. I never heard of that before. And I’m like, come on, seriously? I’ve been doing, there are other video biographers out there, but there are very few or none that I know of that actually, you know, focus on the ethical will, the values, the beliefs, the lessons learned, the wisdom that one accumulates through life like I do.
07:38.49
Lorie Jones
Mm-hmm.
07:38.53
iris@iriswagner.com
But um I guess, you know,
07:38.63
Lorie Jones
Mm-hmm.
07:41.64
iris@iriswagner.com
Part of it was in that journey with that nonprofit after 50 years, I did interview some of the early board members, past presidents, and I learned about their legacy as being president of that agency for that that nonprofit for a while.
07:58.14
iris@iriswagner.com
And that’s where i they looked at me and said constantly, no one’s ever asked me that question before. And I said, really? i said, I’m just asking to reflect back. Like what were some of the challenges or what was a highlight or what was a milestone? They go, I never thought about that before. I’ve never reflected like this before.
08:18.85
iris@iriswagner.com
And they came to me and said, again, you should do this. This is a really powerful work. So I was constantly getting nods of approval, big nods of approval from pretty much a lot, mostly gray haired men, but then I did get some women, right? I did get some women, but I started off with men who were highly accomplished entrepreneurs, very successful in their own right. And they basically told me, you’re really good at this.
08:46.50
iris@iriswagner.com
And it gave me the confidence to keep going. And, and there was at one point an organization called the Association of Personal Historians. And I actually joined it and went to their conferences in in the US during those times um way back.
08:55.56
Lorie Jones
Yeah.
09:02.65
iris@iriswagner.com
And at one of the first or second conference, I was actually announced as a, i was called ah i was called to a panel where they announced me as a blueprint for success in the video side of the business.
09:17.52
iris@iriswagner.com
The majority of the personal historians were writers. ghost writers, right?
09:20.99
Lorie Jones
yeah
09:21.97
iris@iriswagner.com
Ghost writers who would take someone’s story and write the book for them. um Very few video biographers, but I was doing it at such a level that I guess I made an impression in the agent in the ah in the industry, but it was a small group. There were only 600 of us that were members and maybe 200 that would come to the conference every year.
09:43.62
iris@iriswagner.com
So, You’re right. it’s yeah I had to do this on my own. it was not like I followed anyone’s footsteps. I didn’t have a mentor in this field. No way.
09:52.01
Lorie Jones
martin It sounds like it. And I find it really interesting that you kind of locked in on the idea of a video biography because, I kind of…
10:03.22
Lorie Jones
i kind of i’ I’m used to biographies in print. I’m used to them you know coming up with questions and and even this idea of a semi-fictionalized biography, but the idea of ah the video passing down of your what you learned and your values, and and that is that’s kind unique. Yeah.
10:25.31
Lorie Jones
unique
10:26.80
iris@iriswagner.com
Thank you. I believe that every person has the story in their heart and their mind to tell about their own life. And the best way for them to tell it is from their own lips, from their mouth, from their own mind. It’s their truth.
10:42.26
Lorie Jones
Mm-hmm.
10:42.39
iris@iriswagner.com
And it cannot be refuted if someone says it. And i also believe that most people live authentic lives. They get up in the morning, they put their shoes and socks on and go out the door as Laurie Cohn, incredible financial advisor.
10:57.05
iris@iriswagner.com
et cetera, and that’s who you are. So when I ask you an interview about your career, you’re gonna tell me your truth and you’re gonna tell it from your heart and it’s gonna come out beautifully spoken.
11:10.00
iris@iriswagner.com
If you were to tell me it off camera and then I had to write it back and hand it back to you, would never sound the same, right?
11:20.59
Lorie Jones
yeah. Hmm.
11:20.98
iris@iriswagner.com
hundred No, because everyone speaks with the smile in their eyes or the smile on their lips and the tears in their eyes. You know, if I asked you about a dearly departed loved one, your grandmother, for example, if she had gone, you would start to smile or you would cry because of the impact she had on you.
11:38.66
iris@iriswagner.com
And that can only be captured on camera.
11:41.77
Lorie Jones
Oh, yeah, that’s really powerful and something I hadn’t really considered before. But yeah, that sense of authenticity of who they really are that comes through in video um voice to some extent, but video voice.
11:57.81
Lorie Jones
maybe more so. I love that. Iris, that’s really cool. What is the best investment that you’ve made in yourself? If you can look back on this whole journey and you’d be like, oh my gosh, if I had not done that, I don’t think I’d be where I’m at today.
12:13.24
Lorie Jones
What would that be?
12:15.36
iris@iriswagner.com
Well, I think I mentioned when I started the artist’s way and that aha moment of learning memoirs memoirs was my calling and my passion. And once I started on the road, it was like, look out, this was where I was headed and everything. I think I was also impacted. I was selected for a leadership training program, very selective leadership training program. And one of the first things we did on the first retreat was we were asked by the leadership to write our ethical wills.
12:44.95
iris@iriswagner.com
At the time, i was single, no children. And I said, I don’t have kids. I don’t have. What do I do? Well, write it to people you love. Write a letter that expresses who you are, what you stand for, what you believe in.
13:02.32
iris@iriswagner.com
What are your values? What are your wisdoms? What have you learned? What’s important to you about your life? Don’t just write about the story. Write about the impact that things have had on you.
13:17.97
iris@iriswagner.com
And I was just blown away by that experience that I said, I need to incorporate this immediately into my memoirs. I resignd like i started memoirs just by capturing the video biographies. But once I learned that ethical will process, it was a game changer.
13:33.91
iris@iriswagner.com
And everyone I’ve applied it to has told me it’s something they totally, totally enjoyed.
13:34.11
Lorie Jones
Mm-hmm.
13:42.69
iris@iriswagner.com
cherish doing because most people never take that deep dive of reflection into those things. And I’m fortunate enough that over the past 25 years, I’ve been developing this process and now I’ve developed it into a course because I want the world for my next 25 years to get to do this themselves. They don’t need me and a big camera crew and a whole set up and and and they just need their iPhones or their Androids, the any phone that has a camera to do this themselves, as long as they have the process and the questions to ask themselves.
14:18.34
Lorie Jones
And i I think too that like the idea of sitting down and asking yourself, what do you really believe? And where does that belief come from? Where does it center in you? That’s something that we rarely do.
14:32.72
iris@iriswagner.com
Absolutely. No one takes the time. You know, I had a client once who said to me, and he was highly successful, came from rags, became riches, right? And looked at me at 80 years old and said to me, you know what, Iris, I never look back.
14:47.18
iris@iriswagner.com
Cause all you do when you look back is get a kink in your neck. And he believed that, but I got him to reflect. And in fact, he took his next 20 years of his life with his company and his family and changed the the the trajectory because of the reflections.
15:04.43
iris@iriswagner.com
He realized all of a sudden what was important in his life to include going forward. So, you know, even the most stubborn futurists or people who look ahead only and see a future, even they realize that there’s a power in reflecting and taking that time to look back and see what you learned.
15:17.86
Lorie Jones
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
15:26.10
Lorie Jones
Yeah, I find that really powerful and a really interesting statement. you know like i a you know Through my podcast, I’m always asking women, well, what would you have you know what did you do well? What would you have done differently? And and I have a lot of them say, i i just i never thought of it before. it was just I was so busy doing the things and becoming who I was that just never really thought about looking back you know, it it’s eyeopening experience for them. And I can imagine that that sort of memoir and that life and and really reflecting on what your values are and what you want to pass on to the next generation can be very powerful and inspiring.
16:08.63
iris@iriswagner.com
Absolutely. And you know what I love about working with women? I use a process called the spiritual ethical will, because women tend to have much more than just straight up values and beliefs to pass to their loved ones. They offer often messages of love.
16:26.93
iris@iriswagner.com
They’ll offer family heirloom recipes, those shortbread cookies that are made every Thanksgiving or the plum cake that’s made at Christmas or whatever that’s been in the family for
16:27.00
Lorie Jones
Mm-hmm.
16:38.49
iris@iriswagner.com
decades and generations, they’ll pass that through. They will definitely focus on messages of love love messages of love and wishes for their luck for their grandchildren and their children’s futures.
16:52.41
iris@iriswagner.com
it’s It’s a beautiful postcard from an edge that is a woman’s touch. and And I just love working with women.
16:59.22
Lorie Jones
Yeah.
17:02.04
iris@iriswagner.com
They do that deep dive that is so cherished and so loved, not just by me, but by their kids and grandkids who receive the videos. They just, I know, I can’t say enough about it.
17:13.22
Lorie Jones
Yeah. What a beautiful legacy to leave too. I mean, like what what an important thing to be a part of that, to be a part of sharing that story um and and passing that down so that generations you know, won’t lose that.
17:29.74
Lorie Jones
um I remember having conversations with my grandma and things that I learned from her, how different it would have been if if she had been able to video that so that not only me, but my kids and my kids’ kids could feel that spirit and that love that she had. What what amazing what an amazingly impactful way of doing things, Iris.
17:53.19
iris@iriswagner.com
Thank you. But you have that same influence in finance, right? Because you’re preserving their wealth for multiple generations. All I’m saying is make sure your clients who are passing on the wealth well beyond their lifetime, that the stories go with it. And it’s not just about how they accumulated the wealth stories.
18:13.19
iris@iriswagner.com
It’s also, it’s just about the journey of how they made decisions about it.
18:16.13
Lorie Jones
Mm-hmm.
18:18.91
iris@iriswagner.com
And, and, you know, and not just about the wealth, made any decisions in their life that may have had an impact one way or another.
18:24.83
Lorie Jones
and
18:26.21
iris@iriswagner.com
And yeah, and if they talk in their own words, how important it is. I had a woman once who said, whatever you do, do not sell the cottage.
18:37.23
iris@iriswagner.com
I will not allow anyone to sell the cottage because my grandmother left me that cottage. And we fixed it up. And I know it’s on a beautiful lake in a beautiful place. And we could probably get a lot of money for it.
18:50.76
iris@iriswagner.com
But I don’t want you ever to sell it because so many great memories at that cottage of summers of 4th of July, etc.
18:53.47
Lorie Jones
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
18:58.64
iris@iriswagner.com
happened there. And that’s something that is a legacy in our family. And please hold on to it. Now, she said it without wagging a finger, because the first thing I tell my clients is if they wag a finger on camera, I will cut it off and the Persian rug will get blood all over it because I never you can’t be prescriptive.
19:17.24
iris@iriswagner.com
But she did say it was so important to me when grandma left me that cottage that I promised myself to leave it to my grandchildren, too, and hope that they will continue.
19:28.65
iris@iriswagner.com
So that’s the way. It’s never to be prescriptive, never to tell. It’s just to suggest and to say why it meant so much to them in their lifetime. And then any children that love them, of course, are not going to make another decision, right?
19:43.08
iris@iriswagner.com
So easy. It’s easy then.
19:46.49
Lorie Jones
I love that. Did you get Iris, did you get any bad advice or what is the worst advice someone gave you? And did you listen to it? Did you take it? Did you ignore it? Did you learn from it? Tell me about that.
19:59.73
iris@iriswagner.com
Honestly, I’ve never had bad advice. I saw the question. We talked about it last time. And I said, I don’t have an answer for you. I cannot think of ever having bad advice in terms of my trajectory. I’ve been very blessed throughout my life with everything that’s happened. So I never…
20:20.33
iris@iriswagner.com
sort of had a pitfall. I know probably most people do. And I’m embarrassed to say it in a way that I’m very blessed. And I’m very grateful for my whole journey. And I can’t think of anyone that ever gave me bad advice.
20:33.14
Lorie Jones
So I was curious about this because because if I came to my parents and said, I’m starting a video um will and biography and ethical will company, I’m sure, 100% sure because my parents are salt of the earth kind of work from morning till night sort of thing. They would not be on board with that. I probably would have gotten some advice that said, hey,
21:01.61
Lorie Jones
You want to think about this a couple of times, maybe not do it. But that didn’t come up. People were so…
21:09.16
iris@iriswagner.com
I have news for you. I think when a ah when a woman, finds two two parts to that answer.
21:10.77
Lorie Jones
Okay.
21:15.01
iris@iriswagner.com
My parents, when I went to them first, my mother looked at me and said, what took you so long? I said, what are you talking about? She says, Iris, from the age of six, every year on my birthday, on dad’s birthday, on family members’ birthdays, every year you sit down and write a poem about in their card,
21:36.82
iris@iriswagner.com
about their previous year of life. She says, since the age of six, I have all your cards. You have captured my life in poetry, on my birthday card, on my mother’s day card, on dad’s and my anniversary cards.
21:50.61
iris@iriswagner.com
It’s all there. You’re always reflecting back for all of us. You’ve been doing this all your life. Don’t you realize this is your calling? So that really empowered me. What a great mom that was.
22:00.87
iris@iriswagner.com
And my dad, of course, smiled and said, sure, it sounds great. Try it.
22:04.46
Lorie Jones
Yes.
22:04.59
iris@iriswagner.com
We’ll see if you make money at it. Right. You know, because he was all about the finance side. That’s how I fell into finance from him.
22:08.83
Lorie Jones
yeah
22:10.81
iris@iriswagner.com
And but then when I went to the first client, as I mentioned, I went to the first client who gave me my job right on the spot to do his parents biography. I went to him for him and he said, no, no, no.
22:26.80
iris@iriswagner.com
I’m still busy running my business. Yes, I know I sold it for many, many millions of dollars, but I’m still 51 and I’m not ready, but my parents are in their seventies. Go see if you can relate to them and do them. And I was hired by the next day.
22:41.57
iris@iriswagner.com
That empowered me to realize that when you find your calling and your purpose, there’s no regrets.
22:53.10
iris@iriswagner.com
And there’s no bad advice because listened to my gut to do this. I listened to it and I heard the calling through the artist’s way morning pages that said memoirs on it. It just all, everything just felt so natural and so authentic for me.
23:11.51
iris@iriswagner.com
And then when my mother said, what took you so long? You’ve been doing this all your life already. I’m like, okay, tick, let’s do it. And I’ve never looked back. So I really don’t have any regrets.
23:23.05
iris@iriswagner.com
I’m very.
23:23.21
Lorie Jones
I love it. I love it. So um if there’s a situation, Iris, that you can look back on through your journey and you’re like, oh, you know, I’ve learned some things along the path.
23:34.44
Lorie Jones
And maybe if I could go back and do that situation again, i would do it differently. Is there something like that?
23:43.69
iris@iriswagner.com
I think I wouldn’t have waited as long in a financial career. offense, I’m laughing, but maybe you’re going to come to my side because you’re such a good podcast host. Honestly, this is communications work you’re doing now, dear.
23:59.68
iris@iriswagner.com
But if I hadn’t spent as many years in my twenties doing financial work that I was, I had the capability for, I did well, I earned nice money. I just wasn’t fulfilled.
24:10.60
iris@iriswagner.com
And
24:10.66
Lorie Jones
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
24:11.29
iris@iriswagner.com
If I had to ask myself what ah I would have, I would have gone into this a lot earlier. I might not have taken that financial degree. I might’ve gone right into film and communications and dabbled in working maybe in some kind of production, something, but then eventually I would have found my way to starting memoirs productions.
24:31.07
iris@iriswagner.com
So that’s the advice I would give someone is, You know, listen to your gut when you’re not happy in a career or in ah in a in a just a any type of life situation. If there’s something amiss and you’re not getting up really happy every day doing what you’re doing, get out as fast as possible, no matter what.
24:52.69
iris@iriswagner.com
Because if you find your calling, it’s all up here from there. It’s all uphill from there. it’s There’s no issue.
24:59.05
Lorie Jones
Yeah.
25:00.21
iris@iriswagner.com
Yeah.
25:00.71
Lorie Jones
Yeah. And, and I, I say that a lot of times too, where you do your, your profession, you know, eight, 10, 12 hours a day, you spend, you spend time away from your family and loved ones. It’s gotta be something that you love doing. It has to be something that you enjoy and that, that fills your bucket, makes you, makes you happy. If you’re doing something you’re miserable at, you’re not going to be able to sustain that for that many years though.
25:28.36
Lorie Jones
i I like that. white thank you um Why do you think you went into finance rather than starting this early? Is it just you didn’t know
25:38.73
iris@iriswagner.com
Great. No, great question. And no one’s really asked me this before. So there you go. You’re learning my tricks. My father was in a fabulous jewelry business. He imported fine gold jewelry from European manufacturers in Italy and Switzerland, et cetera, and brought it in.
26:00.72
iris@iriswagner.com
And then was in those days a wholesaler to retail stores, fine retail stores. I always had a dream of going into my dad’s business. And unfortunately, when I was just in second year of university, studying business and finance and international marketing, doing all the courses to give me a grounding. My father was self-made entrepreneur. He never went to university. He was, you know, in those years, he just barely got a high school degree.
26:29.33
iris@iriswagner.com
So I was the one to go to university, get all the core and halfway through my second year. When my father used to buy gold by the ounce, he had paid in those years 200 an ounce, gold hit 900 an ounce.
26:44.42
iris@iriswagner.com
And he realized that a fine little gold necklace like this, that maybe some admin assistant was buying for a couple of hundred bucks, she was no longer going to spend a thousand dollars based on weight.
26:55.26
iris@iriswagner.com
So he took all his gold and he melted it down at the mint and turned his company into a holding company.
26:55.54
Lorie Jones
Yeah.
27:02.30
iris@iriswagner.com
And all of a sudden poof, my career, my vision of being future CEO of Nadine jewelry company was the name and it was squashed.
27:14.63
iris@iriswagner.com
So I had all this financial knowledge and one of my dad’s good friends was very, very high up in a major bank and he knew me. And so as soon as I graduated, he offered, he got me into a financial management training program at that bank that was very prestigious and very whatever.
27:31.77
iris@iriswagner.com
It’s a whole time ago, but I sort of had to pivot there and didn’t exactly do. So I was a bit shattered by the, but you know, I, I, like i said, I did well. I landed on my feet as I always do.
27:45.43
iris@iriswagner.com
And that’s the first time I’ve told this story on a podcast to anyone. So there you go. You’re getting a little bit, I’m rubbing off on you there. Yeah.
27:56.10
Lorie Jones
Well, that’s really interesting. i think that’s I think that a lot of times our lives don’t quite end up where we where we think they’re going to, where we had planned for them to be.
28:09.09
Lorie Jones
And, and whether it’s, you know, like a dream that we had that died, but was replaced by maybe something that fit us better. i i found that if we keep our, if we keep our options open and we keep, we keep our, our viewpoint on what Can I learn from this experience and how can I grow? And you’re open to the universe sending you different ideas and different paths to take.
28:36.74
Lorie Jones
that You tend to fall into the right thing for you somehow.
28:42.45
iris@iriswagner.com
Yeah, you have to be willing to trust your gut. Even women have guts, men always talk about their guts, and they trust, you know, but women have intuition to about their own lives about their own happiness.
28:54.63
iris@iriswagner.com
And too often, they may be led by other influences, you know, kids at home, husbands, parents, anything, any, ah any, any individual can can women tend to be nurturers, and that’s where they live most first, right? So It’s hard for them to put me first, myself, they so themselves first. But you know what they say on the airlines, the first thing you do,
29:20.54
iris@iriswagner.com
in a situation is you must put the gas, the gas mask, the, what’s called?
29:26.11
Lorie Jones
oxygen.
29:27.81
iris@iriswagner.com
Oxygen, thank you.
29:27.88
Lorie Jones
The oxygen.
29:29.14
iris@iriswagner.com
You must put the oxygen on yourself first before others.
29:32.85
Lorie Jones
Yeah.
29:33.05
iris@iriswagner.com
And part of what feeds you the right oxygen is a calling, is finding a passionate thing you are good at, you enjoy doing, you get well compensated for, and you feel is really adds to your self-worth and self-esteem.
29:47.92
iris@iriswagner.com
That’s what women need.
29:48.29
Lorie Jones
yes
29:50.58
Lorie Jones
Yeah, I 100% agree with you. And I will go on the roadshow. We will take that message to the world.
29:57.07
iris@iriswagner.com
and
29:57.21
Lorie Jones
So Iris, what if you could go back and talk to yourself at the beginning of your journey? um You choose, the you know, 18, 19, 20, 21. But just when you’re kind of starting out, is there a message you’d have for that young lady?
30:14.69
iris@iriswagner.com
Be open to experiencing everything that you can and find your calling. I can’t stress it enough, find what makes you passionate, experience travel, experience world the world over, try different careers or positions in in life and, or courses or anything just to give yourself enough experience as a young person that will enable you to find what really touches your heart.
30:46.28
iris@iriswagner.com
And once you’re in your heart then your mind will be open to finding how to how to just keep your heart open with the work that you do, with the life work. And try and do that earlier than I did.
30:59.62
iris@iriswagner.com
i had to you know I had to go through a bit of a roundabout to get there, but I did. And I’m so blessed. And that’s why I say i have no regrets. I’m so blessed and grateful that I found it because many people never find it.
31:12.58
iris@iriswagner.com
And then it’s, yeah.
31:12.95
Lorie Jones
Yeah, they keep looking. I love that idea of like trying, trying a whole bunch of different things. Like sometimes you might have to, you know, volunteer in different places or take different classes or try different careers. Like if, if it’s not quite fitting, you need to try a lot of different things to find what is your passion, right?
31:36.95
iris@iriswagner.com
Absolutely. And another thing, given that I’m a video biographer, interview people. Go and talk to your elders. First, start with the people that love you the most, your grandparents, your aunts, your uncles, older people than you, not your parents, because they have a vested interest and they know you too well.
31:54.96
iris@iriswagner.com
But go to that next level of family members or or close friends of families, people that you trust, and ask them about what they do. The ones that you really love, chances are you share a core value or a core um ah belief system and where they are could inform you.
32:15.07
Lorie Jones
Mm-hmm.
32:17.81
iris@iriswagner.com
Let’s say you go and find out your grandfather was a doctor and you never thought of medicine as an option, right? You probably were not, you know, following a different path, maybe be an artistic path, but go talk to your grandpa, the doctor and see how he works.
32:33.11
iris@iriswagner.com
lives his life, how what’s important to him. See if it resonates with you. you know and people are so always interested in talking about themselves, right?
32:45.21
iris@iriswagner.com
Here, you have me very uncomfortable because I’m typically behind the camera or like behind the microphone, behind the camera.
32:45.41
Lorie Jones
yeah Oh, yeah.
32:53.98
iris@iriswagner.com
I’m never on it. So I’m like very, like I’m shaking over here. I’m not comfortable talking about me, but thank you. You made me feel so comfortable because you’re very good at this.
33:05.41
iris@iriswagner.com
But I’m saying if younger people would go and talk to their elders, and ask them about life, about lessons they learned, about beliefs they have, it will become very soon very clear what makes them interested, what makes for themselves where they would like to focus their life.
33:23.96
Lorie Jones
yeah
33:29.50
iris@iriswagner.com
And then all they should do is follow their passion.
33:29.57
Lorie Jones
Yeah.
33:32.71
iris@iriswagner.com
As I keep saying, follow the passion.
33:32.72
Lorie Jones
Yeah.
33:35.59
Lorie Jones
I love that because I do think that, you know, they know you, they know you well, they’ve known you since you were born. um and And they probably do have a lot of insight into what makes you you and what might resonate with you. Yeah. Yeah.
33:53.45
iris@iriswagner.com
Except I disagree with the fact of asking them what I should do. I want to know what they did. Ask them, my age at 20, grandma, what were you looking at doing with your life?
34:00.92
Lorie Jones
yeah
34:07.25
iris@iriswagner.com
What was interesting you? Oh, you just wanted to stay home and have kids and raise them? Or no, you were a teacher at 20 because you loved cating children And that was a belief that you felt that every child deserves a great education.
34:21.50
iris@iriswagner.com
Every child did deserves to have a proper guide in learning about English or mathematics or literature, whatever, the whatever she taught, for example. So I would focus more on them.
34:35.40
iris@iriswagner.com
and not ask them to judge or make calls for me. just be just be a Just be like a sieve or a, what’s the word?
34:39.30
Lorie Jones
Okay.
34:44.40
Lorie Jones
Sponge.
34:45.29
iris@iriswagner.com
Sponge, thank you. Just be a sponge and ask older people about themselves and see what sits in your mind. Would you walk away from that little interview and you’ll get some, and then write down notes, keep journals.
34:53.11
Lorie Jones
okay
34:59.47
iris@iriswagner.com
It’ll all become clear very quickly.
35:02.62
Lorie Jones
I love that.
35:02.66
iris@iriswagner.com
So, yeah.
35:04.69
Lorie Jones
Yeah, I think that’s really great. I love that advice. I think that’s, and that’s actually one I haven’t heard before. So I find that so interesting. Thank you, Iris. What about when you started out along this path? Did anything scare you?
35:20.01
Lorie Jones
And does it still scare you?
35:25.32
iris@iriswagner.com
um
35:29.85
iris@iriswagner.com
No, and nothing. i I’m different again. Nothing really scared me. I guess every woman always has the fear that I won’t make a living and I can’t, you know, I won’t be able to pay rent anything.
35:41.44
iris@iriswagner.com
pay for my car payments or whatever it is at the beginning. um but that was squashed for me because my first sales call, I made a very good sale and that took me to two others, to three others, to seven others. And I’ve never looked back. So I’ve never really had that, that problem, but I guess deep down that might’ve been some kind of worry that I would, would this business fail and, you know, and not allow me to live my life. But, um,
36:09.25
iris@iriswagner.com
So, and there’s nothing that I feel fearful of now that I can think of.
36:17.91
iris@iriswagner.com
And nothing that keeps me up at night, if you want, you must do this with your clients often with financial work, right? Where you say, what keeps you up at night?
36:24.33
Lorie Jones
Yeah. Yeah.
36:25.53
iris@iriswagner.com
Oh, well, I don’t have enough in my 401k or whatever they tell you, right?
36:29.52
Lorie Jones
yeah
36:30.36
iris@iriswagner.com
I don’t, I’m very, as I started this call with you, I am very blessed and very grateful for everything I have. And I don’t have Really any fears?
36:42.66
Lorie Jones
That’s great. I love that. um It must mean that you’re on the right path in the right place because sometimes you do get those sense of like, oh gosh, am I going to do well at this or is this going to turn out all right? and And if you’re passionate about it, a lot of times you move through you get a little fearless. You’re like, I’m going to try it.
37:03.86
Lorie Jones
The worst thing that can happen is you know they tell me no or it doesn’t work out and I have to go work at McDonald’s, right?
37:11.73
iris@iriswagner.com
I think what I’ve learned from all of my gray haired, lovely, beautiful clients, and even ones that don’t have gray hair, be flexible in life.
37:19.90
Lorie Jones
Yeah.
37:24.32
iris@iriswagner.com
If something looks like it’s not working, pivot. Best advice I had from a client was take it, try something if it’s not working,
37:35.83
iris@iriswagner.com
Go to something else. Don’t stick with it and keep digging it down and down where it’s really not going to get anywhere and it’s only going to bring you down. Try and find all go from a high point to another high point to another high point.
37:51.44
iris@iriswagner.com
And if there’s a dip, get yourself out of it right away and just say that happens. Sometimes things happen in business, right? But always try to look forward. And one of my clients said, ski the whites.
38:04.13
iris@iriswagner.com
Oh, you’re in Colorado. You must be a skier. Do you know how to ski the whites?
38:08.08
Lorie Jones
I know how to go down the bunny hill on my butt. That’s basically what I know.
38:12.82
iris@iriswagner.com
But you understand skiing the whites is sometimes you end up in the trees. And the idea is if you, when you ski the trees and you see a tree, what’s going to happen?
38:25.05
iris@iriswagner.com
you’re going to hit that tree. But if you ski the whites, if you just see that white path of snow down to the bottom of the hill, you’re going to get there. And that’s where the success is.
38:34.69
Lorie Jones
Mm-hmm.
38:36.63
iris@iriswagner.com
Too many people are in business skiing the trees and hitting trees that just knock them over.
38:40.19
Lorie Jones
Yeah.
38:43.83
iris@iriswagner.com
And that’s not it. Ski the white.
38:45.41
Lorie Jones
yeah
38:46.01
iris@iriswagner.com
So I’ve learned some incredible lessons that have helped me buoy my career in my business. And that’s why I truly believe in elderly, elder wisdom or more experienced people.
38:57.71
iris@iriswagner.com
So if someone who’s listening to you now is thinking of starting off some kind of a business, find a wiser, slightly older individual and start interviewing them about their journey and take from them those kinds of nuggets that’ll help you along your way.
39:15.10
Lorie Jones
yeah Yeah, yeah, 100%. I agree. And I love that you have that experience of, of interviewing so many diverse, different people and, and kind of gleaning their wisdom, it must really enrich your life too.
39:30.13
iris@iriswagner.com
Oh, 100%. Um.
39:32.51
Lorie Jones
What about challenges? Did you face any challenges or unique challenges because you were a woman in this profession?
39:41.96
iris@iriswagner.com
um Not in memoirs productions. When I was in banking, if you want to really go back to my 20s, yes, I was a woman in banking at a time where there weren’t too many women vice presidents at the bank that I was at. And I was told that I was hitting a glass ceiling because I was moving up quite quickly. And they said to me,
40:00.26
iris@iriswagner.com
At one point, we don’t even have a male vice president under the age of 40. Where are you going, Ms. Wagner, at that time? And I’m like, I’m going out of here, that’s for sure. that I left because I was not going to be squashed at ah you know it’s some when someone told me that because I’m a woman, I wouldn’t be able to get up the ladder.
40:22.23
iris@iriswagner.com
I hope things have changed since then. That’s obviously much more than 25 years I ah go but i I don’t know your experience. Lori, do you see it with some of your people? Do they have?
40:35.04
Lorie Jones
Yeah, there’s still a lot of glass ceilings and there’s still a lot of, um you know, we can’t give you this promotion because we weren’t, you know, you’re, you’re too young or you’re too ambitious you that sort of thing. So yeah, it’s, it’s still happening, but, um but it’s less. um I think that you were on the forefront of that.
40:58.17
Lorie Jones
And so a lot of, a lot of those that were really on the forefront of that kind of broke the glass ceiling and made it, it made it able for us to come through and, and get a little higher and a little higher and a little more so.
41:15.59
Lorie Jones
But yeah, it’s still there. It’s it still is. So what about what is the thing, Iris, that you are the most proud of?
41:32.67
iris@iriswagner.com
I guess I’m most proud of bringing this concept of recorded ethical wills, video ethical wills, kind of to the world. I am a pioneer. That’s what I was stated at back way back when at the Association of Personal Historians, claim me to be the pioneer in ethical wills on video.
41:54.22
iris@iriswagner.com
um There are, I don’t know anyone else still to this day who does it the way we do it. um So I’m most proud of that. I’m turning that into a course online that people can take and do for themselves.
42:07.11
iris@iriswagner.com
as I’ve honed this process over the 25 years with all the wonderful, wonderful clients that I’ve had the pleasure to interview. um So I’m pretty proud of that.
42:17.89
iris@iriswagner.com
I’m proud of every production I produce because there’s a little piece of my heart in every one of them.
42:19.60
Lorie Jones
Thank you.
42:25.80
iris@iriswagner.com
When I get to know someone, like I feel, Lori, you’re my friend now. We’ve got to be friends for life here. We’ve gone through this together and it’s such a wonderful sharing of minds and and And I totally get that your podcast is is bringing such such important information to women that I love it. And so i all I’m saying is that I’m proud of having this ability to connect with people and have them share some thoughts that they’ve never shared before.
43:00.86
iris@iriswagner.com
And that my legacy is that I record it and they will have it for…
43:03.69
Lorie Jones
Mm-hmm.
43:05.32
iris@iriswagner.com
um our dvds that we use to produce them on the archival dvds are to last 300 years now we’re uploading them into private online cloud spaces and telling clients to download them clearly and keep them safe because i want these videos to be around hundreds from years from now because there’s no reason why i won’t so i’m proud of the trajectory of memoirs, especially now at 25 years and very excited to push for the next 25 years.
43:39.87
Lorie Jones
I think that’s really important, Iris. The fact is, is that you’re giving these people a voice through generations. um And you’re allowing their life to affect and help others through generations of time.
43:55.33
Lorie Jones
and um And that’s important. that’s so That’s a life’s work right there.
44:01.49
iris@iriswagner.com
And so is yours. My hat’s off to you that you can create the wealth that allows them not just to retire comfortably, but to leave a financial legacy behind. So we’re both very simpatico. You and I were similar because you’re leaving that financial legacy with them and I’m leaving their spiritual or their their life story legacy with them.
44:22.69
iris@iriswagner.com
So I hope we get to collaborate soon on some family or other women. Wouldn’t that be great?
44:29.65
Lorie Jones
Absolutely. What, um, if you have, um, any advice for a young woman who is just starting down this path that you’re already so successful about, what would you, what would you advise her?
44:42.41
iris@iriswagner.com
to start a memoirs productions company or, an or any, or to start any company of, of her.
44:45.09
Lorie Jones
Yeah. Like
44:48.91
Lorie Jones
I would say, yeah, I would say Iris, like what if there’s a woman who doesn’t know today that her calling is memoir production, but but maybe just following her passion, you know, and, and being successful.
45:05.62
iris@iriswagner.com
um All I would say is, get to know yourself well enough as a young person through all kinds of life experiences. Learn what turns you on, learn what gives you empowered passion, learn learn the kind of books that you love to read. As you started this interview, you said, what books are you reading? You see, i didn’t have to think twice. I knew the books had to be memoirs related type books because otherwise I’m not going to read a true crime detective story. It’s not my thing.
45:37.08
iris@iriswagner.com
I’m not going to read, you know, a romance novel. It’s not my thing. I’m going to read someone’s memoirs. I want to know about their life. So find what you’re really passionate about, what calls you, what what you have, you know, unlimited time to spend doing.
45:53.79
iris@iriswagner.com
And then try to see what business relates to that and and look into starting it. and And chances are you’ll be successful.
46:05.12
iris@iriswagner.com
at that calling. And if you don’t have the right skill set to begin with, I highly recommend getting training or getting and education for it. I’m not necessarily saying that it has to be university education. Now there’s all these other online places that are amazing.
46:22.78
iris@iriswagner.com
I’m very informed by Mindvalley, for example. I’ve been a Mindvalley member for many years and they offer all kinds of interesting courses to find your passion, to plan your life, to do all these things.
46:33.84
iris@iriswagner.com
And that really helps in deciding, but give yourself some time in your twenties to really experience lots of things so that you don’t ever feel that you missed out on something.
46:42.43
Lorie Jones
Mm-hmm.
46:45.37
iris@iriswagner.com
Like what if I, what if I had volunteered for a bit in a hospital? And I did, I was candy striper in, as a teenager. And that’s when I realized i could never be and work in a hospital day in, day out.
46:57.64
iris@iriswagner.com
It was not for me. But I’m glad I did it because I knew that I wanted to give back to people in some way, but not by cleaning their bed pens.
47:07.92
iris@iriswagner.com
That was not it for me.
47:09.71
Lorie Jones
Oh, I love it. That is great advice. Iris, thank you so much for spending some time here with us today. I’ve really appreciated it. If I have a young listener that wants to talk to you and ask you questions, and get some advice, how does she get in touch with you?
47:24.85
iris@iriswagner.com
Oh, well absolutely. She can send us an email at memoirsproductions.com. Send it to info at memoirsproductions.com. Or i also have my new portal is iriswagner.com.
47:37.90
iris@iriswagner.com
So it could be iris at iriswagner.com. Also, that’s where we’re building up the course and and speaking, et cetera. So I have to thank you so much because i think you’re a fabulous interviewer. Your heart is in the right place to do this podcast.
47:54.26
iris@iriswagner.com
Look at your big smile. It makes me feel so comfortable to talk to you. Like I said, I’m never behind. I’m never never in front of the camera, so to speak. I’m always behind. So this is unique for me, but you made it very simple and easy and I can’t thank you enough. I’m very grateful.
48:09.85
Lorie Jones
Oh, well, good. I’m so glad to hear that, Iris. I really enjoyed it. And i you know, like you, I love listening to people’s stories. I love letting them share and hoping that that helps those that are kind of at the beginning of their journey, maybe um find a different path or find their true path. So thank you so much. I appreciate your time.
48:31.59
iris@iriswagner.com
Thank you.