Joan calls
Choose a comfortable time. Joan calls by phone, so there is no app to learn or login to remember.
Joan’s Journal begins this monthSee the opening slate
The Founding 20Your private biographer
There are stories only you can tell.
Joan calls regularly, listens carefully, and remembers what you’ve shared—shaping your conversations into a beautifully written life story.
No writing. No homework. Just tell Joan.
Incoming call9:41
Joan
A conversation at a comfortable time.
“Someone wants to hear your story.”That is where Joan begins.
01 / A different kind of gift
A life story should not feel like an assignment.
The best stories rarely arrive as perfect answers to perfect questions. They surface slowly—in remembered rooms, familiar expressions, and details no one knew to ask about. Joan makes room for that kind of telling.
02 / How it works
You talk. Joan carries the thread.
You talk
Tell Joan about the people, places, and moments that shaped you. The conversation follows wherever the story leads.
Joan remembers
Each conversation builds on the last. Joan returns to unfinished stories and keeps important details connected.
Your book takes shape
Your conversations become a carefully written life story, grounded in your words and made to be held onto.
For the parent who doesn’t need another thing.
A gift that begins with being heard.
You are not giving them a writing project. You are giving them someone who will listen—and giving your family the stories only they can tell.
Learn about the founding experience →A detail worth keeping
“The kitchen was yellow then. Not pale yellow—sunflower yellow. Your grandmother chose it because winter lasted too long.”
A promise from Joan
03 / The Joan standard
Your life. Your voice. Your decision.
01Your stories remain private.
02Nothing enters the family book without approval.
03Important details stay connected to their conversation.
04Joan never invents parts of your life.
04 / Joan’s Journal
Notes on memory, listening, and the stories between us.
How to preserve a parent’s stories without giving them homework
A practical guide to making family storytelling feel like a conversation, not an assignment.
Publishing this monthQuestions you’ll wish you had asked your parents
Not a list to rush through—an invitation to the ordinary details that make a life recognizable.
Publishing this monthWhat makes a life story sound like the person who lived it
Why the pauses, phrases, humor, and small contradictions matter as much as the facts.
Publishing this month05 / In plain words
Questions families ask about Joan.
The short answers to how Joan works, what makes the experience different, and who remains in control.
What is Joan?
Joan is a private biography service built around guided phone conversations. Joan listens across a series of calls, follows the threads that matter, and helps shape those conversations into a written life story.
Does the storyteller need to write or learn an app?
No. Joan is designed for talking, not homework. Conversations happen by phone at a comfortable time, with no app to learn and no blank page to face.
How is Joan different from a memoir prompt book?
A prompt book offers isolated questions. Joan is designed to remember earlier conversations, revisit unfinished stories, and connect the people, places, and details that give a life its shape.
Who decides what belongs in the family book?
The storyteller does. Nothing enters the family book without approval, and Joan never invents parts of a person’s life.
The first chapter
Help us create Joan with the first 20 families.
Founding families will receive eight guided conversations, a professionally shaped story collection, and a personal role in defining the complete Joan experience.
Founding 20 opens soon. Leave your details and we’ll write when a place is ready.