Notes from Tell Me
Thoughts on family stories, memory, and the questions worth asking — from the people building Tell Me.
How to ask your parents about their life (without it feeling weird)
Here's a confession. I built an app whose whole job is asking parents about their lives. My mum and dad knew about it. They said they loved the idea. Then I sat on it for weeks. In the end, they chased me.
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Christmas gifts for parents who have everything (that aren't another candle)
Every year it's the same conversation. "What do you want for Christmas, mum?" "Oh, nothing. Don't be spending money on me." And every year you end up in a shop on the 23rd of December, staring at a scented candle, a posh box of biscuits and a pair of slippers she definitely already owns, trying to decide which one says "I thought about this" the loudest.
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100 questions to ask your parents (and the ones that actually get stories)
I asked my mum and dad to tell me about their first car. I thought I'd get two answers. I got one, because it was the same car. They bought it together. Mum dug out a photo, and dad still knew the registration off by heart, 45 years later.
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What to get your dad for Christmas when he says he wants nothing
What do you want for Christmas, Dad?" "Nothing. I've got everything I need." He's not being difficult. He genuinely means it. He has a drawer of socks he hasn't opened, a toolbox that could build a house, and at least three bottles of aftershave from Christmases past, still in their boxes.
ReadIt's not a project. It's a habit.
My dad is standing in the kitchen waiting for the kettle to boil. His phone buzzes. It's a WhatsApp message: "Tell me about your first day at your first job." By the time the kettle clicks off, he's replied. Fifty-one years later he gives me the exact date and the first and last names of everyone who worked there. It's completely useless information, and it's the most him thing I've ever read.
ReadWhy wouldn't I just ask mum myself?
It's probably the first thought you had when you came across Tell Me. Nice idea. But I can phone my mum. I can text her a question whenever I want. And you're right. You can. You should.
ReadCan I trust you with my parents' stories?
It's a question everyone should be asking. Not just of me, but of any service you sign up to — whether it's your own personal data or, in the case of Tell Me, your parents' data too.
ReadWhat do you actually get with Tell Me?
Someone with a business brain asked me a question about Tell Me last week. "What's the end product? What does the buyer actually get out of this?" I thought the answer was obvious. It's Tell Me. You ask your parents questions, they answer. What more is there to say? But the question stuck with me, so I sat down and properly thought about it. And what I realised is that Tell Me has two points where you feel the value. One is right now. The other is later.
ReadThis is Tell Me
I built an app that captures my parents' stories. Twice a week they get a question about their lives. They answer by text or voice, whichever comes naturally. Some questions are deep and thoughtful, some lighthearted and fun.
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