Who am I? How did this begin?
How did this business begin?
About five years ago, my family handed over many totes full of photos and family memorabilia. I had been a genealogist for about 15 to 20 years, so I knew how to handle facts, figures, dates, and familial relationships. I didn't know how to preserve these pictures and essential family documents for digital preservation and sharing with my family. This started my quest to find the best practices for scanning and archiving my family collection. My first stop was a visit to RootsTech. This was my first RootsTech ever, and it was so exciting to take all the classes. I found one class on photography that was incredibly helpful; he talked about formats and types of scanning, the kind of scanners to use, and all the necessary dimensions and resolutions. I had a place to start. Another exciting thing in that class was that he held a drawing, and I won my first flatbed scanner. For the rest of RootsTech, I walked around with the scanner and took it home to get started. After that class, I thought I knew a lot, but I realized I still needed to learn much more once I began scanning. So, I did what everyone does nowadays when facing a problem: I went to Google and searched for how to scan and store photos. I was led to a company called The Photo Managers. At first, I thought it was just a company, but I soon realized it was an emerging industry. They discussed the best practices for curating, saving, and archiving family photos. I began to research The Photo Managers more and explored some of the classes they offered, realizing this was what I wanted to do. I could help others with this process!!!! Genealogy, photos, and organization- three of my favorite things!!! I got so excited that I joined that week. By the end of the following month, I built a website, created an LLC, and launched “Angie’s Photo Organizing & Genealogy.”