YOUNGSVILLE, L.a. — One Youngsville native is showcasing her small business on a national platform — the Kelly Clarkson Show.
28-year-old Olivia Savoie and her husband Joshua co-founded Raconteur Writing with the goal of capturing and memorializing the life and lessons of senior citizens around Acadiana and the rest of the state.
Since 2016, Savoie has written at least 40 books — from around 75 to 250 pages each — doing just this. While she looks at it as nothing short of a passion project, she told KATC a lot of work goes into a life storybook, no matter its length.
"What I do is I meet with a person, typically someone 65 or older, and we either sit at their kitchen table or talk over coffee," Savoie said. "From there, I will get to know them and their story through a period of 12 hours, usually in small doses, and will interview them through a list of guided questions so as to keep things as stress-free as possible."
After that, she said she spends anywhere from six to twelve weeks writing the manuscript. Once complete, she will present it to the person or family in question and once they give the green light, it's off to the publisher.
"I'm so honored to represent Acadiana and Louisiana on a national stage and present my work and share it," Savoie shared. "I keep in touch with my subjects, I think of them as my 'adopted grandparents.'"
"Adopted grandparents", people she said remind her of her original inspiration, her own Cajun grandmothers who inspired her process and passion for preserving history.
"I've always loved listening to these kinds of stories, I've always loved writing, and I've always had a love for history," Savoie said. "I'm so blessed to be able to find a career path combining all of it."
Then there's her husband Joshua, who she credits for helping to keep her motivated. Working behind the scenes, he told KATC he helps with a little bit of everything besides the writing itself. That's all Olivia. He said, however, he is the one who reached out to the Kelly Clarkson Show with their pitch.
"To save these memories for grandchildren and for the next generations, it's amazing," he said.
If you're wondering about how to get a life storybook written, you can find more information here.
According to the team, books start at $6500 for full-service writing. To get a personal quote, you can click here or contact the Raconteur Writing team via the information below:
Raconteur Life Story Writing
337- 277-0035
info@raconteurwriting.com
Olivia's feature on The Kelly Clarkson Show is scheduled for Monday, January 9th, at 2:00 pm. You can watch it live on ABC and it will be available to stream on Peacock Premium and NBC.com the following day.
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