Wealth Beyond the Balance Sheet
Families invest significant resources in preserving their wealth across generations—nurturing not only financial assets, but also human, intellectual, social, and spiritual capital. Yet one of the most enduring forms of intellectual capital often goes overlooked: the family’s shared narratives.
These stories—the lived experiences, lessons, and milestones captured in photos, videos, and family archives—are powerful narrative assets. At Core Story Studios, we call them Core Story Assets. Managed intentionally, they grow in value over time, strengthening a family’s shared identity, culture, and continuity.
Like any meaningful asset, Core Story Assets deserve careful stewardship.
These stories—the lived experiences, lessons, and milestones captured in photos, videos, and family archives—are powerful narrative assets. At Core Story Studios, we call them Core Story Assets. Managed intentionally, they grow in value over time, strengthening a family’s shared identity, culture, and continuity.
Like any meaningful asset, Core Story Assets deserve careful stewardship.
From Archives to Living Assets
Over time, families accumulate a rich collection of Core Story Assets—photos, 8mm films, VHS tapes, DVDs, digital files, handwritten letters, and more. Often, these materials are scattered across aging formats, quietly holding generations of wisdom and meaning. Left unmanaged, they risk fading away or being lost entirely.
Our Core Story Asset Management® process brings order to these archives while preparing them for the future. We don’t simply store materials; we curate, preserve, and integrate them into a living narrative that evolves with the family’s journey. This is a cornerstone of our intergenerational storytelling approach.
Moreover, our work connects past and present. We manage the existing trove of Core Story Assets while establishing a system that seamlessly integrate new moments such as family milestones, philanthropic initiatives, or leadership transitions, as they unfold.
In many ways, this ongoing process is what shapes a family’s legacy. As family scholars describe, legacy is made up of “strands of meaning that run through the family in ways that give it identity or sense, constituted in communication through storytelling, and continually reshaped over time”¹.
Our Core Story Asset Management® process brings order to these archives while preparing them for the future. We don’t simply store materials; we curate, preserve, and integrate them into a living narrative that evolves with the family’s journey. This is a cornerstone of our intergenerational storytelling approach.
Moreover, our work connects past and present. We manage the existing trove of Core Story Assets while establishing a system that seamlessly integrate new moments such as family milestones, philanthropic initiatives, or leadership transitions, as they unfold.
In many ways, this ongoing process is what shapes a family’s legacy. As family scholars describe, legacy is made up of “strands of meaning that run through the family in ways that give it identity or sense, constituted in communication through storytelling, and continually reshaped over time”¹.
Discretion. Integrity. Trusted.
Families entrust us with more than memories—they share their culture, philosophies, convictions, values, and deeply personal reflections. We honor that trust through a process designed for discretion and integrity.
We take this responsibility seriously. All materials are managed in-house and stored on a secure, on-premises server with limited access. There is no outsourcing, no long-term reliance on third-party cloud platforms. In addition, we maintain offsite backups to ensure redundancy and long-term protection. Every step of our process is designed to safeguard privacy, ensure data integrity, and keep your family’s story protected and handled with care. Most importantly, families retain ownership of their stories with the confidence that these assets are preserved for generations to come.
This careful stewardship allows families and their advisors to integrate Core Story Assets as part of a broader strategy for continuity and legacy.
We take this responsibility seriously. All materials are managed in-house and stored on a secure, on-premises server with limited access. There is no outsourcing, no long-term reliance on third-party cloud platforms. In addition, we maintain offsite backups to ensure redundancy and long-term protection. Every step of our process is designed to safeguard privacy, ensure data integrity, and keep your family’s story protected and handled with care. Most importantly, families retain ownership of their stories with the confidence that these assets are preserved for generations to come.
This careful stewardship allows families and their advisors to integrate Core Story Assets as part of a broader strategy for continuity and legacy.
Safeguarding Stories Across Generations
Stewarding Core Story Assets means protecting a family’s intellectual and emotional capital—ensuring it remains accessible not just today, but for generations to come.
- Digitizing aging formats — From mid-century film reels and VHS tapes to early digital footage, carefully preserving every piece of the family archive.
- Future-proofing assets — Anticipating shifts in technology, migrating materials to updated formats, and ensuring long-term compatibility as codecs, resolutions, and platforms evolve.
- Enriching each asset with context and metadata — Making every photo, clip, and interview searchable and meaningful within the larger family narrative.
- Ensuring assets remain organized and accessible — Ready to inspire the rising generation whenever the family chooses to share them.
Stories captured visually only grow in significance with time. As George Eastman, founder of Kodak, once said, “A collection of these pictures may be made to furnish a pictorial history of life as it is lived by the owner, that will grow more valuable every day that passes”2.
Stories Are Appreciating Assets
What becomes clear, time and again, is that stories appreciate in value. A simple family gathering captured on film grows more meaningful as the years pass. A recorded conversation with a family elder becomes a priceless source of wisdom for future generations. Moments once considered ordinary come to reflect the essence of a family’s journey.
Research also shows that visual storytelling leaves a lasting emotional imprint. Memories captured in photographs are “remembered with heightened vividness, emotional intensity, and visual perspective—and are also evaluated as more important”³.
Research also shows that visual storytelling leaves a lasting emotional imprint. Memories captured in photographs are “remembered with heightened vividness, emotional intensity, and visual perspective—and are also evaluated as more important”³.
Managed intentionally, Core Story Assets reinforce identity, strengthen bonds, and ground the rising generation in a shared purpose. They become a resource not just for remembering—but for leading, flourishing, and carrying forward the family’s vision.
We believe that family wealth management is a multidisciplinary practice—one that extends beyond financial strategies and legal structures. Preserving family’s core stories is part of that discipline. We partner with advisors and family office leaders who recognize that lasting wealth is not measured solely by assets, but by the strength of the family’s shared identity, values, and purpose. The stories families tell—and pass on—are what sustain connection and meaning across generations.
Ready to explore Core Stories®?
We believe that family wealth management is a multidisciplinary practice—one that extends beyond financial strategies and legal structures. Preserving family’s core stories is part of that discipline. We partner with advisors and family office leaders who recognize that lasting wealth is not measured solely by assets, but by the strength of the family’s shared identity, values, and purpose. The stories families tell—and pass on—are what sustain connection and meaning across generations.
Ready to explore Core Stories®?
- For families celebrating meaningful milestones: eleazarfilm.com
- For businesses amplifying their vision and impacts: corestorystudios.com
References
- Thompson, B., Kellas, J., Soliz, J., Thompson, J., Epp, A., & Schrodt, P. (2009). Family Legacies: Constructing Individual and Family Identity through Intergenerational Storytelling. Narrative Inquiry, 19(1), 106–134. https://doi.org/10.1075/ni.19.1.07tho
- Gernsheim, H. & Gernsheim, A. (1955). The History of Photography from the Camera Obscura to the Beginning of the Modern Era. Oxford: Oxford University Press, p.414. Available at: https://archive.org/details/aa052-TheHistoryOfPhotography/page/n413/mode/2up
- King, C.I., Panjwani, A.A., & St. Jacques, P.L. (2024). When having photographs of events influences the visual perspective of autobiographical memories. Applied Cognitive Psychology, 38(1), e4150. https://doi.org/10.1002/acp.4150
