BEHIND
THE
SCENES
How SMiLE was created
It was Christmas morning, and I handed my partner Kalie a card I wrote. Truth be told, I’m a bit of a Christmas grinch, largely because I hate how the spirit of Christmas has become so commercialized. So I decided, “This year I am going to do something different.” Instead of buying people a bunch of gifts, I grabbed blank cards and wrote what was in my heart. I’ve always been a bit of a last minute student, so I stayed up all Christmas Eve writing. Kalie got the first card. When I handed her the card, she had just woken up and I thought, “Hey, what if I record her reaction as she reads the card?” While it felt like forever for her to finish the card, her smile at the end made me feel amazing and gave me confidence the rest of the family would enjoy their cards too. An hour or so later, while everyone was handing out presents, my mind was racing. Because I knew the gift I wanted to give to people. It wasn’t just cards…I wanted people to see how their words make others feel.
THE MAKING OF
KEEPER OF
THE VISION
It might be best to explain why we filmed in the first place. The answer is simple- Kalie and I would talk through a feature or an idea and, since we can talk faster than we could type, it was easier to capture and reflect on later. Also, we’d have pretty spirited talks as to why we were building SMiLE and what we wanted for people. We felt it important to document these times because it was a way to remember what we stand for and make sure we didn’t waver down the road when things got hard. Perhaps Steve Jobs said it best, “There needs to be someone who is sort of the keeper and reiterater of the vision.” So this footage (and Kalie’s elephant-like memory) did just that.
We hope people can be themselves on SMiLE, free from dogma and insecurities. And if that’s what we’re asking from others, then it better start with us. Hopefully you can look past the messed up hair and bad outfits and come away with a better understanding of who we are and what we’re trying to do.
Intro
The first thing we wanted to give people.
STRONGER RELATIONSHIPS
Growing up, my grandma always told me,
“At the end of your days, you’ll be able to count your real friends on one hand and have fingers left over.”
It was a lot to absorb as a nine year old and her words were even more jarring delivered in her raspy, New York accent. But thirty years later, I realize she just might be right and I’m left answering questions like…
Who would be my best man at my wedding? Who would show up at a birthday dinner? Heck, who are the people I could call to simply tell them about my day?
Kalie and I set out to answer these questions and change this, not only for ourselves, but for everyone else. We knew we weren’t going to get there by having friend or follower counts, because the number isn’t what’s important. What is important is the quality of your friendships and creating a stronger connection, even with people you’ll never meet.
Stronger Relationships
MORE MEANINGFUL CONTENT
I’ll let you in on a little secret. Kalie never goes to the bathroom without her phone, and I often grab my phone at a red light, or when there’s a line at the coffee shop.
The truth is, our phones are one of the first things we touch when we wake up and one of the last when we go to bed.
We are always connected, but are we feeling a connection with what we’re watching?
For Kalie and I, the answer was an overwhelming, “No.” We were consuming instead of connecting, watching instead of feeling.
So we set out to change things. At first, we went around the country shooting pictures of things that made us smile. Things like a little kid dancing in the park, or a cute joke on a sandwich board outside of a cafe.
After a long day of wandering around New York in the summer heat, we went back to our hotel to look at our camera roll. Spoiler alert: there weren’t many gems, and this clearly wasn’t the answer. Then I remembered an old video I loved as a kid.. Jimmy Valvano’s ESPY’s speech. In it, he says
“There are three things you should do every day. You should laugh everyday, you should think, and you should have your emotions move you to tears, whether happiness or joy.”
Kalie and I rewatched this video dozens of times that night, laughing, thinking and moved by the stories he shared. And then it clicked. It was people telling their stories which would get others to truly feel something. And with that, people could have that real life moment when you share a story with someone, you can see how you make them feel. You can see their real reaction. And it moves you right back.
Meaningful Content
"BE AMAZING"
Our struggle with creating the perfect video.
When Kalie and I turned on the camera, most of the time we’d have messed up hair, mismatched pajamas and, most embarrassingly, I’d be rocking my shirtless dad bod.
That’s because a good idea or a passionate moment doesn’t wait until you’re “camera ready.”
Over the years, we’d say something we wanted to share, but we felt self conscious sharing the original footage. So we’d aim to recreate it. I’d inevitably put on the same blue button down shirt and Kalie would do her make up. We’d then set out to find the “perfect backdrop,” which we were convinced must exist at the beach, a shopping mall or a trendy cafe. And sure, we looked more presentable, but our words felt rehearsed and we lost the original passion and authenticity. We realized we had to focus more on our words and less on our attire and setting. But after five years, we still fall victim to our own insecurities and will head out for the 100th time in search of the perfect shot.
So, we’re sharing these specific videos because if we’re asking people to just “hit record” when that great story comes to mind, regardless of how you look or where you are, then we better do the same.
Over 20 renditions and 10,000 hours.
DESIGN EVOLUTION
While building SMiLE, we must have gone through at least 20 different complete renditions which is a bit, well, atypical. And time consuming. One thing they all have in common was the creation process itself. I’d start with a stack of unlined note cards and scribble down the features I wanted in each build. Then, I’d sit down with Kalie side by side to turn those cards into real UX/UI. Each version probably took us somewhere in the neighborhood of 100hrs to complete, and often times, it would get passed along to tech to actually code. Pretty atypical and now EXTRA time consuming. Where SMiLE is today may look simple, but it took a lot of battles with complexity monsters to get it that way. In these videos, we share some of the twists and turns we took to get here.
Before we dive in, an important thing to quote: “Design isn’t just what something looks like and feels like. Design is how it works.” - Steve Jobs
For us, the “how it works” wasn’t just how to get the smile feature to work. The big questions were more like, “how do we design an app that protects people?” Makes people happier and more fulfilled?” Design for us is how you design your business, how you want it to run, how you want it to make money and ultimately, how you treat people. This is the true design that’s taken over 10,000 hours to create. Maybe Abraham Lincoln said it best, “I walk slowly but I never walk backward.” Sure, it took time, but every day, we built something better. Perhaps we had to
move slow and fix things.
Design
COU
Live together, work together,
Couple
When I was younger, a coworker once said, “Before you get serious with someone, take a roadtrip with them. You’ll find out everything you need to know about them.” Well, we started a business before we got a chance to go on that roadtrip, but this journey has basically been one long road trip- stressful moments when we’ve been lost or hit traffic, silliness to fill the miles of road traveled, serious talks as we move from one place to the next.
We wanted to share them with you, so you can see who you’re on this journey with….
PLE
Always together.
"We get by with a lotta help from our friends..."
OUR PEOPLE
Bringing Smile to life has required the help of some truly great and very talented people.
In this five year journey some were friends and family while other people came into our lives and in time became friends and now feel like family.
Perhaps the easiest way to acknowledge the people who have helped is to start chronologically.
Our People
