Wealth preservation, rewritten: How families are documenting their histories
Oct 31, 2025 — Visit Crain Currency for the full article
This Crain Currency article explores how wealthy families are increasingly focusing on the stories behind their fortunes. From books to high-end, Netflix-style documentaries, they are capturing personal histories to ensure their legacy endures for generations.
Here are a few excerpts from the article:
The narrative road to wealth preservation
“We’re seeing more families than ever, and even advisers, who view storytelling as an essential part of their broader legacy planning, right alongside philanthropy, governance and succession,” said Andrea Lekushoff, founder and CEO of Context Studios. Lekushoff’s firm generates Netflix-style documentaries with high production values to highlight what makes a family tick.
“These films, what they do is they fill an emotional need at a really pivotal moment,” she said. “Sometimes it’s a leadership transition. Sometimes it is a liquidity event. If they’re selling the company, they want to capture their story. Or if they’ve already sold, they want to capture their story while they still remember it.”
While motivations are often similar, the options range widely. Printed books are a traditional choice; others opt for more technologically innovative solutions.
When Victoria Sopik, CEO and co-founder of Kids & Company, hired Context to document the story of her chain of Canadian child care centers, she wanted something for both her family and business colleagues.
“I always wanted to be able to showcase my passion — which is children, women and the child care business,” said Sopik. “I’m a mother of eight, and I now have 17 grandchildren, so my legacy is important to me.”
Context arranged a one-day shoot with interviews of Sopik, her co-founder and Sopik’s daughter, the company’s chief legal officer. That day generated 24 videos. Some are longer, detailed pieces for family members who want to understand where they came from. “Others will go on our website or LinkedIn as little vignettes about the start of Kids & Company to showcase who we are and what we’ve done,” she said.
Keeping it real reaps real benefits
Today’s productions are far from the cheap-and-cheerful corporate videos of the past. Lekushoff said her firm prepares for months before the shoot, interviewing key family members and delving for insights.
“We ask questions they haven’t even been asked before,” she said. “This is like Hollywood-style cinema — the emotions we get, the stories we get. Many of our clients will say, ‘We've never heard our parents say that before.’ ”
Sopik said the narrative process was challenging and unearthed difficult moments in her past. “Some of them are very private, and I won’t share them with anyone other than my family,” she said. But she also acknowledges that “from a sales and marketing perspective, storytelling is the way to go.”
