When Amy and I first connected the timing was pretty ideal for me in the sense that I was ready to share my experience in a more open and inclusive way for perhaps the first time, at least in the larger context of including my own story. Motivated after completing my first feature film and being asked to go on tour and speak publicly, I was extremely nervous talking on behalf of a culture that wasn’t mine, especially after garnering such deep love and respect from this community warranted or not.  The community had graciously allowed me and my partner unprecedented access to tell their incredible story of resilience and strength, and I felt both the burden and privilege of that weight. She helped me find confidence, that was present in other aspects of my life, re-direct and harness that energy towards sharing my experience learning from the culture while creating the film.  This was empowering and felt more honest to what the experience had been.  To further complicate the challenge Amy had working with me, there was a sizeable fear of speaking publicly which began decades earlier when I was sixteen after my brother died.  The memory of sharing stories about his life at his memorial service is impressionistic at best.  So when it came time to work with Amy, I handed her the keys, and in return I found clarity on not only my own story but how to position speaking about the stories of others to include this bridge of empathy and to speak from the perspective of experience and heart. Amy helped me see myself more clearly connecting the dots of my past to the present by finding the themes and threads that were already within myself.  She helped me harness the strength within me, shaping and sharpening my story and voice, while teaching me the value and empowerment of sharing that important part of myself and how it all relates to who I am and the work I create.