The concept of My Family Story was inspired by interviews I conducted with my Filipino aunties or "Titas" who aren't biologically related to me, but raised me all the same. Despite knowing these women for over 25 years, I never thought to ask them about what it was like when they came to the United States almost 40 years ago. Their stories were insightful, funny, and inspiring; to my surprise they were more than happy to reminisce and share their memories with me.

My interviews had me wondering, "How do families spark these conversations, gather these stories, and share them with grandchildren?" All of my friends who are in their early 30s with young children identify as multi-racial or multi-ethnic families. I wanted to provide them with a way to document and share their rich family histories through personalized illustrated stories, so their children would be able to easily imagine stories that took place in other countries or a long time ago. Additionally, I wanted the level of customization for the book to be inclusive of all children, family members, and family structures, supporting families who identify as LGBTQAI+.