Honoring the Past, Empowering the Future: Embrace Your Family's Heritage and Traditions

Reconnecting Families Through Culture and Storytelling

Learn how Root & Seed is making it easier for families to rediscover and preserve their heritage through powerful conversations. In this episode of the Elderado podcast, co-founder Anika Chabra shares the story behind their mission to help people document family traditions, recipes, and stories before they fade away.

Jennifer Siripong Mandel on the left and Anika Chabra on the right

What is Root & Seed?

Root & Seed was born from a personal journey to reconnect with cultural identity. Co-founded by Anika Chabra and Jennifer Siripong Mandel, the platform empowers families to preserve their traditions, stories, and heritage through meaningful conversations helping a new generation document their roots and carry them forward.

Why Unlocking Family Stories Matters

Every family has a story worth telling but too often, those stories are only shared when it’s too late. In this heartfelt clip, Root & Seed co-founder Anika Chabra explains why we need to have these conversations now while we still can.

How Do I Introduce Root & Seed To My Family

Anika encourages those taking the lead to approach it with compassion and openness. As the "kinkeeper," your role is to create a safe, welcoming space. It’s not about forcing a conversation it’s about inviting one in a way that feels natural and respectful.

Why It’s Not Always Easy to Talk About the Family history

Sharing family history isn’t always easy. For many, these conversations bring painful or bitter memories experiences tinged with loss, or trauma. Some elderly are hesitant to share because they do not want to transfer that emotional weight to the younger generation. This silence, as Anika Chabra explains, develops as a result of:

• A desire to protect younger generation from triggering or heavy stories
• The emotional burden of experiencing moments associated with loss or displacement

Root & Seed offers a safe, aware space for these stories to be shared

Turning Conversation Into Connection

When it comes to preserving culture, knowing where to start can be the hardest part. That’s why Root & Seed created their signature conversation cards a simple, powerful tool designed to spark meaningful conversations across generations.

These aren’t just prompts. They’re carefully curated questions that help families reflect, remember, and reconnect. Whether you’re gathered for dinner, visiting grandparents, or video calling loved ones abroad, the cards make it easier to share stories that matter.

Root & Seed conversation cards

Crafting Questions That Truly Connect

The prompts on Root & Seed’s conversation cards are the result of intentional, collaborative work. Anika Chabra shares how she and her team partnered with cognitive linguists, journalists, and cultural advisors to ensure every question invites reflection, connection, and care.

These aren’t just casual conversation starters they’re designed to open doors. Each one is shaped to help people feel seen, heard, and safe to share, whether they’re reminiscing about joyful traditions or navigating difficult memories.

Designed for Every Kind of Gathering

Anika Chabra explains that while the cards work beautifully in intimate, trusted settings, they’re just as effective in mixed groups. It's all about reading the room and choosing the right tone for the moment. Some prompts invite deep personal stories, while others spark light, joyful memories.

There’s no “right” way to use them. The real value lies in the openness they create whether it’s between generations, across cultures, or among friends discovering each other’s roots for the first time.

Making Storytelling Fun

Some families have found creative ways to make the experience more engaging turning the cards into games or challenges to get everyone involved. Anika shares how gamifying the process helps spark curiosity, keep the energy light, and make storytelling something to look forward to.

Creating the Right Environment

Holidays can be a natural time to use the cards they add depth to gatherings and can even become part of family traditions. But Anika also acknowledges that holidays can be emotionally charged for some, especially if stories bring up difficult memories. For those families, Anika recommends one-on-one moments like car rides or walks where you're not looking each other in the eye. Looking out at the road or horizon can make it easier to connect and share.

Cards For Every Voice

The Women’s Day Expansion Pack isn’t just for women or just for family use. Anika explains it’s for anyone of any gender, culture, or background who wants to engage in meaningful conversations. It’s been used in settings like networking events, with people both inside and outside the family, making it a truly inclusive tool.

A Platform for Culture-Seekers

Root & Seed was built as a flexible platform to meet people wherever they are in their journey. Some are ready to share stories, others just want to be inspired and that’s why the team offers podcasts, blogs, digital tools, physical cards, and in-person events. It’s all designed to support culture seekers, tradition holders, and kinkeepers as they reconnect with their roots.

Stories That Inspire the Mission

Anika reflects on the heartfelt messages Root & Seed receives from users stories of reconnection, healing, and gratitude. These moments are what keep the mission alive and remind the team why they started this journey in the first place.

The Traditions That Keep Us Grounded

Anika, proudly calling herself her family’s “kinkeeper,” shares how tradition provides comfort in a chaotic world. In a time full of uncertainty, she believes that consistent rituals no matter how big or small help ground children and give them a sense of belonging. One tradition she hopes to carry on? Family karaoke nights, where they sing, laugh, and connect through music.

Discover how Root & Seed helps families preserve culture, traditions, and stories through conversation tools, podcasts, and meaningful connection. Root & Seed