Voicenotes backstory ft. Aleesha and Jijo Sunny

Summary

In this candid video, the narrator shares the emotional journey of building a voice note application during a challenging period in his and his wife Alicia's life. After experiencing a miscarriage, they found solace in creating a personal project to serve as a distraction and a way to cope. The narrator, along with his brother and co-founder, developed an idea for an app that would allow users to capture and interact with their notes using AI, similar to chatbots. Despite initial reluctance, Alicia, an engineer, became deeply involved in the project, finding it to be a therapeutic and engaging distraction. The video highlights the technical challenges they faced, their decision to use AWS and OpenAI for the backend, and the joy they found in the creative process. The couple's story is a testament to resilience and the power of innovation as a means of healing.

Takeaways

• 🎥 The speaker introduces his wife, Alicia, who was heavily involved in building a project called 'Voice Notes'.
• 📉 The channel has low viewership, with only 18 views on a recent video, which were mostly from friends.
• 💔 The couple experienced a miscarriage during their first pregnancy, which was a very dark and shocking period for them.
• 📺 Initially, they tried to cope by taking a break, watching Netflix, and eating fast food, but it didn't alleviate their sadness.
• 💡 The idea for Voice Notes was conceived as a distraction for Alicia, leveraging her engineering skills during a difficult time.
• 🔄 After several design iterations, Alicia became excited about the project, which helped her stay engaged and positive.
• 👨‍💻 The speaker, not typically a backend developer, took on the challenge and found the experience rewarding and magical.
• 🚀 The project used advanced technology, including AWS, S3, Cloudflare, and OpenAI, to create a sophisticated application.
• 🌟 Working on Voice Notes was a special and strengthening experience for the couple, differing from their other projects.
• 🗣️ The concept of Voice Notes was inspired by the need to easily transcribe and review voice memos taken during medical appointments.
• 🌳 The speaker shares a personal anecdote about their home and a magnolia tree, symbolizing hope and looking forward to better times.
• 🌟 The project served as a positive distraction and a way to cope with their loss, ultimately bringing them closer together.

Q & A

What was the reason behind building the voice notes application?

The voice notes application was built as a distraction for Alicia, who was going through a difficult time after experiencing a miscarriage. It was intended to help her cope with the situation by engaging in a project that she could focus on.

How did the couple find out about their miscarriage?

The couple found out about their miscarriage a few weeks into their first pregnancy after they had shared the news with close family and friends.

What was the initial reaction of Alicia to the voice notes project idea?

Initially, Alicia was not very excited about the voice notes project. However, after a few iterations of the design, she became more engaged and interested in the project.

What was the role of Joseph in the development of the voice notes application?

Joseph, the brother and co-founder of Buy Me A Coffee, collaborated with the speaker in designing the application and played a part in getting Alicia excited about the project.

What technical stack was used for the front end of the voice notes application?

The front end of the voice notes application was developed using .js, as Alicia was already an expert in this technology.

How did the speaker describe his general approach to work?

The speaker described himself as a 'lazy guy' who doesn't usually work that much, but once engaged in a project, he would work diligently, even staying up until midnight.

What was the speaker's previous experience with backend projects before working on voice notes?

Before working on voice notes, the speaker had limited experience with backend projects. He was more comfortable with front-end development and considered himself a 'really bad programmer' for backend tasks.

What cloud services were used in the development of the voice notes application?

The development of the voice notes application utilized AWS for hosting, S3 for securing audio files, and Cloudflare for additional security.

Why did the speaker decide to use OpenAI for the voice notes application?

The speaker chose to use OpenAI because they tested other models and found that OpenAI provided the best results for their needs, offering a more personal and effective way to capture and interact with notes.

How did working on the voice notes application impact Alicia emotionally?

Working on the voice notes application provided Alicia with a much-needed distraction and helped her to remain engaged and positive during a challenging period in her life.

What was the speaker's first impression of using the OpenAI API in the voice notes application?

The speaker was very excited and found it magical when he received the first response from the OpenAI API, as it was his first time using such technology in a project.

What personal experience with voice memos led to the idea of creating a more advanced voice notes application?

The idea for a more advanced voice notes application came after the couple had to record a conversation with a nurse using voice memos and found the process of seeking through the recording to be cumbersome.