We had the good fortune of connecting with AG Marie and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi AG, can you walk us through the thought-process of starting your business?
My business has morphed so much over the years. Keepers of Nostalgia has had different names, functions, and platforms since I was in college—just over a decade ago, now. I’ve always had a platform where I’ve haphazardly shared my love of “vintage things” with others (movies, music, clothes, etc.). There was never any point to it, just me saying, “hey, I love Sarah Vaughan–who else likes Sarah Vaughan? Come like this page.”

Finally, with the help of a mindset coach and some online friends, I had a revelation this past autumn. I’m not the only person who loves retro clothes, classic movies, and other nostalgic things. It is my goal to make a living as a screenwriter, and I mainly write period pieces because history is what inspires me.

On that fall evening, I thought, “What if I used my platform to inspire other vintage lovers to build a business?” There are so many people, like myself, who took up so many hobbies during the pandemic–including ones that we now deem “old-fashioned” or no longer necessary, like: sewing, furniture-making, knitting, tile restoration, etc. But then, once we all started going back to work, we put those things to the side. As a result, what was once AGM Media (what was supposed to be something like TCM, VH1’s I Love the…, and Lifetime’s Intimate Portrait combined) became Keepers of Nostalgia.

Thankfully, screenwriting has never left me. But what about the aspiring seamstresses, model train collectors, and stamp collectors who said, “Well, that was fun—now it’s back to work, I go!”

With Keepers of Nostalgia, I’m trying to be the little voice in the background that’s like, “No, no, no—you CAN do this! We need more cabinet makers! We need more tailors! The people want to hear Big Band again! Look at this old clip! Look Watch this interview! Go follow this crafter! Don’t abandon your art!”

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
Where do I begin? At the core of everything, I’m just a girl who has an affinity for historic living (minus the long list of -isms and -phobias). I’m not one of those “I was born in the wrong generation” kinds of people. I love where I am and being a Millennial. You couldn’t pay me to live in the past. But I’ve always had a fascination with the ways we used to do pretty much everything, from styling our hair to cooking our meals to the design of everything from cars to appliances and electronics.

That love spills over into my screenwriting and content creation. I’ve written maybe a dozen short screenplays. One of them got me an invite to the American Screenwriters Conference in California! I was on cloud nine about that, but the conference was set to take place in 2020, so, of course, the conference was cancelled that year. All of my screenplays are either period pieces or make references to my ancestors. That’s my niche and my passion: telling the ancestors’ stories, be they nonfiction or realistic fiction.

And of course, that love also makes its way into the posts on Keepers of Nostalgia’s social media platforms. Keepers of Nostalgia is meant to be one big scrapbook that anyone of any age or background can carry around with them for inspiration on their next great project, or even better, their business. Keepers of Nostalgia is the platform that I needed when I was 23 years old, looking for belonging and acceptance in the “vintage lovers” world.

My greatest lesson and challenge in screenwriting and content creation go hand-in-hand. I think everyone’s biggest block can be the fear of what others will say and think about what you do. Ever since I was a kid, I was constantly teased for liking “old stuff”. And I don’t mean fun, playful teasing. I mean, from elementary to high school, people had formed so many inaccurate opinions about me and would scoff and roll their eyes if I brought up anybody from Dorothy Dandridge to Tina Turner—not even Prince or Janet Jackson were safe! So, a lot of my writing and content creation never saw the light of day. I would write things in Microsoft Word and then delete it all when I was finished.

When I took Screenwriting 101 in college—I’ll never forget this—and I received an A+ on a period piece I wrote? That was all she wrote (literally). And I can be honest and say that receiving that validation helped me overcome my hurdle. In addition to that, age simply helped me become a better writer and content creator. The older you get, the more you don’t care what others think. On top of that, there’s nothing that inspires you more as a writer than realizing how much time you spent not producing a work of words—meanwhile, everybody around you was spewing a novel’s worth, putting you down. I guess, in short, you could say that I eventually got tired of myself and my anxieties and got to work.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
If I were visiting SC, I’d seek out the oldest restaurant in the state—preferably one on the coast. If a friend were visiting me in Richmond, Virginia, I’d take them to the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, then we would go to the New York Deli in Carytown–despite the name, NY Deli is the oldest restaurant in Richmond and has some of the best potato salad in town!

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
One always has to thank their mom, don’t they? My interest in “old stuff” as others would call it, began with her. She was the one that had my sister and me watching Imitation of Life and listening to Ella Fitzgerald. She bought so many classic movies and biopics with her Columbia House subscription. All of this started with her! I also want to thank the Roxy Talks Mindset Coaching community. Being part of that group helped me get organized and grounded in a way that I hadn’t been before, and I’m eternally grateful for that.

Instagram: keepersofnostalgia

Twitter: kp_nostalgia

Youtube: @agmarietv

Other: patreon.com/keepersofnostalgia

Image Credits
All photos taken by A.G. Marie. Branding graphics created using Canva.

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