Making old photos/videos new again

Geoff and Nancy Weber thought their recorded memories were safe, until the day their wedding video started to melt into static.

 

“It hit us hard,” Geoff Weber said. “If we lost these moments, we’d lose part of our story forever.”

 

That gut-punch moment became the spark for Heirloom, a Daniel Island company Weber founded to preserve thousands of family stories before they fade away on older media formats.

 

“What started as rescuing our own family’s story has grown into Heirloom, a company built to make sure every family has a safe, permanent place for their memories. By combining expert digitization with the security of the cloud, we guide families from the anxiety of ‘What if it’s lost?’ to the relief and joy of knowing, ‘Our story will live on,’” Weber said.

 

Heirloom is a media preservation company. Families can pack old tapes, slides, film reels, printed photos, or scrapbooks, and send or take them to Heirloom’s Daniel Island or Mount Pleasant locations.

 

Heirloom then counts and catalogs every item, sends a quote, and once approved, digitizes the memories. Weeks later, families receive the originals back, while digital versions are kept in the cloud.

 

Customers can then stream, share, and download their photos, videos, and memories without the worry their physical copies will deteriorate.

 

But Weber said Heirloom is about more than technology; it’s about people.

 

Weber said many of his employees are on the autism spectrum or have other disabilities, recruited for their extraordinary attention to detail.

 

“Preserving priceless family memories requires the same precision, care, and focus I valued in national security,” he said. 

 

“By employing people with autism and other disabilities, we’re not just running a business; we’re creating meaningful work, building a culture of dignity, and proving that neurodiverse talent can be a competitive advantage in safeguarding what matters most.”

 

As a retired Naval officer, Weber carries lessons from decades in combat zones into his leadership. “I spent years fighting to protect what was priceless – our people, our freedoms, and our way of life. In war, I saw firsthand the terrible destruction that can erase entire communities and stories in an instant. Those experiences taught me that what truly matters are the people we love and the memories we carry with us.”

 

Since launching in 2022, Heirloom has worked with thousands of families nationwide, preserving millions of photos and videos. Some requests are urgent, like families needing digitized memories for a funeral – a reminder of the emotional weight behind every tape and album.

 

From its Daniel Island base to its data centers nationwide, Weber said Heirloom continues to grow; hiring locally and planning a 2026 app using artificial intelligence to help families organize their stored media.

 

“This mission is bigger than just converting media to digital,” Weber said. “It’s about giving every family a safe, permanent place to store their history, so everyone can relive dad’s wedding toast, mom’s joyful laugh, or the first steps of your children.”