Meet Our 2017 Sponsor: Cari Taplin of Genealogy Pants

https://carigenealogy.wordpress.com/

**The following is from our sponsor Cari Taplin of Genealogy Pants.--Gena

"Genealogy often starts out as an isolated hobby. You work from home at your desk and begin looking into your family history. For me, I had worked on researching a family story for about a year before I even knew that genealogical societies even existed. From there I learned about all of the education opportunities that were available at national conferences and institutes. (I began in 2000, so there weren’t as many online opportunities as there are now.)"

"I have a desire to help other genealogists succeed in their research and other genealogical endeavors. I teach a lot of classes through the Austin Genealogical Society, and am a local, state, and national speaker. I enjoy sharing some of the findings, tips, tricks, case studies, and brick wall breakthroughs, with the hope that they will help another researcher think about their genealogical problems differently and help solve some of their mysteries."

"Everyone has their own reasons for pursuing family history research. Some may wish to gain greater understanding of their family through stories. Others might find understanding and compassion through family dysfunction or estrangements. Loneliness and depression are big problems in our current society, possibly because of those family dysfunctions. I believe pursuing genealogy can give one a feeling of being enveloped in familial love even though those family members might not be living. Genealogy can offer a feeling of strength or realizing one’s potential. Whenever I get to feeling down about some life circumstance, I think about my ancestors who survived the loss of children due to disease, the loss of health due to military service and unsanitary conditions. I think about my own grandfather, who even though he had a debilitating hip injury since he was nine, managed to farm 80 acres of land, drive a cement truck, and raise a family."

"My company name is GenealogyPants. Let me explain…I had decided to move from being a high-level hobbyist to a “professional” and needed to come up with a business name. My husband and I brainstormed and came up with many ideas that all seemed to fall flat. I wanted something that would stand out, that would be a little quirky, and didn’t have some variation of roots, trees, family, or ancestors. In our family, we had been in the habit of calling each other “fancy pants” or “smarty pants” and so during this brainstorming one of us simply said “genealogy pants” and it just felt right. It is quirky and a little bit weird, kind of like my sense of humor. And so it stuck."

"I research my genealogy to honor my ancestors and to gain an understanding of how I became who I am and where I am, because of who they were and where they had been. Through my educational and consultation offerings, it is my passion to share that mindset with others and to help them learn the best path forward in their own journey."