here was once a mom who was always looking for better ways to entertain and educate her three kids. She would take them to the library, museums and travel far and wide to show them interesting things and places all around their kingdom. When her first child was 4 or so, a friend and educator introduced her to storyteller Jim Weiss. The family grew to love his stories and voice – particularly in the car as kids were shuttled between school, practices, birthday parties and the like. This led to explorations of more audio stories at the local library and bookstores that unearthed classics such as The Scarecrow and His Servant (Recorded Books), The Tale of Despereaux (Listening Library), and storyteller talent Bill Harley... Life was good.

Photo credit: Marissa Rauch

Enter dad who had spent the last 20 years working in kids/family entertainment at The Walt Disney Company, Nickelodeon and National Geographic, and on projects as far ranging as The Muppets, cable channels Noggin and TV Land, kids TV series Toot & Puddle, and the Academy award-winning film March of The Penguins. Leaving National Geographic to pursue more entrepreneurial endeavors, dad was introduced to a streaming technology company called Stitcher Radio, which is the leading news/talk audio app on smart phones. Dad helped Stitcher structure and close deals with their founding partners, such as BBC, NPR, Wall Street Journal, CNBC, New York Times and Newsweek.

In a moment of clarity, pushed by mom who wanted to get more stories, more easily on her iPhone, dad realized there might be an opportunity there, combining mom's insights, dad's industry know-how and Stitcher's technology. Thus was born Tales2Go. Deals were struck with Stitcher and various audio publishers and storytellers willing to bet on a new technology. Finally, mom agreed to become Chief Mom of Tales2Go, embraced her digital self and soon had over 2,000 Twitter followers, many of them mommy bloggers interested in wholesome products and services for kids.

We'd like to thank a few friends and advisors who were invaluable to us along the way. Sonja, for introducing us to audio stories; Stitcher, whose people and technology make Tales2Go possible; Debbie, dad's sister, DC tech titan, and social media guru; Ashley, the lead singer of a well-known kids band and Twitter phenom; Paige, a friend and an all-around marketing maven; Lisa and Steve, our communications czars; chief aunt Amanda, who has strong opinions about everything; Uncle Sandy, sailor and software guru; always supportive Aunt Hilary; Dan, our Hollywood talent; Jaye and her sublime girls; and our parents who encouraged us to take risks and taught us to love a good story.

Tales2Go went live in the Apple App Store in February, 2010. And the story continues...