Remembering Kia

 A light has left us.

It is with the heaviest heart that our beloved, feisty, brilliant colleague and friend, Kia Hays, passed away Saturday, Jan 20th, 2024.

She was surrounded by loved ones as people across the world lit candles in her honor just before she left us.

Our hearts are with her family and all the people on whom she has made a significant imprint, knowing the world will be a very different place without her in it. We will never forget her and keep doing the work she loved – to bring people’s stories to life – in her honor.

The StoryFile Team

Reflections of a Friend

Sometimes people who appear in your life, expected or unexpectedly, have such a tremendous impact on your worldview, that it’s almost indescribable. Some of us knew Kia Hays for over a decade, and some for just over a year. She affected our lives for the better, no matter how long the benefit of our time together. The StoryFile Team has come together to share our personal tributes in honor of our cherished colleague, mentor, leader, and friend. We hope you will feel a sense of Kia’s stellar personality, characteristics, and overall nature that provoked us all to become better humans.

Colleen Mahan

Executive Office

I met Kia Hays in 2016 at the USC Shoah Foundation and we quickly became friends. Kia was that type of person, a magnet who attracted not only collaborators on the same mission, but also people who knew how to have fun outside of the trenches of hard and passionate work. Kia was the ultimate hard-worker, leader and great teacher to not only our interns but to anyone who wanted to know anything about filming Holocaust or genocide survivors, who to vote for in an election, or what protests to attend. But Kia also had a heart of gold. She absolutely loved the survivors and they absolutely adored her. I remember the first time one of our dear survivors passed away and Kia was so distraught she had to take the day off to mourn. She loved them so. But Kia could also be silly & fun and would always be up for an off-campus lunch excursion or after work drinks or trivia night. And one of Kia’s biggest loves in life was chocolate. There were times after Easter was over where she’d send the interns to Target to buy all the half-priced Reese’s Easter Egg candies. She even had a dedicated drawer at her desk just for chocolate.

Years went by and our friendship grew. One day I told her in secret that I was joining Stephen at StoryFile. Low & behold, she told me the same thing, only she was joining Heather’s team! Our time at USC Shoah Foundation came to an end, even though you really never do leave, but the transition came. They decided to throw a goodbye party for me & Kia at the same time, but the joke was on me as Kia blew me off and never showed up! We laughed at that for a long time. Kia started at StoryFile in November 2021. She not only brought a wealth of knowledge, expertise and professionalism, but also her friends. Colleagues she knew would help make her and her new adventure shine. Kia loved org charts, budgets, and team retreats. But she also loved going to the Cat and Fiddle pub, escape rooms and having a good gossip session. Team-building also meant a lot to Kia. She cared deeply about her teammates and always guided them towards success. Kia was dedicated to making the world a better place. Her energy and zeal fueled those around her. Although Kia’s life was cut way too short and left a gaping hole in my heart, I treasure all that Kia brought to me. Knowing Kia has made me a better person. Knowing Kia has made me want to make this world a better place. Knowing Kia was an honor that I will treasure forever.

Jordan Means

HR & Legal

It's hard for me to put into words just how much Kia meant to me and how profound of an impact she had on my life. I only saw her a handful of times in person, but our cross-country friendship is something that blossomed so beautifully in the short few years I knew Kia. I've never worked alongside a more compassionate, empathetic and dynamic leader. She radiated each of those qualities, and that extended beyond work to every cause and every person Kia shared her time with. We were all so lucky to experience her.

Kia was my confidante and friend. My two girls knew "Kia Hays" because her photo would often show on my phone when she called or sent a text message. I'll try to guess your favorite baker every time I watch Bake Off! I miss you so much!

Denise Campbell

Support & Success

Kia Hays shone a bright light on everyone she encountered.
Sometimes the light was to illuminate your talents.
Sometimes the light was to remind you to hold yourself accountable.
Sometimes the light was to probe - just to learn more and sit in a curious space.
Sometimes the light was to remind you of your worth.
Sometimes the light was to listen.
But always, the light anchored in the desire to do better. Be better. Make us better.

Kia Hays created space for others and held space for others.
Sometimes the space was an effort to covet her team
Sometimes the space was to hold a sacred container for testimony
Sometimes the space was to ideate with others.
Sometimes the space was to tolerate and teach.
Sometimes the space was to stand alone, unyielding to pressure.
But always, the space anchored in the desire to do better. Be better. Make us better.

Kia Hays evoked thought and discernment.
Sometimes the insight came in formality.
Sometimes the discernment came in waves.
Sometimes the appreciation came through laughter - or frustration.
Sometimes the awareness was unspoken.
And understanding will continue to unfold.
But always, the provoking anchored in the desire to do better. Be better. Make us better.

Kia Hays led with the power of an ancient matriarch.
Sometimes it showed up amid her process.
Sometimes it appeared in her ability to redirect.
Sometimes it flared in her passion for equality.
Sometimes it overtook the energy of the room.
Sometimes it was quietly kept.
But always, her leadership anchored in the desire to do better. Be better. Make us better.

I am so grateful to have experienced Kia’s light, space, evocation, and leadership.
Let’s continue her legacy -
Do better. Be better. Make each other better.

Brianna Swartz

Product Team

Kia was the younger, braver version of myself. She was my work co-conspirator. She was a fierce advocate of mine, supporting me professionally both within StoryFile and externally. I counted on her to be a safe person to mutually vent with, to thought partner with, to scream into the void or exchange "RAAAAAAAAAGE" text messages with. She was perfectly imperfect. I miss her something awful, but I know it was 100% all to my benefit and my good fortune to have known her, if only briefly. I love and miss you, Kia.

From our Co-Founder, Heather Smith

Co-founder Heather Maio-Smith reflects on her memory of our dear Kia:

“It was through the USC Shoah Foundation’s Dimensions in Testimony project that I got to know and work with Kia for over 10 years. For years we were partners in crime, working together to do something that had never been done before. She was a force of nature, solution oriented, curious, organizing and being organized was her superpower. Our program needed that, I needed that. She took all of my creative craziness, all my passion and emotion and focused it into something concrete, something real.

She continued to expand and kept innovating. She went on to produce another 30 Dimensions In Testimony Interviews, over 50 in total under her leadership. Building on the groundbreaking innovation that the project was known for, she managed the production of the award winning 360 Interactive VR film, The Last Goodbye, the first of its kind. She went on to produce several more VR projects over the course of her tenure with USC Shoah Foundation.

In November of 2021, Kia Hays came join us at StoryFile as our Senior Vice President of Studio and Content. We were growing and I desperately needed her superpowers, again. She built an amazing team, set up a new organizational structure for the studio and for producing conversational video AI content. She lifted up, advocated for, managed and mentored her team members and contractors along the way. She turned the studio into a much more efficient process driven entity, helped to organize the help center and the customer service process as well as all of the corporate training for our SAAS product Conversa. Under her leadership her department created and managed all of the tutorial content and our own storyfile for Conversa to help answer clients questions. She was a trusted thought partner, leader, fellow strategist, problem solver, mentor, advocate for her team as well as other staff members and worked tirelessly to help make StoryFile successful.

We will be eternally grateful for having her with us on this journey. We are heartbroken knowing the world will be a very different place without her in it. We have all been blessed to work alongside such a brilliant mind and have such a creative, compassionate, beautiful friend.

We will never forget her and keep doing the work she loved – to bring people’s stories to life – in her honor.“