OUR STORY
Every family has a story. Here is mine.
Ours Began With a Purple Folder.
The Folder That Was Never Found
In 2008, my mother was battling lung cancer and facing the possibility that she might not survive her illness. She told my siblings and me that there was a purple folder containing her final wishes.
None of us asked to see it. We never discussed what was inside because we trusted it would be there when we needed it.
When my mother passed away, our grief was profound. We wanted to honor her with a service that reflected exactly what she had wanted. Unfortunately, the purple folder was never found.
Without it, my family was left with questions and differing opinions about what her wishes might have been. The uncertainty created a rift between us that lasted far too long.
Within a year of her passing, my father was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease. Once again, we were caught off guard and left scrambling. Six months later, I learned that my uncle had Alzheimer’s as well. A recent widower with no children, he needed my help.
I flew from my home to his residence in Florida many times to arrange proper medical care and housing and to help manage his personal and financial affairs.
My uncle had done many of the things people are told to do. He had a will and had completed estate planning. I had to search for the documents, but I eventually found them.
Still, because he had become forgetful, I needed much more than legal paperwork. I needed to know who handled his finances and insurance, which bills and accounts required attention, who his doctors and important contacts were, and what property and other assets he owned.
The legal paperwork existed. The information needed to manage his life—and eventually share it with the right people—was scattered.
That was the moment I understood:
Preparation without organized, accessible information is still a problem.
I kept thinking, There has to be a better way.
Since then, I have heard from many people with their own purple-folder stories: important information that could not be found, wishes that had never been discussed, and families left trying to piece together essential details during an already difficult time.
Those stories, along with my own experience, became the foundation of Purple Folder Press.
Founder & Publisher
Susan Loumagne
Susan Loumagne is the founder and publisher of Purple Folder Press, a company dedicated to helping individuals, couples, and families organize the important information behind their lives.
Susan holds a degree in business and spent years in business consulting, project management, and executive coaching. As part of consulting teams, she worked with Fortune 1000 companies on business growth and leadership development, by provided one-on-one coaching to executives and project managers, helping them turn complex goals into practical systems and measurable results.
She later became a partner in an award-winning Philadelphia-area catering company, where she managed operations. Across both consulting and operations, her work consistently centered on building clear systems, organizing complex information, and helping people follow through.
In 2010, Susan launched 55+ Essential Services around the familiar Scout motto she grew up with: Be Prepared. Through that work, she began helping people organize and systematize what she calls “the business of life”—the paperwork and practical details every household manages, even if most people do not think of them as a system.
Preparedness has always been part of Susan’s family culture. Her father believed so strongly in being ready that, during the Cuban Missile Crisis, he built a concrete bomb shelter onto their home. Susan, her brother, and her sister grew up learning to anticipate needs, keep essential supplies close, and avoid being caught unprepared.
Her mission became even more personal after her mother passed away and a purple folder containing her final wishes could not be found. Soon afterward, Susan helped manage the increasingly complex affairs of her father and uncle as they faced Alzheimer’s disease. Those experiences showed her that legal documents alone are not enough. Families also need the information behind those documents organized, accessible, and ready when needed.
Purple Folder Press grew from that combination of professional experience, family history, and real-life necessity. Today, Susan creates thoughtfully designed books, fillable digital resources, and USB editions that help people organize personal affairs, prepare for emergencies, record final wishes, and manage the practical parts of life.
Susan’s publishing work has also included several Taylor Swift-inspired books written under the pen name Tay Tints. She enjoyed the opportunity to step outside her usual subject matter, respond to a cultural moment, and have some fun being part of pop culture.
She is especially passionate about encouraging every household to complete a Personal Affairs Portfolio—not out of fear, but as an act of clarity, preparedness, and care for the people they love.