EMERALD COAST STORYTELLERS TAKE the MIC

By JORDAN STAGGS

of the written and spoken word flocked to hear them. Several have commented with pleasant surprise that they didn’t even know their neighbor or business colleague was into writing until they heard them take the mic at an ECS event. Although each Open Mic Night features an established storyteller as the guest of honor—authors, music producers, artists, and creative leaders alike have held that spot—the events are about creating connections among those passionate about telling stories, even if it is not their career focus. Part-time poets, moonlighting musicians, and aspiring novelists are more than welcome!

Fostering this type of community in an area so teeming with creativity is a dream come true for the ECS founders.

ur spoken and written languages have become vehicles not only for communication but also for documenting history, entertaining, and creating connections with others. Music, poetry, and artful prose captivate the mind and evoke feelings like nothing else can. We all have a story to tell, and Emerald Coast Storytellers, based along the sparkling Gulf of Mexico in Northwest Florida, has created a platform for anyone to share their words with the community.

Coming up on its first anniversary in July 2023, Emerald Coast Storytellers (ECS) is the brainchild of close friends Kristy Holditch and Ali Diamond, two journalism majors who both grew up far across the US from the pristine white-sand beach community they now call home. Each month, ECS hosts a public After-Hours Writing Night for locals and visitors to join in-person or virtually, where writers are given a theme prompt for the evening and work on penciling everything from short stories to memoirs, poetry, and more. The theme of each month is carried over to a ticketed Open Mic Night, hosted at intimate venues across the Emerald Coast community, during which a dozen or so brave storytellers will take the spotlight for about five minutes each to share what they’ve written or, occasionally, tell a story on the fly.

As a fresh new cultural event concept in an area rife with some of the world’s finest music, art, and food festivals, ECS saw a tremendous response from the community right out of the gate. Storytellers of all ilks found a place to share their work, while fans

Diamond, who grew up and attended university in Madison, Wisconsin, echoes a story to which many ECS participants can relate. “I’ve been writing since I was a kid—short stories about cats, submitting my work to my middle school’s literary magazine, and entering poetry contests I found on the internet that were 100-percent scams. I love it. I’ve never wanted to do anything else.” She found her way to the Emerald Coast full-time after her parents bought a vacation home shortly before the COVID-19 pandemic. “There’s something special about this area. Whether it’s the weather, the beautiful beaches, or the kind individuals who call this community home, there’s something that calls to people who have great stories to tell. Maybe it’s the supportive entrepreneurial environment, the sheer inspiration in the sunrises, or maybe the feeling of magic, hidden just out of sight and nestled in the dunes.” met my now-husband while I was living in Denver, and he had a dream of opening up the Emerald Coast area’s first vodka distillery,” says Holditch, who is from northern California and earned her degree in Colorado. “We started dating long-distance, and after just a couple of visits, I knew I didn’t want to leave here. There was just something about it. So from mountain girl at heart to born-again beach girl, I quite literally followed my heart to the beach. I swapped my skis for a paddleboard, and the rest was history. Moving from a bigger city, I think a small town like ours can feel limiting for some people. But it’s shown me what an incredible blank canvas it can offer to dream up anything and everything and make your mark, especially when it aligns with such an amazing community.” She also says that, like it is for Diamond, writing has been a constant thread, like a “silent pull,” in her life. “Somewhere along the way, I knew I wanted to create a career out of it. A minor in advertising paved the way for a marketingby-day career path, but the dream quickly turned into wanting to become a full-time novelist.”

Twelve Months of Storytelling

The pair of young storytellers are excited to spread the news about Emerald Coast Storytellers’ OneYear Anniversary event coming up on July 14, 2023, at Emerald Coast Theatre Company.

“It’s exciting, to sum it up,” says Diamond. “It’s incredible that we’ve made it this far and that it has resonated with the community to the extent it has. Beyond our wildest imaginations, we hadn’t anticipated it would have grown into what it has today.”

Knowing their first anniversary needed to be a momentous occasion, and thanks to a recent partnership with the Cultural Arts Alliance of Walton County, ECS plans to have its biggest Open Mic Night yet. “It’s going to be incredible,” Diamond shares. “Beachy Blooms is making custom floral arrangements. We’re bringing in Graze30a to do a grazing table, Bitterroot is donating delicious flatbreads for us, and Distillery 98 will provide craft vodka cocktails. It’s really going to be a showcase of local talent and a heartfelt thank you from us to the community. The theme for the evening will be ‘Milestones,’ which is perfect because this is such a huge one for us.”

Holditch adds, “Knowing this was going to be our biggest event yet, we wanted to host it with a place that not only had the space but also shared our passion for the arts. After attending their tenth-anniversary party last fall, it felt like a no-brainer to float the idea to Emerald Coast Theatre Company. They know how to transform a space and create the kind of magic where you get to leave reality behind for a bit. We can’t wait to celebrate how far we’ve come and hear local storytellers share triumph stories of their own.”

Flashbacks from Year One

Both founders agree that the year has flown by, and it’s humbling to see how far ECS has come in such a short time. Looking back, Diamond says, “Kristy and I always laugh about how, during our first open mic, we were apologizing for not having enough chairs because we ‘didn’t anticipate this many people coming.’ There were twenty to thirty people, but still! That was huge for us! We always want to keep providing something fun. Keeping an eye on the details and the clock while presenting something interesting is always a balancing act. But seeing our audience smile, laugh, or cry makes it worth it in the end.” eople have come up to us after events and told us that we had created some kind of magic,” says Holditch. Diamond likens those magical little moments to a mosaic, saying, “When you put them together and light shines through, that’s when you feel the true beauty of this community.”

One of Holditch’s favorite ECS moments comes from one of their first Open Mic Nights at Distillery 98. “Sharing a story you’ve written can feel a bit like pulling your own heart out of your chest. It can be daunting and vulnerable, and when you add a room of strangers, the stakes feel even higher,” she explains (and I can attest to that firsthand). “There was a woman who had signed up to tell a story, and when we called her up to the mic, you could tell her nerves were getting the best of her—eyes low, shoulders hunched, paper shaking in her hands. When she began to speak, the first thing she said was, ‘Sorry, I’m super nervous. I’ve never done anything like this before.’ Then, out of nowhere, someone in the crowd called out, ‘You got this!’ The whole room broke out into a round of applause, followed by all this cheering and words of encouragement. As they did, the woman got the biggest smile on her face. She started laughing, and you could feel her nerves falling away from her. Her story was beautiful, and it was so cool to see the crowd rally behind her like that. I just remember thinking, ‘This; this is what it’s all about. Giving people a place where they can share a piece of themselves and have this much love, support, and connection on the receiving end.’ It was so special to witness and be a part of that.” nother momentous ECS event was the organization’s first StoryPairing Dinner, hosted at Hotel Effie in Sandestin Golf & Beach Resort in February 2023. This unique event combined the monthly Open Mic Night with a storytelling-inspired meal crafted by Chef Hugh Acheson. “Everyone loves a good wine-pairing dinner—we wanted a way to bring the story element into the mix and make it extra special,” explains Holditch. “Aside from the ancient art of storytelling, people have come together throughout history through breaking bread. This was the perfect way to bring the two together and do something that’s never been done before.”

Indeed, in their research, the ECS founders couldn’t find evidence of an event like this being held by any other organization or venue. “As far as we can tell, we’re the first to try such a thing,” Diamond says. There have been two StoryPairing Dinners, with a third in the works. The second installment even took to the road, with ECS heading to Nashville, another creative town focusing on sharing stories, mostly through song.

“They were beautiful,” Diamond says of the dinner series. “It was such a gamble, executing this brand-new event concept, but it truly paid off. The energy we created that first night; it felt different. It was like feeling the world tilt slightly off its axis. Hotel Effie, with its signature restaurant Ovide, was exciting and thrilling. Nashville, with Chef Johnny Haffner and Olive and Bee Creative, was utterly beautiful. It felt magical. It actually started raining toward the end, and where we were sitting on the back patio, you could hear the rain falling all around us. We are still confirming details for our Story-Pairing Dinner this fall, which will be in November at Henderson Beach Resort.”