Flame Tree Story - The Podcast
Each episode shares voices from our live storytelling events, featuring stories that reveal how action and identity intersect in everyday life.
What We Do * Who We Are
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What We Do * Who We Are *
Flame Tree Story, the podcast, explores how our actions shape who we are—and how who we are shapes what we do. Each episode spotlights true stories from community and workplace storytelling events, inviting storytellers and listeners alike to discover how purpose and identity weave together.
Hosted by Whitney Fry and Mike Myers, the podcast amplifies voices and experiences that spark empathy, strengthen connection, and inspire collaborative action. Join us as we connect through the power of story.
The Flame Tree Story podcast is produced by Story First Design.
Episode 08: The Creek as Classroom—Stories from World Water Day
In this final episode from our World Water Day storytelling event, two environmental leaders share the profound gift of witnessing children discover water and nature, as if for the first time. Hannah Welborn-Lewis coordinates the Haw River Learning Celebration, a field trip program where students from across the area come to wade creeks, catch critters, and witness wildlife in their local river. Randee Haven O'Donnell reflects on her final science field trip to the creek after decades of guiding young people in biotic discovery both in and outside of the classroom.
Both storytellers remind us that water and children can be among our greatest teachers, renewing curiosity and awakening wonder at the beauty all around.
Episode 07: From Scarcity to Abundance—Stories of Water and Renewal
In this episode, we feature two more stories from our World Water Day storytelling event. Storytellers Melanie Joiner and Maya McDoom-Echebiri share how water taught them to navigate life's most challenging transitions. Melanie reflects on her time as a Peace Corps volunteer in Togo, where water scarcity and a trusted friendship transformed how she understood gratitude and connection. Maya shares her journey through sudden job loss and the tsunamis of grief that followed. Through this experience, she learned to flow like water, releasing what no longer served her to become fully herself again.
These renewal stories remind us that we must let go before we can to see the way forward, and that we have much to gain from life’s most challenging experiences.
Episode 06: World Water Day—Stories of Renewal
This episode of the Flame Tree Story podcast features two stories from our World Water Day storytelling event in March, where stories focused on the theme of renewal.
Storytellers Hope Wilder and Nancy Luberoff reveal how water can be a teacher through life's most difficult passages—from navigating grief and loss to discovering healing and new beginnings. Hope takes us to the Eno River, where the ever-changing waters witnessed the end of one love and the start of another. Nancy shares how burial rituals can become sacred practices of honoring life itself. These stories remind us that water carries us from grief to healing, teaching us that renewal is always possible.
The Flame Tree Story podcast is produced by Story First Design.