Flame Tree Story is a storytelling podcast exploring 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.
Flame Tree Story is produced by Story First Design (https://storyfirstdesign.com/). For more information—or to feature your community or workplace—visit www.flametreestory.com/podcast (http://www.flametreestory.com/podcast)
In this season one finale of the Flame Tree Story podcast, we feature three stories from our World Refugee Day event. Each explores how family history and migration shape identity.
Gabbo Luna asked his father a simple question at the breakfast table: "What were you like as a kid?" His response unlocked family stories that revealed a lineage of sacrifice and connection. Carmella Guiol grew up immersed in her mother's stories of fleeing Cuba as a 9-year-old, and decades later, Carmella traveled to Cuba to see the childhood home that shaped her family's identity. Nancy Luberoff's mother-in-law fled Nazi Germany in 1938, and at 86 finally shared her handwritten story—20 pages read aloud, revealing a journey from profound loss to new life.
What unites these stories is the courage to ask, to listen, and to honor the family histories that live within us.
The Flame Tree Story podcast is produced by Story First Design (https://storyfirstdesign.com).
11 Aug 2026
E10: The Homes We Carry—Stories of Movement and Identity
This episode features two more stories from our World Refugee Day storytelling event, exploring migration as both a physical and inward journey.
Luke Vandergriff spent 15 years in Bolivia as a missionary and teacher before stepping out as a musician. His path from Bolivia to Iran, Turkey, Egypt, and back to North Carolina became a journey toward finding home within himself.
Julia F. Green reflects on her own movements across the US, while tracing her grandmother's migration journey during WWII. Julia discovers that home isn't a destination to find, but something she actively builds through small rituals and intentional relationships.
Both Luke and Julia realize that home isn't ultimately about location; it's about understanding yourself. This episode also references a radio interview with Tra Tran of Refugee Community Partnership on The Carrborean Radio Hour with Flame Tree Story, linked here (https://www.flametreestory.com/radio-show).
The Flame Tree Story podcast is produced by Story First Design (https://storyfirstdesign.com).
14 Jul 2026
E9: Stories of Courage on World Refugee Day
This episode features two stories from our recent World Refugee Day storytelling event, stories that highlight courageous journeys of leaving everything behind to seek asylum in the US.
Arina Lekht was a child when she and her family fled Odessa, Ukraine in September 1991. Her story weaves humor and heartbreak as she tells of the unbelievable events leading up to and during her family’s departure. Hayman Linn Lae Zaw left her home in Burma in 2022 after the military coup and subsequent state-sponsored violence on civilians. Hayman’s story uncovers her difficult decision to flee her country and settle in North Carolina.
Both storytellers show us what courage looks like: the courage to leave, the courage to find home in a new place, and the courage to belong in a world with borders.
The Flame Tree Story podcast is produced by Story First Design (https://storyfirstdesign.com).
10 Jun 2026
E8: 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.
The Flame Tree Story podcast is produced by Story First Design (https://storyfirstdesign.com).
13 May 2026
E7: 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.
The Flame Tree Story podcast is produced by Story First Design (https://storyfirstdesign.com).
15 Apr 2026
E6: 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 (https://www.storyfirstdesign.com).
12 Mar 2026
E5: International Day of Persons with Disabilities Part 2—Stories of Acceptance
In this episode, we continue sharing stories from our International Day of Persons with Disabilities event, where storytellers explored what it means to be truly seen in community.
Storytellers Carolyn Stuart, Indigo Dutton, and Danny Steis reveal how connection deepens when communities intentionally make space for everyone's unique contributions—from an incarcerated man finding purpose through training a medical assistance dog, to a music community that transformed itself so everyone could participate, to a room that created silence so one person's voice could be fully heard. These stories show us the power of being seen and the gift of purposeful presence.
Hosts Whitney Fry and Mike Myers reflect on what it takes to create community where everyone belongs—and the healing that happens when we do.
The Flame Tree Story podcast is produced by Story First Design (http://www.storyfirstdesign.com/).
10 Feb 2026
E4: Stories of Belonging on the International Day of Persons with Disabilities
In this episode, we hear stories from our live storytelling event on the International Day of Persons with Disabilities, where each story focuses on the theme of belonging.
Storytellers Jennifer Latham Robinson, Kelvin Scopey Mosley, and Tim Field explore what it means to belong to ourselves, to face our fears in pursuit of belonging, and to create spaces of belonging for those we love. Imagination, courage, and realization feature in these stories, revealing how belonging influences what we do and who we are. Storytellers remind us that belonging is both an inward journey and an outward presence.
The Flame Tree Story podcast is produced by Story First Design (https://www.storyfirstdesign.com/).
7 Jan 2026
E3: World Humanitarian Day Part 3 – Stories of Surprise
In the third and final episode from our World Humanitarian Day storytelling event, we explore one of the most powerful elements of story: surprise.
These three stories—shared by Lisa Parrott, Mark Adams, and Jennifer Yourkavitch—invite us into moments that didn’t go as planned. These moments disrupted expectations, challenged comfort zones, and opened the door to deeper perspective and connection. Through humor, humility, tradition, and song, each storyteller shows how unexpected experiences can reshape belonging and reveal something essential about what we do and who we are.
The Flame Tree Story podcast is produced by Story First Design (https://storyfirstdesign.com).
26 Nov 2025
E2: When Reality Shifts — Stories of Discomfort, Discovery, and Connection
In Episode 2 of the Flame Tree Story podcast, we return to our World Humanitarian Day event to hear stories from Madagascar, Tanzania, and Uganda. These stories explore what happens when expectations collide with reality—and how connection can emerge through difficulty.
Featuring storytellers Liz Toomey, Marya Plotkin, and Shelley Zeiger-Enarson, this episode invites listeners into moments of tension and transformation. These stories remind us that discomfort can be a powerful teacher: When we listen closely and stay connected, difficult moments can deepen our understanding of ourselves and the communities around us.
The Flame Tree Story podcast is produced by Story First Design (https://storyfirstdesign.com).
9 Nov 2025
E1: Introducing Flame Tree Story on World Humanitarian Day
Welcome to Flame Tree Story—a new podcast exploring what we do, who we are, and the stories that live between the two. In this first episode, hosts Whitney Fry and Mike Myers share reflections and stories from Flame Tree Story’s debut community event held on World Humanitarian Day 2025.
Featuring Roberta Romano, Samir Omary, and Dan Enarson, this episode highlights connection across borders and friendship among cultures—reminding us how story can bridge difference and amplify what unites us.
Flame Tree Story is produced by Story First Design (https://storyfirstdesign.com). If you enjoy this episode, follow the podcast and leave a review.
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