Kevin Carlin
Story Date: September 4, 2018
Location: Invisible City
Topic: Fight or Flight
Kevin Carlin is a former stand-up comedian from Buffalo, New York. He started telling Moth stories in New York City before moving to Denver, where he now lives with his wife and kids, and works as a court stenographer. He has been hosting the Denver Moth Story SLAMs for several years, and loves telling and hearing stories.
Shelsea Ochoa
Story Date: September 4, 2018
Location: Invisible City
Topic: Fight or Flight
Shelsea Ochoa is person who cares a lot about our planet, art that helps us understand who we are, and the raw beauty of authentic connection that can only be experienced in the present moment. She has been so lucky to travel the world working in education and community organizing, as well as performing. In Denver, you can find her at the planetarium in the Denver Museum of Nature and Science exploring the vastness of the universe, or at any local improv theater making all of her dreams come true, or maybe in a park on her bicycle. If you see her, give her a hug and say something honest to her. She would like that very much.
Eric McNeil
Story Date: September 4, 2018
Location: Invisible City
Topic: Fight or Flight
Bio coming soon.
Adam Agee
Story Date: March 6, 2018
Location: The Whittier Pub
Topic: As Luck Would Have It
Adam Agee’s fiddle music is alive, dynamically fluid, and colorful. Raised in the mountains of Santa Cruz, California and Boulder, Colorado, Adam came first to Ireland in 2004, basing himself in Ennis, County Clare, where he discovered a new home. Through opportunities in America and Ireland, he has had the chance to study with many of today’s living tradition-bearers. His exposure to diverse influences makes Adam’s music deeply American, while his pursuit of sound has led him to focused expression through the Irish tradition. Within the rapidly developing culture of traditional music, suffused and enriched by a global exchange of ideas, Adam’s fiddle playing is grounded in a personal, aesthetic quest. He has been teaching and performing for 15 years.
Kat Atwell
Story Date: May 8, 2018
Location: Denver Bicycle Cafe Beer hall
Topic: Pick Your Poison
Kat Atwell is a writer, speaker, and performer. Further, she is a Gen-Xer, a weird mom to a kickass 10yo kid, and an unapologetic extrovert. Also, big fan of being open about brain conditions. 1 in 4 of us. You're not alone.
Kathryn Avedon
Story Date: July 10, 2018
Location: 14er Brewing Company
Topic: Mama Always Said
Kathryn Avedon is just a gal looking to make other people laugh. Although she's not professionally trained in doing so, she takes great pride in her ability to jump in front of a crowd and tell absurd stories. Kathryn finds humor through all the highs and lows in her wild life and always encourages people to try to keep up!
Besides her love for storytelling, Kathryn works at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory during the week and 14er Brewing on the weekends. But don't worry, working 7 days a week doesn't stop her from traveling and exploring all that that this world has to offer!
Future ambitions include but are not limited to: becoming Mayor of Denver, owning a food truck called Quesadilla Queen, and becoming a dog mom.
Amber Blais
Story Date: March 6, 2018
Location: The Whittier Pub
Topic: As Luck Would Have It
Amber Blais is the creator of Raconteur Denver. More information on her can be found on the about page!
Robert Louis Cole
Story Date: March 6, 2018
Location: The Whittier Pub
Topic: As Luck Would Have It
RL Cole is a musician and performer.
Paul Conzemius
Story Date: July 10, 2018
Location: 14er Brewing Company
Topic: Mama Always Said
Paul is a mover, connecter, leader and currently the director of Evolvyst, an information product dedicated to helping people realize their potential. After growing up in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, he traveled for seven years working for a student leadership organization called Up with People, connecting communities and building bridges of understanding across cultures around the world. As a lover of history and the power of narrative, he appreciates the value of a good story.
He now resides in Denver where he is an avid outdoorsmen, adventurer, and mover and seeks to further the mission of community building and helping people reach their fullest potential.
Meghan Dougherty
Story Date: January 16, 2018
Location: Ratio Beerworks
Topic: Let's Get Physical
Ever since growing up fighting with her older brothers, Meghan Dougherty has liked to hit. She fulfills that need as a roller derby player, skating with the Rocky Mountain Rollergirls since
2007. Over the past 11 years Meghan, who skates under the moniker Undertaker’s Daughter, has thrived around the hard-hitting game and the strength and toughness of her team. These diverse women inspired Meghan to share that roller derby sass through a fun and empowering girl power book series for tween girls called Dorothy’s Derby Chronicles, with Rise of the Undead Redhead and Woe of Jade Doe published in 2014 and 2015. When not skating or wrestling with her dog or kids, Meghan runs her own company as a marketing communications expert and consultant and is finishing her third book.
Eric Dallimore
Story Date: March 23, 2018
Location: The MCA
Topic: The Unseen Journey
Eric Robert Dallimore currently lives and works in Denver, Colorado as a fine artist and as the Founder + Artistic Director of Leon Gallery. Under his leadership, Leon Gallery has enjoyed a period of unprecedented success, initiating pioneering partnerships with artists, collectors, and cultural institutions. Eric received his BFA from Louisiana State University in 2004 and studied Economics at the University of Wales, Swansea in 2000.
Life as a practicing artist has also been very rewarding, from solo exhibitions to public art sculptures, Eric continues to engage audiences with his driven works of art. Mr. Dallimore’s work has been shown in galleries and museums including Leon, McNichols Building, Cherry Creek Arts Festival, The Buell Theater, New Orleans Center for Creative Arts, The Contemporary Arts Center New Orleans, and The New Orleans Museum of Art, Back to the Picture San Francisco. His public art sculptures have been showcased across Colorado and Louisiana. In 2014, Eric was honored with the Mastermind Award for Visual Arts from Westword Magazine. Works of art created by Eric have been featured in publications such as Sculpture Magazine, 5280 Magazine, The Westword, Denver Post, The Times Picayune, The Advocate, and also an expose for his Burnt Negative Series in Time Magazine.
As an arts educator at Think 360 Arts since 2009, Eric has worked with over 45 schools across Denver to bring photography, printmaking, ceramics, woodworking, installation, and foundry lessons to over 1,000 K-12 students. In Fall 2015, Eric became the adjunct professor of Professional Practices at RMCAD, a senior level course designed to teach aspiring graduates how to create a sustainable business from their art practice. Eric has also mentored teens at Leon through First Lady Mary Louise Lee’s Bringing Back the Arts Foundation, as well as mentoring interns from CU’s Experiential Learning Center and the Pioneer Career Network at the University of Denver.
In addition to working as an artist, teacher, curator, and small business owner, Eric Robert Dallimore is also an advisory committee member for the Washington D.C. based non-profit group U.S. Global Leadership Coalition, where he promotes and supports a smart power approach of elevating development and diplomacy abroad.
Beth Ebisch
Story Date: May 8, 2018
Location: Denver Bicycle Cafe Beer hall
Topic: Pick Your Poison
Beth was born and raised in Golden, Colorado in a family that always emphasized how important it is to find the humor in every situation, no matter how tough, awkward, or embarrassing it might be. Beth loves to travel, meet people and share stories. She has enjoyed playing in the Colorado backcountry throughout her life, a place where she learned how to laugh at the absurdity of miserable situations, and appreciate going with the flow.
Beth studied Environmental Science at the University of Denver, and loves being a steward to the outdoors via her variety of jobs and hobbies. She is going on to embrace her creative side by pursuing a master’s degree in Environmental Filmmaking, in order to tell the incredible stories of the natural world.
Esther Hernandez
Story Date: March 23, 2018
Location: The MCA
Topic: The Unseen Journey
Esther Hernandez was born in San Antonio, Texas and attended the University of Colorado at Denver. She has worked as an urban farmer and gardener and currently works with at risk teens. Her involvement in the local music scene for many years led to dabbling in public social experiments. Those social experiments eventually blossomed into a full time art practice as a performance and multidisciplinary artist. She is currently a Redline resident and has shown and performed in galleries and venues around Denver. Her work ranges from socially engaged commentary to very personal, interactive and performance based installation. She explores love, connection, social norms, ritual and play in hopes that confrontation, self-examination and intimacy can be analyzed.
Parker Owens
Story Date: July 10, 2018
Location: 14er Brewing Company
Topic: Mama Always Said
Like you, Parker Owens is curious and inquisitive when it comes to human behavior. With nearly a decade of expertise in branding, media strategy, and organizational messaging, Parker has successfully promoted over 600 events in his career, including concerts, community events, social functions, and fundraisers in the West.
Parker joined the Colorado Symphony team in 2013 and has helped lead the organization’s audience development initiatives, brand communications, market research, pricing, promotions, and customer service management. Currently, Parker oversees the organization’s ticket sales budget and contributes to the Symphony’s strategic planning, product evolution, and marketplace implementation. He works to grow contributed income by increasing paid attendance, which has resulted in a $1.1 million revenue contribution— part of a gift from Colorado’s Scientific and Cultural Facilities District (SCFD), based on the Colorado Symphony’s Tier II designation (2017).
A driven and meticulous marketing and sales strategist, Parker's skill set includes traditional, digital, guerrilla, and social event marketing; audience development and user experience management; public relations strategy and brand strategy; promotional campaign execution; subscription campaign marketing; eCommerce, mCommerce, and UX web enhancement; strategic partnering and promotions; contract negotiation; staff management and training; budgeting; data analysis; board relations; and organizational planning.
Parker is a graduate of the University of South Dakota, with a Bachelor of Art degree in Contemporary Media and Journalism. He lives in Denver with his husband, Ryan, and their two papillons.
Staza Stone
Story Date: January 16, 2018
Location: Ratio Beerworks
Topic: Let's Get Physical
Staza Stone does stuff. Swinging stuff, spiny stuff, stilt stuff, sparkle stuff... all the stuffs. She is a multi- faceted performer based out of Denver, CO. Being in the circus game for only 4, and at a mile high, she is still finding her voice. She is an aerialist, stilt walker, hula hooper, fire dancer, and clown. Coming from a musical theater background, Staza loves vaudeville and variety. She wants to use circus as a tool to unlock the imagination through story-telling. She graduated from Frequent Flyers Productions aerial dance program in 2014. Currently Staza can be found performing all over the country and teaching locally in Denver at MOTH Contemporary Circus Center as well as Denver Dance. She is also known for her short but notorious career as a shopping cart drifter in Tokyo.
Nayomi Van Brunt
Story Date: January 16, 2018
Location: Ratio Beerworks
Topic: Let's Get Physical
A California native, Nayomi began her formal training at age 9 when she moved to Georgia with her family. She trained with Atlanta Festival Ballet under Nicolas Pacana and Gregory Aaron as well as Atlanta Ballet’s Centre for Dance Education. She began her professional career with the Atlanta Ballet. During her time with the Atlanta Ballet, Nayomi performed roles such as Marya in Atlanta Ballet’s Nutcracker, Christopher Wheeldon’s Rush, James Kudelka’s Four Seasons. After leaving the Atlanta Ballet Nayomi danced with Winston Salem Festival Ballet and New York Theatre Ballet. She is currently a dancer with Wonderbound in Denver, Colorado. She would like to thank her parents, six siblings, and amazing friends for all of their love.
Tom Varani
Story Date: March 23, 2018
Location: The MCA
Topic: The Unseen Journey
Tom Varani is a Denver artist, innovator and explorer.
Johanna Walker
Story Date: May 8, 2018
Location: Denver Bicycle Cafe Beer hall
Topic: Pick Your Poison
Johanna Walker is a solo performing artist, keynote speaker, corporate trainer, and workshop facilitator (aka the fear-blasting, storytelling maven for entrepreneurs and people with a mission) She has presented for corporations, non-profits, start-ups and community organizations on topics including how to turn public speaking fear into world-changing power and how to tell more powerful stories that invite your audiences to lean in and say Tell Me More.
She is the co-founder and co-host of Boulder’s popular bi-monthly story slam series, Truth Be Told, where people from the audience come to the stage and tell (in under 5 minutes) true stories about their lives. She is the founder of Women Who Speak, a transformational speaker coaching program for female leaders, and leads an ongoing practice and play group for new and seasoned speakers called The Speaker’s Playground.
In addition to her work as a speaker and coach, Johanna has written and performed solo theater pieces that she’s toured throughout the US and Canada.
She lives in Boulder, Colorado, where she grows and eats food from her garden, rides her bike all over town, and loves to dance any time the music starts playing.