Our story

Speaking is Medicine™ is dedicated to the transformative power of storytelling. We believe that sharing personal experiences can foster healing, resilience, and growth, and that stories become a bridge to understanding ourselves and each other.

Speaking is not just expression. It is medicine for the mind.

Where it began

Our gatherings grew out of Once Upon a Trauma Storytelling, the original organization that first put these stories on a Charlotte stage. When its founding team stepped back, Nance and Eddie Carter carried the work forward under a new name. The heart of it never changed: real people, real stories, and a room that holds both.

Who holds the room

Speaking is Medicine™ is held by Nance and Eddie Carter, together with rotating MCs from our own community and friends across Charlotte's healing and creative ecosystem.

A licensed therapist, Steve Blahitka, MA, LMFT, LCAS-A, attends our gatherings as trigger guardian, so the heaviest moments are met with real care. Healing does not happen in isolation, and it should never happen without support.

If any of this speaks to you, come sit with us. Say hello here.