What if 2026 isn’t about more content—but about more connection?

In this episode of The Story Craft Podcast, Dr. Meg Adams is joined by Amber Zaricor, one of Tennessee’s Top 10 Designers and the founder of Copperheart Creative.

Amber is also the creator of the Fill Your Cup Conference, an in-person experience designed to help career women slow down, reconnect, and rediscover what lights them up. As host of the Small Business Big Heart, Amber has spent years listening to the stories of entrepreneurs who lead with empathy and heart.

Together, Meg and Amber explore why thoughtfully designed in-person events are essential for real connection, creativity, and sustainable leadership, especially as our lives become more shaped by screens and algorithms.

Through a Whole Story Living lens, this conversation invites leaders, creatives, and entrepreneurs to rethink what it means to gather and how shared stories can help us feel more human again.

In this episode, you’ll learn:

• Why in-person gatherings are critical for connection in 2026

• What makes an event feel meaningful, not transactional

• How storytelling creates trust and belonging in shared spaces

• Why slowing down is a leadership skill—not a luxury

• How to design experiences that people remember long after they leave

If you’re craving deeper connection and more intentional community, this episode is for you.

In this compelling conversation, Kyle Adams, co-founder of Homeplace Creative and award-winning filmmaker gets real about what it takes to lead like a human in a world obsessed with efficiency. Drawing from his work as a coach and entrepreneur, Kyle explores practical, everyday actions that help teams slow down, connect deeply, and build cultures of belonging.You’ll learn how to:

• Recognize when “efficiency” is eroding empathy
• Lead relationally, listening, noticing, and responding instead of optimizing
• Create human-centered rhythms that foster trust and creativity
• Reimagine leadership as the art of attention, not control
  

This episode challenges the machine-like models of leadership that burn people out, and offers a grounded, hopeful alternative: leadership that feels alive.

Bring Whole Story Living to your organization. Hire Meg and Kyle Adams for keynotes, leadership workshops, or storytelling consulting at Homeplace Creative

In this solo episode, Dr. Meg Adams, TEDx speaker, professor, and founder of Homeplace Creative, shares how we can stay fully human in an age shaped by algorithms. Drawing from her Whole Story Living framework, Meg explores how storytelling, reflection, and relational intelligence help leaders and creators thrive, not just survive, in a world where AI often moves faster than our hearts can follow. You’ll learn:

• Why slowing down is the most radical act of leadership in a speed-driven culture
• How to use AI thoughtfully—as a creative companion, not a replacement for human connection
• Simple Whole Story Living practices to help you reconnect to meaning, authenticity, and presence
  

This episode invites you to step off autopilot and back into authorship, to live a story that feels like yours. Bring Whole Story Living to your team or event. Book Dr. Meg Adams and Kyle Adams for keynotes, leadership workshops, or storytelling consulting at Homeplace Creative