Madeline Gray photographed Evonne Varady, co-founder of the fast-growing Clean Eatz franchise. Varady also has a podcast, called Rebel Rootz, during which she talks with other women about business, health, life, and everything else in between. on the cover
Maggie Beck, Logan Burke, Megan Deitz, Drewe and Kate Branding Co., Madeline Gray, Aris Harding
DIRECTOR OF FEAST WILMINGTON
Jessica Maurer
@ WILMAmag / WILMAmag.com
FOUNDER
Joy Allen
SUBSCRIBE
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Copyright 2026
MEGHAN CORBETT, a native North Carolinian, is a freelance writer and editor. She graduated with honors with a degree in mass media communication and a minor in journalism from North Carolina State University. Corbett married her high school sweetheart, Will, in 2008. They welcomed a baby girl (Avery) to their family in 2016 and a baby boy (Hugh) in 2018. They also have two rescue beagles named Moze and Charlie. She talked with Julie Rothenberger, lead singer of the local indie band Lady Die (page 82).
MADELINE GRAY is a freelance documentary photographer based in Wilmington. With a master’s degree in photojournalism, her work is regularly featured in local and national publications. She enjoys spending time in places that are off the beaten track and collaborating to share the diverse stories found there. Gray photographed the issue’s cover of Evonne Varady and on page 32, crochet artist Fara FergusonLuther on page 65, and the Cape Fear Rowing Club on page 50 madelinegrayphoto.com and @madelinepgray on Instagram
AMY KILGORE MANGUS is a public relations professional with a degree from East Carolina University. In her spare time, she spends her time traveling, boating with her husband, making jewelry, and playing with her rescue Pekingese, Mitzi. She wrote about the women’s leadership retreat, Finding the Fire Within (page 36).
SAMANTHA KUPIAINEN is an Indianapolis native who relocated to North Carolina in October. She holds a magazine journalism degree from Ball State University and enjoys writing about topics related to health, women, and local communities. When she’s not behind her computer, she’s probably at the beach, testing a new recipe, or road tripping around the state. Kupiainen featured cover subject Evonne Varady about her podcast and the growth of her company Clean Eatz on page 32.
DREWE SMITH and KATE SUPA own a creative studio – Drewe and Kate Branding Co. – that helps companies elevate their brand and digital presence through photography, brand styling, logo design, and website creation. They worked on features about the group Finding the Fire Within (page 36), dentist Sarah Pless (page 46), and band Lady Die (page 82). They also styled and photographed the style spread on mixing prints (page 56) and summer swimsuits (page 63). dreweandkate.com
IMORNING ROUTINES
’m always curious about people’s 5-9 before their 9-5. Like, what do morning people do to kick themselves out of bed and get rolling?
One friend in the throes of marathon training would go to sleep in her running clothes so that when 5 a.m. came, she could quickly get out the house. Another likes to hit the beach and collect sunrise photos during her morning walks.
“One of the most powerful shifts I have made is protecting the first hour of my day and being intentional about what I allow into it,” writes Kimberly McLaughlinSmith. The founder of Courage2Become Consulting shares on page 28 about her shift in habits to put herself more front and center.
Deeper into this issue, the members of the Cape Fear River Rowing Club talk about the camaraderie and practice they find most mornings, meeting up at 5:45 a.m. to hit the water.
“I started rowing in 2019 as someone who had never rowed in my life,” club president Kim Futrell, who is out on the river most mornings, says in the story on page 50.
I know others who have tried to be intentional about swapping book reading for daybreak doomscrolling. For those
looking for a page turner to start next, we have several local bookstore owners sharing their summer picks, starting on page 71.
Active or chill, their common denominator is carving out some alone time first.
Over here?
I can’t say I’ve tackled the 5 a.m. quiet hour. The sound of a kid yelling, “Alexa, off” – the modern-day equivalent to hitting the snooze button on school mornings – at 6:15 is what serves as an alarm clock in our house.
But I have high hopes.
Maybe this summer will be the warmweather impetus to get out and get going. Who knows, maybe beating beach visitors to snag early-morning parking will be the necessary motivation. Maybe my dog will become a sunrise canine.
As the school year quickly comes to a close and schedules ease into summertime routines, any changeups are possible –as long as someone remembers to reset Alexa’s alarm.
THIS YEAR’S COASTAL ENTREPRENEUR AWARDS RECOGNIZE high-growth companies and impactful nonprofits in the region. The awards event, a joint program between WILMA sister publication Greater Wilmington Business Journal and UNCW’s Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship, takes place May 21 at UNCW’s Burney Center. Among this year’s category winners are the Carolina Beach Mural Project, headed up by MAUREEN LEWIS, in the Nonprofit category. The locally based skin care line Unwind Collection by Creatively Covered Co. by DAWN MCDOWELL (right) earned the nod in this year’s Minority/WomanOwned Business category. At the awards event later this month, the category winners will be recognized, and this year’s overall Coastal Entrepreneur of the Year named. Info: coastalentrepreneur.com
photo by Madeline Gray
HOMEBUILDING HONORS
THE WILMINGTON-CAPE FEAR HOME BUILDERS ASSOCIATION RECENTLY HOSTED ITS 2026 MAX! Awards Gala at Cape Fear Community College’s Union Station. The MAX! Awards are presented by the Wilmington-Cape Fear Home Builders Association and the Cape Fear New Home Sales & Marketing Council. Some of the winners for individual achievements were Angel Stang, Rookie Salesperson of the Year; Angel Dallas, Salesperson of the Year; Grae Hilton, Sales Manager of the Year; Emily Tucker, Online Salesperson of the Year; Kelsey Talis, Young Professional of the Year; Alexis Siebert (above), Marketing Professional of the Year; Nicole Piland, Interior Design/ Staging Professional of the Year; and Brooke Harrington, New Leaf Builders, Design Center Consultant of the Year.
SOCIAL STROLLS
WHAT: Brooklyn Arts District Social District
WHEN: noon-5 p.m., Saturdays through October
LOCATION: Brooklyn Arts District spans 10 blocks along Fourth Street, from Walnut to North Front streets, and a block section of Red Cross Street, providing access to The Eagle’s Dare.
DETAILS: Wilmington City Council recently approved a six-month pilot program allowing people to walk with alcoholic drinks from participating establishments around the district.
INFO: brooklynartsdistrict.com
BEST BUSINESS
TOP U.S. SMALL METRO AREAS FOR WOMEN-OWNED BUSINESSES
B Naples, Florida
C Savannah, Georgia
D Crestview, Florida
E Wilmington, North Carolina
F Hilton Head Island, South Carolina
Source: CoWorking Cafe
POPULATION UPDATES
PERCENTAGE OF FEMALE RESIDENTS
CHORUS CROWD
WHAT: Belt It Out sing-along brunch
WHEN: May 31, 11 a.m.-2 p.m.
LOCATION: The Bend, 7227 Market Street
DETAILS: Brunch with a side of singing tunes with friends and the crowd alongside DJ Just Martin
INFO: thebendilm.com/events
Source: U.S. Census
PARTY LIKE IT’S 1999
THE THREE LADIES IN WILMINGTON NETWORKING group hosts its sixth annual Back Outside Day Party on May 16. The event – inspired by the ’90s – takes place 1-5 p.m. at Tap Yard, 502 South 16th Street. Organizers describe the vibes as “nostalgic day filled with throwback hits and good company,” featuring DJ Bigg B, raffles for drinks and prizes, “and an
atmosphere that blends community, culture, and celebration.” Tickets are $10. SHERI LEAVENS, CONSTANCE FOREMAN, and CRYSTAL PELLOM (below) created Three Ladies in Wilmington, or 3LW, in 2021 to create “meaningful opportunities for Black professionals to find each other and connect.”
Event info: https://tinyurl.com/bd3edhty
SUMMER MUSIC
CONCERT SEASON KICKS OFF THIS MONTH with acts taking the stage at Live Oak Bank Pavilion and Greenfield Lake Amphitheater. Among the touring acts scheduled to stop in Wilmington is ELLA LANGLEY on her Dandelion Tour. Langley (above), whose Dandelion album recently topped the Top Country Albums and Billboard 200, performs June 26 at Live Oak. The riverside amphitheater also hosts LAUREN DAIGLE on June 12. Grammy Award-winning ANI DIFRANCO opened Greenfield Lake’s summer season on May 3. RISING APPALACHIA (May 10) and RHIANNON GIDDENS (July 22) are also scheduled to perform at Greenfield Lake this summer.
ON THE AGENDA
Advice and connections from local leaders + the latest on the WILMA Leadership initiative
p.24
WILMA LEADERSHIP UPDATES
p.27
WILMA LEADERSHIP SPONSORS
p.26
LEADERSHIP ADVICE FROM KIMBERLY MCLAUGHLIN-SMITH
p.32
PLUGGING IN: EVONNE VARADY PUMPS UP THE VOLUME
p. 35
PLUGGING IN: PODCASTS
p.36
FINDING THE FIRE WITHIN TO REGROUP
UPDATES
RECAP:
The latest on the WILMA Leadership Initiative and its mission to empower women to lead with confidence and purpose
• LEADERSHIP INSTITUTE: The 2026 WILMA Leadership Institute class kicked off its nine-month program with orientation in April. At the orientation, the forty-eight women learned about communication styles from The Forté Institute, participated in PickleBall Corporate Teambuilding’s court experience that mixes the game with leadership lessons ( above ), met with Institute alum, and heard from WILMA Leadership Initiative advisory board member Sheri Leavens for networking in motion. The class will meet monthly this year in the program.
• GET ON BOARD: UNCW’s Quality Enhancement for Nonprofit Organizations (QENO) held a board training session for WILMA readers on April 8 at The Harrelson Center’s Plaza on Princess. Joining QENO director Fletcher Daniels was a panel of community board members and executive directors Dori Bishara, Meade Van Pelt, and Linda Thompson to share advice about connecting with and serving on boards.
• MENTORING: This year’s group of WILMA mentors and mentees have been meeting one-on-one each month to work on the women’s professional goals.
EXPLORE MORE OPPORTUNITIES TO GET INVOLVED
UP NEXT:
How to connect with WILMA’s leadership programs
• WOMEN TO WATCH AWARDS: Stayed tuned for announcements about this year’s award finalists in Arts, Business, Education, Health, Nonprofit/Volunteer, Public Sector, and Rising Star ahead of the September 11 event. There, we’ll recognize the finalists and announce category winners as well as honor this year’s Icon Award winner. INFO: W2WAward.com
• LEADERSHIP ACCELERATOR: WILMA’s annual leadership conference returns to the Wilmington Convention Center on July 30. INFO: WILMAAccelerator.com and on page 4
• IN THE LOOP: Keep up to date with these and other Leadership Initiative programs as well as application announcements by going to WILMAmag.com or signing up for the WILMA Leadership email at WILMAmag.com/email-newsletter .
SPONSORS
ALEXIS HUNTER Executive, Strategic Relationships & Foundation WILMINGTON HEALTH
“As spring blooms across our coastal landscape, Wilmington Health is reminded of why we love serving this community. It is our privilege to provide personalized, high-quality care for families throughout the region. We are proud to support your health journey as you head outdoors together again. Here’s to a vibrant season of growth and a safe, healthy transition into the sun-drenched summer months ahead!”
“With Wilmington proudly ranking among the nation’s best places for women-owned businesses, PNC applauds the visionary leaders, innovative entrepreneurs and skilled financial decision-makers who fuel the vibrancy and economic growth of the Cape Fear region. Our longstanding collaboration with WILMA and support for the WILMA Leadership Initiative reflect our shared commitment to develop, empower and celebrate women in business who create impact for a region that means so much to all of us.”
PRESENTING SPONSORS
CORPORATE SPONSORS
REBECCA QUINN-WOLF Senior Vice President, Director of Client & Community Relations
PNC BANK
KIMBERLY McLAUGHLIN-SMITH: The Courage to Choose Yourself First
photo by LOGAN BURKE
There is a moment each morning, quiet, unclaimed, and full of possibility, that most of us rush past.
Before the emails. Before the expectations. Before the world begins telling us who we need to be for everyone else.
What if that moment became the most powerful leadership decision you make all day?
For a long time, I moved right through it. Like many professional women, I started my day in response mode, checking my phone, scanning for urgency, stepping immediately into responsibility. I was showing up, producing, contributing, and leading in the ways I was called to, but not always from a place that felt fully grounded.
That shifted when a friend sent me a song, one that, if you allow it, becomes an anthem. It was Morning Magic by Millionaire Muses. Simple. Rhythmic. But its message stayed with me: “I don’t check my phone, I check my soul. I don’t scroll, I take control.” What began as something I listened to became something I lived.
The lyrics are now part of my daily anchoring practice, a necessary opening to each day before I step into any role I hold, whether that is leadership by title or leadership through my work and contribution. And it did not stop there. Music became more than background. It became alignment.
One of the most powerful shifts I have made is protecting the first hour of my day and being intentional about what I allow into it. My mornings are anchored in three songs that ground me in who I am and how I move through the world. Morning Magic by Millionaire Muses reminds me to take ownership of my mindset before the world attempts to shape it. The Bones by Maren Morris speaks to something deeper for me. While the song centers on relationships, I apply it to my inner foundation, my upbringing, my values, and the belief that what I am made of is strong enough to carry me through anything. You’ve Got the Power by Third World reinforces what I never want to forget, that tenacity, empowerment, and self-belief already live within me.
This is more than a playlist. It is a practice. When I begin this way, I show up more grounded, more present, and more aligned with who I already am. Not someone different. Not someone performing. Simply more fully myself. Because the way you start your day does not just influence your mood. It shapes your presence, your decisions, and your impact.
We often think of courage as something required in big, visible moments. But courage shows up much earlier than that. It shows up in the quiet decision to believe in yourself before there is proof. To invest in your own vision before there is validation. To finally move forward with something you have placed on the back burner, not because you were not capable, but because fear kept asking you to wait.
For many women, that waiting becomes a pattern. Whether you are leading an organization, leading a team, building something of your own, or leading through your daily works and contribution, choosing to move forward anyway is a significant shift. It is a professional shift and, often, a personal one. You begin to trust yourself more deeply. You begin to give yourself permission. You begin to move with courage before certainty arrives.
Many women have been taught that their value is measured by how much they give. And we give, fully and consistently. But sustainable impact requires something more. It requires that we first pour into ourselves. For me, music is part of that. It is healing. It is grounding. It is a way to center my thoughts before the day begins unfolding. Coupled with consistent self-talk rooted in love and grace, it becomes a powerful foundation that allows me to lead and contribute from fullness instead of depletion.
Another part of my morning practice is intentional selftalk. Speaking to myself with care. With grace. With clarity. For many women, the internal voice can become crowded with questions, expectations, and second-guessing. But self-trust is built through consistency, through what you choose to affirm, especially in the quiet. What you say to yourself becomes what you stand on.
In a world that rewards constant access, choosing stillness can feel unnatural. But it is also powerful. Not reaching for your phone first. Not allowing external noise to set your internal tone. Creating space to ground yourself in who you already are before the day begins. Because when you lead from that place, instead of reacting to everything around you, you move with clarity instead of chaos.
If you are standing at the edge of something new, an idea, a vision, a next chapter, consider this your reminder: You do not need perfect timing. You do not need full certainty. You need a starting point. Sometimes that starting point is as simple and as powerful as how you begin your morning. W
Kimberly McLaughlin-Smith is founder of Courage2Become Consulting LLC (courage2becomeconsulting.com). She also is creator, executive producer, and host of Reggae Redemption.
PLUGGING IN PODCASTS
Rebel With a Cause: Local business owner uses her podcast platform to share about overcoming difficult seasons
by SAMANTHA KUPIAINEN | photos by MADELINE GRAY
According to the American Cancer Society, “more than 100,000 new cases of melanoma are diagnosed annually.” Of that population, roughly 1.1% to 20.4% of people diagnosed with melanoma may receive a second diagnosis in their lifetime. The organization also reports that the average age at diagnosis is 66.
Wilmington transplant EVONNE VARADY is among those who have been diagnosed with melanoma twice. She was significantly younger than the national average, having been just thirty-two years old when she was first diagnosed in 2006.
“I ended up getting melanoma and got a pretty good scare, and I found out that life was too short to end it that shortly,” says Varady, co-founder of Clean Eatz and host of the Rebel Rootz podcast.
Her diagnosis ultimately served as a wake-up call and changed the trajectory of her life. It led her to move to Wilmington, where she and her husband, DON, would go on to franchise their thriving business Clean Eatz – a meal prep and delivery service – and launch her podcast, Rebel Rootz.
Prior to her diagnosis, Varady described herself as a farm kid from Hillsboro, Illinois. She worked as an X-ray technician and also taught kickboxing classes on the side.
“There was a group of ladies in the back of the classroom, and they were talking about how they couldn’t lose weight,” Varady says. “They were working out, and I was like, ‘Hey, I’m meal prepping. I would be happy to make your meals for you.’ I did that, and then within six weeks they had all lost their weight.”
From there, Clean Eatz began to take shape. Today, the company has grown into a franchise with more than 120 locations across twenty states. Varady has also made a few QVC appearances, sharing different meals and preps.
While attending the Arnold Sports Festival in Ohio, Varady met JEN HENDERSHOTT, who was Miss Olympia at the time. On a whim, Hendershott encouraged her to move to Wilmington, and Varady ran with the idea. At the time, she was drawn to the idea of living “near the beach, sand, and sun.”
“I looked on Craigslist for some businesses here that were for sale, and 203 Racine Drive was on there for sale, and I put that in MapQuest and drove 22 hours to that location,” Varady says. “I fell in love with Wilmington, and we moved here three months later. We opened up the cafe in 2013, and then we ended up franchising it in 2015.”
That franchising success eventually led to the creation of her Rebel Rootz podcast, where Varady “sits down with trailblazers who ditched the safe path and dug deep to grow something extraordinary.” Through the show, she shares unfiltered stories that explore her guests’ motivations and what sustained them through difficult seasons.
For Varady, one of her most challenging moments came when she walked into her one-hundredth franchise location – and felt nothing. Reaching one hundred units is a major milestone, as only about 3% of franchises ever hit that mark.
“They either stop growing or they fail, and you’re always considered emerging until you hit that number,” Varady said. “When I walked through the door, I felt nothing. I was like, ‘Oh my gosh, I have been wanting this for seven years. I got it, and I don’t have excitement.’”
It was in those moments that she got the idea to start Rebel Rootz
“There are so many people around us locally that have such amazing stories that are more relatable to someone who is in the more successful shoes, and that’s what I want to do,” she says. “I want to tell badass women's stories that everyone can relate to that didn't seem like it was such out of reach, not to be able to obtain that success.”
Almost a year later, Rebel Rootz, which can be found on audio streaming platforms and full videos on YouTube (@ RebelRootzShow) is still releasing weekly episodes, featuring a diverse range of guests. Much like its name, Varady feels that the podcast has helped her return to her roots.
When looking for her next podcast guests, Varady strives to “find unique stories, someone who is doing something that is outside of the realm, and how they had passion to start it and the guts to pull it off and how they’re successful in what they’re doing.”
“I’ve had a girl who lost her leg during a 4th of July accident, and now she’s training for Special Olympics,” Varady says. “I have another one who picked up her entire life and moved to Costa Rica. Another lady, she has made over 600 coats out of quilts that no one wanted anymore.”
As she nears the one-year mark of her podcast, one of the biggest lessons she’s learned from her journey thus far is “life throws a lot of curve balls at you.”
“The thing is, I feel like women are so much more fortunate than we think that we are,” she says. “I think sometimes we fight for so much as women to make sure that we’re heard and that we are being seen for our accomplishments and success, we forget who we are. I think that’s where I was when I hit that one-hundredth location. I was living for this goal, and then I crossed the finish line, and I had forgotten everything else.” W
PLUGGING IN PODCASTS
Each issue, WILMA includes a Plugging In directory to help you connect locally. This time, we’re focusing on locally made podcasts on leadership and business. Let us know others you’re listening to by emailing editor@wilmingtonbiz.com
REBEL ROOTZ
Hosted by Clean Eatz co-owner EVONNE VARADY, Rebel Rootz features conversations with guests about their motivations and backstories. The women, who have crossed paths with Varady either personally or professionally, talk about a range of topics from entrepreneurship to relationships, from body image to career confidence. INFO: REBELROOTZSHOW.COM AND @ REBELROOTZSHOW ON YOUTUBE (TURN TO PAGE 32 FOR MORE ABOUT VARADY AND WHY SHE STARTED REBEL ROOTZ)
HR NIGHTMARES
Human resource professionals LISA LEATH, president of Leath HR Group; BETH LOONEY; and AMY CONWAY talk HR matters – with humor and candor. HR topics, personal HR nightmare stories, and audience questions make up the shows, which are streamed on audio platforms and shown on YouTube. INFO: YOUTUBE. COM/@LEATHHR
BLACK WOMAN
WORKING
SHERI LEAVENS recently rebooted her Black Woman Working podcast, which she originally launched in 2019. She originally described it as “a podcast that informs, connects, and protects the spirit, honor, and vulnerability of Black women as they work on and through life’s adversities and possibilities, while sharing their stories, growth, and accomplishments!” INFO: PODCASTS. APPLE.COM/US/PODCAST/BLACKWOMAN-WORKING
WHATCHU’ DOIN’
NC Host DEMIA AVERY launched Whatchu’ Doin’ Wilmington in 2021 and recently expanded it statewide. On it, she spotlights people and places around the state, including
in her home base of Wilmington. Community highlights and event previews are a part of Avery’s mix. INFO: WHATCHUDOINNC.COM, TIKTOK.COM/@ WHATCHUDOINNORTHCAROLINA
FRACTIONAL
The semiweekly Fractional with Chris Capone and Associates podcast includes interviews with officials and newsmakers from the area’s business community. Recent guests have included LAURA BROGDON-PRIMAVERA, on developing the Wilmington chamber’s Career and Leadership Development Academy, in which all seventh graders in the New Hanover County school system make site visits to local employers. JEANETTE COFER, founder of executive leadership and organizational development firm JCo., was also a recent guest. INFO: CAPONEANDASSOCIATES.BIZ/ CATEGORY/PODCAST
SHORESIDES
Shoresides, a podcast started by the nonprofit Narrative Arts, discusses community issues and news about coastal Carolina. It was launched after Hurricane Florence. Besides Shoresides News, shows also include Somewhere & Elsewhere, focusing on artists, and Coastal Rising, about environmental topics. INFO: SHORESIDES. ORG
KICKSTART YOUR WEEK
Wilmington marketing agency Kickstart Collective hosts the weekly Kickstart Your Week podcast, geared toward small business owners and marketers. Recent topics included embracing video content, human-first AI marketing, Super Bowl commercials, and more. INFO: KICKSTARTCOLLECTIVE.CO/ TOUCAN-TALKS
IGNITING A SPARK: WOMEN’S
LEADERSHIP
RETREATS FOCUS ON RECHARGING
by AMY KILGORE MANGUS | photo by DREWE AND KATE BRANDING CO.
Long before KATE EAMES founded Finding the Fire Within, a locally based women’s leadership retreat series, she forged her career in industries where women were the exception, not the rule.
Eames began as an engineer, moved into construction law as an expert witness, and eventually found her way to homebuilding – her lifelong dream.
“I have always been in male-dominated industries,” Eames says. “I would show up with this energy to prove myself – that I had a right to be in the room, I had a right to be at the table. Even though I didn’t feel my presence was welcomed, I made my own space.”
That resilience – and willingness to lead – became the through line of her professional life. Today, Eames is the founder of Anchor Group Design and Build and a driving force behind women-focused leadership initiatives in the construction world.
But Finding the Fire Within didn’t emerge from ambition alone. It was born from something far more personal.
As Eames was launching her company and helping lead the Cape Fear Professional Women in Building Council through the Wilmington-Cape Fear Home Builders Association, something unexpected kept happening. Women began seeking her out –again and again.
“They were asking, ‘Can we get coffee?’ ‘How are you navigating this?’ ‘What are you doing about that?’” she says. “I really enjoy helping, but I realized there was a lack of something being available.”
At the same time, Eames was navigating profound change in her own life.
“There was a lot of inner work I was already doing behind the scenes,” she says. “That kind of work is not typically discussed within leadership programs.”
What she saw was a gap: Countless leadership workshops focused on strategies, frameworks, and productivity, but very little attention paid to the patterns, conditioning, and emotional load women carry into every leadership role they hold.
“This is not an entry-level leadership program,” Eames explains. “This is beyond core values. This is a much deeper dive into who you are personally – and doing work that can get really uncomfortable.”
Finding the Fire Within (findingthefirewithinretreat.com) is designed for high-achieving women who also feel disconnected, exhausted, or quietly dissatisfied, organizers say. Many are CEOs, attorneys, business owners, or senior leaders. Almost all share the same underlying struggle.
“Our worthiness is connected to our output,” Eames says. “We equate busyness with success. But we have the right to rest.”
At the retreats – kept intentionally small and intimate –participants step away from their daily roles as leaders, mothers, partners, and caregivers. There’s no detailed itinerary handed out in advance. No chance to over-prepare.
“Type-A women love an agenda,” Eames says with a laugh. “So, we intentionally don’t give you one. You have to show up and be present.”
The work combines professional leadership development with therapy-based inner exploration, all set within a thoughtfully curated environment. The first retreat took place on Bald Head Island, a location chosen for its beauty and its seclusion.
“You can’t just phone a friend and leave,” Eames says. “If you make the commitment to be here, we want you to stay and work through the discomfort.”
The transformations Eames witnesses aren’t loud or flashy, but they’re lasting.
“Everyone has some level of breakthrough,” she says. “Not because they aren’t capable, but because they’ve given themselves no grace.”
Participants begin to understand how old patterns, formed in childhood or reinforced through years of achievement, have shaped how they lead. Many arrive believing they must fix everyone and everything.
“One of the biggest realizations is understanding, ‘I don’t have to fix everyone. I only have to work on myself,’” Eames says. “And the more I work on myself, the better I show up for others.”
That awareness changes not only how women lead teams, but how they lead their lives, creating space for empathy without self-sacrifice, ambition without burnout, and success without constant survival mode.
“There’s a time in your life when you can thrive,” Eames says. “You just have to choose to.”
Eames describes herself as someone with a deep internal fire – one fueled by empowerment and community. Even now, balancing parenting, business ownership, and leadership retreats, she follows that spark.
“When I’m lit up, other people feel it,” she says. “If more people lived authentically, others would step into that energy too.”
With future retreats planned and hopes of national recognition, Finding the Fire Within continues to grow – not as a quick fix, but as a transformative experience.
“There’s no going back to who you were before,” Eames says. “You don’t return with a checklist. You return as a new version of yourself.”
Finding the Fire
Within retreat
organizers Kate Eames and Heather Sherry
An
Eastern Blend
Nil’s brings Mediterranean and Turkish dishes to downtown
by KATIE SCHMIDT | photos by MEGAN DEITZ
Operated by chef TAN UCKAN and his wife, SEMRA, the recently opened Nil’s Mediterranean Cuisine in downtown Wilmington is the third installment of the successful restaurant in Fuquay-Varina and Angier.
The original iteration of Nil’s was a Turkish bakery, before becoming a Mediterranean cafe and lunch location and now its current iteration operated by the Uckans. When Tan Uckan was first approached about the possibility of running the restaurant – then just the Fuquay location – he was running a successful food truck in the area and was content doing just that. Semra Uckan, however, had another dream. Literally.
“She was in Turkey at the time,” Tan Uckan says, “and she called saying she had a dream that we had a small cafe restaurant.” When he told Semra Uckan that he had an offer for such a location in front of him and was leaning away from getting involved, she nudged him in the other direction.
“For me, opening a restaurant was never just about business; it was about rebuilding our life,” Semra Uckan says. “In my mind, the restaurant was a place where everything would come together – our family, our story, our effort and our love. And in a way, it
did exactly that. After so many years apart, working together didn’t just build a business; it helped heal the distance between us.”
The couple, who met in high school, ended up spending nearly ten years apart, with Tan in the U.S. and Semra in Turkey. “No matter the distance, we stayed connected,” she says. “Looking back, I believe what makes our story special is that we didn’t just fall in love once. We chose each other again and again, even when life made it hard.”
Semra’s background is in finance, while Tan has always been passionate about food. With him at the helm in the kitchen, Semra Uckan is actively involved in shaping the overall experience from customer relationships to atmosphere.
“We always said we want our guests to feel comfortable enough to ask for food the way they would from their mothers,” she says. “That sense of trust and warmth is very important to us.”
The menu includes Greek and Turkish staples, including falafel and tabbouleh, as well as entrees such as shakshuka and a Mediterranean Stew Bowl.
A kofte platter combines a colorful medley of meatballs, rice, Turkish bean salad, tzatziki, hummus, pickled red cabbage, spicy pepper sauce and pita bread.
“We’re offering a little bit of an upscale, modern fusion of Mediterranean food with a lot of Turkish flavors,” Tan Uckan says.
Being from Turkey and “born next to the sea,” the
“ “
In my mind, the restaurant was a place where everything would come together –our family, our story, our effort, and our love. And in a way, it did exactly that.
SEMRA UCKAN co-owner, Nil's Mediterranean Cuisine
couple finds Wilmington a natural spot for both their family and their restaurant. “Because Wilmington is a coastal city, we felt that Mediterranean cuisine would be a perfect fit,” Semra Uckan says. “It feels like a place where our concept naturally belongs.”
In his other locations, Tan Uckan has set about establishing a menu that relies on his customers’ preferences to guide him.
“We test what they like, what they don’t like, and then we change what we need to,” he says. “We made a menu for all the customers and their favorites.”
Tan Uckan plans to do the same with the Wilmington menu.
“We’re going to go with the flow,” he says. “I want people to not only enjoy the food but that Mediterranean vibe – you know chill, no rush, no pressure.”
The restaurant is open for both lunch and dinner (11 a.m.-9 p.m. Tuesday-Saturday; 11 a.m.-8 p.m. Sunday), and, if the appetite is there for the Wilmington location, Tan Uckan is open to bringing Sunday brunch service eventually as well.
Overall, the Uckans have a why not approach to it all. Why not transition from food truck to restaurant? Why not expand into multiple locations? Why not adjust the menu based on customer needs?
“This part of North Carolina is growing up (in regards to) food, and why not?” Tan Uckan says. “This location came up, and I didn’t want to miss the opportunity.” W
Buttermilk Ranch Dressing
INGREDIENTS
½ cup good-quality mayonnaise
½ cup sour cream
½ cup buttermilk
3 tbsp fresh minced parsley
3 tbsp fresh minced dill
½ tsp apple cider vinegar
½ tap Worcestershire sauce
½ tap garlic powder
¼ tap onion powder
1 tsp hot sauce
¼ tsp salt
Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
DIRECTIONS
In a medium bowl, whisk together the mayonnaise, sour cream, and buttermilk until smooth and fully combined. Add the parsley, dill, vinegar, Worcestershire sauce, garlic powder, onion powder, hot sauce, salt, and pepper. Stir until well blended.
Taste and adjust seasoning as needed.
Cover and refrigerate for at least four hours, preferably eight hours or overnight, to let the flavors develop.
After chilling, if the dressing is too thick, stir in a small splash of buttermilk until you reach your desired consistency.
Store refrigerated up to one week.
“Smith Sauce” Dipping Sauce
INGREDIENTS
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1/4 cup ketchup
1 tbsp distilled vinegar
1 tsp hot sauce, like Crystal or Tabasco
1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
1 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
Dash dill pickle juice
DIRECTIONS
In a bowl, whisk the mayonnaise, ketchup, vinegar, hot sauce, Worcestershire sauce, and pickle juice together until the mixture is smooth and fully blended. Give it a taste, then add salt as needed.
Transfer to a container and refrigerate. It will keep well for up to one week.
Sauce Boss
As things start to heat up in Wilmington this summer, sandwich season has arrived.
Grills, picnic blankets, and pool chairs are getting unpacked for al fresco dining. Major players in the sandwich game are MOLLY and BRENDAN CURNYN, coowners of CheeseSmith, who built their menu around the grilled cheese.
The couple started with a food truck in 2018, graduating to a brick-and-mortar restaurant at 624 South 17th Street in the Cargo District in 2020. Four years later, they added a second CheeseSmith location, this time in the Landfall Shopping Center at 1319 Military Cutoff Road.
“At the original Cargo District location, the most popular dishes are definitely the Buffalo Baby and Maple Bacon grilled cheeses,” Molly Curnyn says. “However, at Landfall our cheesesteaks are the best sellers, and we are also selling many cold deli sandwiches due to the warmer weather and its proximity to Wrightsville Beach.”
One common thread for both locations is the sauces that tie everything together. Dipped or slathered, they add an extra flavor punch to the sandwiches or sides. Molly Curnyn shares receipts for two of CheeseSmith’s popular sauces to make at home.
“I am obsessed with fried green tomatoes and fried zucchini, which we serve dipped in our buttermilk ranch (shown above) all summer long,” she says. “All football season, our friends always request that we bring ranch for dipping buffalo wings.”
(For last-minute parties, CheeseSmith also sells 16-ounce containers of the ranch sauce if there’s no time for kitchen prep.)
“Our Smith Sauce,” Molly Curnyn recommends, “is a great addition to a good burger on the grill, as a fry dipping sauce, with fried shrimp, or as a substitute for plain mayo on a tomato sandwich or a BLT.” W
photo c/o CheeseSmith
HEALTH + WELLNESS
Aligning Goals
Sarah Pless adds skin health to her dental health focus
by LYNDA VAN KUREN | photo & styling by DREWE AND KATE BRANDING CO.
By blending high-tech dental procedures and a relaxing, spa-like atmosphere, SARAH PLESS, dentist and owner of Renaissance Dental Studio, takes dental visits to a whole new level. Now, Pless is adding facial aesthetics to her services, which she says is a natural extension of her work as a dentist.
“I help people put their best face forward,” Pless says. ‘I’ve been doing that for years with smiles, and now I’m moving into more facial harmony and balance.”
Pless’ facial aesthetic services, as well as selected dental procedures, will be performed at her new office, Renewal by Renaissance. The office is located three doors down from Renaissance Dental Studio and is scheduled to open in June.
Throughout her career, Pless has brought her patients innovative dental practices along with personal care. This is evident through her use of new technologies such as dental lasers and 3D printing for fillings and crowns; a comfy, relaxing environment complete with heated massage chairs and individual TVs for patients; and the relationships she builds with them.
At Renewal by Renaissance, Pless is expanding on her determination to give patients treatments that go above and beyond the norm. She wants to add facial aesthetics to the services she offers, because they will enhance her patients’ lives, she says. Plus, given the training she took to perform these treatments and her experience as a dentist, Pless says she is uniquely qualified to perform them.
“So much of dentistry is technical,” she says. “I deal in milliliters all day long. I have to mind ratios and plan to get the most balanced smile. … I like the naturalness of the facial aesthetic services we will provide. We will give patients an improved look without giving them a cartoonish appearance.”
Not surprisingly, Pless is also taking advantage of a new technology, Aura Reality, to augment her patients’ microneedling and laser experience. Aura Reality produces 3D images and analysis of patients’ skin, and it scores their skin texture, hyperpigmentation (sunspots), redness, and wrinkles.
“With Aura Reality, you can do a treatment and then show a patient there’s actually been an improvement in their skin,” Pless explains. “Having a way to quantify the results from before and after treatment is really important to me.”
The dental procedures Pless will perform at Renewal by
Renaissance also reflect her focus on high-tech, patient-friendly protocols. These include Invisalign, which uses clear aligners for orthodontia; specialized children’s dental care; and routine teeth cleanings that are anything but routine. Instead of harsh scraping, Pless will use a new procedure, Guided Biofilm Therapy, to clean patients’ teeth. GBT relies on “the world’s tiniest pressure washer and warm water to remove plaque and bacteria, which results in a more thorough cleaning that is also more enjoyable for patients, Pless says.
“It’s like a dental spa for your mouth,” she adds.
Renewal by Renaissance will have the same creature comforts as Renaissance Dental Studio. Another benefit is that the new location should be convenient for patients, Pless says.
“It’s so easy for patients to schedule facial aesthetic procedures when we see them every four or six months when they come in for their teeth maintenance or cleanings,” Pless says. “We can apply those treatments then, and patients have minimal downtime. They are already in our very cozy office.”
For Pless, adding facial aesthetics and innovative technologies to her dental practice is essential to her quest to give patients a positive dental experience.
“I’m always pushing the envelope,” says Pless. “I try to be proactive and add services that will best help my patients.”
Though Pless is busy with Renaissance Dental Studio and now Renewal by Renaissance, she has another commitment that is dear to her heart. She is a colon cancer awareness advocate.
Pless’ service as a colorectal cancer awareness advocate began after she lost her mother to colon cancer. Now, educating patients about the link between mouth plaque and cancer is an integral part of her work as a dentist.
“There is evidence that if left untreated, the bacteria in periodontal disease gets in the gut,” Pless says. “That same mouth bacteria leads to major organ cancers.”
Pless also sponsors the local, annual springtime Blue Ribbon Run, which raises funds and awareness for colorectal cancer and supports research at the UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center and provides funds to help local individuals who have been diagnosed with colon cancer and their families. She also emceed the Matters of the Gut: A Colorectal Cancer Education Luncheon, held this past March by the UNCW College of Health and Human Services.
“I will do anything in my professional role to help people not go through the horrors of cancer,” Pless says. “It’s important to stay ahead of the factors that contribute to cancer.” W
IN THE
SAME
BOAT
Finding sport and community in a rowing club
by LILY CROWDER | photos by MADELINE GRAY
Since its founding in 1989, the Cape Fear River Rowing Club has taken new forms and seen iterations of members. But from its inception until now, the club has consistently been an outlet for people of any background or rowing skill level to get on the water, create community, and work hard.
Initially, the club’s boathouse was at the end of Nun Street downtown, but after that waterfront property was sold, the club relocated first to Point Harbor Marina and is now based at Wilmington Marine Center.
With relocation and more years of development, the rowing club, which is co-ed, has grown – both in size and in its rowing practices. When head coach ALLISON POTTER started consistently attending the club as a
member in 2009 after a history of collegiate rowing, she recalls twenty or so members. “There were mostly small boats, and it was mostly recreational,” Potter recalls.
Since then, she has seen it grow, with many members now competing at rowing regattas, usually four times per year. With the club’s now larger fleet of boats, along has come a larger group itself.
“We reached over seventy members pre-COVID, and now we still have a consistent fifty or so,” Potter says.
The club offers both disciplines of rowing: sculling and sweep rowing. With sculling, rowers have two oars and opearate a boat that seats one, two, or four people. Meanwhile, sweeping accommodates a group of two, four, or eight, and each person only has one oar. Sweep rowing also has a coxswain – a person watching the water, steering and instructing the rowers.
While sweep rowing in particular is a true feat of
teamwork and skill, sometimes people join the club with no prior experience.
The club’s president, KIM FUTRELL, is a testament to this.
“I started rowing in 2019 as someone who had never rowed in my life,” says Futrell, who now commits much of her free time to both rowing itself and making sure every aspect of the club runs smoothly.
“Often people are initially interested and join for the sculling opportunity,” says Futrell. “It’s a really peaceful, wonderful experience that allows you to get out on the water by yourself.”
While an individual boat might sound simpler than a group endeavor, Futrell explains that sweep rowing is actually important to hone first. “You’ve got to learn all the other things before you can get out by yourself,” she says. “It’s a difficult sport, and it takes a lot of time. It uses every
single muscle in your body; you have to focus on your technique, your power. It’s a big mental push.”
Congregating five or six days per week, depending sometimes on weather, rowers assemble at the Wilmington Marine Center at 5:45 a.m. before heading out on the water for a little over an hour.
During team rows, each boat is not only taking the lead from the coxswain, but during practices, from Potter as coach.
“She’s able to see every small detail and has an incredible ability to guide everyone in the right direction,” Futrell says of the head coach.
Potter recommends interested attendees have preexisting swimming skills, as well as moderate physical fitness, to meet the needs of both moving and operating the boats. These leaders in the club make it clear: The sport is challenging. This is not to discourage membership, but
actually what makes it so rewarding.
“We have a lot of people who come into the sport and are middle-aged, having never been athletes before, just wanting to try something new. To see those people now consider themselves athletes or try a team sport when they never had, it’s so special,” Potter says.
For someone first starting out rowing, the club offers a Learn to Row introductory program. Every Saturday, interested new rowers can attend the program, which begins with time on the ergometer, a rowing machine Futrell and Potter refer to as ‘Erg,’ followed by about an hour in a sweep rowing boat on the water with established rowers by their side.
Those who choose to get an annual membership can experience all the perks: from a dock to jet off from at meetings, to the joy and determination that exudes from the
team.
“It uses every single muscle in your body,” Futrell says about rowing. “You have to focus: on your team, your power, on the rhythm.” To new rowers, she suggests, “If you have the attitude of, ‘I’m going to figure this out,’ you’re going to succeed.”
Cape Fear River Rowing Club is more than disciplined time with a paddle in hand. Whether it’s in the few minutes before or after getting on the water, cleaning and maintaining boats, or on “workdays” where club members cut weeds at their dock or work on their equipment, it’s all about the team. “For me, it’s like a second family,” says Futrell. W
Allison Potter coaches the Cape Fear River Rowing Club as they practice in the early morning hours on the Cape Fear River.
Max To the E
very turn of season, the urge hits to buy a whole new slew of clothes in celebration. And while retail therapy cures so many ills, this summer you can find that dopamine dressing high in your very own closet with printmaxxing – a mash-up of seemingly clashing prints. Mixing stripes and florals or plaids and polka dots are all fair game, adding a new, vibrant energy to your existing pieces.
Here’s how to do it:
• Choose your palette: The idea isn’t to match colors, but it’s helpful to have a color story in mind. Opt for pieces within that realm to keep your look balanced.
• Incorporate scale: Printmaxxing is most successful when you pair small and large patterns, keeping the eye interested and moving.
• Make it intentional: Loud is good, but deliberate is even better. Use the magic number theory and limit your pattern choices to three. In this case, fabrics with texture such as wovens, leather, or lace can also count as patterns. W
photos & styling by DREWE AND KATE BRANDING CO. | intro by NINA BAYS
STYLE
Frank & Eileen Silvio Untuckable Button-Up SHIRT in wide blue stripe, Alemais Arnie SKIRT in multi, and Sylvia Benson Petite AA Doorknocker EARRINGS, all available at S. Worsley
Alemais Sidi MINI DRESS in multi, Frank & Eileen
Eileen relaxed button-up Shirt in colorblock stripe, and Sylvia Toledano Sunset EARRINGS in yellow onyx and golden jasper, all available at S. Worsley
Saloni Neesha C DRESS in Gingham Bloom, checked raphia Destree BOB HAT, and Sylvia Toledano Gipsy Hoop EARRINGS in vert and turquoise, all available at S. Worsley
Wild Solemar DRESS in noir, Shebobo Monica straw SUN HAT in striped black swirl, The Winding Road rattan cane TOTE, Wild Coral SCARF in noir, and Jewelry by Sarah Cheers peyote stitch loop shell NECKLACE, all available at Coharie Coastal Boutique
WARDROBE: S. Worsley and Coharie Coastal Boutique
MODEL: Jaime Roahen
HAIR & MAKEUP: Meraki Beauty
Suit Yourself
by Nina Bays
While prints may be front and center for daywear, texture rules over this season’s swimwear. Ribbed, smocked, crocheted, and embroidered, these swimsuits keep the silhouettes clean and rely on surface dimension to catch the eye.
If you prefer a less subtle beach ensemble, look for prints that feel dimensional, like stripes or botanicals. W
1. Ripple BIKINI in leopard by Mollusk Surf Shop (available at Coharie Coastal Boutique)
2. Caitlin ONE PIECE in Americana Stripe by Rylee + Cru (available at Wrightsville Ave)
3. Peyton BIKINI in lemondrop by Devon Windsor (available at Très Bleu)
4. Ripple ONE PIECE in malbec by Mollusk Surf Shop (available at Coharie Coastal Boutique)
Underwire ONE PIECE in cherry check by Rylee + Cru (available at Wrightsville Ave) Hailey BIKINI in emerald by Robin Piccone
styling and photos by Drewe and Kate Branding Co.
Crochet artist Fara Ferguson-Luther is shown at Coharie Costal Boutique, where a custom line from her brand,Ferguson Soup, is sold.
STYLE STYLE
Hooked on a Look
Crocheted
style pulls in new fans
by MOMENT PALMER | photos by MADELINE GRAY
Crochet, needlework, and knitting have really taken off over the past few years in the fashion and craft industries, but for FARA FERGUSON-LUTHER, she’s been hooked for more than a decade.
Ferguson-Luther moved to the Wilmington area in 2013 after living abroad in Ireland and New Zealand and traveling all over Europe. While visiting Spain, she found her inspiration.
“I saw this crocheted bikini. It was all beautiful rainbow colors, and it was my favorite,” Ferguson-Luther says. “That’s what really inspired me to get started, and a friend of mine’s mom taught me how to knit when I was living in New Zealand.”
Her brand, Ferguson Soup (@fergusonsoup on Instagram), was an amalgamation of all of the items she was making and selling at the Carolina Beach Farmers Market – clothing, jewelry, candles – and the inspiration for the name stems from her family’s tradition of creating a big pot of soup of all the leftovers from their massive garden that didn’t sell.
“I had some crochet at the time, but what I loved to do was sew. I would get fabrics and old vintage sheets and repurpose them and make them into dresses and pants. I did that, and then crochet just kind of took over,” Ferguson-Luther says.
When she was pregnant with her first child, Ferguson-Luther says she went through a “nesting phase” and had a lot of free time, so she started making everything. “When I had my first, she was my muse. I made these little dresses, and she had a little bikini. It was
adorable,” she recalls.
Around that time is when she started selling at the farmers market, and she thinks crochet might have been ahead of its time ten-plus years ago. She didn’t sell as much as she thought she would, and she attributes that to different fashion trends at the time.
“It would probably be better for me to do the markets now around the beach because there are more younger people and crochet is more ‘in’. But back then, ten years ago, it just wasn’t the demographic I needed at the time,” she says.
Today, she has found success with her Ferguson Soup line and makes everything from earrings to bikinis to kimonos, dresses, sweaters, purses, and a constant rotation of bags.
Her technique is just as diverse as the pieces she makes – she doesn’t use patterns and does a freeform style.
“I see something, I want to make it, and I just work it out,” says Ferguson-Luther. “My passion is trying to find something that’s a challenge for me, to remake that or to put my spin on it. And I love color, color makes me happy, and I like to use the brightest, craziest colors, and make sure every piece is different.”
In addition to selling at the farmers market for many years, she also sold her homemade goods at Majik Beanz Espresso, and when JAMIE JOHNSON opened Coharie Coastal Boutique, 120 North Lake Park Boulevard, in Carolina Beach three years ago, she told Ferguson-Luther that she wanted a line of her crochet in the shop.
“She (Johnson) has been so inspiring to me, and it’s great to actually make money, because it is expensive,” Ferguson-Luther says. “Your time is what is the most expensive thing when you’re making a piece.”
One challenge Ferguson-Luther has started to run into is finding quality yarn. She has gotten into making cardigans, and they require really fluffy yarn, she says.
“You want to use the most fabulous angora, but it’s hard to source it,” she says. “And when you order online, you can’t really feel it, you can’t touch it, so you don’t know if it’s the right thickness and texture.”
Hand-dyed yarn is optimal to use but expensive and in addition to the materials being hard to source, Ferguson-Luther keeps this in mind so she can price reasonably and keep her pieces affordable.
Her hope is that people will lean more toward and invest in artisan pieces that they really appreciate and move away from fast fashion because authentic crochet can’t be produced in a factory – it’s a custom art. She also doesn’t see it fading away anytime soon.
“You still see it on the runway; you see it on brand new TV shows – I’m like, ‘Oh my gosh. Look at her outfit!’”
And she’s even seen her pieces on the big screen. Johnson worked as a costume designer and has ties to the film industry. When Merv, a movie starring ZOOEY DESCHANEL about a couple that breaks up and shares custody of their dog was being filmed in Wilmington a few years ago, her big, crocheted dinosaur socks were featured in the opening scene.
“We were watching and waiting. We had no idea how long it was going to be in there, and it was pretty exciting to see it,” Ferguson-Luther says.
Ferguson-Luther plans to keep creating and crocheting pieces, and she loves every minute of it. “I enjoy it. It’s meditative, and it’s super calming,” she says. “It’s my outlet.” W
booked
SOLID
by EMILY GORMAN FANCY | photos by ARIS HARDING
Three Wilmington women are transforming the world of books. JESSICA TOBIN runs Burning Pages, Wilmington’s only independent bookstore specializing in romantasy books. HEATHER SETZLER narrates audiobooks in a variety of genres. And ANGELA FERNOT illustrates books and produces a local comic book anthology.
SUMMER READS
Need a summer read recommendation? Here are a few from local independent bookstores to stash in your beach bag or suitcase.
The
Scotswoman by
Inglis Fletcher
“With all the interest in Moores Creek (National Battlefield) generated by Outlander, this is a good companion read.
Fletcher’s narrative starts in Scotland with Flora MacDonald and charts the Scottish immigration to the Cape Fear area, culminating in the battle of Moores Creek.
Fletcher is buried in the national cemetery at 20th and Market Street. It is a great combo of local history, family obligation, love, and a tide of events that change the world.”
- GWENYFAR ROHLER, managing partner of Old Books on Front Street, 249 North Front Street
For the Love of Books
JESSICA TOBIN opened Burning Pages in the Cargo District in January 2025. Romantasy – as the name implies – blends romance and fantasy and has quickly grown from an underground subgenre into a highly soughtafter literary style with a strong fan base.
Tobin is an avid fan of romantasy with an entrepreneurial mindset, but Burning Pages is her first foray into owning a bookstore. After relocating to Wilmington in April 2021, Tobin ran a social media marketing company out of a shipping container in the Cargo District.
Tobin noticed that most big-box bookstores and general-interest independent bookstores relegated their romantasy offerings to one bookshelf, but the market for this genre was quickly growing. This observation, along with a desire to get out from the behind-the-scenes world of social media and into the community, propelled her to open Burning Pages.
“Reading has always been my therapy throughout life,” she says. “I wanted to have a store for this genre, and I’m also a big supporter of small businesses.”
On January 11, 2025, Tobin opened Burning Pages in a 150-square-foot shipping container in the Cargo District. Her intuition that Wilmington readers would support an independent romantasy bookstore was spoton. At her opening-day event, customers lined up “down the stairs, through the warehouse and around the corner,” she says, and a strong base of repeat customers has supported the store ever since.
Within two months, the store outgrew
its first modest shipping container. On April 25, 2025, Burning Pages opened the doors to its current space, a 500-square-foot store in the Cargo District’s courtyard that offers storage space and more room for customers to explore.
Tobin says she loved the welcoming business community of the Cargo District, and when she decided to start a new business, she immediately knew that she wanted to continue working in that neighborhood. “It’s a great place for small business owners,” she says. “You feel the hard work and the hustle of everyone there and that everyone loves what they’re doing.”
Burning Pages boasts a robust book club of 130 members connected through a Discord channel where members discuss everything from their latest reads to events happening around Wilmington. The book club meets in person twice per month, offering a chance to build community over a shared love of romantasy books.
Burning Pages also brings together romantasy fans through regular author events featuring meet and greets and book signings. Her store is a place where romantasy readers can come to engage with the community or talk to one of the store’s booksellers, who are all genre experts. “One of the things that sets us apart is we are all obsessive readers,” Tobin says of her staff. “You come in and it’s an experience – dark, moody, a whole vibe in and of itself. We talk about our favorite reads, and it’s like talking to a friend.”
One of Tobin’s goals with the store is to use her platform to support local nonprofits. She donates 50% of the profits from every Wednesday’s sales to a local nonprofit organization that supports women’s causes, including the Rape Crisis Center of Coastal Horizons Center, Fourth Trimester Mission, and A Safe Place. W
SUMMER READS
Best Offer Wins by
Marisa Kashino
“After losing house after house in Washington, D.C.’s ultracompetitive real estate market, Margo Miyake feels stuck in her life, her marriage, and her cramped apartment. She becomes fixated on the belief that her life will finally begin once she buys the perfect house. When she catches wind that her dream home in her dream neighborhood is about to be listed, she descends into an all-consuming obsession, determined to buy it before it hits the market. Fast-paced, darkly comedic, and suspenseful, Best Offer Wins shines a light on how the desire for status can make monsters of us, leaving readers to question how far they would go to attain the life they think they deserve. With its twists and propulsive pacing, you won’t want to put this one down, and you might even find yourself rooting for Margo on her unhinged crusade. It’s the perfect beach read to kick off your summer vacation or break a reading slump!”
- MALLORY CASH, co-owner, Floodplain Books, set to open this year at 23 North Front Street
Literary
Voices
SIf you’ve been around Wilmington for a while, you’ve probably heard
HEATHER SETZLER’s clear, melodic voice before.
Setzler spent nearly twenty years in the TV news industry as a WECT producer and reporter while also appearing in countless local and regional theater productions. On top of this, Setzler also lends her voice to audiobook narration and voiceover work.
Setzler grew up in Newberry, South Carolina. After graduating from Winthrop University and beginning her career in Charlotte, she moved to Wilmington in 2003 and began working for WECT. During her years in the TV news industry, she filled much of her time outside of work acting in local productions for Thalian Association and Opera House Theatre.
In 2018 she took a professional leap, leaving her TV news career to pursue performance full time. She expanded her theatre work to include regional productions from Florida to Pennsylvania. It was around this time that fellow Wilmington actor BRENT SCHRAFF introduced Setzler to voiceover work.
Setzler’s first voiceover work included corporate and radio projects, eventually booking her first audiobook in 2021. She has since voiced a range of books spanning genres, including young adult, romance, mystery, and
nonfiction.
Being an avid reader and a trained voice actor has made audiobook narration feel natural for Setzler. “Because I’m an avid reader, I just like the reading part,” she says. “I like some of the character work, but I mostly enjoy following along with the story and finding out what happens.”
Most recently, Setzler voiced the audiobook for the novel Deadly Gold Rush by Charlotte-based author Landis Wade. “It’s a murder mystery set in a senior retirement community in the present day,” Setzler says. “It has a lot of humor and local history.”
Deadly Gold Rush had twentyfive different characters to voice, which felt inherently challenging, Setzler says. However, Landis allowed Setzler the freedom to use her acting skills to differentiate each character’s voice through tone, rather than developing a different pitch for each character.
She got to attend the book launch event for Deadly Gold Rush in Charlotte, where she was introduced as the voice of the audiobook, and she got to read aloud from the book. “As a voiceover artist, you’re just a voice out in the ether, so it was cool to be part of that and be recognized as part of the book,” she says.
Setzler records most of her voiceover work in one of Schraff’s voiceover studios that is fully soundproofed. She says her goal is to make the listening experience “as easy on the ears as possible. I try to have clear diction, and I like for it to be real. I want my characters to sound like themselves.” W
SUMMER READS
The Dog Stars by Peter Heller
“After a devastating pandemic, a pilot finds himself isolated and living in an airplane hangar until he hears a fuzzy radio transmission and embarks on a perilous journey to reach its source. Taking off with his dog as copilot, he traverses the lonely but stunningly beautiful wilderness, drawn by the hope of finding fellow humans. Written by nature writer and poet Peter Heller, this haunting, hopeful – and sometimes funny – tale reminds us of our ties to the natural world and the importance of human connection. Long summer days will give you time to read it before the Ridley Scott film is released in August.”
-KATHLEEN JEWELL owner of Pomegranate Books, 4418 Park Avenue
The Art of Storytelling W
ilmington artist and book illustrator
ANGELA FERNOT describes herself as being “compelled to create” for her entire life.
““When I struggled to find words for my feelings, art was a way to express those things, and it just felt right for me,” she says. “I have pursued it ever since.”
Fernot, who relocated from New Jersey to Wilmington in 2019, studied illustration at The Kubert School, which specializes in training for cartoon, comic book, and graphic illustration. For more than six years, Fernot worked at the Spiderweb Art Gallery in Hopatcong, New Jersey. She helped set up shows, handled promotions and marketing, and worked on an illustrated project with GREG HILDABRANT, renowned illustrator and owner of the gallery. Her experience there gave her incredible exposure to the art world and publishing field, she says.
Since 2000, she has been the editor-in-chief, project manager, and art director of Tales of the Cape Fear, a local comic book anthology that she produces in partnership with Memory Lane Comics. Fernot collaborates closely with a team of local illustrators and writers to create and produce the anthology. She describes herself as the “doer of things” for Tales of the Cape Fear, from design to liaising with the printer and everything in between. “I
love collaboration and getting to see the final product because I built all of that with my own hands,” she says.
Fernot says her personal favorite story in the anthology is Through the Looking Glass by HANK TOLER, the final story in book five of Tales of Cape Fear, which she got to illustrate. Fernot says the story centers around a “little girl who keeps looking in the mirror, and her mom warns her to be careful. She looks in the mirror, and what’s on the other side is a dark and twisted version of her who switches places with her.”
She credits the influence of her grandmother, who was a painter, as one of the strongest artistic influences in her life. “She is the reason I know how to press flowers,” she says. “A lot of my artistic interests and sense of adventure comes from her.”
Outside of her art, Fernot also serves as communications director with the Cape Fear Literary Council, telling the story of their work to provide literary education.
Fernot’s art defies classification, working in illustration, graphic design, portraits, and narrative art. She creates from a dedicated workspace in her home in many mediums, including watercolors, mixed media, and ink. While she does sometimes begin a project digitally, she says she always finishes it on paper by hand, using pen and ink or brush and ink.
“I love the tactical experience,” she says. “I learned to appreciate digital and the speed you can work at. But I’m old school, and I think I’ll always be that way.” W
FIRED UP
Grayson Toal to open paint-your-own-pottery studio
by STEPHANIE BOWENS | photo by MAGGIE BECK
A
rtist GRAYSON TOAL grew up around pottery, paint, and kilns, and now she’s endeavoring to give others the chance to make their own creations and explore their artistic side.
Toal is preparing to launch Polka Dot Pottery Studio, a paintyour-own-pottery studio in Wilmington’s The Forum shopping center in June.
At Polka Dot Pottery Studio, customers will have the chance to choose a ready-to-paint ceramic object, or bisque, paint it, and then pick it up in a few days after studio staff have glazed and fired it in a kiln to give the pottery piece a glossy finish and ensure durability.
“It will be a place where you don’t need a reservation, and you can just walk in and paint pottery,” Toal says, adding that her location will be the only studio in Wilmington focused fully on paint-your-own-pottery, or PYOP. She hopes to offer a variety of 400 to 500 shapes to paint.
“Wilmington is growing, and we need more parent-friendly, kid-friendly places,” she says. “It’s important to have creative spaces. I’ve been getting a lot of messages from parents who are excited about having a place where their kids can come, too.”
Art has always been a part of Toal’s life, even when she pursued other career options. Toal, who was born in Lake Wylie, near Charlotte, earned her B.A. and M.A. in English from the University of North Carolina Wilmington, and she taught as an adjunct professor in the English Department at UNCW for two years. Still, Toal continued to create art – specifically paintings. “Since I was twenty, I was always selling and making art, it was like a side gig,” Toal says, adding that she eventually decided to focus on her art full-time.
For the past two years, Toal has been a full-time artist and operates her business called GERB Art LLC. “I’m just doing what I love to do, and what I feel I’m good at,” she says.
Through her paintings, Toal enjoys exploring the complexities of girlhood and womanhood and incorporates vibrant colors.
Her paintings have been showcased in various galleries and places in Wilmington and North Carolina.
She works on commission with clients and offers paintings and made-to-order giclée prints of her work through her business website. While she loves painting, expanding her
entrepreneurial focus to include a pottery business is something she says she’d been thinking about doing since she was a teen.
Pottery has been a big part of Toal’s family, and her parents, she says, created an environment that nurtured and inspired a love for art and creativity as she grew up with her two siblings.
“My parents had a little art room in our house with all the materials, and you could get messy and have fun,” she says.
With her launch of Polka Dot Pottery, Toal is following in the footsteps of her mom, ALICIA, a pottery artist whom Grayson Toal says opened one of Charlotte’s first contemporary PYOP studios in 1998 called Dish It Out.
Her dad, DJ, joined the pottery world in 1999 by starting Bisque Imports, a company based in Belmont. She says her dad started it in response to her mom’s requests for more variety in pottery shapes for her business.
Her mom sold her PYOP studio in 2016, Grayson Toal says, but she has many fond memories about spending time there, including working there as a teenager. She learned a lot about how PYOPs work.
“Every day after school, me and my siblings would go to Dish It Out, and we’d be around people who were painting pottery,” Grayson Toal says. “We’d paint pottery and sometimes we’d do our homework, but we’d still be looking around, just being in that creative zone every day. Then when we went home, all of the cupboards would be filled with pottery that we painted, such as plates, mugs, and bowls. We were always surrounded by stuff we had made.”
She plans to continue painting and operating GERB Art, but she’s looking forward to what Polka Dot Pottery will bring to both her and her customers.
“Opening Polka Dot Pottery is a combination of all of the wonderful things I love about teaching and being around creativity, and around people who want to create,” she says. “It ties together everything I truly love.”
As for her customers, Grayson Toal says she looks forward to people having a fun, meaningful experience.
“People tend to just dial in, and that’s part of what I love, is that no one is on their phones,” she says. “Whether they came with their mom, their child, their friends, or a date, you can see people connecting with whoever they came with. It’s amazing to watch. Everybody, no matter what, can create, paint, and bring something home that can be functional and used in your house or given as a gift. That’s my favorite thing.” W
Wilmington’s Lady Die spreads its music VOICE indie
by MEGHAN CORBETT | main photo by DREWE AND KATE BRANDING CO.
Great artists, whether painters, actors, dancers, or musicians, tap into their own life experiences to enhance their craft. These experiences shape personalities, strengthen abilities and inspire work that touches others in one way or another.
JULIA ROTHENBERGER, lead singer of the Wilmington alternative indie band Lady Die, was shaped, strengthened, and inspired throughout her childhood and chose to share her talents with others.
“I grew up in the woods of Pennsylvania, the youngest of three kids,” Rothenberger says. “I definitely fit the stereotype of the third child, and I think that position in life actually led me to pursue music. I was
always in my own little world, doing my own thing.”
While no one in my family was musically inclined, Rothenberger felt like music was all around her.
“Being in a rural area, we didn’t have a lot of opportunities, but people in church helped me get involved with youth worship bands where they slowly taught me how to play piano, read chord charts, and stuff like that,” she recalls. “When it came to singing, I just tried my best to imitate people better than me and kept getting feedback from adults in the church saying that I could be on American Idol one day! I took that as a sign to keep pursuing music to see what happened.”
Rothenberger decided to continue her pursuit in college, where she majored in music performance.
“Being able to dedicate four years to learning your craft and instrument is such an incredible privilege and was a wonderful experience for me since I was pretty embarrassed to practice music around the house
photos by
Mary Riley
c/o Lady Die
SCENE
growing up,” Rothenberger says. “I loved having access to soundproof practice rooms and vocal lessons every week.”
She moved to Wilmington after she graduated in 2019. “After getting to know and understand the music scene here and its roots, I could see there was a place for me. Thanks to the internet, success in music doesn’t depend as much on moving to a big city to be discovered,” she says. “In the seven years I have been here, I have found so many interesting opportunities that have always produced more growth and creativity.”
Along with TANNER LACKEY (bass), SAMUEL MCNEILLY (drums), LOGAN STRAHLEY (guitar and production), and CAMERON PERRY (guitar), Lady Die was born.
“The connection with Princess Diana started while I was in college when some classmates said I kind of looked like her,” Rothenberger says. “I remember writing down in a notebook that Lady Die could be a cool band name someday. Princess Diana was such an incredible icon, showing bravery, kindness, and compassion in her life. Her actions and attitude really exemplified the importance of not conforming, which I feel like is a big theme in our music.
“Even spelling our band name Lady Die with d-i-e, plays on this idea of death to expectation and stepping outside of the boxes that the world wants to put you in,” she adds. “I don’t imagine that this project would be as successful as it is without these musicians by my side – shout out to the Lady Die guys!”
Rothenberger describes Lady Die as “alternative, a little pop, a little indie, melody driven, lyric centered, cruising down a sunny street kind of music.”
They released their debut EP, June, last summer.
“My hope for the future of Lady Die is just to be able to tap into new levels of creativity together,” she says. “It definitely requires a lot of time and emotional availability to show up and meet the inspiration, but I think if we just keep focusing on making the work good and keep that as our main goal, doors will open on our path, and we will be able to share this music in a bigger way.”
Upcoming opportunities to see Lady Die live can be found on the website ladydie.club. The band performs at The Fuzzy Needle on May 22, The Eagle’s Dare on June 12, and The Sandspur in Carolina Beach on June 27.
The band also is part of the BAD Day Music and Arts Festival’s lineup on November 14, where they’ll open up for The Revivalists and Grace Potter for the day-long takeover of the Brooklyn Arts District.
“We are so thankful for this community,” Rothenberger says. “Our opportunities were absolutely fueled by the hundreds of times people in Wilmington came to our shows, bought our merch, shared our music, helped connect us with other bands and always encouraged us. We are growing because of the support granted to us from our community here in Wilmington, and we cherish that.” W
My Mom and Me
MY GRANDMOTHERS OUTLIVED MY GRANDFATHERS, SO I ASSUMED MY FATHER WOULD GO FIRST. Actually, I hoped for it. While I loved my father and could barely stand the thought of losing him, I worried he’d be devastated if my mom died first.
Plus, I couldn’t imagine my father handling the practicalities of life without my mother. She early retired in her mid-fifties, and as my father ran his medical practice, she took over the supervision of their finances, the management of their home, and the coordination of their busy travel schedule and social life.
It was a fair division of duties, but by their mid-eighties, my father knew little of their finances and other home management details. I imagined him at my mother’s funeral, bereft and lost. My mother, I figured, would be very sad when my father died, she would have to make a significant adjustment, but I was hopeful she would find a way to soldier on.
I proved right on all counts. About a year-and-a-half ago, Dad did go first. And while my mother was (and is) deeply saddened by the death of her husband of sixty-two years, she does not seem lost. Mom efficiently organized Dad’s funeral, worked with me on his obituary, and chewed out the hospital morgue officer when dad’s body was temporarily misplaced (long story). She dutifully continued her role as financial, household, and social manager.
What I hadn’t predicted was how much my father’s death would affect my mother’s and my relationship. And that is due in part to the fact that I couldn’t have predicted that soon after my father died, my mother would begin having seizures. Mom doesn’t fall and thrash as you might expect. Instead, she suddenly goes quiet, stares off into the middle distance, and her thoughts and language are disordered.
A pattern developed. Mom would have a seizure and be hospitalized. Five or six days later, she was more or less her old self. Six months later, another seizure. Same pattern. Same thing six months after that.
But in December, Mom had a seizure that wasn’t like the others. This time, she was alone. I didn’t find her for over twelve hours. Unlike the earlier seizures where 9-1-1 was called immediately, this time there was a long delay getting her anti-seizure medication.
While her long-term and short-term memory have been affected, Mom’s mostly her old self. She’s doing great physically. She goes to the gym and for long walks. She makes her way through the Sunday New York Times. She makes phone calls. She goes out to lunch or dinner with friends.
Maybe I’m overprotective, but I’m not yet comfortable leaving Mom on her own for the night, so after work, I head to her house in the evening. We have fallen into a new routine.
by DYLAN PATTERSON | illustration by MARK WEBER
First, we get the drinks. I mix myself a cocktail from the pantry liquor supply. For Mom, a glass of nonalcoholic wine since her neurologist has forbidden the real stuff. We’ve dubbed it “Fauxvino.” Despite her protests that she’d rather have a glass of real chardonnay or a scotch and soda, she’s been good about following doctor’s orders.
Next, we retire to the stressless recliners in Mom’s bedroom to watch the news. The news, of course, is never good, but we make the best of it as we hear about war in the Middle East, ICE shootings, and political shake ups.
When we can’t stand the news anymore, we go to the kitchen, return with our dinner trays of carryout or prepared meals, and switch to Wheel of Fortune. Comfort food for the spirit. Vanna White is still doing it after all these years, and there’s something soothing about that. With so many things changing recently, it’s nice to see a familiar face.
Next, it’s on to Jeopardy. Every time I get an answer right, Mom gets excited and tells me I should try out to be a contestant. I’m not sure getting every 13th question correct would impress Ken Jennings or the Jeopardy producers, but it’s nice to have the encouragement.
Last winter and spring, we’d find a college basketball game to watch after Jeopardy. Preferably the University of Kentucky Wildcats. My parents met at UK at a freshman mixer and married spring break their senior year. Over the years, they watched every game they could, recently wearing Wildcats T-shirts and socks. And when UK would get behind for the first time, they’d sing the Wildcat fight song. “On, on U of K. We are right for the fight today!”
My whole life, I was under the impression that the only reason my folks had chocolate in the house was to serve my father’s sweet tooth. But I’ve learned Mom has one of her own. The neighbors, Tony and Natalia, occasionally drop by with treats like bags of Reece’s Peanut Butter Cups or York Peppermint Patties, and I later find wadded up wrappers by Mom’s recliner.
Every time I come over now, my mother insists I bring my dog, Kit. Mom spoils her with treats and table scraps and lets her lie on the couch with a special blanket. When the weather’s nice, Mom and I take Kit to the walking path around the lake in Mom’s neighborhood.
Despite the absence of my father and my mother’s memory lapses, despite our struggle to adjust to this new normal, we walk this same path we’ve walked for years. Mom and I admire the herons. I pick up after Kit. We enjoy the breeze. The sublime and the mundane. Between tragedies, this is the stuff of which a life is made. Mom is rarely up for two laps around the lake these days. I am grateful for the one.
Dylan Patterson is a writer and filmmaker who teaches English at Cape Fear Community College. Mark Weber is a Wilmington-based artist and illustrates WILMA’s monthly Direct Male essay. weberillustration.com
5 TAKE
Thalian Hall has been the backdrop for many of EMILIA TORELLO’s major life moments. It was there she performed over the years, growing up in Wilmington’s theater scene, including in roles like Annie and Eliza Doolittle in 2018. “That year, I walked across the stage to graduate high school and immediately ran down to the theater to finish a matinee performance before leaving to earn my BFA in Musical Theatre from the University of Miami,” she says. It was at Thalian where she shared the stage with her eventual fiancé, PAUL TEAL. After he died from cancer in 2024, Thalian Hall is now where Torello now wants to carry on her and Teal’s love for the theater community. In December, Torello moved into Thalian Hall as the historic venue’s first-ever commercial tenant. Her new venture, Professional Theatrical Performance Training (PTPT), “is a performing arts training center that provides elite classes and hands-on production experiences,” says Torello, who serves as its executive artistic director.
WHAT ROLE DO YOU SEE PTPT FILLING IN THE LOCAL THEATER SCENE? “I see PTPT as a bridge to the professional performing arts community. We want to create opportunities for artists to refine every aspect of their craft, so they are fully prepared for professional employment.” WHY DID YOU WANT TO BASE IT OUT OF THALIAN HALL? “Thalian Hall, funnily enough, was the final piece of the puzzle. We initially had no idea where PTPT would live, but I eventually spoke with SHANE FERNANDO, CEO of Thalian Hall, who is a dear friend and had directed Paul and me
in Newsies in 2022. I knew Paul had already been in talks with Shane about educational opportunities at Thalian during his battle with stage IV neuroendocrine pancreatic cancer. I have worked with Shane for years and grew up on that stage, so it felt truly kismet when we realized our visions were so aligned.” THIS ALSO IS YOUR FIRST SEASON FOR PTPT APPRENTICE THEATRE. HOW MANY SHOWS DO YOU PLAN TO STAGE THIS YEAR? “We have four exciting shows lined up. Our first is Dear Evan Hansen, produced in partnership with And Seen Theatrical Productions. Our main Apprentice season includes Carrie: The Musical, The Wolves, and The Mystery of Edwin Drood, all of which will be led by our apprentice creative teams and designers.” HOW DO YOU SEE PTPT GROWING IN THE FUTURE? “I see PTPT growing to fill every need in the theater community. From increasing professional employment through our productions to offering teaching positions, we won’t stop until every artist can live and work sustainably in Wilmington.” WHAT’S A FAVORITE PRODUCTION YOU’VE EITHER HAD A ROLE IN OR WATCHED AS AN AUDIENCE MEMBER? “My all-time favorite production was Newsies at Thalian Hall in 2022. That is where I met the love of my life, Paul Teal. He was cast as Jack Kelly, and I was Katherine Plumber; we fell in love both on stage and off. Katherine had always been a dream role for me, and Jack was one for Paul, so our love story couldn’t have had a more perfect beginning.” W
EMILIA TORELLO’s full profile will appear in an upcoming WILMA Lifestyles email. To sign up for the email, go to WILMAmag.com/email-newsletter.
