The Story Behind Uncorked & Unapologetic
Real women. Real conversation. The room you've been looking for.
Two years ago, if you'd told Emma and me we'd be standing here — launching a website, hosting our third event, raising thousands for women's causes in Carrboro — we'd have laughed. Not the polite kind. The real kind. The yeah, right kind.
Because here's the truth nobody puts on a business card: we had no idea what we were doing.
We were two women going through our own stuff. The kind of stuff that doesn't make it onto social media. The hard, messy, 2 a.m. kind. And what we kept noticing — in the middle of all of it — was that we couldn't find the room we needed.
Not a networking event. Not a conference. Not another space where you show up polished and perform and hand out business cards and go home feeling emptier than when you arrived.
We were looking for a room where women could show up real. Connection that meant something. Support that felt true. We looked around and didn't see it.
So we did the only thing left to do.
We decided to host it ourselves.
We did it when we weren't sure.
Here's what nobody tells you about building something. The hardest part isn't the logistics. It's not the venue or the tickets or the caterer. The hardest part is the moment right before you start, when the voice in your head says who do you think you are?
We heard that voice. Loud. We heard it when we planned our first event — STRUT — and had no idea if anyone would show up. We heard it when we put ourselves out there and asked women to show up real, when "real" is the scariest thing you can ask of anyone.
We did it anyway.
Not because we were confident. Because we were tired of waiting for the room to appear. And because we had each other. That's it. That was the whole plan. Two women, one idea, and the stubborn belief that if we needed this room, other women did too.
It turns out, a lot of you did.
The journey: STRUT. STORY. VISION. BUILD.
We didn't plan four events. We planned one — and then the women who showed up told us, with their laughter and their honesty and the way they leaned in, that this was bigger than one night.
STRUT — Style without permission. Confidence isn't performed here. It's remembered. That first night in March, we tore up the networking script. And the room told us, keep going.
STORY — Share without apology. Say the thing you've been softening for other people's comfort. In April, women stood up and told the truth. About resilience. About sisterhood. About the stories we carry and the ones we're still writing.
VISION — Live by your own rules. Art, wine, and the audacity to want more. That's tonight. This is where we finally share the website, the whole story — this story — and the vision we've been building toward since that first who do you think you are? moment.
BUILD — Make it real. You leave with a plan. And the women to execute it with. In November, we take on women's health — because you can't go build if no one's taking care of you.
Not four parties. One journey. Ours. And now, hopefully, yours.
Why we're doing this.
Every event raises funds for a local cause doing real work for women in our community. Not because it looks good on a website. Because women building things is worth backing — and that includes the organizations that catch women when life gets hard.
To our Spotlight partners and benefiting organizations — the causes our community built around — thank you for letting us put your missions on stage:
Chapel Hill Magazine
Peel Gallery
Habitat for Humanity Women's Build
Mama Dip's Share the Love Fund
The Arts Center
Hope Renovations
To the Voices who stood on our stage and told the truth —
Rory Gillis, CEO, Triangle Media Partners
Spring Council, Chef and Food Writer, Author of Southern Roots: Recipes and Stories from Mama Dip’s Daughter
Erin McMullen, Durham Distillery
— thank you for your courage. It made the rest of us braver.
To our Collective sponsors — Southern Village Neighbors, Carr Mill Mall — thank you for believing our story was worth telling before anyone else did.
And to our Exchange sponsors — Even Dough, Once Gathered, Glass Box, Lark, Love & Peace, Purple Puddle, Sofia's Boutique, Ring's True, Uniquities — the local businesses who showed up with product, not just applause. You brought the energy. You set the vibe. You made everyone feel seen.
Now here's the part about you.
We didn't write all of this so you'd clap for us. We wrote it because we want you to hear something:
Whatever you're going through right now — the thing you haven't said out loud, the idea you're scared to start, the season that's breaking you a little — we see you.
We've been there. We're probably still there in some ways. And we're here to tell you what a room full of women told us, one night at a time:
You are strong. You got this. And yeah — this sucks.
So let's party.
That's the whole point of Uncorked & Unapologetic. Not to escape the hard stuff. To bring it into the room, set it down, and remember that you don't have to carry it alone. Then pick up a glass, look around at the women who showed up real, and start building the thing anyway.
Do it when you aren't sure. That's when it matters most. Do it because you have a community of women who are going through something too — and they're standing here to tell you you're strong. Do it. Show up. Say the thing.
The room you've been looking for is finally here. And there's a seat with your name on it.
VISION — Monday, September 21 · 5:30–7:30 PM · Tandem at Carr Mill · $25
Live by your own rules. Art, wine, and the audacity to want more.
With love and no apologies,
Emma & Stacey
Uncorked & Unapologetic
