FlowJam: Behind the Experience

Meredith Walsh
  • 5.0 (1)
  • Performing Arts
  • Monthly

Hosted by Meredith Walsh, FlowJam: Behind the Experience invites entrepreneurs and artists in the festival and live event production space to discuss stories, learnings, and experiences in creating and managing  live events, festivals, venues, and communities. Meredith's journey began when she was inspired to fundraise for a school in Tanzania, and subsequently created FlowJam Healing Arts Festival. She has been in the festival and event space for 13+ years and has seen others grow, heal and land business opportunities in her curated spaces. Learn what it's like to live and work in the event industry and hear stories of transcendent experiences as well as lessons learned while creating and shaping these spaces.

Episodes

  1. 4d ago

    Christopher Everett speaks on Booking Festival Talent

    I sat down with Christopher Everett, the Asheville guitarist who first landed in the FlowJam family when his band Hustle Souls played our bitterly cold October 2020 festival, and who came back as our talent buyer for 2025 with about a month to build the lineup. We get into how that came together, the curveballs along the way, and what we’d do differently next time. Christopher also shares the deal he made with himself as a young guitarist that set his music career in motion, what he’s noticing in the Asheville music scene that concerns him, and what he looks for when bands apply to play festivals (about half of our 2025 lineup came from open applications). Stay for his story about one night at Merriweather Post Pavilion, and for how he handled the moments when he and I didn’t see eye to eye. Links Christopher Everett Bands: • LazrLuvr: https://www.lazrluvr.com/ • Melissa McKinney: https://melissamckinneymusic.com/ Instagram @everettguitar Meredith Walsh, Intuitive Event Strategist, Mind Your Intuition  Producer & Founder, FlowJam Festival Work with Meredith: https://mindyourintuition.com/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mindyourintuition/ FlowJam Festival: https://flowjamfestival.com/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/flowjamfestival/

  2. Oct 1

    Laurie Kirby speaks on Festival Budgets and Mission

    I sat down with Laurie Kirby, the founder and producer of FestForums, the conference where I first met her and where I sat on a panel about scaling an event from nothing. Laurie spent 20 years as a lawyer before a seat on a film festival board in Newport, Rhode Island pulled her into the events world, and she went on to build a gathering place for an industry that used to work in silos. We talk about the two non-negotiables she runs her business on, the hardest lesson from her early years, and the question she asks anyone who tells her they want to start a festival. She also shares where she sees events heading over the next 5 to 10 years, and one of my favorite lines from the conversation: “Festival producers see a field and they see a festival. I look at a field and I see a lawsuit.” FestForums celebrates its 10th anniversary February 3-5, 2027 in Santa Barbara. If you’ve ever looked at a field and pictured a festival, this one’s for you. Links Laurie Kirby / FestForums • Website: https://festforums.com/ • LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/festforums • Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/festforums/   Meredith Walsh, Intuitive Event Strategist, Mind Your Intuition  Producer & Founder, FlowJam Festival Work with Meredith: https://mindyourintuition.com/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mindyourintuition/ FlowJam Festival: https://flowjamfestival.com/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/flowjamfestival/

  3. Sep 1

    Melissa McKinney speaks on Building Confidence and Curating Community

    I sat down with Melissa McKinney, our FlowJam 2025 Saturday night headliner, singer-songwriter, educator, event curator, and dog mom to the scene-stealing Aioli. Melissa’s path into event curation started almost the same way FlowJam did, as a fundraiser born out of love for someone in need. We talk about the event in her twenties that first showed her what music could do for a community, and how it led to founding Women to the Front Music Festival, organizing for LEAF Festival, and running her own music school in West Virginia for almost 20 years. Melissa also shares a confidence story four decades in the making, and the big leap she’s taking right now with her singing career. I asked her the question I ask everyone, to tell me about a live event that changed the way she sees herself, and her answer stayed with me. Melissa McKinney Website: https://melissamckinneymusic.com/ Instagram: @melissamckinneymusic Meredith Walsh, Intuitive Event Strategist, Mind Your Intuition  Producer & Founder, FlowJam Festival Work with Meredith: https://mindyourintuition.com/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mindyourintuition/ FlowJam Festival: https://flowjamfestival.com/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/flowjamfestival/

  4. Trailer

    Meredith's Transformation

    Answering my signature question posed to each of my guests: How has a live event changed the way you see yourself?

  5. Jul 28

    Shawn Verbrugghe speaks on Building Wunderland Resort

    I sat down with Shawn Verbrugghe, co-owner of Wunderland Resort, right after we wrapped Wonder Weekend, our 4th of July event at his property in Old Fort. Shawn has built a pub cycle, an escape room speakeasy, and now an eco-adventure resort. I share why I left my World Bank career even though it looked good on paper, a moment at FlowJam when I watched someone’s whole body change, and what made me feel alive again after years of doing the same thing. I also talk about why I’m planning smaller gatherings of 150 people or fewer, and what I think they create that bigger festivals can’t. When I asked Shawn the question I ask everyone, how a live event has changed the way he sees himself, his answer wasn’t tidy, and I loved that about it.   Links Shawn Verbrugghe Wunderland Resort: https://www.wunderlandresort.com/ Wunderland on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/wunderlandresort/   Meredith Walsh, Intuitive Event Strategist, Mind Your Intuition  Producer & Founder, FlowJam Festival Work with Meredith: https://mindyourintuition.com/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mindyourintuition/ FlowJam Festival: https://flowjamfestival.com/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/flowjamfestival/

  6. Jul 28

    Jennifer Pickering speaks on Building a Legacy Through Festivals

    I sat down with Jennifer Pickering as she was looking back on 30 years of building LEAF (Lake Eden Arts Festival), and this conversation left me full. Jennifer founded LEAF in 1995 after the people running the old Black Mountain Festival more or less told her she was going to buy it, and since then she has brought more than 600,000 people through Lake Eden. She walks me through what she calls the LEAF formula and why she built it to be intergenerational from day one. She also tells the story of a longtime “leafer” named Charlie who lived a very different life the rest of the year, talks about the friends and elders she’s said goodbye to recently, and shares something a boy from one of LEAF’s international culture programs once told her that I haven’t stopped thinking about. LEAF is becoming the Lake Eden Reunion, and Jennifer’s book, Live Life Like a Festival, launches there. If you’ve built something for decades and are now asking what it becomes next, this one’s for you. Links Jennifer Pickering Website: https://www.jenniferpickering.com/ Lake Eden Reunion (book launch event): https://lakeedenretreat.com/reunion/ LEAF Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/leafglobalarts/   Meredith Walsh, Intuitive Event Strategist, Mind Your Intuition  Producer & Founder, FlowJam Festival Work with Meredith: https://mindyourintuition.com/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mindyourintuition/ FlowJam Festival: https://flowjamfestival.com/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/flowjamfestival/

  7. Jul 28

    Erin Haag speaks on Pricing for Profit

    I sat down with Erin Haag, who has sold two companies, written a bestselling book on pricing, and hosted retreats everywhere from Tanzania to a 24-bedroom chateau in France, and who still remembers what it felt like to undercut her own prices out of fear. This one is part masterclass, part permission slip for anyone who’s ever felt guilty about charging for their work. Erin explains the three types of buyers and which one she thinks is the hardest to sell from, and she opens up about what overworking her underpriced Pilates studio cost her before a pricing overhaul led to a 40x sale. We also talk about Erin’s first trip to Tanzania and the moment with her daughter that she still comes back to whenever fear creeps in. If you’ve ever quietly resented an event you poured everything into because the math never worked out, this conversation might change how you think about your next one. Links Erin Haag Website: https://pricingoverhaul.com/ Book, Give Yourself a Raise: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0C1NPNCR6 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/pricingoverhaul/ Meredith Walsh, Intuitive Event Strategist, Mind Your Intuition Producer & Founder, FlowJam Festival Work with Meredith: https://mindyourintuition.com/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mindyourintuition/ FlowJam Festival: https://flowjamfestival.com/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/flowjamfestival/

  • 1 Trailer
    6 Episodes

Trailer

About

Hosted by Meredith Walsh, FlowJam: Behind the Experience invites entrepreneurs and artists in the festival and live event production space to discuss stories, learnings, and experiences in creating and managing  live events, festivals, venues, and communities. Meredith's journey began when she was inspired to fundraise for a school in Tanzania, and subsequently created FlowJam Healing Arts Festival. She has been in the festival and event space for 13+ years and has seen others grow, heal and land business opportunities in her curated spaces. Learn what it's like to live and work in the event industry and hear stories of transcendent experiences as well as lessons learned while creating and shaping these spaces.

Information

  • Creator
    Meredith Walsh
  • Years Active
    2026
  • Episodes
    7
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © Copyright 2026 All rights reserved.
  • Show Website
    FlowJam: Behind the Experience