Volume 41
Bar open from 6 - 11 PM (with lots of great N/A options!)
Show 7:30
The Mule @ Devil’s Foot
131 Sweeten Creek Rd
A food truck will be onsite! You may also bring your own food or do DoorDash/Uber Eats/etc. to the venue.
Presenters
Cristyn Olenick
Cristyn Olenick is an occupational therapist, runner, and advocate for living fully across the lifespan. Through her work with older adults and her experience watching her mother live with dementia, she has become deeply interested in the connection between movement, brain health, curiosity, meaning, and the way everyday choices quietly shape who we become over time. Much of her life outside of work revolves around movement and connection—running and biking with friends, experiencing life alongside her husband Kurt and their children, and trying, with mixed success, to embrace strength training as part of aging well. She is drawn to the tension between effort and joy, and to the question of how we hold onto vitality, purpose, and engagement as we age.
Adam Knapp
Adam Knapp M.Ed., founder of KnappCreative Coaching, guides individuals and teams through transformative journeys using the 5 Elements of Transformation framework. With 30 years of experience in education, facilitation, and mentoring, he promotes growth and peak performance.
Adam’s consulting focuses on mindfulness, accountability, vision, and clarity, empowering clients to take action toward their aspirations and engage in meaningful ways with next-best-self strategies. He believes that presence, meaning, and purpose-driven transformation foster clients' transitions to their full potential.
As a business owner, Adam combines community support with organizational development to effectively diagnose challenges and develop holistic growth plans. When not coaching, he finds inspiration on the Appalachian hiking trails.
Elizabeth Steere
Elizabeth has a PhD in Victorian literature and has lived in WNC for the past decade. She passes a “Welcome to Asheville: Land of the Sky” sign every time she goes to the Woodfin YMCA and finally got curious about it. She was surprised to find that our namesake novel "The Land of the Sky" had never been digitized, so this summer she worked to transcribe the novel and get it up on Project Gutenberg, where you can now read it for free: https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/76690
Anne DeMartini
Anne DeMartini, MEd, JD is an Asheville native and UNC Chapel Hill grad. She went to law school at UGA thinking she would litigate her way to more inclusive sports, but found out that both the legal system and the sports industry are huge disappointments. After many years as a professor of sport law & sport management, she now works in education and leadership development at a professional association in Atlanta.
Pendo Dawe
My name is Pendo Dawe, and I’m a rising sophomore at Warren Wilson College studying biology with a focus on women’s health. I was born in Malawi and have lived in South Africa and the United States, and that mix of places continues to shape how I see the world.
I’m a trained doula and hope to become a midwife or OB/GYN, with a focus on making reproductive care more accessible and compassionate. Alongside science, I’m drawn to storytelling especially through poetry and song writing, my work often explores themes like home, identity, and what it means to be on your own.
Outside of academics, I’ve spent several summers volunteering at Zeno Mountain Farm, a community that keeps me grounded in connection, joy, and care.
Rick Quadrino
Rick spent more than 30 years building a successful career as a lawyer, litigating cases across the country. As the owner of two law firms, he led teams that took on insurance companies over denied claims and in coverage disputes. More recently, he taught Evidence at Antonin Scalia Law School in the Washington, D.C. area.
Rick is the proud father of two daughters, ages 28 and 26, who live in Los Angeles and New York City. In retirement, he stays active and engaged — volunteering in service to others, hiking, playing pickleball and golf, and spending time with his dog.
Amy Dickens
Amy Dickens empowers adults to reignite joy within themselves.
She doesn’t just teach joy—she lives it.
After years of struggling with intense social anxiety, Amy discovered her love for speaking and leading through teaching yoga. What started as a spark quickly grew into a movement.
Today, she is the founder of Joyfully You, author of 101 Ways to Spread Joy, and host of the Joyfully You Podcast. She leads parades of people dancing through the streets each week, reminding people that joy isn’t something we wait for—it’s something we practice.
Amy’s work helps people reconnect to their aliveness, build resilience through play, and see joy as fuel—not just a nice-to-have.
Through experiences like Joy Camp, she invites people to embody joy in a way that ripples outward, creating real impact.
Because your joy doesn’t just change you—it changes the world.
