REVIVAL
• – • All Saints Chapel
About the speaker
Prepare yourselves for a FRIDAY EVENING OF DELIVERANCE from the shadows of creative blockage and synthetic success!
This event is a collaboration between CreativeMornings Raleigh and Fuckup Nights Raleigh. More information about the event is listed below our Local Partners.
SCHEDULE
6 – 7:30 pm Pre-event Activities, Drinks, Food, and Fellowship
7:30 – 9 pm REVIVAL Service with Music and Special Guests
Tift Merritt is a Grammy-nominated musician who began her creative journey as a writer until her father introduced her to guitar chords and Percy Sledge songs. Known for her "sonic short stories," she has toured the world and earned acclaim for her independent, soulful style, with The New Yorker calling her “the bearer of a proud tradition of distaff country soul.” Don Henley, with help from Mick Jagger, covered her song “Bramble Rose” to open his album Cass County. Now based in North Carolina with her daughter, Merritt focuses on site-specific art projects, creative interviews, and academic work as a Practitioner-In-Residence at Duke University.
Christina Jones, the daughter of 1st and 2nd generation Americans, moved to Raleigh in 2012 and quickly became deeply involved in civic life, drawing from her background in the arts, restaurant industry, and public education. She has served on Raleigh City Council since 2022 as the representative for District E, which is essentially Five Points to Brier Creek. With a BFA from Southern Methodist University, she has worked in education, operations, and human resources, and has become incredibly active in community engagement and leadership. A Girl Scout troop leader and mother of two, she lives in Raleigh with her husband, Adam Jones.
Aly Khalifa is an Egyptian American designer, inventor, and sustainability advocate with more than 40 patents and a track record of launching successful brands. He co-founded several impact-driven ventures, including Designbox, Oceanworks, and Gamila, which was acquired by Seventh Generation. Aly is an Eisenhower Fellow with deep expertise in international manufacturing and circular design. Locally, he’s helped shape Raleigh’s creative culture through SPARKcon, First Friday, and Kirby Derby Day.
Hosted by our Mother Goose, Jessie Williams! Jessie is the founder of Edge of Urge, Unlikely Professionals, and Renew, House of Self-Love. She’s basically a creative and retail mastermind, a local legend, and an all-around inspiring spirit.
Local partners
Our friends at Brand Fuel are a brand merchandise agency with a B Corp certification. They have invested 26 years in our community, creating branded gear worth remembering and are committed to sustainability, trust, originality – and a lot of fun. Trust us, you want them at your party ;)
Mariko Gordon, CFA, CFP® is a finance maverick who founded a $2.5 billion money management firm from scratch. From money management to business mentoring, she offers personalized financial planning and business and investment advice at her registered investment advisory firm, Uzume, LLC.
MRC is a full spectrum graphic design studio with a focus on hand-crafted, out-of-the-box brand experiences for clients passionate about their business. They build iconic brands for kindred spirits.
Oak City Studio is the Official Audio Partner of CreativeMornings RDU!
Working at night and on the weekends alongside a full-time job, Bold Batch Creamery was born from a humble at-home kitchen with a desire to deliver uniquely flavored, artisan ice cream to the people who’d enjoy it most (in parking lots across the triangle). Follow along for future pop-ups and happenings in the area… including slinging some custom flavors at this event!
Boulted Bread is a craft bakery and stone mill at 328 Dupont Circle in Raleigh, NC. With a focus on heirloom and landrace grains, Boulted Bread offers craft breads and pastries of the highest quality.
Burial Beer Co. started out as Asheville’s best kept secret in 2013, a “secret hideaway” that you stumble upon. Located in Asheville’s, now named, “South Slope” neighborhood, Burial has become a draw to many; a place of community. When it comes to our beer, we have a deep desire to memorialize certain beer styles and techniques from the Old World. Now Burial is known for taking traditional beers and infusing a modern twist on them. Since 2013 Burial not only expanded internally but demographically. In addition to Asheville’s taproom, you can now visit us in Raleigh at The Exhibit, East Asheville’s Forestry Camp Bar and Restaurant, and in Charlotte at The House of Relics.
Poetry Fox bangs out custom, on-demand poems on vintage typewriters. Also, he’s a giant fox.
You can book the Poetry Fox for your wedding reception, corporate or company gathering, festival, school event, private party, store or bar/restaurant, and all your guests get a unique, customized takeaway they’ll never forget—a poem just for them!
He writes for all occasions and ages. Give him a word, get a poem!
He also writes poem commissions for the special people in your life, for clients and employees, or to enhance your own brand or project. He’s a custom-content whirlwind!
Slingshot Coffee Co. believes everyone should have better, more exciting coffee experiences. From their organic, flavor-packed Cold Brews and Nitro Flash Brew, to their wonderfully bubbly Coffee Sodas, it’s like drinking vacation no matter what Slingshot is in your hand. They are independent, female-founded, and have been quality-driven since 2012.
Established in 2011 in the Glenwood South district of Downtown Raleigh, The Raleigh Wine Shop was founded with a shared vision to bring a new kind of wine shop to Downtown Raleigh with shelves filled with some of the most exciting wines in the world and a staff that uses their knowledge to assist rather than intimidate. After a decade of bringing the best selection of wines to the Triangle, in 2022 the shop expanded and re-located to The Olde East district of Downtown Raleigh to a larger space to serve the community even better.
ZimZoom Photo Booth is a photo booth company in Raleigh, Charlotte, Asheville and across North Carolina - focused on creating premium quality photography experiences at events of all kinds. ZimZoom Photo Booth’s studio-quality open-air photo booth is contemporary and chic and gives your guests a fun and exciting experience and send them home with lasting memories through unlimited instant prints.
Tucked in the historic Oakwood neighborhood of downtown Raleigh, All Saints Chapel has welcomed the community through its arches for almost 150 years. All Saints Chapel embraces its history serving the community through celebratory, cultural, and innovative events including wedding ceremonies, receptions, non-profit galas, art exhibits, corporate workshops, and more.
Empire Properties began 30 years ago with a single restoration project in Downtown Raleigh’s warehouse district. With the success of that project, Empire quickly grew to dozens of restoration projects with a focus on revitalization of downtown Raleigh through the adaptive reuse of historic buildings and creative infill.
Phillip Teasley is an award-winning filmmaker who has worked with clients such as Amazon, ESPN, The Design Network, FOX Sports and more. He is currently looking for projects that will push his storytelling ability, as he believes that the secret to creating impactful videos is purpose and resolve! He is CreativeMornings/RDU Lead Videographer and we are so grateful to have him on our team!
CreativeMornings/Raleigh is fiscally sponsored by VAE Raleigh, a 501©3 nonprofit. VAE envisions a more equitable creative community where everyone has the resources needed to thrive. VAE produces, funds, and exhibits socially-engaged art through community collaboration.
From the arts to food to nonprofits, WALTER tells the stories of our community. WALTER is available on racks around Raleigh, online at waltermagazine.com or by subscription.
Raleigh.com was made by Raleigh locals, for Raleigh locals. Join 10,000+ enthusiastic subscribers. Every morning, you’ll receive a 2-minute email about top events and deals in Raleigh… including CreativeMornings events!
The Dash Bash is a two-day motion design festival, with an optional third day of workshops, filled with speakers, hangouts, and parties from June 11th through 13th, 2025 right here in Raleigh. It’s an event for designers, by designers, that celebrates creativity, community, and inclusivity in the Motion Design industry. Whether you’re a seasoned creative, or just getting started, this event prioritizes networking, connections, and real-world stories that celebrates community and creativity.
Use the discount code GOLOCAL25 to get 25% off your tickets!
Adobe is CreativeMornings’ new Global Partner! Adobe recognizes the impact CreativeMornings is having on the global ecosystem of creativity and they’re committed to reaffirming their support of creatives all around the world. This is huge!
Just like our local partners make our events here in the Triangle possible, Global Partnerships are the fuel that power us as an organization. They ensure that CreativeMornings can continue to grow and thrive around the world.
Additional details
Our Mother Goose, Jessie Williams, who once wandered for 40 minutes and 40 seconds solo through the beach dunes of Carolina Beach State Park, will now LEAD our diaspora through the darkness and toward REVIVAL for RALEIGH-DURHAM for the next great crossover event of CreativeMornings and Fuckup Nights.
✨ WITNESS as brave souls come forth to share their tales of professional failures, career catastrophes, and personal putzes - only to be REBORN through the laying on of sanitized hands and overtly positive Instagram posts.
✨ FEEL THE SPIRIT move as attendees speak in local tongues of entrepreneurship, design thinking, and emotional responsibility!
✨ LISTEN to testimonies of imposter syndrome and redeeming regrets by Tift Merritt, Christina Jones, and Aly Khalifa.
Come ready to AMEN for every effort that crashed and burned, for VERILY we say unto you: your greatest fuckup shall be so, until next Thursday.
We give thanks always for your RSVP, remembering without ceasing your work of attendance, labor of calendaring, and steadfastness of showing up to places you have no business being near.
May the grace of CreativeMornings and the fellowship of Fuckup Nights be with you all.
🍦 Refreshments from Bold Batch Creamery, Boulted Bread, Burial Beer Co, Needs & Wants, Slingshot Coffee, and ZimZoom Photo Booth
🌭 Food and drink for the soul for purchase from Ghost Pepper Industries and the Raleigh Wine Shop
🕺🏻 Dress Code: Fancy suits, big hats, and pretty dresses with pockets are encouraged
🙏 Reminder: This is all in good fun, so please, please, please don’t get mad
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