© Vasti Jackson | Photo by Laura Carbone
Culture. Connection. Story.
The Sip Collective publishes Amplify The Sip and is building a statewide network to share stories people can feel. Rooted in Mississippi, built to connect communities everywhere.
What is The Sip Collective?
The Sip Collective is a cultural storytelling platform, fiscally sponsored by Tiny News Collective and powered by LF Voices Collective, LLC.
Our work centers on two flagship offerings:
Amplify The Sip – a digital publication and newsletter that shares people-first stories rooted in Mississippi and the South. Amplify operates through a unique system of content creation, distribution, engagement, events, sponsorship, and membership—making stories more than something to read, but something to feel and experience.
Sip StoryLab – a storytelling and engagement lab for newsrooms, museums, and organizations anywhere. We help partners capture stories and bring them to life through multimedia projects, exhibits, and engagement tools—building trust and connection without adding extra burden to their teams.
Together, Amplify and StoryLab strengthen Mississippi’s media ecosystem while offering scalable tools for storytellers everywhere.
Amplify The Sip
Stories you can feel
Our flagship digital publication explores culture, community, and connection through monthly themes. Amplify is sustained by sponsorships, memberships, and a growing Story Exchange that connects stories to organizations who want to amplify diverse voices.
Sip StoryLab
Where stories come to life
We help newsrooms, museums, and organizations anywhere center storytelling and engagement. From oral histories to multimedia exhibits, we provide the tools and training to turn stories into experiences that build trust and connection.
How We’re Strengthening the News Ecosystem
Through storytelling that connects, we support both cultural and civic life in Mississippi and beyond.
The Sip Collective (mission arm)
Our nonprofit platform, fiscally sponsored by Tiny News Collective, publishes Amplify The Sip—a digital publication that shares people-first stories rooted in culture and community. Amplify provides content, engagement, and events that other newsrooms and organizations can use to reach and connect with their audiences.
LF Voices Collective (engine)
Our creative studio powers Sip StoryLab, offering training, tools, and collaborative projects that help newsrooms, museums, and organizations everywhere turn stories into experiences that build trust and connection. Future initiatives include StorySpace Live, Porch Stories, and Sip & Celebrate Legacy Kits.
Together, we strengthen the existing storytelling ecosystem by connecting people, preserving memory, and sparking change.
A place for stories that matter
Amplify The Sip by LFVC shares real stories about people, culture, and community.
We feature new stories, old favorites from The ‘Sip, and behind-the-scenes looks at how storytelling happens.
It’s storytelling that helps people feel seen—and brings us closer together.
This month’s theme is resilience—featuring powerful stories from people who’ve lived it, told with heart and honesty.
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The Latest from Amplify The Sip
Original stories exploring culture, identity, and connection—told through a people-first lens. Updated monthly with new features, reflections, and interviews.
Standing in the Path of Hurricane Katrina’s Fury
Mississippi’s Gulf Coast was ground zero for the worst impacts of the historic 2005 storm. To leave or not to leave — in hurricane season, that is often the most consequential question anyone can answer. In the best-case scenario, staying put during a...
Back to joy: Dr. Alyssa Killebrew’s powerful journey
Despite the trials life has sent her way, the psychologist, businesswoman and philanthropist continues to chart a course built on helping others achieve their potential. Trials and traumas have a way of defining the course of life as much as ambition and...
Vasti Jackson plays the long game
A successful blues artist and arranger for decades, Jackson’s mission to preach the power of music around the world can’t be derailed. Mississippi blues artist Vasti Jackson was only 15 or 20 minutes into watching the acclaimed 2025 Ryan Coogler film “Sinners,” set in...
Revisiting Our Roots: From The ‘Sip
We’re bringing back beloved stories from The ‘Sip magazine—updated, republished, and reframed to honor legacy and carry it forward through Amplify.
Mississippi Quilting
Quilts tell the quintessential of the bicentennial "Mississippians have created a remarkable record of history and art in their quilts," said Mary Lohrenz, who curated "Stories Unfolded," a temporary exhibition of quilts from the state archives’ collection. The...
The Triumph of Greg Iles
Greg Iles in his hometown of Natchez in 2017 / Photos by Thortis Photography for The 'Sip Magazine ©2017 This story first appeared in The 'Sip Magazine's Bicentennial issue. Tearing open the wounds of the past is an uncertain business. When that past involves...
Vasti Jackson, ambassador to the blues, forges a path through a complicated history
There’s no sensory experience like an empty nightclub waiting for its moment. The way the neon hangs in the room, drawing attention away from the dark corners where revelries past collect. The way the hurried staff burst from double-doored corridors to set a...
About Us:
The Sip Collective strengthens the news and cultural ecosystem through storytelling that connects people, preserves memory, and builds trust.
We do this in two ways:
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Amplify The Sip – our nonprofit digital publication that shares people-first stories rooted in Mississippi and the South. Amplify is powered by a unique system of content, engagement, events, sponsorship, and membership.
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Sip StoryLab by LF Voices Collective (LFVC) – our creative storytelling studio that helps newsrooms, museums, and organizations everywhere turn stories into experiences that foster connection and trust.
The Sip Collective carries the public mission: publishing meaningful stories and training the next generation of storytellers. LF Voices Collective serves as the creative engine behind the work—handling production, partnerships, and multimedia.
Together, we help communities strengthen what already exists—local newsrooms, cultural institutions, and grassroots networks—by centering people, honoring place, and reclaiming storytelling as a deeply human force for change.
Our Values:
We believe stories should do more than inform.
They should help us feel, remember, and connect.
Here’s how we show up in the world:
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People First – We tell stories with communities, not just about them.
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Context + Heart – We go beyond the facts to show meaning, memory, and emotion.
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Place Matters – Where you come from is part of who you are. We honor that.
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Every Voice Counts – We lift up voices that are too often left out.
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Less Noise, More Meaning – We make space for listening, reflection, and trust.
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Together, Not Competing – There’s room for all of us to tell stories that matter.
From the Front Porch:
A column by Lauchlin Fields
From the Front Porch: Remembering Katrina
On August 29, 2005, I was off from work. I’d covered the weekend shift at The Vicksburg Post, so that Monday I found myself at home, sitting in my living room watching what I called “Hurricane TV.” Meteorologists clung to poles on The Weather...
From the Front Porch: Building on a Foundation of Resilience
Lauchlin Fields with Vasti Jackson in 2011 It’s no coincidence that the first issue of Amplify The Sip begins with resilience. Eleven years after first publishing The ‘Sip magazine, I’ve found myself back where it all began—telling Mississippi...
Why LFVC?
LF Voices Collective is the engine behind The Sip Collective.
We design experiences, stories, exhibits, and tools that help people feel connected, seen, and grounded in culture.
LFVC was founded by Lauchlin Fields to reimagine how storytelling works—by making it more human, more rooted in community, and more accessible to the people it’s about.
We partner with newsrooms, museums, nonprofits, and mission-aligned organizations to bring meaningful stories to life—through multimedia, live events, memory work, and creative strategy.
Everything we create is guided by one belief:
Stories connect us—and connection creates change.
Join the Contributor Collective
Writers, artists, facilitators, cultural connectors, and community supporters—this is your invitation to be part of something powerful.
The LFVC Contributor Collective is a values-driven, intentionally curated community that helps bring our stories, events, and mission to life. Whether you contribute your skills, amplify the work, or help shape what comes next—your presence matters here.
Contributors. Ambassadors. Collaborators.
As a member of the Collective, you may:
✔ Write or contribute to Amplify The Sip
✔ Co-create storytelling events or exhibits
✔ Lead oral history or engagement activities
✔ Share resources, feedback, or lived experience
✔ Represent The Sip Collective in your community or network
We are building a space where collaboration feels personal, purposeful, and joyful. You don’t have to be a professional storyteller—just someone who believes in the power of story to connect and transform.
