© Vasti Jackson | Photo by Laura Carbone
Stories that connect people and place.
The Sip Collective publishes Amplify The Sip and powers Sip StoryLab. Together, we help communities share stories people can feel — rooted in culture, designed for connection, and built to strengthen trust.
What is The Sip Collective?
A new way to tell stories that bring people together.
The Sip Collective is reimagining how stories are told — centering people, place, and purpose.
We believe culture is the heartbeat of community and that storytelling can help people feel seen, understood, and inspired to act.
Powered by LF Voices Collective, a storytelling and engagement company, The Sip Collective blends journalism, design, and community connection to show what happens when stories put people first.
Through projects like Amplify The Sip, we’re proving how storytelling can build trust, preserve memory, and strengthen communities across Mississippi and beyond.
Amplify The Sip
Our flagship digital publication. Each issue dives into themes that shape life and culture in Mississippi and the South. Amplify includes original stories, archival features, playlists, and engagement layers that invite people to connect, not just consume.
The ‘Sip Archive
A digital home for stories first published in The ’Sip Magazine (2014–2018). The archive preserves Mississippi culture, food, music, and place-based storytelling for future generations.
Sip StoryExchange
A platform for organizations and communities to sponsor, commission, or co-publish stories. The StoryExchange supports storytellers while helping partners bring meaningful stories to wider audiences.
Here's how The Sip Collective is putting people first?
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People see themselves. Our stories reflect real voices, culture, and everyday life.
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Stories reach further. Partners can sponsor or share stories so more people have access to them.
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The past connects to the present. We keep archives and memories alive so they continue to matter today.
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Trust grows. Instead of chasing clicks, we focus on stories that build understanding and belonging.
That’s the difference. And with Amplify The Sip, we’re showing how it works in practice — one issue at a time.
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.
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 stories that matter, but...
The Sound of Resilience
If you’ve been around me long enough or stopped by my front porch, you know I make playlists for just about everything—road trips, long workdays, heartbreak, big celebrations. It’s how I hold onto moments and people, and how I make sense of what’s in front of me. This...
From The ‘Sip to The Sip Collective
Nearly a decade in nonprofit journalism has brought me back to the heart of what drew me to storytelling in the first place—only now with deeper clarity, experience, and purpose. I’m returning to my roots, carrying everything I’ve learned along the way, to build...
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.
Bay St. Louis: The town Katrina could not kill
BAY ST. LOUIS — Today, when Bay Town Inn owner Nikki Moon steps onto the front porch of her charming and newly remodeled downtown bed and breakfast, she sees a sandy beachfront and a dead oak tree that’s intricately carved into the likeness of angels. Ten...
Tutwiler Quilters
Quilters sew up tradition, stitch-by-stitch Bobbie, Bessie, Susie, Ethel, Zelda. Lovie, Alberta, Ollie, Ora, Pandora Daisy, Lady, Florence, Willie, Bertha. Arnesta, Edna, Pearlie, De Ella, Magnolia These are the names of some of the Tutwiler Quilters who have come and...
Mississippi native marches on to spread message of equality across the world
WASHINGTON, D.C.—It was a hot August day 50 years ago in Washington, D.C. The sea of people was so thick that the whites, blacks, Asians and Indians holding hands could hardly move. Ambulance sirens sounded, yet the atmosphere was peaceful—and freedom was in the air....
About Us:
The Sip Collective is a mission-driven storytelling organization powered by LF Voices Collective, LLC.
We believe stories are more than information — they are culture, memory, and connection. Our work brings journalism and community storytelling together in new ways.
We do this through:
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Amplify The Sip — our digital publication with people-first stories rooted in Mississippi and the South.
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The ’Sip Archive — preserving stories first published in The ’Sip Magazine (2014–2018).
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Sip StoryExchange — helping organizations and communities sponsor, support, and share meaningful stories.
The Sip Collective carries the public mission: publishing stories and building a storytelling system others can adapt. LF Voices Collective is the creative engine — handling production, partnerships, and multimedia.
Together, we strengthen what already exists — newsrooms, cultural institutions, and grassroots networks — by centering people, honoring place, and reclaiming storytelling as a deeply human force for change.
What We Believe:
We believe stories should do more than inform.
They should help us feel, remember, and connect.
That’s why we:
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Put people first — telling stories with communities, not just about them.
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Share context and heart — because facts alone don’t show the full meaning.
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Honor place — where you’re from shapes who you are.
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Lift up every voice — especially the ones too often left out.
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Make space for meaning — less noise, more listening and reflection.
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Work together, not in competition — there’s room for all of us to tell stories that matter.
From the Front Porch:
A column by Lauchlin Fields
The Audience Is the Foundation. The Work Is Connection.
After a decade in “audience work,” Lauchlin Fields explains why the future of journalism depends on treating audience as the foundation—not the afterthought.
Notes from the In Between
“This isn’t about starting over. It’s about honoring everything I’ve already built—and using it as the bridge to what comes next.”— Lauchlin Fields, Founder/CVO, LF Voices Collective This issue of Amplify by LFVC comes to you from the middle of a...
Why The Sip Collective?
Because stories can do more. They can connect us to each other, carry memory forward, and help us see the beauty and complexity of place.
That’s why we’ve built a storytelling framework — a simple, repeatable way to create stories that center people, culture, and connection. It grew out of years of work in newsrooms, museums, and community projects, and it’s designed to be adapted and scaled in any community.
Right now, we’re proving this model through Amplify The Sip — our digital publication where the framework comes to life with original stories, archives, music, and engagement layers.
Behind the scenes, we’re powered by LF Voices Collective (LFVC) — the creative engine that produces our stories and partnerships.
At the heart of it all is one belief:
Stories connect us — and connection creates change.
Join Sip Circle
Readers, supporters, neighbors, and friends — this is your invitation to be part of something meaningful.
Sip Circle is the community of members who make The Sip Collective possible. Your support helps us publish people-first stories, preserve archives, and create new ways for communities to connect through storytelling.
Whether you give monthly or annually, every contribution sustains the work and the storytellers behind it. And as a member, you’ll get exclusive updates and ways to connect with the stories you’ve helped bring to life.
Sip Circle Members Help Us:
✔ Publish Amplify The Sip — our digital publication
✔ Preserve and share The ’Sip Archive
✔ Support storytellers and contributors
✔ Build spaces for connection, trust, and belonging
