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NSA SoCal: Last Story Standing (In-person)
Last Story Standing: The Ultimate Storytelling Showdown!
https://nsasocal.org/events/january-24-2026-competition/
Last Story Standing isn’t just another event. It’s a community celebration of storytelling, connection, and inspiration. This competition features TEN incredible speakers ready to step up, share their unique stories, and leave you in awe. You’ll laugh, you’ll cheer, and you might even shed a tear. But most importantly, you’ll be better off for being there.
Join us for an afternoon filled with community, creativity, and—yes—storytelling that stands out.
Why should you be there?
- Unforgettable Stories: Watch the magic of storytelling unfold as top speakers bring their most authentic selves to the stage.
- Inspiration to Ignite Your Journey: Whether you’re a speaker, an aspiring storyteller, or just someone who loves hearing stories, you will leave feeling fired up.
- Connection: It’s not just about the stories—it’s about the people. This is your chance to meet, mingle, and connect with some of the most inspiring individuals in the speaking world.
If you’re looking for an event that’ll feed your soul, spark your creativity, and leave you feeling connected, this is it. Let’s come together and make this a Saturday to remember.
Grab your tickets NOW because you don’t want to miss this! It will be an incredible afternoon of connection and storytelling you won’t find anywhere else.
All storyteller spots are currently full — but don’t worry! Join the waitlist to be first in line when a spot opens. Add your name here! (Waitlist members are contacted in the order received.)
Meet our judges!
To survive the disruptive sea change that’s happening across the financial services industry, you need to uncover and emotionally articulate the life transformations you deliver each day to your clients. Sheri not only believes that ideas and empathy are an advisor’s true currency — she’s been advocating it for nearly 30 years. An internationally recognized financial services speaker, success coach, social media expert (Deconstructing Digital), and visionary pioneer of digital emotional intelligence (digitalEQ™), she’s helped financial services and fintech firms build brands, deepen client relationships, and drive sales and revenue growth. As the host of Women Rocking Wall Street, Sheri has championed gender-pay equity and the critical need to get more women into the boardroom.
Karen Greene Robinson is a theatre educator, storyteller, and theatre artist with decades of experience using performance and narrative to cultivate voice, confidence, and human connection. She began her career as an educator in Compton Unified School District teaching English and directing plays, where she co-sponsored the Dominguez High School drama program that received the NEA SuAnne Big Crow Award for Human and Civil Rights and was featured in the award winning documentary OT: Our Town. During this period, she also co-founded Project Renaissance Theatre Arts and Learning Center, serving as Artistic Director and guiding youth and formerly incarcerated individuals in crafting and performing personal stories rooted in lived experience. Her artistic perspective on theatre as a vehicle for dialogue and human connection was shaped by her experience as an Allen Lee Hughes Fellow with Arena Stage’s social outreach theatre company, Living Stage Theatre Company in Washington, DC. Since 2002, Karen has served Los Angeles Unified School District in a range of roles including theatre teacher at all grade levels, director, peer coach, and arts specialist. Currently Karen provides leadership and guidance for theatre education across the nation’s second largest public school district, LAUSD, as a K-12 Arts Coordinator. A former board member of the California Educational Theatre Association and a recipient of its Outstanding Elementary Theatre Teacher honor, Karen continues to champion theatre as a powerful practice for storytelling, empathy, and collective imagination.
Keleigh Crigler Hadley has a biology degree from San Diego State University gathering dust somewhere in a closet. Turns out, she never used it. Not once. While classmates went on to exciting careers in labs and research, she discovered her true calling was in storytelling, a career pivot that made her unused education a fantastic conversation starter at parties.
Her journey as an author began when she wrote a deeply personal story about the loss of her first-born son. That piece of her heart was chosen by Simon & Schuster for the anthology The Motherhood Diaries, where it appeared alongside stories from other moms navigating the beautiful chaos of motherhood. Best-selling author Victoria Christopher Murray, one of the anthology's editors, saw something special in her writing and encouraged her to keep going. (Thanks, Victoria. Look what you've started.)
Since then, she's written Revenge, Inc., What You Won't Do For Love, and The Good Enough Mom because if you can't be perfect, you might as well write about it. She also moonlights as cozy mystery author KC Hadley, whose debut Murder on Kane Lane proves that biology degree or not, she knows how to creatively kill off fictional characters. Her newest cozy mystery, Devils in the Details, is currently on submission and looking for a good home.
Make it a full day with us! Join the morning program and stay for the Storytelling Competition—we’ll be serving lunch between events so you can fuel up, network, and keep the inspiration flowing.