Stories that Save Us with Sharon Fennix

This week, we’re joined by Sharon Fennix—a hotline coordinator with the Transitions Clinic Network (TCN), a community leader shaped by lived experience, and a storyteller whose creativity helped her survive 38 years of incarceration. Sharon’s journey has taken her from running fashion shows and directing original plays inside prison to becoming a trusted source of support for people navigating the vulnerable first steps of reentry. She brings wisdom, humor, honesty, and a remarkable ability to see the human story beneath the surface.

In our conversation, Sharon reflects on how storytelling became her lifeline on the inside—how sewing costumes for fashion shows grew into writing and directing full productions that helped people connect across divides. She talks about the complexities of coming home after decades away, and how being met by someone who shared her lived experience helped her rebuild trust, autonomy, and a sense of possibility. Today, she offers that same grounding presence to others through the TCN hotline.

Sharon also shares her experience co-producing “Journeys of Healing: Stories of Resilience and Transformation,” a Nocturnists Satellites event hosted by Transitions Clinic Network in Los Angeles in 2025, made possible by a generous grant from the California Health Care Foundation.

Sharon’s story is full of courage, creativity, and hard-won wisdom. We hope you’ll listen and feel as inspired as we did.

Enjoy,Emily and The Nocturnists Team

Favorite moments from this week’s episode

Each One Teach One“Inside, we used to say each one teach one. Go out, tell someone what you learned, and bring them back. That’s how I approached the parole board. I told them, I’m here to teach you who I am—not who I was. And when they said ‘found suitable,’ I hit the floor. Because I knew that storytelling had set me free.”

Stories as Healing“Every show I did was someone’s story—women who’d been hurt, abandoned, trafficked, silenced. When they performed, they could finally see their lives from the outside. That’s what storytelling does—it shows you who you are and lets you start over.”

The Power of Connection“When people call the hotline, I tell them right away—I did 38 years. I am you. You are my brother. You are my sister. That’s what makes the connection real. Because if you’ve been where I’ve been, you already know the language of survival.”

Finding Faith in Art“I started to see that every costume I sewed, every scene I directed, was God showing me I was meant for more. The staff would stay late to watch my plays. Their kids came too. I realized: I was changing how people saw us.”

Stories That Save Lives“Now I want to start a podcast called She Just Wants to Talk. Because that’s all it takes—talking. Listening. Meeting people where they are. I want others like me to know that their stories matter, that their voices can save someone else’s life.”

Enjoying The Nocturnists? Check out a new podcast from our friends at Unleashed: Redesigning Health Care

Unleashed: Redesigning Health Care is a new podcast features guests are clinician-innovators who have changed care on the front lines. Their stories, their voices, their ingenuity. Learn more at unleashedpodcast.org.

Minneapolis: Upcoming call for stories

The Center for the Art of Medicine will host their next live storytelling show, For the Moment, at the Parkway Theater on April 30, 2026. Their call for stories opens in early December, so if you or someone you know wants to share a story, reach out to cfam@umn.edu to join the email list and learn more.

EXTENDED: Call for stories for Trust in Medicine series

We’re excited to announce our new podcast series, Trust in Medicine.This series explores how trust in healthcare is being built, broken, and reimagined in a rapidly changing world—where shifting guidelines, systemic inequities, and new digital voices all shape how patients and clinicians experience medicine today.

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