Diane Kastiel is the producer and host of First Person Live. A writer and storyteller from Chicago, she’s a three-time winner of the National Public Radio’s Moth StorySLAM; her work has been featured on the Moth Radio Hour, its podcast, and at special events for WBEZ, NPR’s Chicago affiliate. Diane has told stories on stage at The Second City, Steppenwolf, the Park West, Victory Gardens and other theaters as well as comedy clubs, art galleries, the basement of a tattoo parlor - she even did a show in the middle of the woods! Diane works with libraries, schools, community centers and homeless shelters to bring storytelling to a wider audience, and leads storytelling workshops at Northwestern University. Diane is an alumna of The Second City Conservatory and the University of Chicago’s Great Books program. She also has an MBA from Northwestern University…just in case. 

Angela Jaeger is a junior at Glenbard West high school who spends much of her free time reading, writing, or playing video games. She proudly shares her hundreds of hours on Zelda as a brag, insisting that she can stop whenever she’d like to (!). Angela frequently gives speeches in Model UN committee sessions and enjoys writing creatively, so she’s excited to make her storytelling debut at First Person Live tonight!

Terry Bonadonna is a sports broadcaster and, for the last 16 years, the lead broadcaster and an occasional member of the front office for the Windy City ThunderBolts, a minor league baseball team on the south side of Chicago. He spends his offseasons broadcasting local college sports and writing, including two books about Chicago baseball. When not at the ballpark, Terry is either wandering the streets of downtown Chicago, where he offers free walking tours, or hanging out on the river, where he narrates not-free architecture tours for a boat company.

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Mary Schmidt is a retired preschool and first grade teacher. Her interest in storytelling was sparked by her student’s great attention when she put the book down and told them a story, rather than reading one (though both she and her students loved reading!). Mary is an avid story listener and an occasional, most recently at a Moth StorySLAM in Berwyn.

Maham Khan is a professor of mass communication and heads the journalism department at Harper College. She spent the first half of her career obsessed with telling other people’s stories through Chicago’s media scene, named as one of “Chicago’s Next Voices” by the Chicago Sun-times in 2024. Maham is returning to the stage as a storyteller after a 25-year hiatus: She won a national gold medal in prose reading while competing on her college speech team in 2003 and since then has won… nothing. In fact, she has been collecting first-hand data on “the art of not winning” for the last two decades! But it turns out not winning leads to a lot of good stories, and Maham is rediscovering her passion for creative writing and the spoken word as she navigates the ass-pains of single motherhood, turning 40, teaching Gen Z, people pleasing, and a slow metabolism.

Kirsten Guill invests a lot of her time doing the mom thing for her three young boys - so she has plenty of experience making peanut butter sandwiches, refereeing disputes, and acting as an emotional life preserver. She also spent 15 years leading hotel teams, where the skill set was similar. When her husband’s executive coach saved their marriage a few years ago, she was inspired to pivot her career to coaching, and began helping other leaders and teams work to excel at their goals and enjoy themselves. Having struggled with the “enjoy” part herself for many years, Kirsten is now experimenting with things she loves, storytelling being one. She recently won a Moth StorySLAM and is excited to be at First Person Live!

Jitesh Jaggi is a dancer and poet from India. He ended his career in finance one day when he lost all the data on an Excel spreadsheet and realized that he just didn't care. That tipping point led him to pursue his creative interest, including storytelling. These days he works as an education coach for teachers and continues to develop his storytelling. Jitesh is a five-time Moth StorySLAM winner, and has lead storytelling workshops for the World Health Organization and the University of Chicago, among others. His stories were recently featured on NPR’s Moth Radio Hour, where they butchered his name but he swears it was him. His one-man show, “Suitcase Stories,” played to a soldout audience at the Steppenwolf Theatre in 2023 and at The Second City in 2024.

Rajneesh Sehgal hails from the vibrant city of Mumbai, India, where he grew up and studied computer science. His life journey took him across continents to settle in the suburbs of Chicago, where he now cherishes life with his wife and two boys. As CTO and co-founder of SKUforce, he thrives on the challenges of entrepreneurship. Amid a mid-life crisis, Raj sank into depths of depression yet emerged more vital than ever, shedding 70 pounds(!) and conquering not just one but two marathons and eight half-marathons (!!). He discovered storytelling in May 2024, winning the Moth StorySLAM on his second attempt. Raj is driven by mindfulness, curiosity, and a desire to be the change he wishes to see in the world - constantly striving to learn, grow, and find his place in an incomprehensible universe.