Sage City Dinner

Empowered Transitions

February 12, 2025 | 6:30pm | The Artisan’s Palate

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A curated evening of connection & depth for Charlotte women leaders

This is more than a dinner party

The details

Date: Thursday, February 12, 2025

Time: 6:30-9:30pm

Location: The Art Gallery at the Artisan’s Palate (private room at 1218 E 36th St A, Charlotte, NC 28205)

Price: $250 all inclusive (limited to 12 seats)

What You Will Experience:

Meaningful Connections: Skip the small talk. Engage in facilitated networking and a curated experience designed with intention for each guest.
Exceptional Dining: Enjoy drinks and hors d'oeuvres followed by a thoughtfully crafted three-course meal at one of Charlotte’s top women-owned restaurants.
Guidance on Navigating Transitions: Discover empowering frameworks for how to navigate the deeper element of life transitions so that you emerge empowered, transformed, and renewed.
Inspiring Stories: Be uplifted by personal reflections from dynamic women leaders, including a fireside chat with Mary Ellen Gustainis, experienced corporate and non-profit leader, as well as Christa Csoka, Owner and Head Chef at Artisan’s Palate.
Thoughtful Takeaways: Leave with a meaningful gift and the opportunity to experience the power of coaching.

About the Restaurant:

The Artisan’s Palate is a restaurant, craft cocktail/wine bar and art gallery in NoDa offering a globally-inspired/locally-sourced menu in a neighborly, relaxed atmosphere with a focus on art and those who create it. The event will be held in the restaurant’s gallery.

Additional details and fine print can be found here.

Reserve your seat

Meet your hosts

Facilitator & Coach:
Diana Rowe

Behind every transformative gathering is a skilled facilitator. Diana brings decades of experience designing conversations that spark connection, reflection, and insight. As the founder of Sage City Coach, she creates spaces where women leaders can lead with authenticity and purpose.

Inspiration & Speaker:
Mary Ellen Gustainis

Wisdom is the result of intention, experience, and reflection. Mary Ellen Gustainis brings a rich blend of leadership – from corporate executive roles to service-based board seats. Across the backdrop of her 36-year career in the chemicals industry, Mary Ellen has cultivated and treasured her role as a wife, mother, and grandmother and navigated life transitions with grace and intention. She is a mentor at her core, giving her time, energy, and insights to young people.

Owner & Chef, Artisan’s Palate:
Christa Csoka

Success in the restaurant industry is anchored on passion, perseverance, and continual reinvention. Christa Csoka has been immersed in food, hospitality, and people-centered events for over 30 years. Expanding beyond the art of cuisine, Christa has created a hybrid space that celebrates both culinary delights and the art of local artists - one that she has continued to transform and evolve over the past 7 years.

Founder & Coach, Sage City Coach
Diana Rowe is Founder & Coach at Sage City Coach. People spark her curiosity, and she loves connecting the pieces of who they are: personal values, bold ambitions, defining qualities, habitual behaviors, and underlying potential. Diana pairs over 15 years of corporate leadership experience with passion for life and leadership coaching.
Diana created the Sage City Dinner Series to craft experiences that satisfy the heartfelt conversations we all crave. In a fast-paced world occupied with busy schedules, high-pressure careers, and competing priorities, it’s not uncommon to feel like something is missing. This is a space to show up, get curious, and be vulnerable. Fill your cup with with new perspective, connections, and tangible practices to create positive momentum in your life.
Leader, Mentor, and Coach across corporate and non-profit organizations
Mary Ellen Gustainis brings a rich blend of leadership, service, and lived wisdom to the table.
She spent more than three decades in the chemicals industry at both DuPont and BASF in roles ranging from Manufacturing Engineer to Shift Supervisor, to Sales to Six Sigma General Management. Mary Ellen retired in 2022 after holding multiple Business Director roles. Her career reflects a rare breadth of experience—working on the front lines and in the executive suite, always with a focus on people, process, and purpose.
Following corporate retirement, Mary Ellen has devoted her business and organizational expertise to supporting nonprofit and faith-based organizations. She has served on boards for Catholic Charities in two states, Belmont Abbey College, and is currently the President of the Board of Directors for MiraVia – an organization that offers residential, material, and emotional support for pregnant women and their children.
A lifelong mentor, she is energized by conversations with early-career professionals and often says she learns just as much as she gives. Above all, she treasures her roles as wife, mother, and grandmother—and recharges by knitting, cooking, hiking, and cheering on NHL hockey.
Owner & Head Chef, the Artisan’s Palate
Owner and Head Chef Christa Csoka brings over 30 years of experience and a deep passion for food, hospitality, and community. A top graduate of the French Culinary Institute, she trained under renowned Master Chefs including Jacques Pépin, Daniel Boulud, Jacques Torres, Alain Sailhac, and André Soltner. Her career includes time in the kitchens of Daniel in New York City, Tru and the Pump Room in Chicago, as well as culinary work in Austin and Charlotte—shaping her globally inspired approach to comfort food.
Christa’s classical French training, combined with modern influences, defines her creative style at The Artisan’s Palate, where she emphasizes fresh, local, and organic ingredients that reflect the spirit of the Charlotte community. A devoted foodie and wine enthusiast, she is continually inspired by meaningful flavors and shared experiences.
Her love for entertaining began early, growing up in a family where hosting and gathering were central. After moving to Charlotte in 2004, she began catering events and hosting themed dinners that brought people together—work that ultimately became the foundation for The Artisan’s Palate, a space where food, art, and community coexist with intention.

You are invited!

Empowered Transitions is a gathering to explore the multitude of transitions that women face – from those we intentionally choose to others that are unforeseen. Weighing the options, risks, and potential for a change can feel uncertain and overwhelming. And yet, we are often focused on the outcome of a transition and underplay the shifts that are happening at the emotional and spiritual level. Get clear on identifying when change needs to happen and explore the deeper element of transition. Whether you are contemplating a career change, navigating a divorce, moving toward retirement, or caring for aging parents, this event will give you new perspective and support for how to balance intention with surrender and ultimately use passages an opportunity to transform and renew.

Join us for an intimate evening designed to spark ah-ha moments for women leaders in Charlotte. Each dinner—limited to just 12 guests—centers on a powerful theme and features an inspiring speaker, thought-provoking questions, and practical insights you can carry into your life and leadership.

Whether you're drawn by the topic, excited for a memorable night at one of Charlotte’s top restaurants, or simply craving soul-filling connection, the Sage City Dinner Series offers a new way to gather, grow, and be nourished—personally and professionally.

RESERVE YOUR SEAT

Testimonials from Past Sage City Dinners

Katie, Attorney

“Networking Reimagined absolutely delivered on the promise of its name. Diana is a thoughtful facilitator adept at bringing diverse women of different ages, backgrounds, and areas of expertise together for a fulfilling and fun evening… I've already made plans to meet up with a few of the other attendees, and so appreciate Diana bringing us together.”
Nazia, Sports Management

“The small nature of the dinner was really meaningful as you really got the chance to think about questions and also what you could offer to the group… The questions that Diana raised were thought-provoking and relevant… Time went by very quickly, which is always a great sign.
Lu, Wellness & Studio Owner

"I honestly cannot remember the last time I sat in a chair until 11 pm, completely sober, and was that engaged with the conversation. Diana was a great facilitator, read the room like an expert, and set everyone up to engage by an amazing personal share to kick of the night. Can't wait for the next one.”
Jamie

“A small group networking dinner like this allows ‘strangers’ to relate, ideas to spark, and inner questions to find peace and meaning and even resolution. What’s great is that you don’t know what you’ll find in a networking event like this, but you show up open to discover something for yourself.”
Alison

“Diana’s gentle guidance turned what would have been idle conversation into an opportunity for self-exploration and growth.”
Construction Materials Professional

“The setting felt more like friends that didn't know each other well getting to know each other better over a well-organized gathering without the event planning required. Diana did her best to make everyone feel at ease and help participants find something in common to make conversations more genuine. I already have a planned meetup following the event with a new acquaintance!”