As a rising presence in Charlotte’s poetry and DJ scenes, Mia McCullough has emerged from her chrysalis, using her voice to shape spaces, uplift others and transform her trials into triumph.

Performing as Miss Mia Mac, McCullough has been testing the full wingspan of her creative voice for a full year, debuting in April 2024 at Release Therapy Open Mic, held every Wednesday night at Red@28th. Since then she’s appeared as both a featured poet and DJ at multiple events throughout 2025, including her first spoken-word contest.

While Miss Mia Mac’s presence has become a familiar force on open mic stages, stepping into the spotlight where her work would be judged against others was something entirely new to her. That opportunity came in February when she competed in Poetry in Motion, a high-energy spoken-word competition hosted by Charlotte-based poet and community leader Frank Expression.

“I kept telling myself that nervousness and excitement release the same hormone,” McCullough said. “And after I performed, I felt like I released a weight I didn’t know I was carrying.”

Paul Frank Carter IV — the visionary also known as Frank Expression — immediately saw McCullough’s potential the first time he heard her perform. Known for his powerful performances and intentionally curated spaces, Carter’s work in creating elevated platforms for poets to shine beyond open mics has made him a cornerstone of Charlotte’s artistic ecosystem.

It was Carter who encouraged McCullough to join The Expression Directory, a platform he founded to help poets secure bookings and gain visibility. The initiative aims to handle the business side of poetry — something far less familiar than industries like hip-hop or visual art — so artists can focus fully on their craft.

Carter believes platforms like these will play a crucial role in elevating the next generation of poets, including Miss Mia Mac.

“Now that we have constant opportunities and poets are getting booked more often, I can’t wait to see how that affects not only Mia but other poets as well,” Carter said.

Having placed third, her experience at Poetry in Motion marked a turning point for McCullough — both personally and within the broader landscape. It confirmed what many had already begun to see: Miss Mia Mac wasn’t just a name on the sign-up list, she was one to watch.

Just say the words

Cocooned between the Carolinas as a Rock Hill native who grew up in Charlotte and constantly bounced between the two states, 26-year-old McCullough remained on the edges of Charlotte’s arts community until she chose to step into the light. She began attending Release Therapy in 2020, drawn to the atmosphere but content to stay in the background.

“I was comfortable being invisible,” she said. “I think that was a reflection of where I was in my life.”

Though she’d long used writing as a form of personal therapy, McCullough never imagined sharing it publicly.

“I don’t even call myself a poet, for real; I call myself a yapper,” she said with a smile, capturing her unfiltered approach to the art form, which often involves working through problems aloud in verse.

“Initially crippled, unsure of how I would sustain/ Found poetry and it kept me from going insane…” — “It was a Hell of a Way to Die” by Miss Mia Mac

After returning to Charlotte from a brief relocation, McCullough found herself in an uncertain headspace. That’s when A Poet Named Superman’s open mic at Red@28th became more than a creative outlet — it became her safe haven.

Named Best Weekly Arts Event in the 2024 Best in the Nest awards, Release Therapy offered a grounding environment for McCullough amid her return to the city, From the Superfriends’ Writers Workshop to the closing track by OJ the DJ (sometimes played by McCullough as his mentee), Red@28th became a sanctuary on Wednesday nights.

Read more: A Poet Named Superman Builds a Charlotte Legacy at Red@28th (2024)

“When I first started going, A Poet Named Superman would always ask if I was going to perform. I’d politely decline,” she recalled with a laugh. “The day I performed, I messaged him and said, ‘I think I want to go, but I’m nervous,’ and he said, ‘Yeaaa, let’s go!’”

She hasn’t missed a week since.

“These days, I can barely sit there and be a spectator,” McCullough said. “I’ve built friendships, found community and embraced the beauty of a space where people can feel fully. It’s a beautiful thing.”

Miss Mia Mac is more than a stage name, it’s a declaration of McCullough’s multifaceted identity. Inspired by the “Miss Mary Mac” nursery rhyme, the name carries a playful cadence while embodying the power and growth she has come to embrace.

“It’s a representation of who I am. As a poet and a DJ, I branch off and am both things. And anything else I choose to do, that would be the name. It’s my brand,” she said.

To mark the moment when she fully embraced her voice in 2024, McCullough wrote “I Am,” a poem that reflects her constant evolution. It captures the delicate balance of boldness and vulnerability while painting a vivid self-portrait of her journey.

“I am a sculpture made to be off balance/ I am more than what meets the eye/ You could say I am a butterfly…”

The Charlotte poetry community thrives on mentorship, and McCullough’s creative ascent is a testament to that. At the heart of her growth is Greg Murray, aka A Poet Named Superman, host of Release Therapy and one of her most trusted mentors.

More than just the man behind the mic, Murray has been a guiding force, someone who saw McCullough’s potential long before she took the stage. Over the past year, he’s watched her transformation not only as a writer but a performer and voice in the community.

“To see the evolution of her poetry going from paper to stage through her voice is crazy,” Murray said. “She’s really molding her work and presenting it in a way that resonates.”

That growth, he says, didn’t happen by accident. He credits McCullough’s openness, her willingness to take feedback and her respect for the craft.

“She’s a sponge,” he said. “She takes it seriously but still has fun with it.”

That mindset made her an easy choice when Murray and fellow poet Frank Expression curated Wine About Release Therapy, a collaborative showcase between their two events.

“She’s been in a competition, she’s getting better every time I hear her and she’s embedded in the craft,” Murray said. “That’s the kind of person you give opportunities to — someone who respects the work and the space.”

McCullough’s rapid rise isn’t just a reflection of her own drive, it’s part of a broader cultural shift unfolding at Release Therapy.

Murray says the once male-dominated lineup has shifted dramatically in the past year, with women now taking the lead onstage. As a consistent presence and rising voice, McCullough is both a product of and contributor to that shift.

“Even if it’s just for a couple of hours a week that a woman can be in a safe space, I’m doing my job,” Murray said. “For Mia to be a testament to that and to contribute to it — it’s a huge deal.”

Beyond the performances, Murray says McCullough’s consistency and gratitude offer something deeper: proof that the space matters.

“When she goes out of her way to express appreciation, it gives me a renewed sense of purpose, knowing someone is benefiting from this space every week,” he said, “especially when it sometimes just feels like work.”

McCullough’s creative journey has also been shaped by her peers, fellow rising voices in Charlotte’s creative scene.

Bridgette “BPoetic” Alston was one of the first people to encourage McCullough to speak her truth on the microphone. She also credits Jaylon “Nolyajj” McKinsey, known for his vivid storytelling, with helping her tap into and name her own strength, becoming a friend in the process.

Adding the ones and twos

That same spirit of growth and experimentation led McCullough to the DJ booth, where she’s found a new way to command a room. What began as a simple curiosity has grown into another extension of her artistry.

Her journey as a DJ began under the mentorship of Onaje “OJ the DJ” Humbert at Red@28th, a founding member of Charlotte DJ collective Mix by 6. It quickly turned into another meaningful creative outlet.

“She came up to me and asked me ‘How do you do that?’” Humbert reflected about meeting McCullough. He showed her some skills and stepped out of the way for her to try on her own. “From that point on, every time I was DJing, she would come over and learn something.”

McCullough draws inspiration from talents like DJ Kmil, gravitating toward intimate lounge spaces where she can connect deeply with her audience.

“My poetry is for me, but my DJing is for other people,” McCullough said. “My ultimate goal is to make people feel with me.”

She describes her DJ style as “nostalgic,” the type to drop a song that immediately transports people back.

“I want the crowd to say, ‘I ain’t heard this in forever,’” McCullough said.

Music is more than just background sound for Miss Mia Mac, it’s an extension of voice — another way she connects, empowers and tells her story. Like a caterpillar inching toward leaves it doesn’t know will sustain its transformation, McCullough moves through each season of her life with intention, quietly crafting wings the world has yet to see.

“No longer a caterpillar but still forced to be cocooned…”

Her growth is stitched into every verse, every beat, every silent pause between. She’s learned to embrace the unspoken moments, those seemingly quiet in-betweens where the most profound shifts take place.

As she steps fully into her creative voice, traces of her metamorphic transformation are visible in the way she connects with the crowd, the authenticity in her sound and the clarity of her presence. Every layer of her art reflects a deliberate process of becoming, of weaving together the stories she’s learned to tell — quietly, confidently and with purpose.

“If only I knew what I was being prepared for in this room/ Rest in peace to my caterpillar, your colors are now in bloom…”

She is not finished but unfolding, ready to embrace what comes next with intention. Aware of life’s ebbs and flows, she is no longer carried by the wind. She moves with purpose, approaching her goals as a butterfly whose world has expanded beyond what she could have imagined as a caterpillar.

“You never really know what metamorphosis brings/ So yes, caterpillar, it’s a hell of a way to die/ but oh, to be a butterfly…”