Eunice Elliott Launches New Interactive Storytelling Platform for Travelers at Birmingham-Shuttlesworth Airport

By Sherrel Wheeler Stewart | For the Birmingham Times

Birmingham-based comedian and entrepreneur Eunice Elliott has turned her natural curiosity and love for storytelling into a new platform that invites airport travelers to record the stories behind their trips.

Elliott, a Bessemer native, unveiled the first WAYHAY (Where Are You Heading and Why) Studios kiosk on Wednesday at Birmingham-Shuttlesworth International Airport.

The kiosk will be located just beyond the TSA checkpoint. Travelers can step into the kiosk and record a 60-second video with the basic information about their journey.

“This is my home airport. I’m in and out of airports all the time. I watch the people and wonder, where are they going? What’s their story?” Elliott said.

In February, she backed that curiosity with research. Elliott, who is the creator and CEO of WAYHAY, developed a proposal and presented it to the Birmingham Airport Authority, and it was approved.

Kim Hunt, vice president of communications at the Birmingham Airport Authority, said WAYHAY fits well with the airport’s overall goals.

“We are all about enhancing the experience for our travelers,” she said.

About 3 million travelers pass through the gates of the Birmingham airport each year, Hunt said.

Elliott says she created WAYHAY after realizing that ordinary people are often on extraordinary journeys that rarely get captured or shared. What began as an idea for a storytelling booth evolved into a larger vision. On February 12, she took a photo of the airport’s rotunda, where she envisioned the storytellers’ kiosk. By May 7, she was in conversations with airport officials.

“It’s going exactly how I planned it would go,” Elliott said. On living out her dreams, she said, “I’ve always been a dreamer, but this is my first time leaving a piece of my physical self somewhere and probably my biggest project.”

Her advice to others is simple: “If you have a dream, just do it. You don’t have to know how, when or who. Just try. There’s no failure in trying — the failure is if you never try.”

Elliott said she often asks herself, “What’s the worst thing that could happen?” Her answer: “Actually, the worst thing that could happen is if you never do it.”

“I won’t say ‘Just do it,’ because that’s someone else’s tag,” she said with a laugh. “But every

journey has a story, including yours. So start writing your story.”

For Elliott, launching WAYHAY in Birmingham is special because it’s part of her own story.

“This is where a big part of my story began, so there couldn’t be a more meaningful place to begin WAYHAY’s story,” Elliott said.

Today she travels across the country on comedy tours — touching down often in her hometown. She also spent several years in the Birmingham area working in local media.

Elliott grew up in Bessemer and attended the University of Alabama. Her goal back then was to become a successful journalist or an actress. This new venture combines many of her passions, she said.

Friends, family and community leaders came out to support Elliott as she unveiled her newest venture.

“I’m grateful to the Birmingham Airport Authority for being willing to embrace the idea and become the first airport to say yes,” Elliott said. “My hope is that the stories we capture here remind us that every person walking through an airport is carrying a story we know nothing about.”

The kiosk will be available for 60 days at Birmingham airport. There is no cost for travelers who try it out, she said.

“I’d like to see this expand to other airports,” she said. “We’ll see what happens.”

Travelers who don’t use the kiosk still have an option for sharing their stories. They can scan the QR Code from the kiosk and upload a 60-second video from their phone.

Elliott said some of the stories collected through the kiosk may become part of a larger video project. The stories will also give the airport some analytics on those who come through their gates.

“Sometimes with the hustle of travel, you don’t get a chance to stop and reflect on the why,” Elliott said. “Hopefully this will give travelers a moment to just sit and pause and reflect on their why.”

Marika N. Johnson contributed to this report.