Jessie Acosta "worked everywhere" in South Baldwin's local restaurant and hospitality scene, bringing what her friends describe as a gift for making strangers feel like friends.
She moved to the area with her daughter, Lexi Pergament, in 2017 when Acosta helped open Groovy Goat at OWA as one of the original staff members.
Meghan Grisham said her best friend of five years is well known for bartending across island cities.
Amanda Manjone, a close friend of Acosta for eight years, said Acosta was "incredibly outgoing and social." She was always laughing and had a way of making everyone in a room feel important.
"Jessie always knew everyone," she said. "When you walked into her bar, she made you feel like you belonged there."
Acosta was the first friend Julie Bowers made when she moved to the area in 2022. Bowers said Acosta was like a "ball of energy and light mixed in with a little hot mess."
After living on the Gulf Coast for nearly a decade, Acosta passed away Jan. 10. She was 40.
Over 300 people attended her funeral, her daughter, Pergament said.
Acosta's impact on the community was seen throughout the weeks following her death as large turnouts attended a variety of events honoring her.
At many of these events, fundraisers were held for Pergament's college expenses and anything else she may need. Grisham created a GoFundMe for Pergament.
Bowers said a previous fundraiser at American Legion Post 44 had a multitude of people show up, including snowbirds who have annually looked for where Acosta would be working. The crowd at the event was so "incredible" people had to park at Langston Animal Hospital.
Events are still being held with an upcoming "Jam for Jessie" at The Sloop, 103 W. Canal Drive in Gulf Shores, on March 7 starting at 11 a.m. A variety of art, from music to paintings, will be used to honor Acosta and raise funds for Pergament.
"She dragged so many people to the beach all the time," Acosta's daughter, Pergament, said. "She would be like, 'come back and see me,' and people would make trips to Gulf Shores just to find where she was working."
According to her obituary, "music and dance were not merely hobbies for Jessica; they were essential parts of her being. Rarely would she be seen without her microphone, singing and dancing with unparalleled enthusiasm. Her love for the Lord was profound; she embraced her faith wholeheartedly, trusting in Him through life's trials and challenges."
Despite a great love for the beach, all her friends said her biggest passion in life was her daughter.
Pergament said she and her mom were a strong duo. They supported each other in everything and were practically inseparable.
"It was just us most of the time," she said. "It's always just been us."
Pergament is set to graduate from Gulf Shores High School this spring and go to college for hospitality and tourism.
Since kindergarten, Pergament has wanted to be a chef; something Acosta always offered encouragement for, as she "really wanted me to just achieve my dreams."
"I just want to take her knowledge and how much of an impact she made on everyone — I just want to be able to do the same," Pergament said. "Like with what my passion is, in culinary, I just want to make it happen and make people proud of me."
Acosta's friends agreed she made a great impact on everyone she interacted with and that everyone can learn something from how she lived her life.
"Her positivity was just astounding at times, and she didn't let things get her down or ruin her day," Grisham said. "… I can only aspire to be more positive and forgiving like she was. We have one life — for all we know — and we have to make it count. She absolutely did that; not a day was wasted."
"Seeing her daughter share photos and memories of their life together has reminded me how important it is to create as many memories with my own son as I can," Manjone said. "After Jessie's passing, we decided to book a trip next month that we had not been planning, just as a reminder to make the time and not wait."
"Besides this huge void I feel," Bowers said, "I keep thinking of that song lyric by Lee Ann Womack, 'And when you get the chance to sit it out or dance, I hope you dance.'"
