I’ve never been someone who fits into a mold, especially not in the art world. So when I first came across Taylor Conroy and Thought Leader’s promise to help people land TEDx talks, I wasn’t sure what to think. It felt bold, maybe too bold.
I didn’t sign up right away.
I sat with it. I wrestled with it. For me, art has never been about polish or performance. It is ancestral, messy, and personal.
But I also knew I had something to say, a message rooted in lived experience, community, and transformation. And if I could speak it clearly, maybe someone else out there, someone like me, would feel seen.
That’s what made me lean in.
This isn’t a promotional piece, and it’s not a complaint. It’s just my honest experience—what was hard, what surprised me, and what I’d want someone to know before choosing this path.
Undoing What I Was Taught
My TEDx journey wasn’t just about landing a stage. It was about unlearning.
Western art education trained me to view creativity through a narrow lens, often leaving out culture, community, or healing. Thought Leader didn’t erase that conditioning, but preparing my talk made me confront it. I had to pull it apart and find my way back to something older and more sacred.
That wasn’t easy. I made mistakes. I doubted myself. I didn’t have many mentors who had walked a path like mine, part artist, part organizer, part speaker. But those stumbles clarified my voice. They helped me realize what I wasn’t willing to compromise.
Speaking to the Right People
The talk I created wasn’t for everyone, and that was the point.
It was for people like me, artists working inside their communities, creatives using their work to disrupt harmful systems and imagine new ones. People who see art not just as expression, but as a tool for organizing, for healing, for reclaiming space.
If that’s you, I hope hearing this reminds you that you’re not alone. There are more of us out here trying, failing, learning, and continuing to show up.
Thinking About Signing Up?
If you’re on the fence about working with Thought Leader, I’d say this: don’t just look at the price or the promise. Pay attention to the resistance.
Sometimes that hesitation is logistical. But sometimes, it’s something deeper, a question about whether your voice belongs in certain spaces, or whether your message is “TEDx enough.”
Those are powerful questions. And whether or not you move forward, exploring them is a meaningful step.
This isn’t just about signing up. It’s about asking, “Is now the time to own my story?” Only you can answer that. But it’s worth considering.
Final Thoughts
Would I do it again? Yes.
Not because it was perfect, but because it gave me structure, clarity, and a reason to articulate something I had carried silently for years.
No one gave me my talk. I created it. I revised it. I wrestled with it. The team provided a framework, and that container gave me the space to do the deeper work.
This journey isn’t for everyone. But if your voice challenges the norm, and you’re ready to share it on your own terms, this might be for you.
And that is something worth exploring.