i didn't grow up with a lot of money, which meant that in order to make it look cool or trendy, you had to be pretty creative. And so i think that i naturally kind of started to have a little bit of a more flamboyant way of dressing than prelaty the rest of my peers. Because i always worked when i was because i grip in the french quarter. I remember really distinctly a moment in high school where somebody said, probably behind my back, they are like, cleo just dresses like this and acts like this to get attention. So ike let that help you figure out who you are, what your thoughts were, and how you were
My guest on today’s Best Of conversation, Cleo Wade, is a community builder, artist, activist, and the author of the books, Heart Talk: Poetic Wisdom for a Better Life (https://amzn.to/2Ltivce) and Where to Begin: A small about book your power to create big change in our crazy world. She has been called the poet of her generation by Time Magazine and one of the 100 most creative people in business by Fast Company. Cleo sits on the board of The Lower East Side Girls Club, the National Black Theatre in Harlem, the Women’s Prison Association. Her art ranges from short, hand-written posts to collaborations with major brands and large-scale public art installations, including a 25-foot love poem in the skyline of the New Orleans French Quarter titled “Respect.”
In today’s conversation, we explore her younger years, growing up as a biracial kid in the famed New Orleans French Quarter with two fiercely-creative parents influenced, how Hurricane Katrina changed everything, what led her to New York for many years, how she walked away from a career as a rising star in fashion to rediscover and cultivate a deeper, artistic voice as a writer and artist, sharing her work online and in public spaces and leveraging her influence for social justice. Be sure to listen to the end, where Cleo reads a moving poem from Heart Talk.
You can find Cleo Wade at:
Website : https://www.cleowade.com/
Instagram : https://www.instagram.com/cleowade/
-------------
Have you discovered your Sparketype yet? Take the Sparketype Assessment™ now. IT’S FREE (https://www.goodlifeproject.com/sparketypes/) and takes about 7-minutes to complete. At a minimum, it’ll open your eyes in a big way. It also just might change your life.
If you enjoyed the show, please share it with a friend. Thank you to our super cool brand partners. If you like the show, please support them - they help make the podcast possible.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.