When his viral poem “You Are Who You’ve Been Looking For” touched over 250 million people worldwide, spoken word artist Adam Roa was thrust into the spotlight and a personal crisis. In this incredibly moving TEDxKlagenfurt talk, he shares the raw truth behind the poem’s success: he didn’t yet know how to love himself. Adam blends spoken word and raw storytelling to share what it really takes to rebuild a relationship with yourself. With vulnerability and poetic insight, he reveals how self-love isn’t a switch you flip but a relationship you build. Day by day. Breath by breath. Choice by choice. Adam Roa is a globally recognized spoken word artist, transformational coach, and creative visionary. His viral poem “You Are Who You’ve Been Looking For” has inspired over 250 million viewers worldwide. Blending art and personal development, Adam helps individuals and organizations unlock creativity, deepen relationships, and build aligned, purpose-driven lives. As founder of the CREATE Community and host of The Creative Path Podcast, Adam is an advocate of authentic self-expression and conscious leadership. This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at https://www.ted.com/tedx
More from TED
- 14:30The running community helping the local community | Sarah Donaghy | TEDxGosportSometimes kindness is measured in cans and miles. Sarah Donaghy shares how a running club turned compassion into action, fueling food banks and strengthening a community one step at a time. Sarah Donaghy is the welfare officer at Hampshire based Fareham running club. Having helped set up the club’s yearly ‘Food Bank Run’, Sarah was moved by the work of food banks in the UK. Following the death of her stillborn daughter Katie Louise in January 2022, she was touched by the help of the local community. Feeling the impact of those feeding her family at their lowest, Sarah was keen to see how the running community could help their local community. Her idea is to pay it forward getting as many UK running clubs to run their own ‘Food Bank Run’.Sarah is wife, mother to 4 children and Katie in heaven, currently working as a Special needs teacher. This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at https://www.ted.com/tedx
- 18:05AI Can't Kill Dreamland | Eleanor Hawkridge | TEDxGosportWhat if creativity could reconnect us to ourselves and each other? Eleanor Hawkridge shows how local art and culture can transform communities, inviting us to rediscover wonder in the everyday. Eleanor Hawkridge is a creative producer, curator and artist champion. A strong advocate for improving culture thorough arts engagement, she works to bring communities together for innovative moments of creative excellence that allow people to break free of the confines of the day-to-day and rediscover their own creative wonderland.Starting life as spreadsheets, her projects have led her to co-found several arts organisations and programmes including a digital creative agency in Marrakech, and a gallery, artist’s studios and creative social workspace supporting emerging artists in Liverpool. She has produced an annual arts festival creating a platform for the voices of artists with lived refugee experience, a Google ISD community-building project focussed on reducing hate crime through arts participation, and a VR experience exploring street art in Iran. This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at https://www.ted.com/tedx
