About Kiesha
My work lives at the intersection of personal transformation, cultural reflection, and human connection. Whether I'm delivering a keynote, facilitating a difficult conversation, producing a storytelling project, or building community infrastructure through Hey, Black Seattle!, my goal is the same: helping people reconnect with themselves, each other, and their collective power to shape culture.
I believe healthy self-regard is the foundation for humane leadership, creativity, connection, and cultural transformation.
Meet Kiesha
Kiesha B. Free is a speaker, facilitator, and cultural producer whose work spans media, arts, technology, and community engagement. Through keynotes, conversations, storytelling initiatives, and community-centered projects, she creates experiences that deepen connection and invite people into more intentional ways of living, leading, and relating.
The Ideas Guiding My Work
Cultural Workers Are Essential
Systems of oppression cause harm, push people toward unhealthy survival tactics and present a skewed vision of what our reality can be. These systems offer incentives & employ violence to maintain harmful narratives and conditions, so we need intentional culture workers - everyday people outside institutions - whose primary ambition is to shift society toward justice and peace.
Shaping culture requires strategy and the investment of time and talent across many disciplines to help people recognize how systems have harmed them, heal from those wounds, and imagine new futures. I have chosen areas of the work that connect with my experience, talents, and passions. Below are six core beliefs that guide the focus of that work - my speaking, workshops, and cultural production - and ground me as I help people and communities heal and grow.
Core Beliefs
How I Got Here
In 2017, my young daughter looked me in the eyes and said, “Mommy, let your dreams be free.” That one sentence cracked something open. It was an encouragement from a child’s innocent heart, but also a call to liberation. A wake-up call to step beyond the tightly stitched seams of achievement and instead follow the threads of joy, truth, and soulful alignment.
At the time, I was steadily advancing in my career at Microsoft. I was climbing the ladder as a partnership negotiator, workplace culture leader, and in-house broadcast talent. As the third child of five from the Cajun crossroads of Central Louisiana, I had long honed the skill of being “in the middle” - seeing multiple perspectives, translating between worlds, and helping people feel seen in rooms where it would’ve been easy to feel invisible. That skill and my commitment to academic excellence landed me at Spelman College on full scholarship, then to the publishing halls of People Magazine, and eventually to the world of big tech.
But then something shifted.
My daughter’s words stirred a truth I could no longer ignore about how much of myself I was leaving behind for “success”. So, I took a leap, stepping away from the security of my corporate director role to reclaim time for motherhood, rediscover my own voice, and live fully into a more liberated purpose. I recommitted to my artistry and deepened my study of self-development & the effects of oppression. I returned to the mandate that Spelman issues through our motto - “A Choice to Change the World.”
My kid’s guidance was a push to reject oppressive limitations. A call to heal, to imagine, and to reconnect to what truly matters. Now, I live those words daily - creating spaces where others can unlock deeper self - awareness, release toxic ambition, and let their dreams be free, too.
Let your dreams be free!
Today My Work Includes:
Keynotes, moderation, and live experiences that move people beyond inspiration toward deep reflection, connection, and action.
Speaking & Live Experiences
Facilitation & Organizational Culture
Designing space where people can think more honestly, listen more deeply, and engage each other with greater humanity.
Cultural Storytelling & Production
Storytelling and cultural experiences that humanize people, amplify community voices, and strengthen belonging.
Past Partners & Clients
“At the heart of everything I do is a simple question: How do we create lives where people feel more connected, more whole, and more fully themselves?
I’m grateful for every opportunity to explore that question alongside others.”
- Kiesha B. Free
Let’s create something meaningful together.
Whether you are planning a keynote, facilitating an important conversation, building community, or exploring a storytelling project, I’d love to hear what you’re imagining.