Wilkine Brutus has lived many creative lives. Award-winning journalist, poet, speaker, and founder of Maps & Diaries, he grew up in a Haitian household full of big, dramatic stories, discovered poetry and hip-hop as his creative language, and learned to turn rejection, curiosity, and community into fuel.

In this episode, Wilkine talks about growing up on exaggerated family legends, going viral as “Teacher YouTube” in South Korea, why libraries and third places matter, how he thinks about success and “luxury” now, and the four guiding principles he shares with other creatives.