Mariah Ivey, Director of Programs & Artistic Development, Madam Walker Legacy Center, and Founder of That Peace Open Mic, has spent her career building stages where none existed. Honored with a “Keeper of Culture” mural in Indianapolis by visual artist Ashley Nora in partnership with GangGang, Ivey speaks with host Toph Day about what it actually takes to earn that designation.

The conversation covers Ivey’s five pillars of storytelling, including urgency, relevancy, creative rigor, personal connection, and impact, and how those principles apply far beyond poetry into marketing, product development, and community building. Ivey draws on her experience curating art spaces for the Jordan Brand during the 2025 WNBA All-Star weekend in Indianapolis, performing at TEDx, and founding That Peace Open Mic to argue that authenticity cannot be packaged with the right language alone. It has to be lived off stage before it works on stage.

She challenges leaders across industries to stop moving transactionally and instead “move at the speed of relationships,” a phrase that cuts to the heart of why so many community initiatives stall. She also makes the case that vulnerability is not a liability in leadership but a skill, one best practiced by getting into more art spaces.

Ivey’s latest work appears in the fall issue of genesis: a literature and art magazine at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis.