Creative Leadership in Practice: Artist Flora Kao on Risk, Resilience, and Reinvention

In this episode of Expressions of Leadership, Michele Kawamoto Perry sits down with artist Flora Kao to explore a nontraditional leadership journey shaped by courage, persistence, and creative risk. From studying environmental science and public policy to working in strategy consulting—and ultimately choosing a life rooted in art—Flora reflects on redefining success, navigating rejection and personal upheaval, and grounding decisions in inner clarity rather than external approval. Together, they examine leadership as an active, evolving practice: the role of mentorship, balancing intention with serendipity, and using art, public installations, and teaching to create spaces for healing, connection, and shared human experience. Flora also shares her vision for community-centered collaborations that invite reflection, beauty, and deeper relationships with nature and one another. Learn more about Flora Kao at http://floratkao.blogspot.com and follow her at http://www.instagram.com/florakaoart Don't miss an episode! Be sure to click on the follow and subscribe buttons. Follow Expressions of Leadership on YouTube and Instagram @ExpressionsOfLeadership. You can also catch the show on Radio Evolve at www.radio-evolve.rocks every Saturday and Sunday at noon PT. Discover more about host Michele Kawamoto Perry and The Forward Project's expertise in culture transformation and leadership development at www.theforwardproject.co.