Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie is not only one of my personal role models, she is also a brilliant writer, story teller and intellectual mind, someone who has been able to stay true to herself despite the media attention she receives with growing fame and popularity. I first got to know about her through her TEDxEuston talk “The danger of a single story”, which is still one of my favourite TED talks out there.

I had the pleasure of seeing her live for the first time yesterday here in London. After having watched so many of her interviews, book readings and talks, (including her second TEDxEuston talk “We should all be feminist” that has since gone viral), it felt unreal to see her sit on this tiny chair in front of a fully packed Royal Festival Hall. The real magic happened when the moderator opened the floor for questions from the audience, starting an intimate discussion with 2,500 diverse people about topics from sex to war trauma. Her ability to find the right words at any moment is just extraordinary.