Single Mother by Choice | Krysta Monet | TEDxThird Ward Salon

What happens if you're never chosen?

From an early age, many women are taught that life begins after someone chooses them, a partner, an employer, an opportunity. We learn to wait for permission, validation, and the "right time" before building the lives we truly want.

In this TEDx talk, Krysta Monet explores what happens if that moment never comes and why waiting to be chosen may be one of the greatest limitations we place on ourselves.

Through her deeply personal decision to become a single mother by choice, she challenges the belief that a meaningful life must follow a traditional timeline and offers a new perspective on agency, courage, and creating a life on your own terms.

This isn't a talk about motherhood. It's about identity, possibility, and the quiet revolution that begins when we stop asking, "Who will choose me?" and start asking, "What will I choose for myself?" Krysta Monet is a writer, speaker, and cultural commentator exploring the complexities of modern womanhood. Through essays, conversations, and live experiences, she examines the invisible rules women inherit about love, ambition, identity, loneliness, and the courage to choose lives that feel true instead of simply expected. Her work invites women to question cultural narratives and create lives on their own terms. She has been featured in media outlets such as Cosmopolitan and FOX26. This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at https://www.ted.com/tedx