Peter de Kuster | What Is Your Story?

For years, Peter de Kuster has explored one of the most important questions we can ask ourselves: What can the stories we read teach us about the stories we live?

Through his Hero’s Journey and Heroine’s Journey work, Peter has collected more than 3,000 stories from professionals across more than 150 creative professions. His work explores how people discover their talents, overcome challenges, navigate turning points, pursue their ambitions and find the courage to create lives and careers they love.

Peter believes that great books offer more than entertainment or knowledge. They open windows into other lives, introduce us to new ways of thinking and help us recognize parts of ourselves we may not have fully understood. Through literature, we can explore difficult choices, experience unfamiliar worlds and discover new possibilities for our own future.

As a speaker, storyteller and guide, Peter invites audiences to discover the power of literature as a source of self-knowledge, inspiration and personal transformation. He brings the worlds of great writers into conversation with the questions people face in their own lives: Who am I? What matters to me? What holds me back? What do I want to change? And what kind of life do I want to create?

Through What Is Your Story?, Peter explores the connection between the stories found in books and the stories we live every day. Drawing inspiration from classic novels, contemporary literature, mythology, unforgettable characters and the real-life experiences of professionals, he makes great storytelling a practical tool for reflection, creativity, personal growth and reinvention.

His presentations reveal the universal patterns that connect literature with human experience: the search for identity, the desire to belong, the struggle between ambition and responsibility, the courage to challenge convention and the possibility of beginning again.

A character’s dilemma can illuminate a choice we face ourselves. A novelist’s portrayal of ambition can challenge our definition of success. A story about loss or transformation can help us see a turning point in a different light. Great books allow us to explore the complexity of being human while discovering new perspectives on our own lives.

Peter’s work is particularly relevant at moments of transition. Changing careers, discovering a new ambition, rethinking leadership or entering the second half of life can raise questions to which familiar answers no longer seem sufficient. Literature gives us the opportunity to explore these questions through the experiences of others—and to imagine answers we might not have discovered alone.

His message is simple: you do not have to read only to learn about the world. You can read to discover who you are and who you might become.

Speaking Topics

• What Is Your Story? Discover how great books can help you understand your own identity, choices, ambitions and possibilities.
• The Hero’s Journey in Literature: Explore how literary heroes confront challenges, overcome setbacks and discover the courage to transform their lives.
• The Search for Identity: Discover how the characters of great novels struggle with expectations, belonging and the question of who they really are.
• Your Next Chapter: Reinventing Work and Life: Use stories of change, ambition and reinvention to explore new possibilities at important turning points.
• The Wisdom of Great Books: Discover what classic and contemporary literature can teach us about love, courage, leadership, resilience and the meaning of a life well lived.
• The Power of Storytelling in Leadership: Explore how literary stories can help leaders communicate purpose, understand people and inspire change.
• Passion Never Retires: Discover how literature, life experience and renewed curiosity can inspire a meaningful and fulfilling second half of life.
• The Stories That Change Us: Explore how unforgettable characters, difficult choices and powerful literary journeys can change the way we see ourselves and the world.

Great Books. New Perspectives. Your Story.

Peter works with organizations, professional associations, leadership teams, conferences and audiences seeking fresh perspectives on personal development, creativity, leadership, career reinvention and the meaning of work and life.

His speaking engagements bring literature to life through engaging storytelling, memorable characters, thought-provoking questions and connections between great books and the challenges people face today.

Rather than treating literature as something distant or purely academic, Peter makes it personal. He invites audiences to see themselves in the stories they encounter, question the assumptions they hold and discover ideas they can apply to their own lives and work.

Whether speaking to professionals navigating change, leaders looking for fresh inspiration or people reimagining the second half of life, Peter returns to a fundamental question:

Which book might help you understand the story you are living—and discover the story you want to live next?

To discuss a keynote, conference presentation, literary workshop or customized speaking engagement, contact Peter de Kuster at peterdekuster2023@gmail.com.

Travel through great books. Discover new perspectives. Find the story that is yours to live.