This is a Glass Box Media Podcast.

The Ziegler show comes from the legacy of Ziegziegler and brings together personal and professional growth, business success and faith.

Welcome, I'm Kevin Miller. In this episode, Never Be a Victim.

Here's a quote by our guest. Everything works together for my good. I'm never a victim. So that's Deborah Smith Pegay. She had every reason to be a victim, which you're going to hear in a second, but ultimately she just didn't see the value in it.

She was poor underprivileged black. She'd been molested yet figured out how to get an education

went from being a southern maid to a Fortune 500 VP

and then on to becoming an international speaker

and award-winning author of 17 books,

including her book, 30 Days to Taming Your Tongue which has sold over a

million copies worldwide. That's gigantic. But don't expect a hard charging war

horse here. That's what intrigued me so much. Deborah is just all smiles and laughter and

grace as she gave light-hearted but profound answers to all of my inquiries.

At one point, as I pressed her on some hardships that she had faced, she just said, well,

you know, what were the options? Let it all take me down or just go ahead and do it needs to happen and succeed.

And it left me feeling silly to some degree for minimizing myself or letting any

circumstances get me down and handicap me. She's got a new book. It's called

lead like a woman. I'll tell you her message spoke to me as much as any I've heard in a long time.

What we discussed regarding gender and race and opportunity was just powerful. As a black person, she

says, I never tried to be white and as a woman she says, I never tried to be white. And as a woman, she said, I never tried to be a man. However, she recognized how the cards were stacked and simply did what needed to be done. She knew she'd have to work. She said this twice as hard to get half the

credit, which again she just accepted and did it. She said that's just how it is

and she realized complaining about it or letting it hold her back gained her nothing it just to minister and her opportunities.

And what she is today is a wildly successful and joyfully fulfilled human.

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