Pegine: a speaker with street smarts

The major thing I knew about Pegine Echevarria, who moved several years ago from Long Island to Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida, is that her life’s mission is to motivate people to take charge and improve their careers, lives, relationships.

What I didn’t know until just now is that she really did hone some skills – sales and leadership, she says -- on the street. Back when she was in junior high in the Bronx, she belonged to a girls’ gang, with associates like Tex, Rats, Peanuts, and Lefty. But, as she tells it, one day post high school, she had a defining moment and realized, “I had a choice.”

Her new path  -- still entrepreneurial, but more constructive – eventually led her to motivational speaking and writing books, such as a recent one named, “Sometimes You Need to Kick Your Own Butt.”

It was during a university speaking gig a year or so back that, when called upon to tell her own story, she ended up revealing her street cred. Since opening that closet, she says she’s met other high-level professionals who toughed it out on the streets, one of whom has earned a doctorate degree. 

She sees the message as this – let’s pay attention to kids who are on the fringes. And with those who are already high-achievers, better we help them do their achieving on our side of the street.

Comments

[Pegine]

Thank you so much Patricia for the kudos. I was just thinking how amazing life is and how wonderful all the people I've met are, you are one of them.

Two weeks ago I was inducted into the Motivational Speakers Hall of Fame...the first Latina!

I'd love to hear from my friends back in New York. They can check out my website at www.pegine.com and email my office at info@pegine.com