Pegine Echevarria, a nationally-renowned motivational speaker, media personality and author, will be in town Tuesday to give her first speech in Jacksonville in 14 years. Echevarria is one of 58 inductees into the Motivational Speakers Hall of Fame that includes luminaries Zig Ziglar, Dale Carnegie and Tony Robbins. She is the author of “Sometimes You Need to Kick Your Own Butt.”
Echevarria is a regular guest on “The Montel Williams Show” and has made appearances on CNN, MSNBC, ABC, NBC, CBS and NPR.
Tickets are $180 a person for the full day seminar that’s from 8 a.m.-4 p.m. at the Courtyard by Marriott in Orange Park.
She recently responded via e-mail to several questions related to who she was, who she is today and what you can expect if you attend the seminar.
How did you get into motivational speaking?
Montel Williams had me on his show many times. One time he came to the green room and got right in my face. He said, “What are you doing? Why are you playing so small? You need to be speaking around the world. You are holding back.”
It was a real wake up call. I didn’t know about the motivational speaking business or, honestly, what he was talking about. He led me to the National Speakers Association. From there I took an entrepreneurial course in New York so I could learn how to run a business. I started speaking professionally and a year later I went full time.
When did you realize you could make a career of it?
When I opened my business I met someone at a networking event — he worked for a major publishing firm. He wanted me to write a book because I was a speaker. I knew then that I could really make a career of
it and I did. I’ve been speaking full time since April 1, 1996.
What can attendees expect Tuesday?
The feisty and fun presentation will reveal the five bad behaviors that can hurt your standing amongst your co-workers and your company, and offer seven strategies to transform you into an inspiring leader and effective employee. Creative exercises will give practice in combating the bad behaviors (yours and theirs) to help you become a more attractive team member. Not being in the know is tantamount to career suicide. If you don’t know what the damaging behaviors are and how to squash them, it will hurt you.
How can the five bad behaviors affect an organization’s morale and productivity?
Have you ever had the opportunity to meet someone from another company who talked about their problems, their chaos, their “drama”? Do you remember the person or the company they work for? We usually remember the company. That company’s reputation gets hurt. Recently a person came to do a service in our home. He was late, in a rush and in high drama mode. First his manner had my husband and I looking at each other, then I didn’t trust him to do the job right because he was into his drama and not servicing his customer (me) well. In the end we asked him to leave and called the company for another service man. We have found a different company.
We have all experienced an employee who is described as a “cold fish.” This person is outside of the team, and is often in management. The person doesn’t relate to the team, there is no camaraderie. The team talks about the person’s “attitude.” Every time the person walks past a fellow employee’s desk, talking and energy stops. The sad truth is that many of these cold fish don’t know that what they call a “professional attitude” instills fear, dread, disengagement and frustration, which is often far from their intention. When people feel these negative emotions because of someone’s behavior, their efforts and productivity diminish.
I did a keynote on this presentation for a local organization. The owner of the prestigious company was surrounded by his sales team. There were five at his table. People laugh a lot when they hear me speak. They forget about themselves and truly engage in the program. I was describing the behavior of a drama queen/king and in the middle of the speech one of the attendees yelled out “That’s me!” the rest of the table was laughing so hard as they yelled out “We know.” It took a minute of laughter for the salesperson to realize what had occurred. She called me about two weeks later to tell me that she never thought about herself that way and never, ever realized that it affected everyone around her. I bumped into the executive six months later; he shared that she was a different person and that he promoted her.
How can hearing your story help someone?
People really want to know that others have lived through, what they are living through. My life has been an amazing roller coaster ride. Ups, downs, scary moments and exhilarating excitement. My story tells people — “Boy if she can do it — then I can, too.” I’ve juggled life, had the dramatic story, experienced success and fallen flat on my face. Growing up with a hard working single mom, making poor friendship choices as a teen, being part of a gang and leaving it all at 18 to live in Spain and change my life.
What is really important is that we can all change. We can all change how we behave, how we think and how we interact with the world. I did change. I opened two businesses in Spain, finished my degree and went on to receive my masters degree. I moved up rank from receptionist to national sales manager and eventually president of a direct selling company. I wanted to do more for the world which led me to leading one of the largest Latino family support centers in the country working with teen girls who were moms at 14 and gang members (Latin Kings, Bloods, Crips).
What I learned was powerful.
First: People make choices based on what they think of themselves. Their behavior reflects their thoughts. It didn’t matter if they were a top salesperson in a company, a ranking gang member or professional — their behavior communicated to the world who they were, what they thought and what they received.
Second: No one can read your mind. People are way too busy to even want to try. They are dealing with their own lives, needs and priorities. Every single person is responsible for communicating their value. It is even more critical now.
Given the current economic/employment crisis, is attendance up, down or flat at your speaking engagements?
My business is up 27 percent. Attendance around the country is up. This the first full-day public seminar I’ve done in 14 years. I do a lot of work at NAS Jax and my classes are always full to the brim. They have to turn people away. Many people in Jacksonville experienced my programs in their companies and wanted to share the experience with their friends. Finally, corporations and organizations are hurting. They can’t afford to bring me into their companies or organizations at this time, but they have the budget to send a group of five.
To reward those companies and organizations that believe in their staff, I said if you send me five people you can send the sixth person for free. I want them to reward their hard working staff and I understand that they are budget conscious.
Jacksonville is your home, but you haven’t given a public seminar in 14 years. Why?
Times are really tough for people and participants walk away from my programs energized, excited and with real tools that they can use immediately. They don’t forget what they learned. I am provocative, insightful, funny and real and I really, really love Jacksonville. Jacksonville is good to me. I take advantage of what the Chamber offers me. I started doing stand up at the Comedy Zone after 9/11. My Jacksonville clients make a difference in the community and I am pleased to be offering this seminar.
Your bio says you were a gang member in the Bronx when you were young.
I left the gang and at 18 went to Spain where I got a new start. I opened two businesses before the age of 23.
Why and how did you get out?
I lived two lives. I lived with my mom, my aunt and my grandmother. At home we had very clear rules, I had to speak without a Bronx accent (my mom drilled me) and she took me to Lincoln Center, the museums and the ballet. She exposed me to a world I never knew. On the other hand, there was this other part of my life. My dad was an alcoholic and eventually abandoned his kids (me and my brother), my sister was the local junkie who eventually died from a heroin overdose. I was sad and really angry. I got involved with a tough group of people which led to joining a girls gang. I was known as the Escorter — a sales position — I convinced you to walk with me to get beat up. I was successful. My family never knew. I never shared the story with them until five years ago.
I had to go to two high schools before I graduated. I was far, far from an “A” student. I was standing on the corner, smoking a cigarette hanging out with my “people.” I just thought that there had to be another way. This couldn’t be my life. Right then I said a silent prayer and I got my answer — leave the country. I went home and wrote down five countries on a piece of paper, put them in a hat and picked Spain. So I went and that is how I left the gang — I left the country.
How did you go from being a gang member to a member of a hall of fame that includes some of history’s most notable motivational speakers?
Hard work, passion, intense drive and a willingness to take positive risks. Speaking, writing, sharing, and even though times were really, really tough I just kept doing what I knew I was supposed to do. Josh Hinds, CEO of GetMotivation.com and his team inducted me in 2007. I am very, very honored.
What do you do outside of work?
Walk across the Ponte Vedra Bridge to Davis Park and do 160 pushups. I volunteer with several local and national organizations in support of women, diversity, business and the military.