During her teenage years, Pegine ran with the wrong crowd on the tough streets of the Bronx. Her father abandoned her after her mother decided she had had enough of him and became determined to keep the family afloat. When her sister became the local junkie Pegine swore off drugs and alcohol. Her sister eventually died from a heroin overdose.

Within the gang culture, Pegine relied on a sharp wit and dynamic personality for "street credit". But even her charm could not keep Pegine out of trouble.

She was kicked out of her first high school. She graduated from another high school after a drama teacher took Pegine under her wing. Pegine decided to use her natural comedic gifts and magnetic personality to lift herself and others out of the doldrums.

Pegine waited on tables, saved her money and moved to Europe where she turned her life around. She launched two businesses both which she sold at a profit. She returned to the states to finish her degree in improvisational and audience participation theatre. She then earned a Masters in Social Work, concentrating on group and organizational development.

She paid for college by working as a bilingual teacher's assistant at the New York City Board of Education. Her transformation continued from teen gang member to receptionist to salesperson to VP of sales and eventually becoming a business owner. Along the way, Pegine designed and directed a Latino family support center that was named one of the top ten in the country by The Harvard Group Review.

Her successes led to frequent appearances on national talk shows like Montel Williams, and Queen Latifah. One appearance led Montel Williams to win an Emmy! Pegine's bold humor, enthusiasm and empowering message endeared her to audiences. Soon Pegine managed a thriving professional speaking business that touched thousands of lives on motivating leaders in a diverse world and empowering people to be leaders in their work, family and community. Business and news shows sought her insights including CNN, MSNBC and NPR. She was the on air expert on diversity in business for Newstalk Television. She has been interviewed by The Wall Street Journal, New York Times, Chicago Sun Times and various consumer magazines. Mark Victor Hansen, co-author of the "Chicken Soup for the Soul" series, described Pegine as "The WOW of Wows!"

Pegine and her family moved from New York to Florida to start a new life and focus on spreading her message. Today she is nationally known and respected leadership empowerment guru who leads in a diverse world with laughter and gusto.

Pegine Echevarria has received numerous awards and proclamations for her leadership work including the North Florida 2005 Minority Enterprise Development Week Entrepreneur of the Year, Congressional Merit Award for Outstanding Leadership Programs and the prestigious Orgullo Award for Leadership. Pegine is also nominated for the 2007 Hispanic Business Magazine Women of the Year. Her clients include Verizon, JP Morgan Chase, Merrill Lynch, Intel, Lucent Technologies, NASA, and the US military.

Pegine is the author of several books including her latest, Sometimes You Need to Kick Your Own Butt. In this compact empowerment tool, Pegine delivers disarming yet straightforward lessons on how to Kick Your Own Butt, transform your life, and take responsibility for your actions. Pegine's other books include, For All of Our Daughters, a guide on how to mentor young women and girls, Bragging Rights: Transform Your Team in 21 Days and White Men Are Diverse Too!

Her leadership and community involvement include being a National Board Member and Vice President of Employers United for a Stronger America - a foundation that provides research, philanthropy, and education regarding employers and their US military reserve and National Guard employees." She is a member of the Society of Human Resources National Workplace Diversity Expertise Panel; an Advisory Board member of the Jacksonville Women's Business Center, and a member of the National Speakers Association - Membership and Retention Committee (Minority Outreach Sub-committee).

She and her husband have raised two leaders. She is the proud mother of a son, Kenneth a National Guard solider, and her daughter, Andrea, a US Army ROTC cadet at MIT & Wellesley.