Finding the Power of Hope with Peggy Bodde

Peggy's mission is to take everything she has learned as a writer, leader and child of God and use it to encourage, bring hope and help empower you!

Peggy Bodde has been a corporate leader for over 25 years and has spent her entire career mentoring women in business. She recently resigned her position as a senior vice president to become a full-time writer. Peggy continues to pursue her passion for mentoring women by providing free career and leadership coaching via her foundation, Sacred Work.

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Transcript

0:59

Welcome to empowered within a soul clenching transformational podcast that will set your soul on fire through candid and inspiring conversations. Leading experts, celebrities, healers, and I share our journeys of how we've overcome challenges to living an empowered life from within I'm your host, Jennifer Pilates. Welcome to another episode of empowered within. Hi there and welcome to the show. I am thrilled to have with us today. Peggy bohi. She has been a corporate leader for over 25 years and has spent her entire career mentoring women in business. She recently resigned her position as senior vice president to become a full-time writer. Peggy continues to pursue her passion for mentoring women by providing career and leadership coaching via her foundation. Sacred work Peggy's mission is to take everything she has learned as a writer leader and child of God, and to use it to encourage and in help you welcome to the show PE. hi, Jennifer. I'm so happy to be here with you and your listeners. Thank you. Yes, we are honored to have you here. So tell me where in the world are you today? I am in a small mountain town in Colorado called Posa Springs. Love it. Beautiful. I've been there. I act. Do you have, I have, I actually lived down in Durango, Colorado for. Minute, I'll say for a minute. but I also live, I can, yes. I also lived in Boulder and I lived up in Breckenridge too, but oh, I love the Southwest there. It's beautiful. It is the most beautiful place I've ever lived. And what a reminder that it's a small world. It truly is right. Posa Springs. So beautiful. And then there's that railroad that you can go like up and around in a circle. I forget all the places, but I did it golden. Yeah. Yes. Is. Yes. Oh my gosh. So amazing. So let's dive right in Peggy and tell me, you call yourself a broker of hope. Explain to me what that means and how that came to. I think that being a broker of hope was rooted in me from childhood. I had a traumatic childhood. And hope is what brought me through that. And I carried that into the workplace and I think especially as leaders, it's our job to navigate the people. God has entrusted us with through difficult situations in a way that removes fear and inspires hope. So I think there's plenty of opportunities. Most recently, COVID for example, there are plenty of opportunities where we can speak hope into the workplace and use it to help our employees. Yeah. So that's something I try to do intentionally. In the workspace and in life absolutely. How was it, going through traumatic events and going through the corporate world, how did you find hope again in God, after everything that you went through? That is a great question. Let me back up and just tell a little bit, a little snippet of my story and maybe that will shine the light on. How I approach hope and how I was able to find it again. So I was adopted as a baby in the Chicago area and the couple who adopted me. On paper. Perfect. He worked, she was a stay at home mom. We went to church three times a week. There was no drug or alcohol abuse. But all of those facades basically made it more dangerous for me because no one suspected that abuse was going on. And that was also very confusing to me as far as God went, because. The God of love and hope and mercy that I was learning about in Sunday school was not present in our home so it gave me a warp sense of who he was, but in his faithfulness, my time in that home ended when I was 12 and I ended up being I basically threatened to tell about the abuse that was going on. So they booted me out and that was. The best thing that could have ever happened. People have asked me weren't you scared? Actually, I was very relieved to be outta that environment. No social services were involved, no foster care, but I ended up with after I was in several homes, I ended up with a family that there were already five kids, but this couple. Took me in loved me unconditionally accepted me. And that was really the first glimpse I had of who God really was. And that was also an anchor of hope where I felt like there, there was a way and that someone besides me, was in charge of what I was going through and that it was gonna be. So that was the first milestone where hope came into play. For me, that's a huge milestone. And if it's okay, I'd like to ask, for someone who may be out there, maybe we have a younger listener who may be in a similar situation and who might be looking for an out or array of hope. What would you suggest to them? to someone who may have, may be in a situation similar to like you were in, because, we hear about that a lot, but we don't hear about the, what should that person, that child in that place, do what options do they have? That's a great question. And I wish that someone had talked to me about that. When I was a kid because people often ask why didn't you leave before then? As a kid, we don't think that's an option. That's just not, we're kids. So I would say, and what I wish I would've done is I had a couple of teachers in particular who really nurtured me and they didn't really have any idea about what was going on in the home. But. They were definitely advocates for me. And in retrospect, I wish I would've confided in them. I also had a youth leader at church. I wish I would've talked to her about it. I had parents who, or kids who parents I felt comfortable with. I wish I would've talked to them, but the thing the choke hold of child abuse is silence and shame. So if there's a young person out there listening and they are thinking that what's happened to them is their fault and they're ashamed and afraid to talk about it. What I would say is that you will find freedom in talking about it. You can't. Get out of it without talking about it and voicing what's happening will take away its power. So I would encourage them talk to the parents of friends, someone from church, a teacher those are adults who can become resources and help you. And it's a lot more acceptable to, to step in and advocate for kids now where. In my generation, everyone thought the parents are always right. It must be the kid. I think there's a little more space for kids to find help today. Yeah. That is incredible advice. Thank you for sharing that because it's so important to, pass that forward and to help someone else that we can, or maybe there's a parent that's listening who knows of something going on and they don't know what to do. And this is incredible advice for them to try to help that child as well in their. Yes, absolutely. And one person I can speak from experience one teacher or one adult that affirms a child that loves a child that speaks encouragement into a child's life. Life changing one person can truly make a difference just as now, fast forward, you making a difference in women's lives, right? One person can make a difference in anyone's life at any moment. And you've been doing that for so many years. Tell me what brought you into that time and space. So when I worked in corporate, I often felt isolated. And part of that is because I worked in a male dominated industry. So I felt isolated as a woman. I definitely felt alone as a female leader, but I also, at times felt isolated as a Christian because I didn't know a lot of other. Christian women who were single moms who loved their careers, who didn't stay at home. So I always felt like I didn't fit in anywhere. And that made me determined to help other women to step into that gap. So they wouldn't feel that way. So I made an intentional decision long before I left corporate to mentor women in and outside the organization. So when God called me into a new season of life and a new career, I knew he wouldn't want me to waste those decades of business experience. And he had blessed me with such a successful career that I wanted to pay that forward and reinvest that experience in other women. So I started my ministry, which is called sacred work, and I help about two women a month. And I mentor them through difficult career and leadership challenges for free. So that's way my way of giving back and trying to be the person that I think would've helped me when I was coming up through corporate. And since I'm a freelance writer, I have the time and flexibility to be able to do that. That's incredible. What a wonderful way to pay that forward. Now you're also a full-time writer. So how did we pivot. And what brought us to that moment. Again, you've mentioned that God, and this was a guided moment to do that because we also have some exciting news that I want you to share about your book that's coming out. I would love to share that. So I'll lead with that because I'm still very excited about it. I received a formal offer from moody publishers for my book, which is called sacred work, empowering Christian women to lead with strength and. That has been an incredible journey as a writer. My, my day job is I write textbooks and that has helped me to hone my skills, to be able to write the potential, the book that's gonna be coming out in the market. But the pivot. The pivot took a couple years in the making because with my childhood background, I have trust issues. I feel like I have to be self-reliant much more than I should. So when God started nudging me and I was an English major, I was on my way to law school when I detoured into business. I've been a writer in some capacity for my entire life, but this is still huge. Writing on the side is very different than writing to support yourself. So God had given me this nudge. I didn't wanna do it. I kept putting him off. And then in my career, I was up for a big promotion to CEO and I didn't get it. And I was be, I felt betrayed by the way it was handled, but that's, God knew I needed that to help me realize that he had given me a career to provide for me and my daughter. And I had turned it into an idol. And I had put more weight on it than I should. And so I leaned into him and his wisdom and I took the step. I wrote for a year as a Lance writer, before I left corporate, which was hard to do to juggle both, but I just wanted to make sure that it was sustainable. And then I turned in my notice and resigned. the business has been running full steam ahead for eight years since that's wonderful. Congratulations. Thank you such an incredible full circle to come into an incredible way to be able to give back, empower others and be the broker of hope that you are. I just believe in the power of hope. I think I know some people choose a new word every year and that's a word that I just keep coming back to because it's very empowering. And it's something that I think can take people through difficult work situations, difficult life situations. And it's definitely a part of who I am. And I try to share that with others on a regular basis. Yeah, that is so important. What piece of advice would you give to someone who's listening today? Who says, oh my gosh, I've always wanted to write, where do they start? What piece of advice do you give them to follow their passion? That's in their heart. That's a great question. And I recently, I've had so many people ask me that and I recently wrote a couple of articles about it because. I wanted to help people answer the questions that I have when I started. So I think the first thing is the person has to assess. what, how far they wanna take their writing career? Is it something they wanna do on the side to generate a little extra income? Is it something they wanna do full time? Once they decide that they have to look at what's out there and what niche they fit into. And that will really help them focus where they invest their efforts, because there's a lot of opportunities to work. To get paid, to write and people don't realize it. The hard truth is that even though a degree isn't critical, a person has to have writing skills to be able to make it. If someone's listening and they've never written. For pay, I would say, ask yourself these questions. Have people consistently complimented your writing. Do you find yourself writing for volunteer opportunities? Are you the person at work that people come to and say, Hey, could you look this over? Could you check this out? Have your skills as a writer been applauded because those skills, if you're gonna make money at it, the bottom line is you have to have. Those skills. I would also recommend joining an organization for freelancers because those types of places. We'll give you the opportunity to learn from other writers who started out exactly like you did and that will help you explore whether or not this is truly something you wanna do for a living. Also I would encourage any of your listeners who have questions about it to contact me directly. I am more than happy to help them get started and understand what that looks like. Oh, that's incredible advice. Wonderful. Thank you so much for all of that. With your new book coming out. Do we have a time, a timeframe in mind, the publishing cycle is very long, so it will not be on the market for two years. So once you sign a contract, usually have age to 12 months to finish the book. And then they take a year to get it in print and get the marketing dialed and then it comes out in the market. So it's gonna be a couple years. I think that's an incredible piece of information to share, especially for those out there who may be wanting to be an author and thinking they have to have a full book done to present it to a publish. I love what you just shared, never thought of that. So did you, how did that work for you then that process? Did you take a piece of the book, chapters, a summary? How did your that's a deal work? Yeah, that's a great question. So the way it works is if your book is nonfiction, then you typically write two to three chapters and you incorporate those into what's called a book proposal. and that book proposal has an outline. It has your marketing plan. But publishers only want you to do two to three chapters because they wanna weigh in on the rest of the content. So if it's non-fiction, you will only do two or three chapters, the book proposal, then you can either get an agent or go directly to the publisher. And try to get represented and then try to win a contract. But a book proposal is essential. You have to have a book proposal. If it's fiction, the whole book has to be done. That's almost a hundred percent of the time they wanna see the whole thing up front, but I only write non-fiction. Which was of a relief to me. it's less intimidating for some reason to just have two or three chapters complete than to have the whole thing done. Sure. Absolutely. It's an interesting process. Yes, that is. I haven't heard that slice of the process before, so I think that's really cool that you shared that. Yeah. Anything to help fledgling writers. That, that is something that I think that one of the benefits. of, or the positive outcomes of learning things. The hard way is helping other people learn the easy way. Anything that I learned along the writing journey, I'm happy to share with other people. That segues us right into something that you called recycled strength. will you talk about that? Cause I absolutely adore the wording. I think it's fabulous. So share with us what is recycled strength and how did that come about? So it came about from a verse in second Corinthians that basically says that, when God has helped us come through difficult situations, then we in turn, help others come through those same situations. So that's been, I don't know if you wanna call it a mantra, but a guiding theme in my life for a really long time. And whether it's writing leadership career change even the harder personal things like childhood trauma, anything that God has helped me get through, I don't wanna waste any of those experiences. So I recycle that strength. um, And give it to other people in a way that can benefit them. And I think that's really important because it's a constant, it's a daily, it's a mindful thing. It's a way of life, for me. And I've had other people do that with me and it's made a huge difference. So I recycle that and try to give it back to others. I love that statement. It is so beautiful and I love where it comes from. And it is so fitting with you in everything that you're doing to help Christian women throughout life. It's so empowering. It's wonderful. So we are getting to this time in this show, Peggy, where I ask this one question, are you ready? I think so. what is one thing that no one knows about you? I think one thing that very few people know is that I lived in Japan for a year as a kid. My adoptive mother was Japanese and she. Took me to Japan and I lived there and was immersed in that culture and another little known fact about me. And I don't know if it's related or not, is that I'm avid about martial arts and Have done kickboxing and a tempo, karate, and a lot of other things. I, I love that. So there's a couple of things that very few people know. Those are very cool things. oh my goodness. Do you remember how old you were when you were living in Japan? I was six. I was six and I still have a few pictures and I still remember a lot about that time period. Wow. And what an incredible opportunity and experience. It was for sure. Thank you for sharing that. I love getting the tidbits. That's awesome. Peggy, will you share with our audience where they can best get in contact and follow you? Yes. If they would go to my website, it is Peggy bohi.com. They can connect with me. I would be happy to help them with writing career leadership. Anything it's all free. There's no catch. I'm also on LinkedIn. If your listeners wanna find me there, I would love to connect with them. That is wonderful. Peggy, thank you so much for coming on the show, sharing your journey and your story. And for all that you're doing to bring hope into this world. We need so much more of it. Thank you, Jennifer. Thank you again. And as we say until next time, Thank you so much for tuning into another episode, please remember to rate, review and subscribe to empowered within with Jennifer Pilates. Your feedback is important. It helps me to connect with you and gives me insight into who you are and what you're enjoying about the show for today's show notes and discount codes from today's sponsor. Head over to Jennifer pilates.com until next time, may you live an empowered life from within.