Episode 160: Find Your Voice with Sesame Street Puppeteer Megan Piphus Peace
Megan Piphus Peace joins Patrick to discuss finding your voice, determining your path, and making an impact.
Megan started puppetry and ventriloquism at the age of ten years old and taught herself puppetry and ventriloquism by watching VHS tapes. She spent her teenage years traveling the nation singing and performing ventriloquism at schools and churches. She became the “Vanderbilt Ventriloquist” when she started college at Vanderbilt University, where she studied Economics, Music, and Spanish and graduated with honors.
While in college, she appeared on the Tonight Show with Jay Leno as a ventriloquist, and in June of 2013, she received yes’s from all four judges on America’s Got Talent. After graduation, Megan continued her education and received a Master of Science in Finance from Vanderbilt University.
After graduate school, she worked in real estate finance and development, underwriting and closing over $2.4 billion worth of commercial real estate.
Since 2020, Megan has played the role of Gabrielle, a 6-year old black girl Muppet, on Sesame Street. After training for a year to learn Muppet-style puppetry with the cast of Sesame Street, Megan became the first black female puppeteer to perform on Sesame Street in September of 2021.
Patrick Leddin, PhD is a speaker, global leadership consultant, and The Wall Street Journal bestselling author of The Five-Week Leadership Challenge. Patrick is an Associate Professor at Vanderbilt University with a thriving leadership blog and podcast, and 25-years of leadership experience. He offers an unparalleled mix of academic rigor and real-world experience.