The Coup : First, what inspires you? From the past as well as currently?

Peabody : The need to make things happen, not only for myself, but for others as well. Leadership inspires me. Seeing people in need of education and basic needs inspire me. Poverty inspires me. Illiteracy inspires me. When I was a girl, my mother inspired me because she was always a leader from the time I was born. I saw the demonstration from an early age that gender was not a deterrent for accomplishing one’s dreams.

The Coup : When/What made you come up with the idea to start a magazine for women?

Peabody : It was in late 2005 when my publicist at the time asked me, “Why don’t you do a magazine”? At first, I hesitated because I told her that I did not know enough about magazines and had not done one before. I told her that I had experience in broadcast journalism but very little with print journalism. She told me that I could do it. I pondered it and then remembered that I always dreamed about bringing women from all over the world together in one place to share their stories with each other but did not have the resources to transport all of them to one venue. The idea came to me that I could use the magazine as the medium in which they could all come together and share their stories. The concept of Global Woman Magazine was born in December 2005.

The Coup : Have you always had an interest in publishing?

Peabody : I have always had an interest in writing and reading, which are closely related to publishing. I began writing when I was about 8 years old. I enjoyed creating dialogue and characters and doing essays and compositions. Ask me about math, and I ran away from it but assign me an essay to write, and I asked for more. I took an interest in magazines from an early age. I read my mother’s Ebony, Time and Life magazines from an early age. Then I would interrogate her about some of the stories and names that were in the magazines. So I guess you can say that publishing attracted me early. It was not until my first book, Exiled: within the heart of American society was published that I really fully understood the true meaning of it.

The Coup : How do you think your magazine compares to other magazines for women? Does it?

Peabody : Global Woman inspires, empowers, informs and educates women. I suppose most women’s magazines endeavor to do the same. However, they do not relate to every woman in the world. When I scan the newsstands, I see Essence for the Black woman, many magazine titles for the Caucasian woman, many titles for theHispanic woman, the Asian woman and the African woman. I did not see any title that encompassed every woman in the world, regardless of her race, religion or nationality. It just was not out there. When I think of women, I think “women” and I do not think of us in racial divisions. Just like when I think of people, I do not think of people in divisions of race, religion and nationality. I wanted my magazine to convey the way I felt. At first, my publicist advised me to publish a magazine for women of African descent. My question to her was, “How do you suppose I am going to explain that to my American, Caucasian daughter-in-law, my Japanese niece-in-law and my Italian niece-in-law (not to mention my friends from all parts of the world), that my magazine does not represent them?”

The Coup : So Global Woman is an international magazine for all women, no matter what color. But since women around the world have a variation of experiences and circumstances, is it difficult to structure content that appeals to all global female demographics?

Peabody : We do not really find it difficult to compile content for most women in the world because our editorial staff is so diverse. We have a team of writers, editors and contributors from various parts of the world. One of the things that set us apart from other publications is our first-person-stories. Many of the writers share their personal experiences with the readers in their articles. The issues we address are issues to which most women can relate, regardless of their origin. Women fall victims to domestic violence in all countries, they are susceptible to breast cancer and other types of cancers.

The Coup : Your inaugural issue featured an interview with Waris Dirie, a fashion model and UN advocate for the abolition of female genital mutilation. What is Global Woman’s role in that fight?

Peabody : Global Woman has pledged to join Waris and her foundation in the fight against FGM (female genital mutilation) and we will continue to commit to our pledge, not only monetarily but also by informing and educating our readers about FGM, another well kept secret in Western culture. Global Woman’s involvement will not stop with that article on Waris. We will continue the fight through public awareness until we are positioned to take the matter all the way to the U.S. Congress. It is a brutal, inhumane and savage act that is performed non-clinically on young girls and it must be stopped. The Waris Dirie Foundation already has the cooperation of the European Union and the United Nations. We need to work to get U.S. Congress to put pressure on leaders of those nations that allow the practice of FGM.

The Coup : How would you rank the difficulty in starting/owning/sustaining a business as a woman of color?

Peabody : Quite frankly, I have not measured the obstacles and difficulties I have experienced in terms of my being a woman of color. I just think that one has to brace oneself for such things when starting a business, regardless of gender or race. It is not an easy task and you need to know that, prior to starting it. Knowledge about your product or line of business is of utmost importance. Go into it prepared to lose money within the first 3 – 5 years. If you break even, take it as a blessing. You will begin to see a profit after the 5th year of being in business. Now, this is not always the case. It all depends on the line of business. According to Global Woman’s projections, we expect positive results before our five-year mark, with God’s blessing.

The Coup : What obstacles have you encountered in publishing and owning your own business?

Peabody : You name obstacles and we can tell you the stories. There has been one roadblock after another since prior to the launch of Global Woman, but I am not one to give in to obstacles. That is because I confer with God before I venture into anything, no matter how big or small. Therefore when I encounter these obstacles, I go back to God and say to Him, “Do you really want me to carry on with this or do you not approve?” My answer comes when the obstacle is removed, which is almost every time. Then I know that He approves of my venture. That is exactly how things have unfolded with the magazine. I have no doubt that Global Woman is a God-given venture because there have been times when some people would have thrown up their hands and given up. I have persevered and I continue to do so. Global Woman is a ministry in itself and I have no choice but to keep moving forward. People ask me how I got so many writers for the magazine. We placed a blurb on Craig’s List with our mission statement and asked, “How would you like to write for this magazine?” I was in Singapore when my publicist called and told me that, women writers had responded from all over the world and wanted to be a part of the magazine. They wanted to tell their stories. The emails are still coming after a year.

The Coup : Why did you choose to do it on your own? Why not climb the corporate- ladder of an established magazine that may have eventually served your interest?

Peabody : I suppose I could have taken the easy route and done that. Because I wanted a different magazine – one that would make a difference in the lives of women and children, I did not want to be subjected and restricted to the rules and control of a large magazine. It would have been so less complicated with no obstacles or difficulties, had I gotten the parenthood of a large magazine to hold our hands. However, I believe that God had it planned the way it unfolded and is still unfolding. The pioneers of Global Woman will really appreciate our success when we finally reach it because we will be able to look back on the days when we survived on a very thin budget. Think of it as a wealthy and spoiled child who gets everything he/she wants without working for it and compare it to the less fortunate child who has to work hard to arrive at the top of his/her career. Which child do you think will appreciate his/her success more?

The Coup : Where do you see the magazine in ten years? What do you hope for your readers to get out of it?

Peabody : In ten years, Global Woman will be a household name on every continent. We will have an extension publication called Global Man. We will have our scholarship program in journalism to a student from our Youth Writing Internship Program established. A great deal of the support to our non-profit organization, P.E.A.C.E. (People Everywhere All Created Equal) will come from Global Woman. P.E.A.C.E. is not the only non-profit we will support, but foundations such as Tigerlily (a foundation against breast cancer), Encouragement Ministry (a foundation against domestic violence), The Waris Dirie Foundation (against female genital mutilation) and many others. We endeavor to address those issues that affect women in the world and support efforts toward the eradication of such issues. Our parent company, Eye Images Media, LLC is not just publishing and selling magazines. It is our goal to make a difference in people’s lives by helping to educate children, protect, empower and inspire women, create jobs for people in countries such as my native country, Liberia. There is far too much poverty in the world, which stems from illiteracy and lack of education and unemployment. When you have a literate and educated population, unemployment will almost be nonexistent. I saw proof of that during my visit to Singapore in 2006. They have a 98% literacy rate and less than 10% crime rate.

The Coup : Do you have any entrepreneurial regrets?

Peabody : None whatsoever. If I had to do it over, I probably would have built my sales team before I built the editorial team. That is the only thing I might do differently but I have no regrets. I do not mean to sound like I am this righteous person but I would be remiss if I talked about how far the magazine has come so far without giving God the credit. I truly believe that He is the reason for all of it. Most of the people on the Global Woman team are God-believing people. Some of them are Jewish, Christians, Muslims or Buddhists but they all have strong faith in their religion. We are like one big global family, though we are all over the world.

The Coup : Finally, what advice do you have for our readers?

Peabody : Whatever your passion is, pursue it and never relent. Go after it with everything you have. Whatever your belief or faith is, always turn to that and watch the results unfold in amazement. I wish nothing but great success and blessings for The Coup.