Mitzi Perdue has had a lifelong fascination with what it takes to lead the best life. She got to watch up close and personal how her father co-founded and was President of the Sheraton Hotel chain, and she also got to watch how her late husband, Frank Perdue, built his father-and-son chicken company into a company that today employees 21,000 people.

Both men had tremendous focus, they had a penchant for action, and they had wide-ranging interests which led them to see opportunities that others missed. They were also men who developed tremendous talent stacks, and when they needed to learn a new skill, they made the time and took the effort to learn the new skill.

In addition, they were also both to the core family men and they loved and served their communities.

Mitzi Perdue knows that every family business has a culture. The question is, does this culture come about by design or by default? The ones that come about by default rarely support keeping the family business in the family across the generations.

So, what can a family do to develop and strengthen a culture that will support their deepest goals and values?

Mitzi Perdue draws on the experience of her family of origin, the Henderson Estate Company which dates back to 1840 and was the forerunner of the Sheraton Hotels (her father was co-founder of the chain). She also looks to her marital family (she’s the widow of Frank Perdue from Perdue Farms) that began in 1920.

In both cases, family members in each generation put enormous effort into creating and maintaining strong, values-based cultures. Her talks stem from her lifelong observations not only of how her two families have kept together over a combined total of 280 years, but she’s also closely observed how other high net worth families, often ones she’s known since childhood, created and continuously strengthen positive cultures. She’s also observed almost countless cases where families that lacked a supportive culture failed spectacularly.

Mitzi’s talks contain practical tips for embedding a positive culture. She’s been a part of carrying out all of them, and in some cases, creating them. These are tips that work, they’re practical, and they can make a spectacular difference in whether the family continues across the generations, or becomes one of the 70% that fails to pass on their legacy to the next generation.

Mitzi’s professional career includes being a former rice grower, past presidency of the 40,000 member American Agri-Women, and as a writer, in the 1990s, her nationally syndicated column, “The Environment and You,” was the most widely syndicated environmental column in the US.

Mitzi’s purpose in life is to encourage people to be all they can be. She believes that inspiration is the best gift one person can give another because inspiration provides people with energy and direction. She wrote Relentless with the goal of sharing Mark Victor Hansen’s astonishingly wise tips for growth and happiness, tips that can help people live fuller, more satisfying lives.

Mitzi is a businesswoman, author, and a master story teller. She holds degrees from Harvard University and George Washington University, is a past president of the 40,000 member American Agri-Women and was one of the U.S. Delegates to the United Nations Conference on Women in Nairobi. She currently writes for the Association of Foreign Press Correspondents.

Mitzi is the author of RELENTLESS, the story of how Mark Victor Hansen, the Chicken Soup for the Soul co-author went from being bankrupt, discouraged, and suicidal to being in the Guinness Book of World’s Records for selling more than half a billion books. RELENTLESS has won ten national book awards for being the year’s best biography.

As a war correspondent, Mitzi has twice visited Ukraine, and many of her interviews were conducted in bomb shelters while the cities she was visiting were under active attack. In December of 2022, she auctioned her Atocha emerald engagement ring for $1.2 million, with all the proceeds going to benefit Ukraine. She’s recently started a crowd funding effort to raise money for mine-clearing. To donate (and win Mitzi’s undying gratitude, come to DonorSee.com/Ukraine.

A woman of many talents, she also programmed a computer app, B Healthy U, designed to help people track the interactions of lifestyle factors that influence their energy, sleep, hunger, mood, and ability to handle stress. In addition to being a programmer and software developer, Mitzi is also an artist and designer of EveningEggs™️ handbags.

In addition, Mitzi the author of more than 1800 newspaper and magazine articles on family businesses, food, agriculture, the environment, philanthropy, biotechnology, genetic engineering, and women’s health.

She was a syndicated columnist for 22 years, and her weekly environmental columns were distributed first by California’s Capitol News and later, by Scripps Howard News Service, to roughly 420 newspapers. For two years she was a Commissioner on the National Commission on Libraries and Information Science.

Mitzi also produced and hosted more than 400 half hour interview shows, Mitzi’s Country Magazine on KXTV, the CBS affiliate in Sacramento, California. In addition, she hosted and produced more than 300 editions of Mitzi’s Country Comments, which was syndicated to 76 stations. Her radio series, Tips from the Farmer to You, was broadcast weekly for two years on the Coast to Coast Radio Network.

• Winner, Book Excellence Award 2023 for Personal Growth and Development

• Winner, Firebird Book Award, Grand Prize Winner 2023

• Winner, Goody Business Book Award,2022

• Winner, Firebird Book Award, Best Biography 2023

• Winner, Firebird Book Award Best Motivational Book 2023

• Winner, Firebird Best Business Book Award self-Help Book 2023

• Winner, Best Business Book 2022, 3 million-member OnLineBookClub

• Winner, Southern CA Book Festival, Best Biography 2022

• Winner, Literary Titan Book Award 2022

• Winner, New England Book Festival, Best Biography 2022

• Book of the Day, OnLine Book Club 2023

• Online Book Club, Chairman’s Choice 

• Top 100 Business Books, C-Suite Network, 2022

• An Amazon #1 Bestseller