Audua Pugh: Recovery, Resilience & Turning Personal Struggle into Community Leadership

Today on Ready: Leaders to Know, I sit down with Audua Pugh, a recovered drug user, community organizer, business owner, published author, educator, inspirational speaker and motivator, who is not shy about sharing her story of a 15 year struggle with drug and alcohol use. She is an only child raised by a strong single mother who taught her accountability, self-advocacy, and the power of using your voice for others. Audua’s journey includes extraordinary resilience—surviving cardiac arrest after a rare heart condition, navigating chronic illness, and overcoming breast cancer. When her path changed, so did her purpose. Today, she’s a nonprofit founder, former executive director, caregiver to her mother, and a national ambassador for breast cancer awareness, building healing, justice, and community wherever she goes.