The puppet master

Megan Piphus Peace was only ten years old when she went on a church trip to a puppetry conference. 

For most – if not all – of the other kids, the trip was merely a chance to learn something interesting. But for Megan, it was the day she discovered her passion. 

The Cincinnati native grew up watching Sesame Street and reruns of The Shari Lewis Show. Always a shy kid, Megan really felt like the puppets were her friends.

• When she realized the puppets were being controlled by a ventriloquist (“I did not know until I was much older that the puppets were not real!” she said), Megan decided to try it out for herself. 

❤️ Making it happen... For years, the young girl taught herself ventriloquy. And while she may have been self-taught, she was certainly no amateur.

Megan soon caught the attention of puppeteers nationwide. At 20 years old, she appeared on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno. The following year, she was a competitor on America's Got Talent. 

• All the while, Megan was excelling in school (she graduated with her real estate license), getting married, and starting a family. 

But her greatest career accomplishment came just last year, when she moved into 123 Sesame Street.🤩

🐥 Big dreams, Big Bird... It took multiple years of auditions, coachings, and callbacks, but Megan was finally offered a full-time gig on Sesame Street. She plays 6-year-old muppet Gabrielle, a fun-loving girl who loves to sing and play with her pals on the popular children's show. 

• What Megan didn't know when she accepted the role, however, was that it made her the first-ever Black woman to work full-time as a puppeteer on the show.
• “I would have cried like a baby on the 123 steps if they had told me beforehand,” she admits. “The sets of Sesame Street are like walking into a fantasy. To be there is really something.”

👏👏 Full-tilt, full-time: After a year on Sesame Street, Megan finally gave up her work as a real estate agent to pursue entertainment full time.