North Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley is a Republican leader on the move.
    
The 40-year-old was elected to her post just 16 months ago and is already making waves on the national stage.
    
Her experiences as an Indian American growing up in the South helped shape the woman she is today.

She was born in 1972 to Indian immigrants in the small town of Bamberg, S.C., a place where things were black and white -- right down to the people.
    
For a girl with brown skin and a Sikh father who wears a turban, life in Bamberg wasn't always easy.
    
As the only Indian family in town the Randhawa's dubbed themselves the "Original Six" and stuck together.
    
Haley excelled in school, attended South Carolina's Clemson University, and married her college sweetheart, Michael Haley.
    
But when she decided to run for public office against a powerful incumbent, prejudice against her manifested once again.    
    
Her parents, however, always taught her that "can't is not an option."
   
The words have become her personal motto and is the title of her new book that details her journey to becoming the first female and Indian American governor of the Palmetto State.

She says she believes her election is a symbol of the distance her state has traveled because what matters aren't the disheartening stories that every family has, but how the stories end.

Gov. Haley talked more about South Carolina's resurgence and her journey to the governorship on the April 5 edition of "The 700 Club." Click play to see the interview.