"We didn't talk about politics or government in our house when I was growing up. That may sound strange coming from someone who is best known for my time in public service, but it's true," she writes in her memoir "Can't Is Not An Option: My American Story".
Told firsthand, 40-year-old Haley shares her inspirational memoir of family, hope, and the power of the American Dream.
"I never thought of a life in politics. It was a world I knew nothing about and didn't care to. From what I could tell, politicians were people on TV who claimed to be working for us but too often seemed to be busy promoting themselves," she writes in the book published by Penguin.
Decades before their daughter surprised the nation by becoming governor of South Carolina, Haley's parents Ajit and Raj Randhawa from Punjab had a dream. But despite their high social status, the well-educated and well-off Randhawas wanted more for their family and left behind all they had known and settled in Bamberg, South Carolina in the early 1970s.
The family struggled to make ends meet while starting a clothing business in their living room, eventually growing it into a multimillion- dollar success. After graduating from college and entering the business world, Haley watched business owners like her parents battle government bureaucracy and overregulation.
Her frustration inspired her to get into politics and run for the state legislature. That first campaign, against an entrenched incumbent, led to racial and religious slurs and threats but Haley, like her parents, refused to back down. MORE