Over time Wright became more than an employee of the Johnson family she became a friend, an influencer, advisor, and even taught Luci Johnson how to cook. Both Lyndon Johnson and Lady Bird Johnson witnessed the cruelty that Wright and African Americans suffered due to Jim Crow laws and the racism that made southern culture so toxic at the time. This built a bond between the chef and the First Family of the USA.
Wright frequently passed on messages to Johnson, both of approval and criticism, that she had heard from people in her everyday life. Something that Johnson greatly valued.
On one such occasion, Wright says she informed President Johnson about the difference in salaries between herself and another White House chef, to which Johnson reacted by increasing both Zephyr and her husband’s pay. Her husband, Sammy Wright, was a chauffeur for President Johnson as well as his family.