When “going for the gold”, what comes to mind?  Most likely the Olympics and the amazing athletes who have worked for years to hone their skills for some fierce competition.  But another idea comes to mind, going for a dream that can that is so big, and so real, that all of the life events leading up to it help prepare one for “The Gold”.  And that is what I am striving for. Oprah sent out the invitation to audition for your own TV show on OWN TV and her new network.  Why do I feel qualified to go after my own show?  To start with, I am the creator, writer, producer and director of Project Empowerment.

What is Project Empowerment?  It all started when my debut book came out titled, “Escaping The Glass Cage: A Story of Survival & Empowerment from Domestic Violence” last November.  I wanted to find a way to do more and expand on my book.  One of my dreams is to get a copy in every shelter around the world to help empower survivors, men and women, from domestic violence and abuse.

That is how Project Empowerment was born, which is now currently a popular internet radio show on Blog Talk Radio. I would love to bring this to TV as each week I interview people who are diligently working to make a difference in their world.  My guests have included a gender rights activist, Betty Makoni, the 2009 CNN Hero of the year who has created villages in Zimbabwe designed to empower girls, from rape victims to leaders in their community.  I’ve interviewed psychotherapists, very well known authors such as Caroline Sutherland and even actress and author Mariel Hemingway, who is also known for her health and wellness passion.  Each show I do is focused in empowering lives everywhere, and not just about Domestic Violence and abuse.

I believe we each have a voice, a story and a message to share and my mission is to be the conduit and help the public be aware of not only who is out there in our world making a difference, but also what you can do to make a difference.  I have already done shows, for example, with topics of: Why does a victim stay in abuse?; Adult Survivors of Abuse; Men Survivors of Domestic Violence; and How to Empower our Children.  I would love to bring these topics to TV and share with the audience the resources and tools that can be used to empower their lives. 

It is my passion to show the audience people and stories of empowerment from all over the world, those who are peacefully and diligently making their world a better place. But even more than that, I would love to also incorporate shows focused on healthy living and teaching simple tools for a happy lifestyle.  I truly believe all healing and empowerment begins from within, it all starts with self.

My passion is to bring Project Empowerment to a larger scale and global audience.  And I know that if I, as a survivor of Domestic Violence can start a new life and rebuild from scratch, so can another who may be going through tough times right now.  Gandhi once said, “You Must Be the Change You Wish to See In the World” and with Project Empowerment, my hope is to do just that.

~Kathleen M. Schmidt

For the link to vote for my audition video go to: http://myown.oprah.com/audition/index.html?request=video_details&response_id=1292&promo_id=1

For my main website and all the info from the shows I have done go to:

http://www.kathleenmschmidt.com