Genevieve Schmitt Personal Biography
Genevieve Schmitt in her front yard at home in Montana. Photographed in a self portrait session.
Genevieve Schmitt is best known as a leading spokesperson in the motorcycling industry having been named in the “Top 100 Leaders in Powersports” and the “Top 100 Women in Powersports” lists by industry trade publication Dealernews. Genevieve is a longtime journalist, content creator, and marketer responsible for thousands of women realizing their dreams of getting into motorcycling through her many speeches, articles, events. Her work over the years helped shine the spotlight on and firmly cement the women motorcycling demographic in the powersports landscape. Now in her second act, away from the rigors of a full-time media career, Genevieve spends her days sowing into the younger generation through her mentoring activities and considers herself first a child of God and heir to his kingdom through her faith in Christ Jesus.
After a 35-year career working non-stop in media and publishing—including on-air correspondent jobs at Speed Channel and the Outdoor Life Network, and producing jobs at ABC’s Good Morning America, E! Entertainment Television, EXTRA, NBC News, and cutting her teeth working as a producer for local TV news, which you can read about on her professional biography page—Genevieve is pursing her passions like developing her “Women Who Ski” initiative, as well as taking on specific projects that fuel her desire to give back. Genevieve says she draws inspiration from Proverbs 31:25 noted on her home page photo, “Strength and honor are her clothing.” Genevieve is a two-time motorcycle hall of fame inductee, recipient of the AMA’s prestigious Bessie Stringfield award, a Daytime Emmy Award nominee, just to name a few of the accolades she’s received. Her most recent project was being asked by The History Channel to be a spokesperson in a motorcycle documentary. Details on that later in this biography.
Historical Firsts
Genevieve is the first woman to report from the seat of a motorcycle when she worked for “Bike Week” on Speed Channel cable network starting in 1997. Her other claim to fame is being the first woman to report from the seat of an ATV (all terrain vehicle) for the Outdoor Life Network (OLN) where she shared stories on the ATV and burgeoning UTV (utility vehicle) markets from 2000 until 2006. OLN exists today as the Versus Channel.
Some Background
In 2017, Genevieve sold the groundbreaking online magazine she founded, WomenRidersNow.com (WRN), after much prayer and direction from the Lord. She launched the online resource, WRN, for female motorcyclists in 2006 when she observed a void of information for the exploding women’s motorcycling market. At one point under her ownership, WRN was pulling in nearly 200,000 unique visitors a month, far surpassing the readership circulation of some of the leading motorcycle print magazines at the time. WomenRidersNow.com is currently in the hands of a talented team of well-known female executives in the motorcycling industry who are taking the website to its next level.
Throughout her life—from early in her career working as a television news producer in Los Angeles to moving to Montana and starting her own business at age 40—Genevieve has always sought the Lord and his treasures keeping Psalm 37:3-4 at the forefront. “Trust in the Lord, and do good; dwell in the land, and feed on His faithfulness. Delight yourself also in the Lord, and He shall give you the desires of your heart.” She says she is now seeing the fruit of that faithfulness, although she’ll tell you the road to stay in faith has not been without its challenges. Spiritually, she is seeing a harvest in certain areas of her life. Genevieve is the recipient of several esteemed industry awards and accolades, four of which came in the last few years after she sold her website. You can read about those on her Awards page.
Genevieve’s life verse for this most recent season is Proverbs 11:25 in the Message translation:
“The one who blesses others is abundantly blessed.”
Genevieve says she is extremely blessed to have had the unique career in motorcycling journalism. “I just put one foot in front of the other every step of the way in faith. I ended up walking a road less traveled.” She continues, “I’ve witnessed, and continue to witness, the fulfillment of Proverbs 16:9 play out in my life: A man’s heart plans his way, but the Lord directs his steps. Thank goodness I let ‘Jesus take the wheel’ or I should I say handlebars, much of the time. Motorcycling turned out to be the ‘vehicle’ God gave me to serve a community of women by encouraging them to get out in the wind knowing that the freedom and liberty they’d experience on the open road would inspire them to pursue truth in their life.”
Genevieve has spoken at more than 50 motorcycle dealership events and rallies inspiring riders to pursue their dreams.
Her Second Act
One of Genevieve’s other passions is skiing. A lifelong downhill skier, in 2015 she created a Facebook group called Women Who Ski to find other women to ski with and to showcase her K2 Ski ambassador activities. This group of female outdoor winter enthusiasts has grown to nearly 15,000 members hailing from all over the U.S. as well as parts globally. Based on the overwhelming demand for the group to be more formalized with ski trips and meet-ups, Genevieve created a companion website, WomenWhoSki.org, to serve these female skiers and snowboarders who want to hit the slopes with like-minded women. In February 2023, Women Who Ski held its inaugural organized ski trip to Breckenridge Ski Resort in Colorado. In 2024, four trips were organized. All sold out.
Spiritual Coaching
Additionally, God is blessing Genevieve with several avenues to continue pursuing her passion of pouring spiritually into others. First, He brings people into her life, young and old, with whom she is able to spend one-on-one time discipling through encouragement and edification using Biblical wisdom.
Second, and perhaps most profound in the way it happened: When Genevieve’s social media accounts were deactivated on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter in January 2021 for seemingly no reason, she was left without a way to engage in her “social media ministry,” that is, where she would share God’s truth wrapped around the beauty of her Montana and motorcycling life. She would often pray for people privately through direct message as a result of these posts. With all that stripped away in an instant, God was faithful to deliver something even better as He promises in Romans 8:28. “He works everything together for good to those who love God, and to those who are called according to His purpose.” Read Genevieve’s Everyday Miracles post on how God used the incident and what actually happened the day her accounts were deactivated.
In May 2021, the Lord brought Groundwire into Genevieve’s life through a series of divine touches. Groundwire is an online platform that meets young people where they are, on social media, interrupting them through advertising by offering an opportunity to chat with a spiritual coach. From her living room, Genevieve hops online anytime of the day to make herself available, along with other devoted servants of Christ, to pick up a chat initiated by a hurting, seeking, confused, or abused young person desiring hope and truth.
Participating in this ministry has been a life changer for Genevieve. “It’s amazing how the Lord moved me away from social media and opened the door to reach a generation of lost souls by bringing the Groundwire ministry into my life. While I’m sharing truth through God’s word to these chatters, I am continually blessed beyond measure—a side benefit I was not expecting when I started this. How incredible it is to serve in this profound innovative way!”
What’s Next?
“I love watching how the Lord brings projects that excite and energize me while serving others’ needs at just the right time,” says Genevieve. In 2018, she had the opportunity to use her professional skills as a writer, editor, and proofreader to help first-time author Kim Jones, co-founder of Ezekiel’s Christian Ministries in Grand Cane, Louisiana, edit and proofread her book and bring it to market. “God’s Sovereignty Starring You” will edify, encourage, and enlighten you to what’s possible when you live a life hearing from God. Learn more about that book here on Amazon. A year later, Genevieve edited and proofread another book, “A Wolfe In Sheep’s Clothing," by Shannon Wolfe. “What a gift to be able to help authors share their amazing stories while at the same time immersing myself in the God-given truths and testimonies contained in their words.”
Genevieve welcomes the opportunity to participate in exciting projects that expand her horizons. She was thrilled to be invited to be a featured expert in a motorcycle documentary that debuted on the History Channel on August 22, 2021 called “The Machines That Built America: Snack Sized, The Wild Ones,” focusing on the history of Harley-Davidson. Watch the show here. Additionally, Genevieve is featured in a Harley-Davidson social media video that debuted in the fall of 2021 along with a friend she mentored into motorcycling. Watch the Harley video here. Get in touch with Genevieve if you feel led to call upon her.
Genevieve Schmitt appearing on The History Channel’s “The Machines that Built America.”
In closing, one of the many blessings in her life is how God led her to live in Montana. She says, “I don’t just love Montana. I’m in love with Montana.” Hey, didn’t author John Steinbeck say the same thing? Genevieve is married to an amazing supportive man and has two step-children, seven step-grandchildren, four amazing siblings, nine incredible nephews and nieces, and a loving father and mother who raised her right. She is passionate about staying healthy the natural way, by eating organic foods and engaging in a variety of exercise and activities. She’s a level 1 certified Pilates mat instructor, loves to motorcycle and hike in the summer, and downhill and cross country ski in the winter. She owns a 2008 Harley-Davidson Street Glide. She’s also learning to play the guitar.
