Genevieve Schmitt is at the forefront of one of the biggest shifts taking place in the motorcycle industry in the last 30 years—the growth and impact of the female riding population. Genevieve is the leading spokesperson on women and motorcycling today. Through her articles and speeches, she has inspired thousands of women to ride a motorcycle.
In October 2005, Genevieve started Women Riders Now™, a marketing and consulting company, capitalizing on the growing interest in the women’s motorcycling market. Women Riders Now™ is a subsidiary of Solitude Ranch Communications, Genevieve’s marketing and communications company. In February 2006, WomenRidersNow.com, was launched. The online magazine is the leading source of motorcycling news and information designed to educate and inform those interested in the women’s motorcycling market. In 2001, Genevieve was inducted in the Sturgis Motorcycle Museum Hall of Fame for her journalism work raising awareness of women riders.
Prior to starting her own company, Genevieve founded the award-winning Woman Rider magazine in 2000, an all-brands quarterly publication that had a circulation of 50,000. The magazine lasted four years. Woman Rider fueled Genevieve’s passion to continue providing information related to women and motorcycling. That's when she started Women Riders Now.
Genevieve started riding in 1990. During that time, she honed her skills as a freelance motorcycle journalist covering the people, places, and events that make up the industry. In 1999, she was named editor of Asphalt Angels, a small fledgling women’s motorcycle magazine and the predecessor to Woman Rider.
Genevieve is he first and only woman at the time to report on television aboard a motorcycle when she appeared on “Bike Week” each week on Speedvision (now Speed Channel) from 1997-2003. A news magazine TV producer by trade, Genevieve parlayed her love of two wheels into a career reporting on the motorcycle scene. Her reports covered everything from profiling motorcycle-riding celebrities like Lyle Lovett and Fabio to covering events like Sturgis, Daytona, and the Love Ride.
In 2003, Genevieve shifted to all-terrain vehicles reporting for three years on the weekly show “ATV Magazine Television” on the Outdoor Life Network (OLN). Genevieve’s on air career also had her reporting for VH1 aboard her motorcycle for its coverage of Harley-Davidson's 95th anniversary in June 1998. She also contributed as a reporter/producer to The Travel Channel's weekly program “Travel Daily.”
Genevieve started her journalism career at 16 when she worked for a local AM radio station as a news reporter in her hometown of Woodstock, New York. She graduated from the University of Florida with a bachelor’s degree in broadcasting with minors in business and theater. Genevieve learned the ropes by working for CNN's "Larry King Live" and "Crossfire" shows right out of college, then on to WPEC-TV, a local news station in West Palm Beach, Florida. It was then that she knew she wanted to be an on-air reporter, but, as she says, “I wasn't thrilled about doing hard news reporting. I knew I wanted to be an on-air reporter; it was just a matter of finding the right venue in which to work.”
It was in 1989 while working as a segment producer for "Good Morning America" when Genevieve first became interested in motorcycles. She produced a story about career women owning motorcycles. Having a limited amount of knowledge about the sport, she rounded up 15 enthusiastic female riders for the shoot. By the end of it she was hooked. She bought her first motorcycle, a 1982 Honda Shadow, and began getting involved in motorcycling.
In 1991, Genevieve moved to Los Angeles to pursue her dream of working in broadcasting in the entertainment industry. She landed a job as senior producer for E! Entertainment Television where she was nominated for a Daytime Emmy Award, and later worked as a field producer for the syndicated TV show "Extra.”
She bought her first Harley-Davidson in 1993, a 1200 Sportster. A year later, she traded up to a 1995 Harley Dyna Superglide, and a year after that, settled on her current ride, a 1994 Harley-Davidson Dyna Low Rider.
While working in the entertainment industry, Genevieve was able to bring stories about motorcycling and its lifestyle to the forefront. She also discovered an untapped niche. She wanted to become a reporter in the motorsports world covering lifestyles, trends, celebrities and people stories. She felt it was a natural extension to the freelance writing she was doing in the motorcycle industry. “I knew with my knowledge of the motorsports industry and my background in television producing I could find stories and uncover angles that would appeal not only to enthusiast viewers, but also appeal to mainstream viewers."
She adds, “With the on-air motorcycle and ATV jobs, I was breaking new ground as the first female motorcycle riding reporter, and the first female ATV reporter. I felt I had a responsibility in educating and informing the non-riding public as well as those who ride about the joys of motorcycling and ATV riding. I’ve also had the most fortunate opportunity to work in the print medium as editor of Woman Rider magazine sharing fascinating stories of female riders.”
Genevieve has been featured in many magazine and newspaper articles including USA Today, BusinessWeek, The Los Angeles Times, The Palm Beach Post, Jane magazine and Oxygen magazine. She’s also been a featured speaker at many motorcycling conferences and events. Genevieve has ridden many cross country miles on her motorcycle. |
