“This is an exciting time to be alive, however it is not for the faint of heart,” begins Tess Cacciatore’s new book, “Homeless to the White House,” available now on Amazon.

The feminine is finally rising to balance the chronic masculinity that has been the way of the world for far too long. We are all faced with the choice to either take a stand and have our voices heard, or hide in a cave.

I do not believe in the fire and brimstone tales of our world coming to an end. However, I do believe we are in the midst of one version of our world coming to an end to make way for a new world. And in this new world, it is my humble opinion that we can rectify the balance between masculine and feminine to better find peace.”

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At MixR, we are lucky that pretty much everyone we come into contact with is inspiring, daring, courageous, humble, and all-around amazing and, well, Tess Cacciatore is no exception. Tess is a producer, author, public speaker, storyteller, and CEO of the Gwen Network. Originally from Des Moines, IA, she now resides here in beautiful Los Angeles.

We especially love the way she thinks about the power of women’s voices but also how she stresses, as we can see above, the importance of balance between the feminine and the masculine, which is what we’re all about at MixR.

We call it Leadership au féminin!

The mission of Tess’s book is to inspire us to share our stories, believing that the courage to reveal one’s scars and fears will lead to deep healing. She has even begun a movement – #RevealToHeal – in which she focuses on the transformative power of storytelling to heal pain and suffering both individually and in the spirit of community.

We were so thrilled to sit down with Tess and talk to her about her momentous achievement in publishing this book – eight years in the making, she says – how the book came to fruition and what lessons we can take from it as we move forward in our efforts to create a more balanced, fair, and peaceful world.

 

MixR: First of all, please tell us a bit about what the book is about, what inspired you to write it, and of course, where we can buy it!

TC: “Homeless to the White House” is really a transformational journey based on my own journey. The book asks how we can transform our lives by telling stories. The story actually begins in, of all places, the Democratic Republic of Congo, where I was undercover filming for a man, JPM, who was running for President in 2010. My number one intention, though, was actually to draw global attention to the social impact of the mining of a particular mineral called “Coltan,” which exists in nature and is extracted to be used in our cell phones and computers. The byproduct of this was the frequent and cruel rape of innocent women and children over the mining of these precious minerals. I found myself unable to ignore the fact that the very products that run our lives are concurrently causing innocent humans to suffer on the other side of the world. JPM made me believe that, when elected, he would be able to change the laws and regulations of how Coltan is mined and therefore protect the women and children who were the most vulnerable. Unfortunately, my involvement in this project ended badly on a number of accounts – most importantly, almost losing my life a couple times and ending up homeless – but it was also the catalyst for a huge amount of change in my life, and I’m grateful for it.

It was also at this time that I became friends with a woman named Leontine, who had been the personal attaché to the former first lady of Congo. I learned of her rape and that of so many others. I knew that my telling their stories was a good start, but that it would be more impactful and have the ability to begin healing if these women were to tell their stories themselves.

Oh, and you can buy it on Amazon :-)

 

MixR: Where do you draw your inspiration from?

TC: I was pretty quiet as a young girl, didn’t interact too well with people, and avoided eye contact with anyone (even those offering me candy!). I would often sit at the dinner table making up stories in my head. People probably thought I was a bit bizarre or perhaps rude, but I just couldn’t force myself to talk. I had this great urge to remain hidden. During my childhood, I became quite fascinated with the idea of God (call him/her what you will!) and even started attending church by myself. I was intrigued by other religions and so went to other houses of worship and tried to share my faith with my friends, too. I had deep conversations with God and remember asking some pretty big questions, at least for a kid but those “chats” with God helped me to see that there is potential in all things.

Another source of inspiration for me, and specifically my feelings about womanhood, stems from being surrounded by boys during my early years. I was more of a tomboy than a princess (just ask my Malibu Barbie with one arm and a pixie haircut!) During one summer outing, we came across a burned down barn but when I opened the doors, my mind transformed it into the most beautiful place and from that day onwards, I understood the power of imagination and the idea of what “could be.” I knew I could always make things better for others, but I didn’t apply that same care to myself as I grew up, and that was a hard that I learned over and over in my life with respect to work, relationships, everything really.

 

MixR: Did you have any role models growing up?

TC: One of my all-time favorites is Lucille Ball. I really, really love Lucy! She and I share a lot, and I always admired her vision, tenacity, and creativity. She and I are both from small towns, she from Jamestown, NY and I from Des Moines, IA. We both came from middle-class families, and we both seemed to achieve success – whatever that means! – a bit later in life. Lucy is rarely given the credit she deserves, and few know that she actually invented certain production techniques such as filming before a live audience, implementing multi-cameras for shooting sitcoms, and coming up with a way for several adjacent sets to exist on a soundstage in order to save on production costs. I learned so much from her persistence and always took her story and her success as a mantra never to give up on what I wanted to achieve!

 

MixR: You got your start in theater and writing, isn’t that right? Tell us about that and how it influenced your early career.

TC: Yes, that’s right. I attended Stephens College in Columbia, MO, one of the three colleges in town. It was an all-girls school, the second oldest in the whole country, as a matter of fact. I was interested in theater and also really got into writing. It was only at the encouragement of a very wonderful – and cute – professor that I could remember back and realize that being on stage, acting, storytelling, etc. had always been something I’d be interested in and also quite good at. My passion for writing turned into one for directing, which turned into an interest in acting, and modeling, and singing… By this time I was in New York. Man, New York City in the 80s was quite something! I was acting on soap operas, had a theatrical agent, a record contract, and was doing some print modeling. I even had a hit single in 1983 that I sang with the girl band, “The Flirts.” It was an absolutely crazy time!

 

MixR: Wow! Were there any times that you were scared or feared for your life?

TC: Perhaps it was naiveté, but not really. I guess the closest I got to feeling truly fearful for my life was in Honduras. I had joined another band, and we were performing in that country. At that time, of course, Honduras was the murder-capital of the world (thank goodness, I didn’t know that before I boarded the plane) and during one of our concerts a riot broke out. It was the largest crowd I’d ever performed for – about 34,000 – and so that really was pretty scary. Again, I felt that some guardian angels were protecting me, and I was unharmed. But sure, New York City was also a pretty edgy place: cocaine, free love, crime… it really was sex, drugs, and rock ‘n’ roll! The craziest part of that time for me was meeting so many celebrities. From sharing a New Year’s Eve moment with Christopher Reeve to being at a party with Robin Williams, walking the same beat as Madonna, and rubbing elbows with the likes of Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Tina Turner, and Billy Idol was really unforgettable.

 

MixR: So New York was a huge success for you?

TC: In many ways, yes, but I felt like I was always just missing the mark, you know? New York is a tough place to be and to move forward. Isn’t the saying, “If you can make it here, you can make it anywhere?” This was true in terms of my professional pursuits as well as my love life. I could go on and on about that… there are so many stories to tell but suffice it to say, living in that city in the 1980s was pretty interesting, and I learned many life lessons there.

 

MixR: Ok let’s fast-forward to today and GWEN. Tell us about that.

TC: Oh wow, that’s quite a jump! Ok, so the vision for GWEN had started in 2011 when I suddenly found myself on Capitol Hill talking about Blood-Coltan (remember, that’s where we started?), and I was asked to share my story of being in the Congo and the plight of the women and children. Our organization uses the power of media and technology to allow for people to share their stories and thereby transform their lives. Through live-streaming events, online curricula, and in-person workshops, we offer a very safe place for people from all cultures and ages to reveal their story so that healing can begin. Our motto is: Led by women… Joined by men.

The people with whom I had started GWEN seemed to be an amazing team, and for two years after launching, things went great. However, in 2014, things fell apart, and GWEN lost its chances for funding. I fell into a deep depression for several years, and GWEN went.. nowhere. Yet, as they say, “what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger,” and so I began my own journey of healing. Though the #MeToo movement hadn’t yet started, I remember feeling that the power of storytelling – of sharing my pain and experience with others who listened and shared back – was truly helping me to heal. I had to “forgive” both myself and those I felt had betrayed me.

GWEN, as it is today, is the product of one Christmas Eve night at my home when I finally confronted what I’ll call the “serpent.” One of the guests at my party, who I did not know, had drunk a bit too much and became belligerent. A fight broke out between this woman and her girlfriend (who I really didn’t know!), and it went from emotional abuse to a full-on physical fight. I saw the destruction it left behind on both women as well as on the other friends gathered and of course on me as well. Several things had been broken in my home, and it was also a very scary night, as we didn’t know what this person might ultimately be capable of doing. However, I finally banished her from the house, and we were safe. Three of my dear girlfriends, and the woman I had barely known stayed behind and stayed the night. The next day was Christmas, and I gathered us all into a circle. We proceeded to share all our experiences of trauma and abuse. That was a huge turning point for me as it began a process of true healing in me that I’d been searching for over the last several decades.

At GWEN, we are building a global-driven community to connect with like-minded women from around the world for collaboration and content creation that showcases the stories of triumphant victories over the atrocities of abuse. I’d just like to invite everyone to check out our website. If you’re inclined to share your own story, you can do that here, and if any of your readers are so inclined, I’d love for them to pick up a copy of my book as well :)

MixR: Thank you so much for sharing, Tess. We have a billion other questions but we’ll have to leave those for next time.