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Courtney Caldwell Biography

Courtney Caldwell Biography
Fueled by Passion, Propelled by Purpose


Summary | Bio | Topics | Clients | Contact | Event Demos

2010 Courtney Caldwell Image

An avid travel and auto enthusiast determined to give a voice to the women’s market, Courtney Caldwell was fueled by passion to make a difference. She created the first national magazine to specialize in auto, travel and safety-related topics for women. Launched in print in 1989, ROAD & TRAVEL Magazine (RTM) transitioned into a digital magazine in 2000 with Caldwell as the driving force.

Caldwell’s love for cars emerged during the muscle car era. “I was just a kid when the Mustang and GTO came out. The roar of the engine and cool styling was mesmerizing. So, I badgered a local mechanic for weeks to teach me to drive his ‘64, 4-speed GTO. I think he finally gave in just to get rid of me. He had white knuckles and I became hooked!” says Caldwell.

Living in total anonymity in Warwick, Rhode Island, the single mother of two realized that owning a muscle car was not practical so instead Caldwell bought a new Chevy van, which she had customized for camping, turning it into one of the smallest RVs at that time. The tiny home on wheels not only accommodated her family’s active lifestyle and love for outdoor life and camping, it also led to Caldwell’s first company, VANity Fare, a limousine service designed to chauffeur groups to local and regional sporting events.

Intuitively, Caldwell knew something bigger awaited her beyond RI, so in 1981 she sold her home of 11 years, packed up her two pre-teen kids and headed cross-country to California. “We camped out under the stars in 16 states. My son gathered wood, my daughter filled water containers and I cooked over an open fire. It was our first trip out of RI and one of the most memorable experiences we’ve ever had as a family,” she says. Camping became a way of life for the Caldwell Clan even after settling in California.

Courtney Caldwell training in Taekwondo - 1st Degree Black BeltOnce in California, Caldwell combined her years of Taekwondo black belt training with her daredevil driving skills honed on the back roads of New England on snow and ice to become a stunt woman. “My specialties were J-turns (spinning cars), riding motorcycles, dune buggies, and fight scenes. I worked on several projects with Sam Elliott, Goldie Hawn, and Kurt Russell.” However, stunt work for women was still scarce in the ‘80s and Caldwell had two teens with chronic medical conditions to support. As an experienced accountant, she worked between gigs as a controller for Pierre Cardin, a personal bodyguard for actress Lola Falana, and personal assistant for singer Peggy Lee, assisting her with personal affairs, gig bookings, producing celebrity dinners and parties at her Bel Air, CA mansion, and managing her diabetes.

As a single parent who made all of her own financial decisions, Caldwell grew restless with the disrespectful treatment received at dealerships so in 1986 she formed a national organization to help raise awareness of the power of the purse. Through the organization, Caldwell created and produced her first major event, the “Cruise-Aid for Diabetes,” a celebrity-packed, 50-mile motorcycle ride, raising several hundred thousand dollars for the Juvenile Diabetes Foundation, one of the largest outdoor fund raising events in Los Angeles at that time.

Recognized for her success in event production and innate skill as a media spokesperson, Caldwell was recruited by the motorcycle industry to produce the Van Buren TransCon in 1988, a national publicity tour designed to enhance the image of motorcycling. Caldwell served as the lead rider and media spokesperson on the 22-city, 4000-mile, 30-day tour, where she addressed thousands of grass root Americans on motorcycle safety.

"A large part of RTM puts an emphasis on personal safety especially when traveling alone by car, truck, motorcycling, RVing or camping," Caldwell adds.

Inspired on tour by the overwhelming demand to improve the quality of treatment at dealerships towards women, Caldwell launched RTM upon her return, which became the pioneering automotive publication to educate women on car buying, negotiating, and dealing with pesky salesmen.

The premier issue of RTM was due to launch in January ‘89 but not without its challenges. Two weeks before the launch on Christmas Eve afternoon, Caldwell picked up her Harley Low Rider from the repair shop. While riding home, she broad-sided a distracted driver who ran a red light. The impact with the moving car sent her headfirst through the driver's side window with her right shoulder impacting the center post between the front and rear windows. According to witnesses, the centrifugal force of the impact then flipped her out of the window, over the roof and through the air for about 40 feet 'like a Raggedy Ann doll' before landing unconscious on an overpass intersection. Because it was Christmas Eve afternoon, there were dozens of other vehicles stopped at the red light on both sides so there were plenty of witnesses including her 21 year old son who had followed her home from the repair shop. Caldwell credits her son for bringing her out of her unconscious state by continually screaming 'mom' over her lifeless body. "Call it a mother's instinct, call it whatever you want, but it was his voice that brought me back while laying flat on my back in that intersection. I still wonder to this day if I would have survived had it not been for a son's love."

The impact left her with seven broken ribs, a paralyzed right arm, a shattered right scapula, spinal compression, and a severe concussion, an accident in which few survived, according to her attending ER doctors. However, Caldwell was in pique physical condition at the time of the accident from years of martial arts training, which she also attributes to saving her life that day.

Undeterred, two weeks later, Caldwell’s 21-year-old son carried his broken mother on board a plane, propping up her willowy spine and bruised body with seven pillows for support during the cross-country flight. Once in Washington, DC, Caldwell and a close cousin handed out hundreds of copies of the first issue of RTM from an auto show booth.

Declaring Caldwell’s vision of the women’s market “before its time,” most marketers refused to advertise in the first few years. Convinced the market was huge, Caldwell sold her customized Chevy RV van and used the insurance money from the accident to support the magazine until automakers caught on. “Many laughed, throwing the magazine across their desk, saying they thought it was a joke. Some even told me I should get a real job or to find a husband and settle down,” she recalls. “Ford was the first automaker to believe in our vision, agreeing that the then unknown $65 billion women’s market was a force to be reckoned with.” Ford Motor Company went on to become the first automaker in the world to discover not only the size and value of the women's market but also the first to start a 'Women's Marketing Committee.' [Who's Laughing Now by Sharon Aschaeek - Sun Media]

In spite of naysayers, Caldwell expanded her mission by launching the International Car of the Year Awards (ICOTY) in 1996, the first auto awards to honor the emotional connection between car and consumer. By 2008, ICOTY had become the largest auto awards show in the U.S. earning the honorable distinction as the “Academy Awards of Cars.”  Today, automakers use the ‘emotional connection’ theme in their national marketing and advertising campaigns as seen in national TV commercials and billboards.

Formerly called American Woman Road & Travel when in print, RTM dropped American Woman when it went online in 2000 and was simply called Road & Travel Magazine.
RTM established the first voice for the women’s automotive consumer market in 1989.

In 2000, Caldwell transitioned RTM from print to online making it one of the first magazines in the U.S. to go digital. With marketers declaring the Internet nothing more than a passing fad that was too technical for women to understand, Caldwell responded, “Mark my words, within ten years the Internet will dwarf all other mediums with women accounting for the majority of online users.” Today, most print publications have either gone digital or gone bust, a trend that continues to forge on until the last print publication eventually becomes nothing more than a distant memory or collector's item.

Early on, Caldwell and her team saw the natural connection between auto and travel, and how frequently articles and reviews tied the two together. Thus, the RTM Travel Channel was born which today boasts more than 18 separate and unique departments in its navigation. Today, RTM has more than 6000 pages of content with 36 channels covering a wide range of travel and auto topics. In 2017, Caldwell returned to her first love, adding RTM's first RVing & Camping Channel.

Courtney Caldwell produces and hosts first Earth, Wind & Power Awards Show in Los AngelesRecognizing the urgency of climate change and its effects on the planet, Caldwell launched Earth, Wind & Power® Media (EWP) in 2008, a multimedia company designed to help elevate awareness of the rapid acceleration of climate change. The mission of EWP is to provide readers with content and resources from which they can make informed and educated decisions on eco-friendly products and services. [Climate change danger]

Caldwell continues to expand her role as a national media spokesperson and advocate, a skill she honed with years of experience on stage and TV as well as with stand up comedy classes in LA, and is today considered one of the leading authorities in her field. No one’s laughing now as Caldwell continues to propel her purpose driven life to strengthen, communicate and bridge the gap between women and industries.

From total obscurity as a single mom in Rhode Island to a national consumer advocate, magazine editor, event producer and spokesperson, Caldwell knows no limitations. Tell her it can’t be done and she’ll show you it can, a true testament that nothing is impossible.