Influence Women had an incredible gathering at the Gaylord Opryland Resort & Convention Center during the National Religious Broadcasters 2026 Convention!
We are so grateful for our dynamic presenters: Futuria AI co-founder Emma Sharma; award-winning actress Jen Lilley; award-winning filmmaker/actress Kelsey Cooke-Guerra; producer/artist Nina May; author Tammy Battaglia; and award-winning producer/director Sheila Hart. Each shared practical insight, creative production, and AI strategies, and encouragement for building a life and career anchored in Biblical truth. Kathleen also shared a powerful reminder about the Biblical city of Ai found in Joshua 6–7: you cannot steal from God; honor Him with your first fruits; don’t take shortcuts or presume; and move forward with His guidance.
A special thank-you to IW board member, Leslie Callaway who opened us in prayer, along with four of our current ten Chapter Directors: DeAnna Kane (Hollywood), Brandi McDaniel (Houston), Sue Detweiler (Dallas), and Cyndi Galley (Nashville), who encouraged attendees, reminding them why Influence Women gatherings are essential and that they are never alone in their artistic endeavors.
Did you miss the annual gathering? Watch for the event recap coming soon on our YouTube channel. In the meantime, tune in to the February Influence Women Podcast with filmmaker Cyndi Bond, as we chat about her latest film, I Can Only Imagine 2, join us for the Online Chapter gathering on March 17th, or an in-person chapter event near you. See the IW website for information and registration.
You can also help fuel the mission of Influence Lab and Influence Women by shopping online with +ShopWithPurpose, and designating Influence Lab/Women as your nonprofit recipient when you register. Use this site as an alternative to Amazon for your purchases and watch as every purchase supports the mission of Influence Women!
Let’s continue to Connect, Collaborate, and Create for Christ!
With Christmas 2025 wrapped and décor back in storage, can we continue to let the wonder and miraculous birth of Jesus resonate and shape how we live and work throughout 2026?
“Wonder” is the word God has given me in 2026.
When the shepherd saw the angels break into a chorus in the skies proclaiming the birth of the Son of God, whom we would come to know as Christ Jesus, they were initially frightened, thinking them ghosts. Why did the angels appear to lowly shepherds who had no significant influence? Why hadn’t they appeared to influential leaders, priests, and kings? I believe it was because the shepherds were paying attention. They needed a solution and an answer to the crazy, uncertain world they lived in. They were shepherds who needed hope.
Are you a shepherd in God’s kingdom on earth today?
As artists, you are caring for His sheep through creativity in media, entertainment, music, art, and leadership opportunities. Using your artistic talents and skills, your artistry provides a type of emotional and spiritual nourishment and clothing for audiences and their minds, which affects hearts and, in turn, shapes what we say, believe, and choose. At the perplexing sight of the host of angels, the shepherds didn’t demand credentials, nor did they need clarification that what they were seeing was real and significant to motivate them to search for the location where the manager held the Savior of their souls. They went ahead in trust and curiosity – in wonder.
Wonder is not weakness.
Wonder creates boldness in leadership. It is an inward knowledge that the unshakeable promises God has given us are true and that He is trustworthy. But the way God delivers them is never how we think. It reflects a creative God who supernaturally delivers His people and word. Knowing His nature allows us to trust in His wonder. It is a type of humility. Trusting in the miraculous is not the absence of leadership, but it is a confident knowledge that God is in control when things don’t make sense. The shepherds didn’t arrive at the manger with strategic business plans, spreadsheets, or three goals formulated by AI. They came in pure, unfiltered awe.
God achieves His most significant accomplishments through curiosity.
The three Wise Men were the next ones to find our Savior by observing a curious, moving star. They bowed before him, laying down their crowns at the feet of a child singled out by the heavenly sign. They came from wealth and influence, offering kingly gifts in a bold counter-cultural declaration of worship and wonder. Endless Bible stories are filled with curious, strange, and miraculous events. The stories of Noah, Moses, Abraham, Esther, David, and the birth of Jesus, along with the miracles He performed while He walked on the earth, should give us pause and prompt us to walk confidently in wonder. God takes the natural and performs the supernatural. He is not a God who lays out all details of His plans, but He asks us to trust Him in the nonsensical. The shepherds and the Wise Men came with open hearts, bold faith, and expectant joy, and they witnessed the miraculous glory of God.
As 2026 begins with a rush, choose to turn off your screens more often this year to ponder and walk in the miraculous wonder of God. Turn down the volume on your need to understand and let curiosity and the wonder of God lead you into bold new places. The shepherds showed up. Will you?
“Everyone was gripped with great wonder and awe, and they praised God, exclaiming, “We have seen amazing things today!” (Luke 5:26 NLT)
California is known for earthquakes, and I have experienced some big ones over the years of living in Hollywood. Working in the media and entertainment industries, I have also experienced lots of earth-shattering moments, both good and bad, having worked in an ever-unstable industry. Strikes, AI, finance issues, and the many moral and cultural challenges of working in the industry as a Christian are prominent issues taking a toll on artists and creatives today. And it’s not only in Hollywood. Other media and entertainment hubs like Atlanta and NYC are also feeling the strain. Artists and creators are standing on shaky ground on multiple levels and just trying to keep their balance as the industry continues to make seismic changes.
At a recent Influence Women Hollywood Professional gathering, I spoke on why community and standing on the Word of God has never been more critical today.
John, a disciple of Christ and personal witness to His teaching and miracles, encouraged the first-century Church as they felt challenged with the issues of living out their faith in a hedonistic Roman culture. He writes in John 1:5-6, “This is the message we have heard from Him and declare to you: God is light; in Him there is no darkness at all. If we claim to have fellowship with Him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live out the truth.”
The word “message” in Greek also means “promise” and is only used two times in the New Testament. It is also related to the word “preach.” John reminds listeners that we are called to preach the promise or evangelize the “good news” and not let our challenges consume us. We are to conduits of His “Light” and bring the “Light” of who Jesus is to others. With our eyes and ears mesmerized by our screens today, we are often influenced by the dark side of life. Wars, famine, shutdowns, climatic and devastating events full of death and destruction weigh on our lives.
John reminds us to walk in the Light of God.
Darkness today impacts our personal lives, too. Disruptions and uncertainties in our daily lives and careers lives toss us around with constant seismic shocks. Yet, in God, there is no darkness—no uncertainties or disruptions—only Light, hope and God’s promise to be there with us. And it can be an opportunity to share the “Light” of God to others. If we’re engaged fully in Him, it means choosing to live an active and vibrant relationship through the turmoil, walking with confident boldness moment by moment. In Him, there is no fear and “no darkness at all.” God will direct our “coming and goings” (Psalm 121:8). (more…)
My brother said he never wanted to be rich when he grew up. He just wanted enough! Enough, however, isn’t attainable, no matter how much we may try. At Christmas, we get constant enticements through commercials and social media blasting our screens with what someone else has and we don’t (but should have), or what we “deserve” to get for Christmas, and our loser status if we don’t get it. The noise can be overwhelming. In our human mind, we get depressed that ‘the good life” – getting enough – will always be out of reach. When we think only as human beings, we stay stuck inside our insatiable appetites of want. We keep ourselves trapped in the relentless gnawing itch of desire, which leaves festering wounds of unhappiness and self-loathing.
Are you seeking happiness or joy?
Happiness is temporary because it can only give you a physical feeling based on false, warped cultural truths. Joy, however, is eternal. It comes from a supernatural, powerful, and perfect God. And the wonder of it is that joy is attainable. It’s a Christmas gift you can receive immediately. It comes wrapped in contentment found in the birth and sacrificial life of Jesus Christ. It’s the gift of a life that is not subject to this world and eternal places where the relentless desire itch is satisfied. The Christmas gift of eternal joy can only be attained by choosing heart knowledge and not head knowledge. When we believe in God’s unwavering truth, our attitude shifts. It’s a mindset change that allows our heart to lead. It means believing in the awe and wonder of God, and its transformative gift. When that happens, personal desires become secondary and aren’t the priority. Our focus shifts to what God desires for us and for His Kingdom purposes: “His will be done on earth.” The Father’s desires lead us to joy found outside what is being advertised on our screens, which is empty, temporary happiness. Instead of having an appetite for the things of this world, we can have an appetite for His Kingdom living and choices.
Will it require the abandonment of cultural lifestyles or desires we once thought important?
It may. Often, where we are today is not the perfect place God has for us, and there may be suffering while untangling our lives from the grip of our failures and selfish desires. Being willing to abandon our plans for God’s better plan leads to a place of the unknown – wonder. It leads to contentment when there is nothing, and a joy that is inexplicable when it looks hopeless. It’s a place of safety that doesn’t make sense. When we are willing to surrender ourselves, He gives us the desires of our hearts, and it comes in profound ways we never saw coming. Worldly desires and choices change, and what we thought we wanted shifts toward desiring what God wants first to accomplish in our life, and to what pleases Him most – the desire to know Him. He becomes the God who gives enough.
Are you living a life of wonder and wanting to know more of God?
The truth is, we aren’t just physical beings – we are spiritual beings! We have a soul that will live forever when our physical body turns to dust. To know God, we must believe Him. And we must believe in the miraculous because God is a miracle God! We must believe that what He told us and is recorded in the Bible is true – all of it – the miracles of healing and restoration, the obstacles, challenges, and battles that were overcome, and all the disruptive, sacrificial choices that were made that changed the narrative so that God’s purposes could be fulfilled. There is no compromising or “living on the fence” with God. In our world today, it’s essential to trust in a living, supernatural God who sent the Son as a baby and who achieved His mission on a cross to save us for all eternity. He is the joy giver. As a child believes in all the wonders of childhood with unabashed enthusiasm, can we remember to embrace the wonder of who God is in our lives?
This Christmas, shift into a full-out childlike wonder of God.
Jesus said in Matthew 18:3, “…unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.” This Christmas, shift your mind to your heart. Think and live in the spiritual and supernatural wonder of our Creator, leaving your natural mind and the limiting physical world behind. Remember that God operates in the miraculous. His power is seen in the wonder. He parted seas, helped a small, skinny boy to defeat a giant, and allowed three men thrown in a fiery furnace to walk out unscathed. God brings protection and provision endlessly. II Corinthians 5:7 says, “For we live by faith, not by sight.”
God surprises require us to stop thinking practically and start living in the unknown.
Living by faith means we never stop asking, but we also have to make sure we don’t cover our ears and stop listening. His directives can come through the Bible, or in prayer, or a trusted prophetic revelation. God requires us to trust Him even when the waiting seems long and hopeless. His miracles come in unexpected ways, from unexpected people, and in unusual places. We stop thinking with our intellect and start looking for God’s surprises. Get excited that you can’t attain the desires of your heart in your own strength. God can. His gifts of wonder are always aligned with His perfect purposes. Proverbs 9:10 says, “The awe (wonder – sometimes called ‘fear’ because God’s ways are strange and inexplicable) of God is the beginning of Wisdom.” He is an ever-present, wonder-working God. Be ready for God to amaze you in profound ways above all you have ever thought or dreamed.
This Christmas, may your eyes be filled with wonder – amagnetic fascination that brings you eternal joy and wisdom.
It’s been a busy Fall for Influence Women. In August, Influence Women Nashville hosted an INspire Gathering with several new women attending, and Influence Women Global launched the newOnline Chapter, allowing IW to reach a global audience and connect women who work outside a current in-person chapter in the U.S. and internationally. This new chapter will be hosting online gatherings (the next one is November 6th – register at influencewomen.org) to connect our international community and do what we call the “C” level work of Christ – Connect women so they can Collaborate to be able to Create to Change the Culture for Christ.
Then, in September, Influence Women Global Director Kathleen Cooke joined Atlanta Chapter Director Trudy Simmons as they were both guest speakers for the Hollywood Prayer Network’s Atlanta Connection Gathering. This was a special gathering of Christians working in the industry in the Atlanta area. Many of those attending had moved out of Hollywood in recent years and were now working in the Atlanta media and entertainment industry. Kathleen was thrilled to reconnect with many colleagues and friends she had known and worked with in Hollywood over the years. IW Atlanta also had a booth at the event, and Trudy, along with Kathleen and IW Nashville Chapter Director Cyndi Galley, who also attended, were delighted to meet and sign up many new Atlanta-area women working in media, entertainment, music, and the arts.
In October, Kathleen flew to LA to take part in the IW Hollywood Chapter event, “Unshakable: Trusting God’s Voice in Your Career and Life Decisions.” It was beautifully hosted by IW Hollywood Chapter Director, DeAnna Kane. She interviewed guest speakers Wendi Griffith and Peyton Hoffman. Hollywood professionals are being challenged, as industry work has slowed in California and as AI continues to change the industry. It was joyous to see how the Influence Women community is standing together with boldness on God’s Word and on His promises.
Marketing executive and author, Peyton Hoffman (and… IW Advisory Board member and Chapter Prayer Leader) shared her inspiring journey of how God brought her work from unseen places as she leaned into Him. CBN TV host and news reporter, Wendy Griffith, continued to encourage the women attending and spoke about how God fulfills the “desires of our hearts” as we seek Him first and stay engaged consistently with Him. She shared how, after many years of being single, she met her husband and how God grew her career as she trusted more in Him.
Finally that day, Kathleen shared how God continues to teach her new levels of obedience to God in her personal choices and life. She challenged those attending to stay strong in their faith as they wait for that perfect job, career break, or that man God has for them in their life. God sees them – knows them. He is El-Roi – the God who sees. She encouraged them to continue to come together and grow their relationships together as a community of women and share how God is our sustaining power: “We need to show up for each other and attend Influence Women events and gatherings so that we can pray for each other, share the sustaining Word with each other, and encourage each other. It is what the 1st Century Christians did. They were there for each other!”
In November, we are thrilled to announce thelaunch of Influence Women Phoenix—”Sip, Heal, and Rise” on Tuesday, November 2nd. If you know someone in the Phoenix area or live there yourself, don’t miss this new chapter group with our fabulous IW Chapter Director and writer, Kristie Fisher. She will be leading the charge to empower, mentor, and encourage women in the Phoenix area. Register NOW for this FREE event at influencewomen.org.
Finally, we encourage you to subscribe to the Influence Women Podcast and YouTube Channel so you don’t miss the inspirational women who join Kathleen each month to mentor you in your life and career. Check out the IW webinars with the many professional women who have taught industry-related classes, which are sure to bring you tips and wisdom. You can click the bell to be notified each time a new podcast or webinar is dropped – and don’t forget to “Like” the videos and leave a comment to help us grow our podcast reach.
We are so very grateful to you for helping us make all this possible. As Thanksgiving approaches, you are at the top of our list of “thanks” for all your continued prayers and support of The Influence Lab and Influence Women. You are making a difference in the lives of many Christians who are attempting to create and innovate to change what is heard and seen on our screens and media. We value you and pray that God blesses you richly as you continue to give and support us. We are overcome with gratefulness by God’s favor and growth (including new IW Florida chapters launching in 2026!) and with each new chapter group comes spiritual and financial responsibility. We know budgets are tight for many, but if you are able to give a gift to help us continue this work, it means so very much.
With the recent tragic death of Charlie Kirk, many are realizing that we continue to be caught in a spiritual battle for our culture and a Biblical worldview. Those battles are often played out in the media and affect the careers of artists who want to maintain a Biblical foundation and worldview. Working as a believer of Christ in the media and entertainment industry is a constant battle on many levels. Audition, pitch your script or project, network, audition and pitch again, write some more, and then do it all over again and again. You just keep stabbing it out with seemingly no results. Life in the arts and creative field takes grit, and the battle never ends. And wanting to uphold a Biblical worldview as a Christian is even more challenging.
Yet, even if you have a trophy case of awards to show for your work, talent, and success, with each project or production ending, you start from scratch – ground zero, fighting for the “next.” You train yourself to stay and think positively and trust someone is out there thinking and cheering for you, thinking about you for that next job, and will be in the trenches for you. But are they? The industry requires a life of humility and endurance. And as a Christian, it is imperative to have your feet firmly planted in scripture and an intimate engagement with God. It also takes others supporting you with their words of encouragement, prayers, and willingness to stand and keep cheering for you as you battle on. That’s why The Influence Lab and Influence Women were created. But it also means you have to be prepared for the kind of battle you are actually fighting. Is it a spiritual battle? Or is the battle a result of an “out of line” choice that has resulted in a struggle you created for yourself?
“The horse is made ready for the day of battle, but victory rests with the Lord.” Proverbs 21:31
Whether a spiritual battle or one that you created due to your choices, what’s your responsibility and duty? God calls you to be ready, disciplined, and stay diligent. He instructs us to stick with His plan and not ours. And…compromising is not permitted in the wait. Elijah hid in a cave until the smoke cleared from his prophecy that put a price on his life from King Ahab. Joseph was thrown into a pit for a time, David had to run for his life twice, and Daniel was in a lion’s den. Was God teaching all of them lessons and giving them wisdom during these times? Did God provide? Yes. Was it challenging? Yes. But each of them trusted God, and they were victorious in the end. Victory is mine, says God – 1 Corinthians 15:57.
Faith is liberating, and uncompromised faith is rewarded. (more…)
