Michelle Renee is an award-winning author, speaker, consultant and inner bliss expert. She is also what some call an entrepreneur. But if you ask Michelle if she is an Entreprenuer, she will tell you that she is simply one of the biggest dreamers, living what she calls her dreamBIG life, you will ever meet. Michelle climbed up from abused runaway, at times homeless, teen to becoming a bank executive winning awards for her positions as Regional Sales Manager and AVP/Branch Manager. Her life was shattered at age 35 when Michelle and her 7 year-old daughter were kidnapped, held hostage, taped with exploives and after 14 hours, Michelle was forced to rob the bank she managed to save their lives. Michelle Renee kept on dreaming big and with resiliency, inner strength, courage and optimism became the 2008 MSN Hometown Hero for her work with survivors of violence, abuse and trauma; an award-winning published author; international speaker; owner of dreamBIG® Consulting; and Founder of Women Who dreamBIG®. She delivers her dynamic and inspirational dreamBIG message around the world.

Today Michelle and her daughter Breea are family advocates for the National Child Traumatic Stress Network and Children's Hospital Chadwick Center for Children and Families in San Diego. Michelle’s debut book, Held Hostage: The True Story of a Mother and Daughter's Kidnapping, will be premiering as a movie, “Held Hostage,” on the Lifetime Movie Network, scheduled for July 19, 2009. She was the movie’s creative consultant and associate producer.

“It was important to depict not only the violent kidnapping and brutal judicial process for victim/witnesses, but also posttrauma, recovery, inner-strength and how critical treatment is in a very real, sensitive, and honest way in the film." Michelle's goal is my goal to inspire millions of people to heal their lives and be an example of what is possible for all survivors of violence, abuse and trauma while spreading a message of hope, faith and self-love throughout the world.

Michelle and Breea’s story will air on CBS 48 Hours this fall and Michelle is working on her next book, Hostage No More: How to Go From Breakdown to Breakthrough. She and her daughter are among the survivor families showcased on La Rabida Children’s Hospital Chicago Child Trauma Center’s “Survivor Wall”, along side Maya Angelou and Oprah Winfrey, and have been on numerous national and international television networks, and featured in magazine articles around the world.

Michelle and Breea reside in southern California with their dog Gypsy.