Inspirational Women In Hollywood: How Actress Kym Douglas Is Helping To Shake Up The Entertainment Industry
I was reaching for the golden ring of fame and fortune and that was the ultimate prize for me. How I got there was secondary. It’s not the truth…. It is the journey to getting there that holds all the value that’s the real prize and there is no golden ring unless you buy it for yourself.
Be bold, don’t be so scared of the casting directors and executive producers. They need you as much as you need them. Tell them who you are, be honest and truthful, they respect it in the long run. More importantly, YOU will respect yourself.
As a part of our series about Inspirational Women In Hollywood, I had the distinct pleasure of interviewing Kym Douglas, a television host, best-selling author, comedienne, beauty, fashion and lifestyle expert. She is also a coveted contributor to a number of magazines around the country. Viewers delight in seeing Kym every day sharing all her latest tips on Hallmark Channel’s Emmy® nominated talk/lifestyle show “Home & Family.” She is often called upon to co-host as well. In addition, for the past 11 years, she has been delighting viewers with her antics on the #1 rated daytime “The Ellen DeGeneres Show.”
Kym’s unique improv and sketch comedy ability paired with her comedic timing and useful information make her a one-of-a-kind “infotainment” entertainer. She has been labeled a cross between Goldie Hawn & Lucille Ball! Kym’s career started at the age of 16 when she started working as an intern at the local station WJBK in Southfield, MI. She later moved on to WLUC in Marquette, Michigan to anchor the evening news.
Kym was a member of the esteemed comedy troupe The Second City. She performed with them in Los Angeles and was a part of their improv group performing on stage nightly for over two years. Kym met her future husband, Jerry Douglas, (John Abbott, The Young and the Restless) when she was hosting the ‘Jerry Lewis Muscular Dystrophy Telethon’ in Las Vegas in 1983. He was the telethon’s celebrity host from LA. Kym made a bold move and asked Jerry if he would let her interview him so that she could take the story back to her small-town news station in Michigan. Jerry agreed if she would go out to dinner with him and their instant love story began. They have been married for 32 years. Kym Douglas is also the proud mother to her son Hunter. Her house is always full and her laundry basket overflowing. Her home is her haven and she is equally comfortable cooking up beauty secrets as well as a gourmet meal for the family. Kym is most passionate about people, her faith, her family, and her work! With a playful heart, she always manages to add just the right dose of humor as she informs, inspires, and encourages you to feel good, find your inner bliss, and to become the best version of you that you can possibly be.
Thank you so much for doing this with us! Our readers would love to get to know you a bit better. Can you tell us the story of how you grew up?
I grew up an only child of two wonderful and devoted parents from a small town in Scotland called Kilsyth. It was a very loving home but very strict religiously. Unlike many people, I do not think religion or strictness did me any harm, if anything, it helped form my morals and work ethic that I pride myself in to this day. I had a solid, rooted foundation of faith and something greater than me at my core. This upbringing provided the knowledge that I had someone I could always turn to and would help lead and guide me in my path through life. To me, that’s a very comforting way to grow up. As an only child, I was forced to be imaginative and push myself to nurture friendships and keep them strong. To go outside my family and make friends of different cultures, races and faiths. It made me a richer person.
Can you share a story with us about what brought you to this specific career path?
I remember it like it was yesterday. I was 12 years old sitting in the family room of our small ranch home in suburban Detroit, it was 6:00 pm and the news was on TV, I was doing my homework, my mother who was a stay-at-home wife, and mother was cooking a stew for dinner in the kitchen. We had an open archway from the family room to the kitchen. I looked up to see the news (which I was not particularly interested in at 12 years of age) and I saw a woman who looked similar to me. She had blonde hair, light eyes and was very feminine. She was anchoring the evening news and telling people what was going on in the world. She was at the forefront of information. At that second something struck at my core and I turned to my mom and pointed at the TV and said strongly, “Mom I want to do that when I grow up”. My mother turned and looked at the anchorwoman (who was Jessica Savage) looked me in the eyes and said just as strongly…” Well, then you will!” She promptly turned back and finished stirring the stew and that was that. I never for one second from that moment on thought I could NOT do it.
Can you tell us the most interesting story that happened to you since you began your career?
About 10 years after the story of sitting in my small home in Detroit and watching Jessica Savage broadcast the news, my next idol became Barbara Walters. I followed her every career move. Many years later I was in Detroit finishing high school and I went to a conference on “Women in Media’’ and heard her speak. I was even more enamored with her. Some 30 years later after I had started my career as a journalist/reporter, then anchor, and then moved to Los Angeles to marry and become a host and entertainment reporter/beauty expert on daytime talk shows, I was asked to come on a show called THE VIEW. The View as you know was created by and hosted by my hero — Barbara Walters. I did a funny segment about crazy beauty products that work and Barbara, not especially known for her comedy stylings, would be the host I’d be working with. But let me tell you, she was charming, funny and gracious with me. I stood in awe of her and as I did my segment, my knees were shaking but by the end of it we hugged and laughed together like two school girls. It was a full-circle moment and I realized then, that we all have our own special gifts and that a little girl from Detroit could dream a dream and turn it into a reality.
Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?
It was my very first time behind the anchor desk. It was the 6:00 evening news on a Sunday night and my best friend and colleague was pregnant and went into labor so she called our news director at the last minute and said she couldn’t make it to the news station that night and suggested he call me. Reluctantly, after calling everyone else in the station, and finding no one home or available, my phone rang. I was at the news station within minutes with my hair as high and big as could be, my finest hot pink satin bow blouse, and cream-colored business suit all fitted and tight with makeup piled on. I was so excited I could barely contain myself. This was in a very small market in Marquette, Michigan… my first job out of college. The news station that weekend evening consisted basically of myself, the TV engineer (who also acted as the cameraman and the janitor) and that was it! The guy stood behind the camera and gave me the countdown. I was ready and believed after this broadcast I’d be whisked off to anchor the network news. I was sure of it. I would be discovered… this was my big chance, the guy shouted…. “3, 2 ,1 YOU’RE ON” …and the red light went on the camera, the teleprompter started rolling and I froze… I literally could not get one word out of my mouth. It was like an alien stepped into my body. I just froze nothing came out and when it did it sounded discombobulated…I said words that had no meaning… I stumbled and stuttered and the sentences made no sense, literally no sense. “Yes…tonight, no… I mean umm…. Now, another, no, umm”. I mean seriously nothing was working in my body. I was like a deer in the headlights looking into that camera. We went to a commercial and I was devastated. The news director was at home watching and immediately called into the station and told the engineer I had one more chance and if I didn’t pull it together, he was going to just go to black and fade-out…no news that evening. When we got out of the commercial, I got myself together, got out of my big head and lofty dreams and started focusing on the craft I had been learning and trained for since I was 16 years old. I put my head down, took a deep breath, and when the camera came back on, I stared into that camera and told those people the news, every single word of it, with no pause, with no stumbling, just direct and to the point. I stopped thinking of becoming a star and getting discovered and started thinking of my craft and my purpose and the rest of the news broadcast went beautifully. A few days later I was told I would be doing the morning show anchor cut in’s for Good Morning America. It was a coveted spot. I was 21 years old.
None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person who you are grateful towards who helped get you to where you are? Can you share a story about that?
There were so many, many people along the way…You know the saying, “when the student is ready, the teacher will appear?” Well, that happened in my life over and over again. I attribute it to GOD and Divine Appointments that came at just the right time from just the right people but I was also prepared and ready, ambitious and open to learning and doing whatever it would take to achieve my goals. So, it started with a reporter at the local Detroit station named Otis Buchanan. He mentored me when I was an intern at our local news station in Detroit. He helped me get a demo tape together, I went to college and majored in journalism, got my bachelor of science degree, then my news director Ed Kearney, in Marquette, who hired me right out of college with no experience, nurtured and guided me. I had colleagues at the small Michigan station who tutored me and helped me. Finally, I met my husband, Jerry Douglas, right as I was ready to take the next step career-wise, who brought me out to Los Angeles, so it was many, many people along the way that helped me every step of the way no one gets there alone. No one. It’s a reminder to each of your readers when you’re ready, the person you need will appear. Be open.
You have been blessed with great success in a career path that can be challenging. Do you have any words of advice for others who may want to embark on this career path, but seem daunted by the prospect of failure?
Yes, here’s my advice — YOU WILL Fail. You totally will, and it will be your best lesson. You will grow from it and then succeed but first, you will fail. Failure is imminent and don’t be afraid of it. If you don’t want to face rejection, fear and competition — get into a different business. This is not the right one for you if you aren’t open to trying and failing. You can get a job that has a guarantee, security, and little risk…they exist, but a media career is tough. People will give you a million reasons why you shouldn’t pursue this path, but if it’s in your heart and gnawing at your soul, you should pursue it, no matter how hard it may be. Seriously, me as a little girl in urban Detroit, with a carpenter father and a homemaker mother, two immigrants from Scotland, with no connections to the media world and little money — my odds of making it to the ELLEN show as a regular of 18 years, meeting and working with Barbara Walters on The View, and being a regular on The Hallmark Channel’s Home & Family show daily and sustaining a career on television for over 30 years…. the odds were slim to none. So, don’t look at the odds; look at your heart and know if you can’t do anything else, then you are meant to do this and God will make a way.
What drives you to get up every day and work in TV and Film? What change do you want to see in the industry going forward?
It’s my passion and I love making people smile, making them happy and performing. I love it. It never gets old after 35 years, I am still as excited as the first time I went in front of a camera. That’s when I think you know for sure you have found your thing! I still love getting up and going to work. I am happy about it and I love my job. I consider it a privilege to entertain and share my info with people perhaps even making their lives a little brighter, happier or more beautiful…. That is what feeds my soul. Also, I am proud that my son Hunter Douglas, sees his Mother pursuing her passion, working hard and going out and making it happen for myself. That is important to me and I want to instill that in him. Changes I would like to see…would be more positivity in programming with TV shows and news outlets, not so much the “if it bleeds it leads’ mentality. Less creating divisiveness and negativity in politics and world issues and more about our similarities and harmony.
You have such impressive work. What are some of the most interesting or exciting projects you are working on now? Where do you see yourself heading from here?
I am excited to get back to work on The ELLEN show (next Appearance March 15th) and on the Hallmark Channel’s Home and Family Show (starting back up April 2). While we were all on COVID-imposed shutdowns, I really connected with followers and communities across Instagram and Facebook (@Kymdouglas and Kym Douglas: Hollywood Beauty Expert) as a way to promote positivity with monthly kindness challenges, providing information about toxin-free beauty and wellness products and giving healthy options that people may not have heard of. I research and try them all so they don’t have to. I am also in the process of writing a book with a wonderful literary agency. It’s a 52-week plan to improve your happiness, wellness and beauty all tied together in useful tools you can implement immediately within a community of supporters. I have plans for a card line of motivational and pro-aging cards, daily motivation decks and journals. I want to create a line of makeup bags and even see a work outwear line for women over 40 to feel comfortable in when they leave a workout and head to the grocery store or pick up kids from activities — I am excited about all of it and feel I am only just getting started at this age!!!! I am also creating a paraben and sulfate-free anti-aging or as I like to call it PRO aging serum and primer that helps give skin a glow and smooth out the skin's surface so you look fresh and radiant without makeup.
We are very interested in looking at diversity in the entertainment industry. Can you share three reasons with our readers about why you think it’s important to have diversity represented in film and television? How can that potentially affect our culture and our youth growing up today?
I think it so important that we are pushing for more diversity in our industry. We need to hear from so many more voices to enrich our industry and grow as people. Seeing something from someone else’s point of view is the way to grow and change society for the better. We need to hear more stories from people of color, from all genders, and sexual preferences. When we learn from one another and our entire culture is richer for it. I also love to see generations sharing information, experiences and stories with each other. Inclusion is the best way for an industry and society to grow for the better.
What are your “5 things I wish someone told me when I first started” and why. Please share a story or example for each.
The 5 things I wish someone had told me when I first started are….
- Take the time to really figure out what you want. Make time AWAY from TV, social media, Youtube and other platforms to go deep inside and figure out you and your own unique talent that you only YOU can give to others.
- Stand strong and know your worth. I was so scared to offend or oppose anyone I would do whatever was asked of me even if it didn’t feel totally in line with my values, morals or spirit. If it made me look stupid… well, that’s okay all publicity is good exposure, if it made me perpetuate the image of a dumb blonde then that’s okay, I will look pretty…. even though I had a 3.7-grade point average in college, had my bachelor of science degree and spoke two languages it didn’t matter I will be the dumb blonde if you want me too. Well, it does matter that’s not me and it never was. I should have stood strong in who I was authentically but I forgive myself because I was young and didn’t take the time to know myself.
- I was reaching for the golden ring of fame and fortune and that was the ultimate prize for me. How I got there was secondary. It’s not the truth…. It is the journey to getting there that holds all the value that’s the real prize and there is no golden ring unless you buy it for yourself.
- Be bold, don’t be so scared of the casting directors and executive producers. They need you as much as you need them. Tell them who you are, be honest and truthful, they respect it in the long run. More importantly, YOU will respect yourself.
- Don’t let anyone pressure you into doing anything you don’t want to do. Know that it’s your talent and your gifts that are going to get you to the top, nobody else and there are NO SHORTCUTS.
Can you share with our readers any self-care routines, practices or treatments that you do to help your body, mind or heart to thrive? Please share a story for each one if you can.
*I wake up each day and start with a warm glass of water with lemon, I then take my vitamins and minerals from Serovital. I have taken them consistently for over 8 years and feel great.
*I walk down to my place of refuge in my backyard and sit out in nature on an old oak tree stump and talk to GOD. I tell him my concerns and petition him in prayer and thanksgiving.
*I take my dog for a nice walk. I make a cup of organic coffee with dairy-free milk. I try to eat a good healthy diet of foods that are nourishing. I have a green juice and/or matcha latte sprinkled throughout the day or a smoothie.
*I keep my body moving. It is important for the lymphatic system to be up and out.
*I dry brush my body before my shower or nightly bath, it stimulates the lymphatic system and helps with circulation.
*I put cleansing oil on my face and then follow with my skincare products (Serovital just launched a 3-step line that is amazing!) religiously and never go to bed with my makeup on. I always remember to put the moisturizer on my neck and chest too.
*When I am really struggling or feeling low or unsure, I head to the beach for a long walk, it clears my head, straightens out my thoughts and I do a lot of deep breathing which clears my head immediately. When I’m done. I see the situations so much clearer and all my problems seem so small when I look out at the vast ocean. There is nothing we can’t handle.
Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?
I actually have a vow I repeat to myself often. Firstly, what’s for you won’t go by you. Isn’t that just the most comforting quote…the sheer faith and knowledge that whatever in this life GOD has meant for you in his plan that no matter what you do to try to screw it up, mess it up, or avoid it that if it really is meant for you it will to pass you by you will get it. If it’s love if it’s fame if it’s fortune if it’s happiness if it’s career success, whatever event it is YOU can be confident you will get it. That is so comforting to me, who is always trying to make things happen yesterday. What If I miss out, what if she gets it and I don’t what if they are better at it than I am …it doesn’t matter what you are supposed to have you will have it, these things find a way to get to you. A child and lover and marriage as a trophy. I just love it and believe it fully. The other quote that gives me much solace, “If not this then something better.’ It’s basically what I say after my prayers, very often I pray for something or a situation in my life and I say at the end ‘if not this then something better. Again, how soothing to the soul to fill that if by some chance you don’t get what you are asking and praying for then maybe GOD has something even better in-store. It gives me much comfort and security to say these quotes and know them to be true.
You are a person of huge influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be?
I love all the many movements out there, the Zen movements, the love yourself movements, the revolutionary political movements, the Save the World movements, vegan movements, all are needed and valued, however, I am of the belief that it all begins at home and starts with YOU. Before you leave your home and family and travel to Tibet to sit with the age-old spiritual teachers, clean up your own house and life first. Love your family and neighbors, colleagues, and children before you start trying to save people across the globe. Get your house in order then move onward and upward. I was raised in the church and I saw many ministers come through our church and preach from the platform about how to live life and yet their children were the most messed up kids I had ever met, their marriages were in shambles and their moral codes were corrupt. How can you tell others how to live and save them when your own soul is in need of a tune-up? So, my Movement would be one about starting at home, starting with YOU. Get yourself all figured out and then make sure your kids are totally loved, cared for, nurtured, and ready to go out into society and be the best caring loving people they can be. If we could focus on giving and doing things best every day then raising our kids to be the best, kindest people they can be, I say that’s a really great step in the right direction. I try to help my followers and myself to step up to the plate every day and become the best versions of themselves they can be. I have found if people are happy within themselves, if they are healthy and feel-good inside, if their relationships are working and they feel good, are happy and achieving their own goals then they’re more giving kind and gracious people in the world. If they are unhealthy, down in the dumps, not reaching for their goals, struggling in their relationships with family and friends they are miserable to others, they are mean and angry and moody and unkind. It starts with YOU, let’s get you in tune and then we can move to take on the rest of the world. That is why I empower and encourage my community through my ‘KYM’S KUEST’ to be your best. Start with the woman you want to become and make her happen then move on to others.
Is there a person in the world whom you would love to have lunch with, and why? Maybe we can tag them and see what happens!
Well, I would absolutely love to spend the day with Betty White! She has always been a hero of mine. She is the pinnacle when it comes to quality and career longevity. It’s just so amazing to see a performer be that amazing decade after decade. To be in hit sitcoms in the ’70s, ’80s, ’90s, and the 2000s is astounding! And as is if that is not enough her life as an animal rights activist is such an inspiration to me and I know so many others. If I could, I would love to hang out with Betty White and listen to her all day!
Are you on social media? How Can our readers follow you online?
Absolutely! Head to my site www.KymDouglas.com for all of my latest appearances and beauty tips and tricks and follow me on social media @KymDouglas on all platforms — to join me on my “Kym’s Kuest” to celebrate life and help others live, laugh, and love better.
Follow Kym Douglas on Instagram @kymdouglas
This was so informative, thank you so much! We wish you continued success!
About The Interviewer: Growing up in Canada, Edward Sylvan was an unlikely candidate to make a mark on the high-powered film industry based in Hollywood. But as CEO of Sycamore Entertainment Group Inc, (SEGI) Sylvan is among a select group of less than ten Black executives who have founded, own and control a publicly traded company. Now, deeply involved in the movie business, he is providing opportunities for people of color.
In 2020, he was appointed president of the Monaco International Film Festival, and was encouraged to take the festival in a new digital direction.
Raised in Toronto, he attended York University where he studied Economics and Political Science, then went to work in finance on Bay Street, (the city’s equivalent of Wall Street). After years of handling equities trading, film tax credits, options trading and mergers and acquisitions for the film, mining and technology industries, in 2008 he decided to reorient his career fully towards the entertainment business.
With the aim of helping Los Angeles filmmakers of color who were struggling to understand how to raise capital, Sylvan wanted to provide them with ways to finance their creative endeavors.
At Sycamore Entertainment he specializes in print and advertising financing, marketing, acquisition and worldwide distribution of quality feature-length motion pictures, and is concerned with acquiring, producing and promoting films about equality, diversity and other thought provoking subject matter which will also include nonviolent storytelling.
Also in 2020, Sylvan launched SEGI TV, a free OTT streaming network built on the pillars of equality, sustainability and community which is scheduled to reach 100 million U.S household televisions and 200 million mobile devices across Roku, Amazon Fire TV, Apple TV, Samsung Smart TV and others.
As Executive Producer he currently has several projects in production including The Trials of Eroy Brown, a story about the prison system and how it operated in Texas, based on the best-selling book, as well as a documentary called The Making of Roll Bounce, about the 2005 coming of age film which starred rapper Bow Wow and portrays roller skating culture in 1970’s Chicago.
He sits on the Board of Directors of Uplay Canada, (United Public Leadership Academy for Youth), which prepares youth to be citizen leaders and provides opportunities for Canadian high school basketball players to advance to Division 1 schools as well as the NBA.
A former competitive go kart racer with Checkered Flag Racing Ltd, he also enjoys traveling to exotic locales. Sylvan resides in Vancouver and has two adult daughters.
Sylvan has been featured in Forbes, the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times and has been seen on Fox Business News, CBS and NBC. Sycamore Entertainment Group Inc is headquartered in Seattle, with offices in Los Angeles and Vancouver.
