After overcoming her own insecurities and challenges, an Okotoks musician has become the sounding board for others to do the same. Country singer/songwriter Michela Sheedy released a two-minute video last week that features a dozen Foothills residents expressing how they make their own uniqueness look good in a charity event aimed at raising money for victims of domestic violence. Throughout the video, Sheedy’s new single I Make Bad Look Good plays in the background. Sheedy is a finalist in the Alberta Music and Calgary country radio station WILD 953’s Project WILD, an artist development program designed to develop and launch the careers of up and coming Alberta artists. Among the tasks of the 12 finalists is to organize a charity event. The video is Sheedy’s way of raising money for Gems for Gems, a Calgary charity that aims to ease the pain and help end the cycle of domestic abuse, after having her own experience with abuse. “Gems for Gems was 100 per cent my first choice,” she said. “I want to make a difference for Gems for Gems and the women involved with these workshops and everybody to have more awareness of what domestic abuse really looks like. They served as a safe place for me.” Sheedy was in an abusive relationship in the past - an experience that she said taught her a lot. “I really wish I could have been smarter and loved myself more to be able to recognize it sooner,” she said. “Moving forward in my life I’m never going to make that mistake again. I’ve definitely become a stronger more sure person having gone through it.” Now Sheedy is part of the team of professionals who go into women’s shelters to host Zero to Hero workshops, which build women up from their vulnerable state and give them tools to rebuild their lives, ranging from self-defence to financial planning. “It’s anything we can use to help these women feel empowered and get their lives back on track,” she said. “It’s been really cool to see the progression and see how my story has changed now going through what I’ve been through. It’s been healing, obviously, for the women involved but for myself as well.” Sheedy said she often ends the workshops by singing some of her songs and sharing her own story of overcoming domestic violence. For each online share of the video, Sheedy will donate one dollar to Gems for Gems. She said friend, businessman and philanthropist, Craig Senyk, of Calgary, will match it up to $5,000. “It’s one of the easiest ways to help out a charity,” she said. “It’s literally just a click of a button and one dollar is donated on their behalf.” The video features a diverse group of people in Sheedy’s network from her sports-oriented sister to a young lady with Down Syndrome. “We’ve come up with phrases for each person to say and represent,” said Sheedy. “I’m very excited to showcase all of the diversity and wonderful people I have in my life and hope everybody else can relate to this video in one way or another.” Sheedy received the assistance of former Okotokian Fedele Arcuri, of Rum Punch Media in Calgary, to film the video in Derrick Birkmann’s Converge Studios in Turner Valley. “I feel really good about the final product,” said Sheedy. “We all worked really hard. It’s definitely a labour of love and it shows when you watch the video.” This component of the Project WILD contest has made the experience that much more rewarding for Sheedy. “The whole Project WILD experience has been life changing for me,” she said. “It’s really helped me become a better artist and develop really strong relationships in the music community and helped me reach people I never thought I could.” For Sheedy, the competition is not about winning the $100,953 first place prize. “Regardless of the outcome I will feel like a winner anyway because of how much I’ve seen myself and the other members of the top 12 grow,” she said. To view Sheedy’s video go to https://www.facebook.com/michelasheedymusic/videos/251960545666123/
