What Does Katherine Schwarzenegger Do For A Living?

As if her last name didn't make it obvious, Katherine Schwarzenegger is the daughter of Arnold Schwarzenegger. Her mom is Maria Shriver. While her parents are famous for their success in acting, politics, and journalism, Katherine decided to follow a different career path as a writer. She's actually a New York Times best-selling author with four books under her belt.

Her career began when she was just 21 years old. In 2010, she published her first book Rock What You've Got: Secrets to Loving Your Inner and Outer Beauty from Someone Who's Been There and Back. According to the book's description on Amazon, it's a "hip, empowering, get-real guide to loving the body you're in."

Katherine explained her motivation behind the book during a November 2010 interview on CNN, stating, "I wanted to write it for every young girl who has times of being insecure, doubts about her appearance, and who feels alone. I want them to know they're not alone. I felt alone." 

During that interview, she was asked if being a part of a well-known family presented additional difficulties. She said that it didn't, emphasizing that her book is more about women in general and has nothing to do with her celebrity pedigree. She explained, "I think there's a huge amount of pressure on young women, in general, today in America to be really thin and to be beautiful and look like you just walked off a runway every single day of your life."

Katherine Schwarzenegger graduated from the University of Southern California in 2012 with a bachelor's degree. After that, she put in work on her second book, I Just Graduated... Now What?, published in 2014. As a recent grad herself during that time period, she didn't just dole out advice. Instead, she compiled a "go-to book of advice for graduates with insightful advice" from some well-known people, including Andy Cohen, John Legend, Meghan McCain, and Eva Longoria. The book covers topics like finding a job when the economy is struggling, establishing a work/life balance, and managing student loan debt.

In a 2014 interview with The Women's Eye, the author made it clear that writing the book was about helping herself and readers. she admitted, "I needed all the advice I could get when I was graduating college. I was beyond overwhelmed, anxious, excited and afraid all at the same time. I felt like I had no idea what I was doing. For the first time in my life, I really didn't have a plan for what was next." 

Katherine struggled because she was used to having "a plan for everything," which wasn't the case immediately post-graduation. She elaborated, "I had been in school my whole life, so that was always planned out for me and now for the first time I didn't know what I was going to do in life." Famous or not, that's a struggle many young adults can relate to.

Katherine Schwarzenegger switched things up with her third book in 2017. Maverick and Me is a children's book that teaches kids about animal adoption. She incorporated her experiences with dog adoption and fostering to emphasize the "adopt, don't shop" concept. The story is about a dog named Maverick, who gets abandoned on the side of the road and ends up being adopted.

Katherine discussed the backstory of the book during a 2017 Today appearance. She revealed that she and her sister used to take care of foster dogs in their mom's garage, which isn't surprising since a love for animals was instilled in them at a young age. The author shared, "Both of my parents grew up on farms, so we've always been around animals our entire life." She described one of those dogs as a "foster failure" because she ended up loving him so much that she kept him for herself. That dog was Maverick, the inspiration for the book's title character. 

Eventually, Katherine can read the book to her future child. On April 25, 2020, People reported that she and her husband Chris Pratt are expecting their first child together. He already has a son with his ex-wife, Anna Faris.

Katherine Schwarzenegger released her book The Gift of Forgiveness: Inspiring Stories from Those Who Have Overcome the Unforgivable in March 2020. The book is about "learning how to forgive" and includes firsthand stories from the author and other people who have been "able to forgive what might seem truly unforgivable." 

The book's page on Barnes & Noble mentions that kidnapping victim Elizabeth Smart was able to forgive the people who took her away from her family. The mother of one of the Columbine shooters talks about forgiving herself and empathizing with others. In an interview with Fox News, Katherine revealed that she also spoke with Nicole Brown Simpson's sister, Tanya Brown. She explained that she wrote this book because she was "struggling with forgiveness in [her] own life," admitting, "I found that I didn't really have a good handle on it and I found huge inspiration in talking to other people."

While there's no doubt that Katherine Schwarzenegger is recognized for her famous last name, she is (literally) writing her own life story and thriving. Per Celebrity Net Worth, she's worth $3 million — plus all the money she shares with her movie star husband, Chris Pratt.