Today we’d like to introduce you to Janet Ellis.
Janet, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
As I grew up in a family of alcoholics and witnessing abusive family dynamics, as I stepped into adulthood, I continued the generational behavior I witnessed from all around me. I believed it and thought that was my life, I was depressed, sad and confused…..In 1986, I left my first husband and ran home to momma, asking her if I could move in with her. As much as she didn’t want me to, she said yes, only if I would go to church…I said I would do anything for room and board! I was divorced and continued my abusive behavior towards me…. drugs, alcohol, smoking cigarettes, pot, etc. attempting to numb the pain I have been carrying around for 31 years! One evening as I laid on my bed, crying and smoking a joint, I heard a voice deep inside asking me “what the hell are you doing??? I got up and I took everything I had and I flushed it all down the toilet and there began a spiritual journey of 32 years!!! Today I am an Inspirational Speaker and Author of “Wake Up! Be Yourself!”, Ordained Interfaith Minister and Spiritual Coach. My Mission is to Ignite, Encourage and Amplify Authentic Empowerment in
myself and others to wake up to our full potential!
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
Oh no, not too smooth, of course that was my doings to myself! When I originally chose to release all of my numbing items, I then walked around for six months with all feelings coming up that I had never dealt with…Best way to describe pain was it felt like someone tore open my chest and poured alcohol on my heart! I eventually started therapy, however, the person I went to see was sicker than me, that is when I swore I would never hire someone that wasn’t walking their talk! As I began to work on issues with Mom, Dad and others, God love my mother. She put up with a whole lot of my shit, which she never deserved. Then my Dad died when I was 27, he was 54, 3 days before he died, I had my last phone conversation with him, he called me a concubine and hung up on me (i didn’t know what that meant, I had to look it up in a dictionary!!!) I was “shacking up” with the guy I ended up marrying and Dad was not happy about it. I got the call the next day from my Aunt and he died three days later, cirrhosis of the liver, alcoholism. My mother died when I was 31. She was 57, lung cancer. She was my everything….my mother, my life, my best friend…I lost everything. My home, my mother, my best friend…I moved into an apartment and lived on my own for the very first time. Chose to get to know me more and didn’t date for four years. To say that was a challenge is putting it mildly. So much baggage I had carried for so long that I didn’t even know that I didn’t know that I didn’t even know I had!!!
Alright – so let’s talk business. Tell us about Janet’s Planets of Empowerment – what should we know?
My specialty is speaking engagements on my book on Interfaith religions, on inspirational talks in corporate businesses and anywhere I can to wake people up and help them shine their light out into their world so they can make a difference and know they are an important part of being here! Another passion is working with teens and adults on defining their gift they came into the world with, creating a mission statement and then having them create a vision statement of what they want their life to look like in 5 to 10 years, then we create a vision board. I co-created a program for teens and I have been mentoring 10th graders in a high school in Fort Worth Texas for Six years as an AVID mentor…volunteering as I assist lower-income students not only be the first to graduate from high school in their family, we also assist in getting them to go to college.
As an Interfaith Minister, I am blessed to have learned about all religions, I now officiate Weddings and funerals of all kinds, speaking engagements at different locations and twice a year create an Interfaith service where we all come together to share our love for our beliefs with each other and anyone else that would like to participate.
As a Spiritual Coach, I work with anyone that wants to become their authentic selves, in that they know their life is not where they want it to be, they need a coach not necessarily a therapist. I support and hold them accountable for them to do the work that they are required to do to become the authentic, empowered light shining BEING they are here to BE.
I am known for the book I published and what it is about, helping others, no matter where they have come from to see that they can BE all they are meant to BE if they are willing to do the work! What sets me apart from others is my company is about “heart” work. The world is constantly educated head and brain-wise….I take you 18 inches down to your heart, the hardest 18 inches to go if you haven’t before! That is why I love working in the corporate world and to teach them a whole different dynamic they probably have not tapped into maybe ever! The same with the teens, when I walk into the classroom, I tell them I will be asking a lot from them – questions and exercises they have never had another teacher ask of them and the beauty of it is, Most of them are willing to do it, guys and girls!
What I am most proud of as a company is that I 1.) created it and stepped out of the corporate world and began to do what I am passionate to do and know that the money is coming too! 2.) I am very empathetic because of my background and can create a safe place for others to do what work they need to do to become their whole self! 3.) I am in awe and humbled to be a witness to the growth of others and when you see their light bulb go off and they get til….there are no words to describe the feelings! 4.) The referrals that I have received at this point in my business are the only connections that I have right now and I am getting many contacts from referrals! That means everything to me….
Any shoutouts? Who else deserves credit in this story – who has played a meaningful role?
The main individual that deserves credit and so much more is my husband, Len Ellis! It was a year after we married that I approached him and said “honey, it’s money or sanity”, I wanted to get out of the corporate world and take this big step…he said, go for it! That was in 2000, 19 years later, not only has he had to support us financially as far as bills go and home and cars and the needs we have to be met, he has paid for my certification and training to be a facilitator for my workshops – “The Path”, creating mission and vision for work and life!” The 4 and 1/2 years of school to become an ordained Interfaith Minister, working full time and taking care of home while I did the schooling. His support and belief in me has given me the courage to take some of these steps I would have never done on my own, like writing my book, finding a publisher, being accepted by publisher, paying for the fee to get all of this done!
Honestly, 27 years of marriage with this incredible man, there aren’t enough words or space to share how this man has kingly and generously changed my life.
Linda Pendergrass – my first Minister on my spiritual journey. That woman held me to the fire and held me accountable during my time with her on my spiritual journey! The first seven years of my waking up, reading and doing whatever I could at the time to help me become who I am today! She was a tough, powerful lady and even when she called me on my shit, I knew she was doing it because she loved me and saw in me something I had not yet seen. She was my mother’s best friend and she married my husband and I. Couldn’t ask for a better person to be a part of your tribe! Sadly we lost her recently. I miss her every day!
Marge Larson and Marie Lonychan are also two others. I would say there are powerful mentors and supporters for me. I call them my “other mothers!” They are best friends of my mother, I met them at the church I started at in 1986 and they have been there for me even more since my mother died.
Laurie Beth Jones created “The Path – Creating Mission and Vision for work and life”, I became certified and licensed as a mentor and facilitator for this program and then helped co-create the program for teens. I know I was led to her for a reason and she was one of the first mentors outside of the church I got to work with. The most recent person that has come into my life and has changed it, Suzie Humphries. She was an MC for a concert that I participated in June 2019 with a philanthropic choir I sing in. At the end of the concert, I approached her and gently placed my book in her hand, said please read it and let me know what you think! She is a well-known radio host on a top radio program in the DFW area called KVILD, I have listened to her for almost 40 years and this was the first time I got to meet her! She called me the next day, said she was in love with the book, the energy of it, the design of it, most of all what I wrote and she wanted to do whatever she could to help me get this book out into the world! I have known her for six months now, we talk almost everyday and she critiques all that I need to do so that I can BE me authentically in front of any group I speak with! We have covered clothing, makeup, hair, marketing, one-pager for me to present to possible clients, headshots, etc. and now as of a month ago, she has introduced me to her clients and raves about me to all of them!!! You see she is 82 now and not wanting to speak anymore, so she now wants me to be the one to handle the clients she has dealt with for the past 40 or so years….yeah, she wants me to stand in her place, certainly not take her place because there is no way, yet she is bending over backwards to do anything she can to get me out there. Profound cheerleader, supporter, mentor in a very BIG way and I love her more than she will ever know.
Pricing:
- Depending on size of group and length of time I start out with 1/2 days @ $1500
- Full day is $2500
- Any longer than that we discuss hourly or total fee at the time
Contact Info:
- Address: Janet’s Planets of Empowerment
1615 W Abrams St, suite E
Arlington, Texas - Website: http://www.Janets-Planets.com
- Phone: 817.995.2494
- Email: janetplanett@tx.rr.com
- Instagram: Revjanete
- Facebook: Janet Sellers Ellis and Janet’s Planets of Empowerment
- Twitter: @RevPlanet
- Other: Skype, Snap Chat, Linkedin
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