The Launch4Life Team
Gillian Whitney
Marketing Coach & Consultant
With over 20 years in the Communications and Training industry, Gillian has the skills and experience needed to teach, coach, and mentor clients. As an Instructional Designer, Gillian has developed a wide variety of e-learning courses for students of all ages.
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My life is an open book… I was born in Wallaceburg, Ontario, Canada. My birthplace was just 10 miles from Uncle Tom’s Cabin. This historic site was the actual home of Josiah Henson, the former slave and inspiration for Harriet-Beecher Stowe’s bestselling novel – Uncle Tom’s Cabin.
Although I was born in the country, I actually grew up in the city. When I was 8 years old, my life changed forever with the opening of a public library, right across the street from where we lived. I was amazed to discover that a kid could apply for their own library card AND check out up to 10 books at once!
From there on in, most days I could be found at the library, snuggled in a bean bag chair. By reading books, I was able to wander the world. As I grew, my passion for books continued to flourish. I escaped my awkward teen years, by slipping between the pages of Gone With the Wind, which I read a dozen times. I survived college, by choosing elective courses with good reading lists.
After completing my degree, I left Canada and moved to the United States. Since there didn’t seem to be a great need for people with a BA in Psychology, I turned to books. I got a job work the reference desk of the Phoenix Public library. After several years, I decided to go back to school and get a Masters in Library Science. Unfortunately, limited enrollment space barred my admission.
Being a true believer that… when one book closes another one opens, I shifted my focus from READING to WRITING. As a result, for twenty years, I worked as a both a Technical Writer and Computer Training Specialist. These professions allowed me to be employed in the corporate sector and later become a work at home mother.
While it was challenging to raise children and run a home based business, I loved the freedom and vowed to never return to corporate America. I later became a Home School Educator which lead to a new career as a Educational Curriculum Developer. For the next 5 years, I churned out a number of online courses for K-12 students : Introduction to Robotics, Computer Literacy, Digital Art, and Financial Literacy.
In my free time I continued to read books. However, my tastes changed to business, marketing, and personal growth. One book that had the biggest impact on me was Tony Robbins’ Awaken the Giant Within. After reading that book I attended a 5 day Tony Robbins Unlimited Power event. Later I enrolled with the Madanes-Robbins Foundation and became a certified Business Coach.
Today, I live in the mountains of Northern Utah with my husband, two sons, and two noisy dachshunds. Both my two sons are now grown up and in their final year of college. As an “almost empty-nester”, you would think I’d finally be free to fill my days devouring all the unread books that line my bookshelves. However, my days are jam-packed building Launch4Life with my sister and business partner.
Janet Elie
Marketing Coach & Consultant
Janet has over 30 years in the Financial Services Industry in marketing and management, coupled with 5 years of intensive dedication to online marketing and social media applications. Janet has coached and trained small business owners on how to adapt to the social media world.
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In 1996 instead of apologizing for not having a college education, I told my prospective employer that if they wanted to hire me to run their department, a college degree had to be a moot point. That brave statement was made after having walked hot coals at a Tony Robbins event. Never again would I apologize for not having that piece of paper. Instead I would rely on my industry skills of Series 7 and 24 and Life and Health Licenses as well as marketing and relationship skills supported by my common sense and intuition. This allowed me to successfully develop and manage projects and departments and coach others. My career blasted off based on my merits not academia. In addition, I was raising two sons as a single Mom.
With over 30 years of climbing the rungs of the financial services industry ladder, I reached a stage where I wanted more, a different path to fuel my passion. Personally, I was frustrated that after years of putting my nose to the grind stone, those things I wanted to explore had taken a backseat. They required freedom. I wanted to be able to go on a day hike and leave the phone at home, I wanted to sit in the garden with my now husband and sip a glass of good wine and relax. I wanted to travel and experience other cultures and not have a deadline to return home. It required leaving corporate life to start my own business.
I was noticing that new practices were needed for small business owners to take their businesses to the next level. They needed to know how to harness the resources that are available today: online marketing, processes and platforms. There is no school to teach you “the secrets”. There is no one size fits all for businesses, so I went to the drawing board to learn by trial and error from the masters of online marketing.
I participated in an intensive 5 day Tony Robbins Business Mastery Course and studied his Time Management program as well as received coaching from one of his coaching staff. I attended marketing and social media conferences from some of the best in the industry. I also studied and received my certification: Social and Community Manager that taught me the four components of the Social Media cycle that impacts businesses. Learning and then applying all this knowledge coupled with my prior experience uniquely qualifies me to train and coach others.
Now I have the life I imagined with my retired school teacher husband who provides me with constant loving advise and support; having an incredible relationship with my two sons who went on to have their own incredible solopreneur businesses that I learn from every day; to traveling to exotic places around the globe including riding a camel and watching the sun go down over the Sahara. Lastly, I get to partner with my sister where we challenge each other every day to live the life we desire and to be able to help transform other people’s lives. I look forward to meeting you and helping you with your dreams.