Pivoting to a Creative Path with Janet Wong
"One night I said to my husband, Glenn, 'I think I'm becoming a mean person.' And he said, 'Mm-hmm, yeah, you are,'" she laughed. "And I thought, no, I don't want to be a mean person. I want to do something really important with my life."
When I invited my cousin Janet Wong to join me on the podcast, I was excited to finally sit down and hear her story firsthand. Janet has been a keeper of our family's stories for years, but I realized I'd never really gotten to hear her own journey from her perspective.
Janet's bio gives you a glimpse of who she is today: a Yale Law School graduate turned children's author who has written more than 40 books and won prestigious awards like the 2021 NCTE Excellence in Poetry for Children Award. But what her bio doesn't capture is the delayed start to finding her calling and the courage it took to make her dramatic career change.
From Law to Literature
Janet's journey began with a conversation at her dining table during her senior year at UCLA. When her father asked what she planned to do after graduation, she didn't have the courage to say she wanted to be an artist. Instead, she found herself on a path to law school, where by week six, she already knew it wasn't the right fit.
"I went to my small group professor and said, 'Just out of courtesy, because I respect you so much, I just want to let you know I'm going to be dropping out on Monday,'" Janet recounted. When asked what she'd do instead, she replied, "I'm going to become a potter in New Mexico."
Her professor did manage to convince her to finish her degree before becoming a potter. Janet graduated and spent several years as a lawyer, eventually becoming the director of labor relations at Universal Studios Hollywood. But the work began to wear on her.
"One night I said to my husband, Glenn, 'I think I'm becoming a mean person.' And he said, 'Mm-hmm, yeah, you are,'" she laughed. "And I thought, no, I don't want to be a mean person. I want to do something really important with my life."
The Birthday That Changed Everything
What led Janet to children's literature? Interestingly, it might have been my birthday! She went to a small bookstore to buy me a book and ended up with an armload of children's books she wanted for herself. That's when it hit her: "Somebody wrote these books. Why couldn't I be one of those people?"
She went home and told her husband she wanted to try writing for a year. "If I can sell a book, then I'll keep going. And if I can't sell a book, then I'll go back to being a lawyer."
Her husband offered wiser advice: "Why don't you do this for a year? And if you love it, then keep doing it."
A year later, Janet had a stack of rejection letters and no book deal. She nearly called her old boss to ask for her job back. But then she remembered her husband's words and realized she truly loved writing. Six months later, her first book, "Good Luck Gold," was sold.
The Art of Tenacity
When I asked Janet about her perseverance, she quoted Albert Einstein: "It's not that I'm so smart. It's just that I stay with problems longer."
Janet credits much of her success to both tenacity and luck. After many rejections, she decided to take a poetry class, thinking it would help her write better picture books. Her instructor, Myra Cohn Livingston, became a pivotal mentor who eventually helped sell Janet's first book.
"When you are looking to make a change or just looking to reach the next level in whatever it is you're doing, make sure you find a mentor," Janet advised. "And if you already have a mentor, make sure you reach out to that mentor very often. Let that mentor know what is going on in your head."
Evolving Your Creative Path
After publishing 21 books with major publishers like Simon & Schuster and Harcourt, Janet's career took another turn. Thirteen years ago, she partnered with Sylvia Vardell, a professor of children's literature, to create poetry anthologies designed for classroom use.
"Don't be afraid to jump around," Janet said. "If you're known for doing X, well, you can do Y... keep it interesting for yourself."
Today, through their joint venture Pomelo Books, they've published about 20 anthologies, with 100% of the profits donated to charity. Their latest book, "Clara's Kooky Compendium of Simple Thoughts and Wonder Fuzz," features contributions from 73 poets.
Daring to Be Yourself
Janet's story reminds me of the importance of finding your "zone of genius" – the thing that makes time fly and gives you energy and fulfillment. For her, it was writing children's books and poetry, not practicing law. For others, it might be something entirely different.
Even beyond finding your Why is having the guts to be yourself. Janet evolved from trying to be "professional and serious" to embracing all parts of herself – including her passion for pickleball, which now features prominently in her bio.
"I've become a lot more accepting of myself," she reflected, "and in a strange way, demanding of others because we have so little time. There are so many ways that we can spend our time, so many different paths we can take. Why waste it on people who are going to drag you down?"
As she puts it, "Why not me?" or "There's room for me" – mantras that could benefit anyone at a crossroads or contemplating a new creative venture. It may feel crowded at times but there is always room for another.
For those of us still searching for our calling or wondering if it's too late to pivot, Janet's journey is a great example of not giving up!
