PFEIFFER, Janet (B.) 1949-

PERSONAL: Born February 23, 1949, in Brooklyn, NY; daughter of Clayton L. (an electrician) and Rae I. (a secretary; maiden name, Sole) Pfeiffer; married Richard Mazzacca (divorced, April, 1984); married Kenneth R. MacDougall, October 13, 1996; children: (first marriage) Richard, Tonia, Christopher, Donna. Ethnicity: "Italian/German." Education: Englewood Cliffs College (now St. Peter's College), A.A., 1969. Religion: Roman Catholic. Hobbies and other interests: Race-walking, photography, music, hiking.

ADDRESSES: Home and office—Pfeiffer Power Seminars, 182 Schoolhouse Rd., Oak Ridge, NJ 07438.

CAREER: Home Maintenance Service, past owner; Pfeiffer Power Seminars, president. Anger management consultant, motivational speaker, and writer; teacher at educational institutions, including Learning Annex; guest on television and radio programs. WGHT-Radio, past cohost of the program Upward Bound; Reunion of Hearts: Reconciling and Reconnecting Estranged Families, founder; volunteer with Youth Group Ministries, Rainbows for All God's Children, Visions Adult Group, Chilton Hospital, and Habitat for Humanity; counselor at a shelter for battered women; committee member and keynote speaker for the Week without Violence, sponsored by the national YWCA, 1997; National Police Suicide Foundation, member of support staff; consultant to Hoffman-La Roche and U.S. Postal Service.

AWARDS, HONORS: First place awards, Garden State Writer's Challenge, 1994, for The Angel and the Gift, and 1995, for The Orchids of Gateway Lane; photography awards; athletic awards include gold medal from a New Jersey state race-walking competition, 1994, as well as gold, silver, and bronze medals in national marathons, 1994-95.

WRITINGS:

The Seedling's Journey, Fairway Press (Lima, OH), 1994.

The Angel and the Gift: A Second Chance, Winston-Derek (Nashville, TN), 1996.

The Orchids of Gateway Lane: Galen's Message of Peace, Winston-Derek (Nashville, TN), 1996.

Jordan's Promise, Winston-Derek (Nashville, TN), 1998.

Dying to Be Safe: Ultimate Solutions to Violence, privately printed, 2001.

Contributor to periodicals, including Living Solo.

WORK IN PROGRESS: Clayton's Symphony (tentative title).

SIDELIGHTS: Janet Pfeiffer once commented: "When I was thirty-three years old, after thirteen years of marriage, my husband left me with four young children to raise on my own. Needing an income, but also needing to be at home with my children, I began a very successful business that I ran from home.

"During the years that followed my divorce, my life became increasingly difficult. I began a ten-year battle with bulimia, incurred devastating financial loss due to years of legal battles surrounding my divorce, and suffered estrangement from my children for many years. My self esteem plummeted and depression pulled me deeper into despair.

"However, my faith in God and the ever-present goodness that surrounds us got me through all of this. For more than twenty years I have been involved in all aspects of personal growth, attended workshops and lectures on everything from spirituality to holistic healing to physical fitness, psychic development, and anger management. Not sure of my purpose in life, I continually searched for answers. I wrote The Seedling's Journey in 1993. It is the story of a little seedling that ends up inside the crevice of a rock. He complains that life is unfair, but soon learns to be thankful for what he has and to 'grow where he is planted.' At this point, my purpose in life became very clear: God was directing me to where he wanted me to be, and that was to help others find inner peace and harmony with one another.

"After The Seedling's Journey was released, I began to do a lot of promotional work and talked extensively about how my life paralleled that of the young seedling. I began lecturing on anger management, conflict resolution, forgiveness, goal-setting, and random acts of kindness. I now have a very successful career as a consultant and motivational speaker.

"I believe that there is good in everyone and everything, and that life is a series of lessons to be learned. Our greatest teacher is pain. The more painful the situation, the greater the lesson. When we learn that lesson, we emerge stronger, wiser, more patient, more loving, and much more understanding.

"Through all of the pain, I learned more about myself than I ever imagined possible. I learned that there was an incredible amount of untapped potential within me and that I needed to discover, develop, and share it with the world. I became excited about creating a very new and successful life for myself.

"I continued my writing and am working on a series of inspirational books for young people and adults. All contain valuable lessons and messages of hope in various aspects of life: cherishing relationships, defeating the enemy by making him your friend, being able to feel a sense of peace and hope when death takes a loved one, and celebrating (not merely accepting) the uniqueness and differences within each one of us. All of my stories are taken from my own personal experiences in life that have taught me lessons; all are messages from God.

"I have lived life with a new-found sense of enthusiasm and self-power. In addition to my career in lecturing and writing, I also cohosted my own radio talk show on personal growth issues, facilitated couples in divorce negotiations, and I present ongoing workshops on anger management and more. I have won awards in writing and photography, and I am a former state and national medalist on race-walking competitions. I just celebrated my fifteen-year anniversary of walking no less than twelve miles a day every single day of the year.

"Two of the most influential books in my life have been Mandino's The Greatest Salesman in the World and Barbara Sher's I Can Do Anything if Only I Know What That Is. These books have helped me to gain control over my own life by making conscious choices to be happy, healthy, peaceful, and successful. I believe, as Barbara puts it, that we are all created with certain gifts and talents and that, when we develop and use these talents for the good of all, we find happiness and success. I believe that God allowed me to experience serious pain and loss in my life so that I could learn the lessons that I now share with many others through my writing and lecturing. I would not trade my life for anyone's."