Jane Straus, Author/Publisher Back in 1975, when the State of California was formulating its plan for a training branch, no one knew what employees wanted or needed. Jane, an undergraduate at the University of California at Davis who was diligently seeking work as a waitress, was offered the job of finding out in exchange for three units towards graduation.
Jane interviewed hundreds of State employees and found out that they needed English and math programs to be able to pass civil service promotional exams. She sent in her results and kept knocking on restaurant doors. One day, she got a call. "Jane, it looks as though you can write well. Can you teach a class in English?" Desperate and too naïve to know better, Jane answered with a resounding, "Sure." This is how a star was born--or at least began to rise in the sky.
Within weeks, thirty employees signed up for a one-day trial program in Basic English Grammar and Punctuation Skills taught by (twenty-year-old) Training Consultant Jane Straus. During those intervening weeks, Jane scoured the library for materials but found no books that conveyed the rules of English in, well, plain English. So she wrote the rules her way, made up some exercises, ran off some copies, clipped them together as handouts, and showed up for the first day of class.
When she walked in and announced that she was the teacher, the students, all much older than she, gave each other surreptitious, disbelieving glances. Jane took this as a challenge and hoped for the best. Well, the class raved about Jane and her material in their reviews. Cloud nine lasted for only a day or two because Jane still had to find "real" work (that is, for pay). What she didn't know was that the phones at the newly formed State Training Center were ringing off the hook. Word had spread quickly. More and more State employees demanded that they get an equal opportunity to benefit from Jane's seminar.
This evolved into Jane's first career as a Training Consultant. Eventually, Jane taught many different courses for State and Federal employees as well as for the private sector and nonprofit organizations. Some of the programs she designed include Public Speaking (where she met her wonderful husband), Effective Meeting Skills, Communicating with Different Personality Styles, and even a math program. While developing these programs, she continued to refine the English material, eventually turning it into The Blue Book of Grammar and Punctuation.
Jane believed that this easy-to-use reference and workbook should be offered to everyone as a self-help tool. When the Internet was born, she saw a perfect opportunity to cast the net wide and offered the entire contents of The Blue Book online for free, as it still is today.
During her tenure as a consultant, Jane also began a coaching and consulting practice to help individuals, couples, families, and organizations communicate truthfully, effectively, and compassionately. Her corporate retreats and keynotes have made her a sought-after speaker and her private, life-coaching practice is thriving. In 2003, at the top of her game, Jane was diagnosed with a brain tumor, giving her an opportunity to assess her life (and perhaps her imminent death). When, seven weeks later, the noncancerous tumor was successfully removed, so was Jane's fear about writing the self-help book that had been percolating in her mind and heart for years.
 She wrote her inspirational book, Enough Is Enough! Stop Enduring and Start Living Your Extraordinary Life , over the next year and had it published in 2005 by Jossey-Bass. She now writes articles for publications and is a favorite guest expert in the media.
People often ask Jane how she blends her English teacher persona with her wit and wisdom in matters of the heart and spirit. Her answer is, "It's all the same. It's all self-help. Whether I'm figuring out a way to explain the use of a semicolon or working with someone who wants to stop suffering from addiction, resentment, or shame, there is a path. My art and skill lie in making that path look and feel like a stroll instead of a steep climb up a treacherous mountain. It's the ultimate gratification when someone I'm working with says, 'I get it. I didn't know it could be so easy.' Whether they are referring to the distinction between who and whom or they're celebrating life in new and extraordinary ways because of our work together, it's all music to my ears and a gift to my spirit."
It should come as no surprise that Jane's motto is, "Together We Can Do This!"
Watch A Lesson with Jane from her YouTube Video explaining Subject and Verb Agreement |
