We recently connected with CJ Janzen and have shared our conversation below.
CJ, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today It’s always helpful to hear about times when someone’s had to take a risk – how did they think through the decision, why did they take the risk, and what ended up happening. We’d love to hear about a risk you’ve taken.
Taking a Risk
“…and the Winner of the Grand Slam is CJ Janzen!!!” (and the crowd goes wild!!!) Those are the words I dream of hearing. Those are the words I imagined as I hit the ‘Pay Now’ button, even knowing the financial hardship it would cost me.
I’m 29…with experience…okay I’m 51, but shhhhh, don’t tell anyone and this year I have been making an investment in myself and my future.
I live with a chronic illness called Myalgic Encephalomyelitis, ME for short, and the past 12 years of my life have been…HARD. I went from being a Master Scuba Instructor, travelling the world, and living my best life, to being confined to my bed or a wheelchair, in pain, and so exhausted that sometimes taking my next breath is a life and death struggle.
However, I live a joy-filled life! Over the past 12 years, I’ve achieved sobriety, utilized my singing, speaking, and teaching abilities to uplift others, and now I’m preparing to turn my passion for speaking into my profession.
I KNOW I am a great speaker, but what I don’t have are the business skills I need to take that next huge step.
A friend mentioned an opportunity called Speaker Slam, North America’s largest inspirational speaking competition.
I did my research and read up on all of the services they provide and made a choice.
I took a leap of Faith and purchased a competition package that would leave me in debt well into January. I survive on a disability pension which has me living well below the poverty line and on a food bank budget, yet if I didn’t take that chance, I will never set myself up for success and escape this cycle of poverty. Even if I don’t place 1st or 2nd and fail to get a chance to compete in the Grand Slam contest, I have gained some of the key pieces of infrastructure that create the credibility and business acumen I need to launch my career as a Keynote Speaker, Singer, and Coach.
Stay tuned, because on July 16th, I will compete at Speaker Slam and hope to move on to the Grand Slam in November…
Will the financial risk be worthwhile? Will I have truly lost anything?
I think not!
🌊🌊oceans of love🌊🌊
CJ Janzen | The Singing Speaker
CJ, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?
I have been speaking and teaching for over 25 years and held many jobs in my life, including being a professional clown, a Paramedic, Over The Road Trainer for women learning to drive 18 wheelers, a PADI Master Scuba Instructor, Emergency First Response Instructor, Divers Alert Network Instructor, Patient Simulation expert, an aspiring author, a Speaking Coach, and an award winning Speaker.
I’ve been gracing stages since the age of 7 and I love performing, singing, teaching, coaching, and inspiring others.
In 2012 I went from being a world travelling scuba instructor to being bed ridden overnight because I caught an unknown virus that morphed into an autoimmune illness call myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME). This illness took away all of my plans for the future…and saved my life.
I was losing my battle with alcoholism and had I not gotten sick, I’d not have come home. Had I not come home and made it through the doors of AA, I’d likely be dead.
I discovered a new purpose for my life while sitting in the AA meetings and listening to people sharing their stories. Some were inspiring and at others made me want to run screaming from the room. When it was my time to share my story, I was approached after by a number of people who expressed their gratitude for my words. I recognized that my words mattered and they could save lives.
I joined a local Toastmasters International club and started honing my craft. Within months I was winning speaking competitions and powering through their educational pathways. Each time I spoke at AA clubs in my region, my message became clearer, my delivery more powerful, and my impact greater. I knew that I want speaking to become my profession. That said, I was still very ill, undiagnosed – for 2 years, and struggling to get the supports I needed to live independently. On one particularly bad day I created a life quote that change my entire perspective and approach to my life. “Choose to live JOYOUSLY within the tempest of adversity.”
With the help of my AA, church, choir, Toastmaster and community friends, I have slowly been growing as a person, discovering my new purpose and passion, and turning that energy into a profession.
I am currently preparing to compete at North America’s largest Inspirational Speaking competition, Speaker Slam on July 16th, 2024 , in Toronto, Canada at the iconic Lula Lounge. The topic for me is Perseverance, which I happen to be an expert in!
I am known as CJ Janzen | The Singing Speaker because I uniquely weave music and speaking together to inspire Joyful Resilience and hope to win over the hearts of the audience and my judges. In preparation for that, I have been building a website, my coaching business, my keynotes, writing new songs, working on my books, highlight reels, being featured on TV and in newspapers.
I am also dedicating this run for the Grand Slam to raise money for ME Research. My goal is to raise $50 000! ME Action Fundraiser: https://donorbox.org/fighting4me I know I’m a great speaker, but I’m doing my best to develop the business acumen to turn my aspirations into a reality!
Yes, I am {dis}Abled, but fully capable of gracing most stages…I admit some long flights of stairs might be a stumbling block…but I can handle a few steps ;) I don’t let my illness stop me from speaking, so I hope you will see my potential and hire me to grace your stage as a keynote, emcee, singer, workshop presenter, or panelist.
🌊🌊Oceans of Love🌊🌊
CJ Janzen
How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?
This is a double story of change because in life, I have had to be resilient and rebuild my life from the ground up multiple times and though scary, I’m so very thankful I was willing to break out of my comfort zones and TRY!
You are already aware that I live with a chronic illness called ME and that I was living and working in the tropics as a scuba instructor before I got sick, but before that, I had been a truck driver! I’ve always been a restless soul and love to travel, so when government cuts took away my job as a paramedic, they offered me some free training to help me find a new profession and a few months later, I was driving a big rig! I was initially too afraid to drive alone and I let my newly attained ACZ (Class A in the USA) license gather dust in my wallet, but the a friend encouraged me to at least “Give it a try!”. On and wing and a Prayer, I did indeed try and was successful! I started with a fly-by-night company and then moved to one of the largest trucking companies in North America. With them I ranged from Winnipeg to New Mexico and nearly everything east of that. I was also approached to become an Over The Road Trainer and I did that for a number of years and loved it. I remember how scared I was driving, not having google maps or readily available GPS, yes, I know I’m dating myself…I know how to use maps! ;) Having the opportunity to guide women in the trade and provide them the pitfalls to avoid, and give them the tools they needed to succeed, was deeply gratifying. Over time, I was able to gain local employment and worked hauling automotive parts to a large manufacturer. Being able to be home every night instead of perhaps 6 days a month, was a nice change…but the job became too monotonous and unfulfilling and my health and body deteriorated. In 2001, I went on a holiday to Cuba where I went scuba diving for the very first time, and fell in love with the ocean. In December of 2006, I took a leave of absence from my trucking work to fly down to Honduras to complete my scuba instructing certification. That temporary ‘holiday’ ended up being the end of my trucking career for which I’m externally thankful for. I was a very good driver with over a million miles of driving under my belt, but my wandering soul wanted more!! I ended up working in Honduras, Greece, England, Indonesia, the Maldives, Thailand and finally Mexico, where I got sick. My heart still yearns for the ocean and one day I WILL get to go scuba diving again, but only for fun and I’m okay with that.
Starting all over again isn’t always easy or fun, but it has taught me how to rebuild ✨joyfully✨from the ground up.
We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.
My life change irrevocably on May 24th, 2012…my birthday of all days! I woke up feeling like death warmed over. I was mad because I had visitors from Canada, I was going scuba diving and all of those plan came to a screeching stop. I couldn’t know at that moment that everything that I was, all that I had, and my dreams for my future were GONE.
I fought long and hard before my medicals bills forced me home to Canada. I’d had every test possible and even had multiple recompression chamber rides in the hopes I’d ‘only had the bends’, to no avail. On October 21, 2012 I hopped on an airplane not knowing if I was just going home to die.
Due to the fact that I’d been out of country for a few years, I had to wait 3 months before my provincial medical insurance to kicked in. I could only obtain a nurse practitioner at that time and she sent me from specialist to specialist and they couldn’t find anything really wrong with me…other than my speech was slurred, I needed crutches or a wheelchair to get around, I had very high non-specific inflammatory markers, suffering from brain fog, constant pain, non-restorative sleep, and was 90% bed bound. Other than that…I was ‘fine’.
With the love of friends and church family who took me to appointments and acted as my voice when I was to weak to speak more than 3-4 words at a time, we eventually succeeded in getting to the right place and, after 2 years of fighting, I was formally diagnosed with myalgic encephalomyelitis.
I remember getting a letter in the mail stating that I was now recognized by the government as “disabled” and going up and down the corridor telling anyone who would listen that I wasn’t crazy and I was disabled!! I still laugh when I remember that day.
Having that diagnosis finally opened doors that I needed to get the supports around me to have housing, an income, and no longer fearing I was going to end up on the street.
The process of getting a diagnosis was extremely difficult and required a community of people willing to help me. Who fought for me when doctors kept trying to just give my psych meds, which I didn’t need.
It is estimated that there are up to 30 Million people around the world with ME, many undiagnosed, misdiagnosed, institutionalized, or held against their will for ‘faking’, instead of treating what is a very real illness. I consider myself one of the ‘lucky ones’ because I was eventually properly diagnosed and learned how to live ✨joyfully✨within the constraints of my health, successfully.
I had to fight tooth and nail to persevere against a medical system that doesn’t yet have the bio-markers they need to be able to say “Yes, this person has ME.” Or “No, this person doesn’t.” For now, patients must goes through arduous testing that’s often non-conclusive and takes years to get through.
For those of you out there like me, keep fighting, ask for help because I couldn’t have done this alone. Trapped within the 4 walls of your bedroom is isolating, and dispiriting, yet it IS possible to still have dreams, passions, and purpose. It’s just a lot harder, but you’re worth it and you still have value <3
Contact Info:
- Website: https://cjjanzen.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cj_janzen/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CJ.Janzen/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cjjanzen/
- Twitter: https://x.com/cj_janzen
- Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/cj-janzen
- Other: I am working towards raising $50 000 for Myalgic Encephalomyelitis Research
ME Action Fundraiser: https://donorbox.org/fighting4me
Image Credits
Randy Moore