We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Janet Zappala a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Janet , looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. What’s been the most meaningful project you’ve worked on?

Currently, I have been enjoying the experience of writing for children. My award-winning books, Guapo’s Giant Heart, and Guapo’s Great Rescue, are based on true stories. They depict the experiences of rescued animals, with a portion of the proceeds going to animal rescue. Our Goodwill Ambassador is a real life 3000-pound, 11-foot wide, 6 1/2 foot tall steer named Guapo. A gentle giant who teaches by example, important life lessons to children about being kind, patient, understanding and compassionate.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

Since graduating college, I have been a television journalist, for over 45 years! I’ve reported, anchored newscasts, produced specials, and worked on entertainment programs. It’s been an extremely rewarding profession for me. I’ve accomplished a lot of what I set out to do, by reporting on subject matter that I believe made a difference in peoples lives, including health and wellness, and consumer news. My work has helped me garner six Emmys, and 14 Emmy nominations. As well as a Golden Mike award, and an Associated Press first place award.
It has been difficult for me to leave my profession after so many years. Thankfully, I have found a new passion in writing children’s books. Something that actually just fell in my lap. I was volunteering at an animal rescue in Palm Springs, California, when I came across a picture of a baby calf spooning with our baby pot-bellied pig named Mabel. They were becoming best friends. I just thought it was so cute to have such different animals be so close. And then I found out that the calf was adopted by a woman who gave him a loving home. She never imagined that Guapo would grow to be one of the world’s largest steers!
As a result, Guapo had to be moved to a bigger venue, leaving behind the woman who adopted him, and all of his friends. The story goes that when he arrived he was judged by the other animals because he didn’t look like them, so big! But Guapo never wavered, he was always kind and loving, and patient. He knew that the other animals would come around sooner or later.
I started writing books about teaching children to be kind, to celebrate our differences, and enjoy our similarities. To be friendly and accepting of others, just as Guapo teaches. People actually thank me for writing books like these, with messages that we need now more than ever.
As the song goes, teach our children well and let them lead the way.
So often we ask the perennial question of children when they’re young…”What do you want to be when you grow up?” My hope is once children read Guapo’s stories, we ask them, “What do you want to be LIKE when you grow up?” They say, “I want to be like Guapo, kind, caring, understanding, and friendly.”
I never thought I would be a children’s author, but here we are! An award-winning children’s author, winning the Family Choice award, the Moonbeam Children’s Silver Medal, the Publisher’s Choice Book Award, and a Story Monster’s award for excellence in children’s literacy. These are just icing on the cake kinds of things, but certainly they are a testament to what we’re doing. It goes to show that you can have more than one passion in life and be a success! It’s all about hard work, following through, and believing in yourself.

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

I think most would agree that it’s not easy to get published these days. I also believe that all of us have at least one book in us, regardless of the subject matter. That said, it’s an undertaking that requires a lot of resilience. It’s a matter of fortitude, persistence, and never giving up. I’m of the belief that persistence leads to the path of least resistance. But it takes time, energy, and the ability to keep going, even if many tell you that you can’t do it. Don’t be afraid to reach out to people who might be able to help you; friends, colleagues, acquaintances. They may know someone who can make your journey a bit less difficult. Case in point, I have a very close friend who works at the San Diego Zoo. She’s a successful children’s author who was able to guide me, and lead me to people who could help. I recommend doing that. Reach out to anyone whom you think could lend a helping hand. It’s about people helping people..
My friend offered me some guidance, and from there I took the ball and ran with it. While it hasn’t always been smooth sailing, I believed in what I wanted to do, and kept going until the right person said yes! From there, we were off to the races!

What do you think is the goal or mission that drives your creative journey?

My mission is to make Guapo a household name. He is a symbol of hope and kindness for children, adults too!
A reminder to be caring of one another, patient, compassionate, understanding.
In fact, Guapo can be an acronym for goodness, unity, altruism, patience, open-mindedness.
These are really the basic tenets of being a good human being. Doing this kind of work also allows me to give back, I’ve had many blessings, and I feel it’s my responsibility to offer up something really important for others to learn, and benefit from.
In my experience, finding a strength that actually helps society at large is the best case scenario. Encouraging people to be kind, promoting children’s literacy, and shedding light on animal rescue are all important issues. I’m proud to be a part of promoting them.

Part of the proceeds from Janet‘s books go to support animal rescue.

Contact Info:

• Website: http://guapostales.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/janet_zap/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com
• Linkedin: janet_zap