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Janet Castillo is a Dance and Performance coach, and TV Host and Producer of the WORK IT! TV Show. Her mission is to use dance as a tool to inspire and empower people to live with joy and on purpose. From beginner to professional, she has impacted hundreds of students with her energy, passion, and creativity. With over a decade of professional experience as a dancer and choreographer, she has worked with high-profile artists and brands including Jennifer Lopez, Christina Milian, So You Think You Can Dance, Much Music, the Latin Grammys, TEDx, Canadian and American Idol Finalists, PAN AM Games, the Olympic Committee, and was the dance captain of a touring musical co-produced by Tyler Perry and Cedric the Entertainer. Once Janet became a wife and mom, she stepped away from the dance industry to focus on her family and worked a stable 9-5 job. After years of feeling that something was missing, she stepped back into the dance studio and returned to her true calling. She then quit her job, became the host and producer of a tv show, and has been on a mission to share her love of dance and the power it has to transform lives both on and off the dance floor. Her WORK IT! dance courses and programs are helping women to step into their power, become fearless and live freely in the moment.

In this episode:

• Communication is key in setting each week up for success. Have clarity on the schedule, expectations, and needs for the week ahead.
• The paper vs. digital calendar debate! What is the strategy that you prefer to keep track of “all the things”? Or do you like using both?
• Unleashing your passion can create a sense of joy and fulfillment that allows you to be the best version of yourself.
• What is possible on the other side? If you are looking to make a change, do the research, have the conversations, and if it just feels right, take the leap!
• Dance is a state of joy. We all have that favourite song or playlist that we can’t help moving to or dancing to when we hear it!
• The many benefits to moving your body! Taking even a few minutes can help with focus, clarity, productivity, and so much more! Don’t overthink it. Just get moving!
• Know that you are worth it. Prioritize scheduling time for you in your day, be authentic by taking ownership of your feelings, and communicating clearly what you do and don’t want and need.
  What does your family stand for? What are the words and values that your family wants to be in all that you do?

Connect with Janet:

• Instagram: @workitjanet https://www.instagram.com/workitjanet/
• Facebook: @workitjanet https://www.facebook.com/workitjanet
• Website: https://janetco.live
• YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/WorkItJanet

Mentioned by Janet:

• Book: Feck Perfuction by James Victore https://bit.ly/feckperfuction

Connect with Tiana and The Part-Time Jungle:

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/parttimejungle/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/parttimejungle/
Website: https://theparttimejungle.com

GIVING OURSELVES SELF-COMPASSION
Janet talks about how sometimes despite planning, communication, and the best of intentions, things just don’t go as we wanted them to. We need to give ourselves self-compassion. It’s okay. We are going to be just fine. For Janet, she has come to peace with knowing that things are always going to be changing.

We also chatted about paper calendars vs. digital calendars! I am ‘naturally’ on “team paper calendar” but have been really trying hard to use a hybrid approach and put things in our family’s digital calendar as well… my husband had resorted to taking pictures of our paper calendar to know what was going on each month!

Janet prefers paper calendars as well – pen to paper is her thing – and her husband prefers digital just like mine. She has made the shift to putting things into a shared digital calendar as well – the high level things (not all the details) that are important to her family juggle. Do you prefer a digital calendar? A paper calendar? Or do you use both?

THAT VOICE INSIDE

Janet talks about returning to dance. She had a family and stable nine to five job but she felt like she was just going through the motions. She felt like there was so much more inside of her. It was stuck there waiting to be unleashed.

Janet said: “I started getting back into the studio and started doing that for me. I felt happier. I felt more energized. I felt more connected to my purpose, to my calling. And don’t get me wrong. The first few times I did also feel guilty that I was taking time for me and that I was doing things for me. There was a little bit of shame and guilt in that. But – I think the power of that happiness and fulfillment and that joy was so much more strong. This is what I needed to be a better human, to be a better mom, to be a better wife.”

Have you ever had or do you have right now that voice or feeling inside? What is that thing inside of you that, when unleashed, makes you feel joy, happiness, and energized?

A STATE OF JOY

Janet talks about dancing being a state of joy and a way that she creates time for herself and reconnects with her body. Janet says that everybody has a playlist or a favourite song that they love! When they hear it, there’s no way that you can’t move your body.

There’s no right or wrong way to move your body. We are born dancers. We are born with rhythm. For some of us, we lose it as we get older. We get self-conscious. We feel embarrassed.

Janet loves helping create a space for women to feel safe and to start exploring dance again. What is the song you can’t help but move to or dance to when you hear it?