JAN KERN
AUTHOR, SPEAKER, LIFE COACH
awards . . .
2009 Retailer’s Choice Award - finalist in youth category, Seduced by Sex, Saved by Love–A Journey Out of False Intimacy
2008 ECPA Gold Medallion, Christian Book of the Year - finalist in children and youth category, Scars That Wound, Scars That Heal–A Journey Out of Self-Injury
writing and speaking . . .
Jan is an author, speaker, mentor, and credentialed life coach who is passionate about how we each can embrace and courageously live God’s unique design for us. Whether through written words, one-on-one, or in a speaking forum, she encourages giving space for discovery and creativity, for deeper conversation and connection—with God and with others.
Her upcoming writing projects and books are shifting from the teen/young adult focus of her former published works, and she is excited to be focusing her writing and speaking on topics that are of specific interest to women.
She has spoken to a wide variety of audiences in contexts including retreats, conferences, chapels, and assemblies, and she has appeared on radio programs such as She Speaks to Inspire and Water Through the Word.
life coaching . . .
As a life coach Jan enjoys creatively partnering with her clients in their career, transitional, spiritual, or wellness goals. Through coaching, she walks alongside to help them discover ways to understand themselves and others better, and to stretch, strategize, and move forward in new ways. She cheers them on as they work to develop their potential for individual or team effectiveness with greater awareness of who God created them to be.
She also enjoys watching for creative ways to incorporate what she does as a coach into her work as a writer and speaker.
Jan says: “I see the uniqueness of the coaching modality for individuals, teams, and families, for faith conversations that transform. I see a vision of hope—individuals who deeply grasp who God created them to be and who are courageously rooting themselves in His plans for their future. Not because someone fed it to them, but because they have done the hard work through coaching conversations to think, pray, and work to discover it. I’ve watched it in action. They get it. They own it. That excites me.”
Courageous Moves - Jan’s Coaching Site
A message from Jan . . .
Thank you for stopping by my site and getting this far down on the page. I bet you are an amazing person to know, and I hope to someday meet you and hear your story of courage and transformation. For now, I’d like to give you a small peek into my heart so if we do meet, you may feel I’ve already introduced myself and we can begin our conversation with your story.
I am that Jan that you read about in the bio above. But more than an author, speaker, mentor, or life coach, I am a woman who deeply loves God and who He is daily transforming. I am a wife, mom, sister, friend, and someone who enjoys moving forward in my life with joy and vigor.
I have also been in a bit of transition, which has not always been easy. Okay, truthfully it’s been hard. Really hard. Seasons like that in our lives, I believe, are expected . . . and when we see past the inconvenience or difficulty of them, they can be a gift. Admittedly, it took me some time before I saw it that way.
For quite a few years, I focused on speaking around youth issues, particularly tough issues and cultural topics. It made sense. I had worked in children’s and youth ministry before marriage and then have worked alongside my husband at a residential ministry for at-risk youth all of our married life. We’re still there.
As a friend, mentor, and writer I’ve met with teens and young adults, sometimes climbing into the painful trenches to help them tell their stories and grab hold of God’s loving, transforming hand. I’ve watched and sought to encourage them as they opened themselves to God’s work of lifting them out of those dark trenches. I’ve cheered them on as they courageously embraced the hope that could splash across the pages of the rest of their stories.
These experiences, relationships, and passions are still a part of who I am today and what I take forward into what’s next.
What is next? I’m not entirely sure. Can any of us be? But this is what I know . . .
God took me into a deep journey, one that felt a little like a Jonah-in-the-belly-of-the-whale experience. In part, this has included God drawing me to refine and shift my writing and speaking primarily toward women. This certainly isn’t a brand new passion for me, but still this focused direction in some ways means starting over in my writing and speaking “career.” That’s okay. Perhaps similar to Jonah, I could not do otherwise.
I still speak to teens, but primarily to girls and young women, helping them embrace their unique identity and where God is taking them. I’ve led college-age women in leadership training or spiritual retreats, met with thirty-something women as a coach or spiritual director. Actually all of that–the speaking. coaching, training–spills into the ages and stages in the decades above as well.
Whether as an author, speaker, mentor, or life coach–or as a mom, sister, or friend–I’m passionate about encouraging each woman that God brings into my life to courageously discover and live the design He is calling her to.
I love being a woman alongside other women living out the transformational journey God has for each of us. I hope I have the privilege of meeting you some day.
