Janet was born a southern girl in Charleston, South Carolina, but mainly grew up in Westchester County, New York. All her life she had been involved in dance and theater. Attending performing arts camps each and every summer as a child and loved being up there on the stage. Unfortunately, as a teenager, Janet began to smoke cigarettes on a daily basis and thankfully when she was 23 quit the habit. Along with quitting smoking came the inevitable dreaded weight gain. Janet had always been 118 and a size 5 most of her teen years so when she ballooned to 130 pounds and found herself in Weight Watchers, she knew something had to be done.
In 1990 Janet remembers watching the ESPN network and always admiring the bodybuilders' amazing sculptured physiques and that is when her fitness journey began. Janet joined Jack LaLanne and developed a passion for the sport much like her passion for the stage. Janet was one of the only girls in the free weight room but that didn’t bother her one bit. She asked many trainers and members how to train and the weight started to drop and her physique started to change. Back then there were no fitness competitions or figure competitions, just bodybuilding. Janet's first bodybuilding competition was the ANPPC New York State Championships in 1991 and she placed third in the tall class weighing in at 118 with a 19" waist (yes, 19"!!). After that her strong drive to compete continued. Janet competed in many of the NPC bodybuilding competitions as well as ANPPC. The competition got tougher with each show she competed in and that is when she hired a choreographer, Tracey Present to help her with her routines. At the same time, Tracy had developed a group called Muscles In Motion and asked Janet if she would be interested in joining her team. Muscles In Motion performed routines at many of the bodybuilding competitions for quite sometime. The group consisted of three women and two men. They worked really well as a team and since Janet loved being on the stage, shyness was not an issue for her. The last show Janet competed in she was approached by one of the promoters, suggesting she give the new fitness competitions a whirl. Since in 1992 fitness was just starting to peak, Janet figured why not and competed in her first fitness show in 1992, with the help of Tracy choreographing her routines. At the same time, Janet joined forces with Kenny Kassel from Beautifit Talent Agency and with his help, Vince McMahon from the World Wrestling Federation, chose Janet out of 75 women from Kenny’s agency to become one of the WWF Monday Night Raw Ring Girls. Something Janet enjoyed for sometime. In 1992 Janet started judging for the organization she first started competing in, ANPPC, which is now NBI. Janet has judged bodybuilding and fitness competitions for over 14 years now and has also served as the figure and fitness coordinator for several organizations.
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Janet's idol was and still is to this day, Debbie Kruck. One of the first fitness women out there who had the most fantastic symmetrical and statuesque physiques she had ever seen. Janet studied her stage presence and how she displayed her physique and today she still would thank her for being a mentor to her. In 1993 Janet won her first fitness competition and went on to compete in the 1993 Fitness America Nationals. And again, competed in the 1994 Fitness America Nationals, and then went on to the 1994 WNBF Ms. Exercise and placed fifth. Janet married in 1997 and had to take sometime off from competing in order to start a family but still was able to judge and be a part of organizing and coordinating for NBI. That is when Janet started her Figure Workshops. After all, 12 years of judging, competing and really mastering the stage presence certainly gave her that edge to be able to pass on her knowledge to aspiring figure competitors. As of this year, her Workshops have soared and she has joined forces with WNBF Pro bodybuilder, Ekow Wilmot to work together on running what they call their Fitness Camps, which is a two-day event with seminars, hand outs, Workshops and even photo shoots with “Who Took That” digital services.
After taking time off from competing, Janet is proud to say that she just competed in the 2004 INBF Naturalmania Nationals Figure Championships. She won first place in the tall division, took the overall title and got her pro card with the WNBF. In November, she competed in the WNBF Pro World Figure Championships and placed 7th out of twenty-three women. On May 14th, 2005, Janet competed in the WNBF Pro Figure Northeast Classic and placed 4th out of 16 top figure competitors and placed 2nd in the WNBF Ms. Exercise World Pro Figure Championships held on November 12, 2005. As of the present time, Janet's Workshops have been a huge success. She is now the official INBF/WNBF Stage Coach, judges for the INBF (bodybuilding only) and travels to conduct several Fitness Camps throughout the year.
Although Janet's motivations to compete in fitness have changed over the years, she evaluates her reasons for entering each show and exactly why she is competing. The sport has brought her to a new level of understanding about herself and what she is capable of |
