Conversations with Janie Seltzer

Today we’d like to introduce you to Janie Seltzer.

Hi Janie, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today?
Sacred Ground: Growing the Garden of Your Dreams
By Janie Seltzer

A Question That Echoed
I was ten years old, sitting between my parents in the front seat of our car, driving to my grandmother’s house, when a question bubbled up inside me. I looked at them, then out the window, and silently asked myself:
Who am I, and why am I here? That question didn’t come from boredom or curiosity—it came from the deep place in a child’s soul that already senses there is something more. I didn’t realize it then, but that question would become the thread running through my entire life.

A Defining Moment of 2016
Fast forward to 2016. I had just returned from Dallas, Texas, where I’d been trained as a Zig Ziglar speaker and trainer. But deep down, I knew that my calling wasn’t to stand on a stage and deliver someone else’s material. There was a deeper story inside me—one shaped by faith, poetry, hardship, and quiet perseverance.
That story was about to be drawn into the light.
An Unexpected Introduction
A friend and former colleague invited me to join him on a Facebook Live the very next morning. I said yes, not knowing that moment would change everything. As the camera rolled, he turned to the audience and introduced me—without warning—as the new Spiritual Director for Zig Ziglar Family International. Then he rose from his seat, motioned for me to take his place, and just like that, I was on.
Walking Into Purpose
That spontaneous introduction began a new chapter of my life. I became a voice of encouragement for people all over the world—thousands of listeners I cannot see, but feel profoundly called to serve.
I couldn’t have planned this. I simply did the next thing for years, with my eyes on the Man with the wounds and the radiant face, who reminds me: “Comfort, Comfort My people.”
My journey is a story of faith that carried me through joy, intense loss, and seasons of uncertainty when you have no idea where you will land. It is a story not only of what I had done, but of who I had become. I treasure these words from Jeremiah 6:16:
“Stand at the crossroads and look; ask for the ancient paths, ask where the good way is, and walk in it, and you will find rest for your souls.”

Who Am I to Be?
Many people ask the question: What am I to do?
I believe the real question is:Who am I to be? Who am I to serve?
And even more important: Who am I?
It is absolutely true that life introduces us to ourselves—and also to gifts and hidden abilities we had no idea were there. It is a great adventure, this adventure of life, but it is a frightful journey without a guide. I am humbled to have that Guide.

Rewriting My Life in Liminal Space
And by the way, this wasn’t my first new beginning.
Back in 2008, my husband and I had experienced a seismic shift. The economic collapse left us both without jobs. The church we had planted and led for over two decades was behind us, and the future stretched out like a question mark.
That’s when I encountered spiritual formation not as theory, but as lifeline. It was in that fragile time that I began again—not only with fresh clarity, but with the courage to continue.

Returning to School in my Fifties
I went back to school at fifty-eight to earn a master’s degree in theology with an emphasis in spiritual direction. Although I had taught and studied the Bible for years, there was something essential about being challenged in the area of my passion, learning anew, and listening deeply—not just to God, but to others’ sacred journeys.

The Voice That Told Me Not to Stop
At the same time, my poetry began to bloom into something I couldn’t have imagined. For years, I had scribbled lines of soul-poetry, not knowing where they would land.
At a writer’s conference, I sat discouraged—until I met Phyllis Tickle, religion editor for Publishers Weekly. She read my poems, looked at me fiercely with spectacles perched on her nose, and said: “These are good. Don’t stop. Do you hear me? Never stop.”
And so, I didn’t.

The Seven Sacred Signposts
That moment sparked what would become a treasury of hundreds of poems. Over time, I began to see patterns—Seven Sacred Signposts that reflected the journey of the soul:
Sweetness, Secrets, Surrender, Struggles, Stillness, Suddenlys, and Seeing.
These words were not merely poetic—they were deeply lived. They represent the seasons through which God shapes us:
The Sweetness of grace.
The Secrets of His sacred Word.
The Surrender that opens the heart to follow.
The Struggles that refine the spirit.
The Stillness where God whispers.
The Suddenlys that change and grow us in radical ways.
The Seeing that allows us to perceive divine presence all around.
These became the spiritual anchors of my work, my message, and my calling.

From Poetry to Business
My poetry even led me into business. I founded Hidden Life Inspirational Gifts, creating plaques and products from poems and photography. I traveled the country to trade shows, sharing hope through creative expression.
That business closed after 9/11, but the connections I made led me into licensing work—and eventually, into that fateful Facebook Live in 2016.
Speaking to the World
Since then, I’ve continued to speak, write, and create reels for a worldwide community—thirty to fifty thousand people at a time. I marvel that, by God’s grace, at seventy-two I’m still bearing fruit.
Psalm 92 says:“They will still bear fruit in old age; they will stay fresh and green.”
That is my story.

The Garden Vision Becomes Real
Today, my work continues—not only through writing and speaking, but through the formation of something deeply close to my heart: A Women’s Center for SoulCARE.
This center is the fruit of a quiet vision, one that began in my own backyard. I imagined a sacred garden, a place of beauty and peace, where women could walk a winding path marked by the Seven Sacred Signposts—each one offering space for reflection, healing, and growth.
This dream is now becoming reality. It’s a space where spiritual formation meets embodied rest, where poetry meets purpose, and where the soul can stretch, breathe, and become.
Full Circle-The Question Still Echos!
It’s the next chapter of a story that God continues to write—one step, one seed, one sacred signpost at a time.
And yes, it all circles back to a ten-year-old girl in the front seat of a car, asking:
Who am I, and Why am I here?
That question still echoes through everything I do.I believe it lives in every soul.
And if you listen closely, it just might lead you Home.

Is there a quality that you most attribute to your success?
The Qualities Behind My Success
What quality or characteristic do you feel is most important to your success?
It’s hard to name just one, because for me, success has been less about a single trait and more about a constellation of values that have carried me through seasons of growth and challenge. Here are the seven that have guided me most:
Vision – The ability to see beyond the present and imagine what could be.
Effort – The willingness to persevere, especially when the path is difficult.
Collaboration – The understanding that I was never meant to do it alone.
Patience – The capacity to wait with grace when results are slow to come.
Courage – The strength to step forward into the unknown.
Humility – The openness to learn from others and begin again when needed.
Trust – Trust in God, in the process, and in the quiet unfolding of what cannot yet be seen and the challenges along the way.
Together, these qualities have not only shaped my journey, they’ve kept me grounded and growing all along the way.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.janieseltzer.com
• Instagram: @janiepoet
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/janie.seltzer
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/janieseltzer/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@JaniePoet