Jane is the founder of The Unwinding Compass, a system that helps people overcome busy minds. Her presentations take you on a journey to joyfully explore the power that a calm mind can bring to the work and the vision of both individuals and organizations.

Her passion offers a valuable understanding of how to access the benefits of pausing, slowing down, and gaining a calm mind for improved insight and resilience. Her inspiration provides guidance on how to discover solutions through stillness.

Jane is a former Maya archaeologist. In her twenties, Jane’s life took a sharp turn when she was diagnosed with cancer and regained her strength with yoga practices after surgery. With her husband, Jimmy, she co-owned the first creativity and wellness retreat center in North Texas.

Drawing on her experience as an archaeologist, a hospitality entrepreneur, an Ayurvedic chef, a cancer thriver, and two decades of teaching yoga, Jane brings compelling stories and inspiration to life that give audiences a fresh perspective on health and wellbeing.

Jane is a nominee for the 2023 class of Leadership Women Texas and is an active member in The Great Girls Network. She serves as the volunteer marketing coordinator for the North Texas chapter of the National Speakers Association. And is a past advisory board member of the Mineral Wells Area Chamber of Commerce.

What audiences you speak for?

Caregivers is my focused market – counselors, therapists, psychiatrists, functional medicine doctors, nurses – professionals that want a proven system they can use to calm busy mind and also share with their patients and clients.

What led you to this career?

I created a mind calming system called The Unwinding Compass through consistent meditation and other mindfulness practices over the course of twenty years. Just before the pandemic I decided to teach other’s the system to see if it was just me or this system actually worked to help others calm their busy minds as well. The timing has been perfect with the demand for help with stress relief that people desire. Speaking to groups allows me to share this system so that it will be of benefit to as many people as possible.

What’s one professional skill you’re currently working on?

Building my confidence as a speaker – being what I speak. I believe that letting my stories reveal the points I am trying to make will give me the confidence I seek. Many NSA members make that seem effortless and effortless takes time and experience so practice, practice, practice is my motto.

What’s your go-to productivity trick?

Starting my day with 15 minutes of meditation and 10 minutes of journal writing is as essential as breakfast to prepare me for the day ahead. Most of the material I use for my audio meditations come from this practice.

I also need structure, so I use a combination of Trello-Todist-Centered. I add ideas I want to work on to my Trello board, which automatically links with my to-do list on Todoist. Centered is a wonderful productivity app that integrates with Todoist so when I open the app to go to work all of my ideas are already there ready to go!

Who has influenced you most when it comes to how you approach your work?

My approach is non-linear. I’m most comfortable working without an outline and letting my imagination stretch to the far reaches of possibility. Dr. Lisa Lucero taught me how to use this skill as an archaeologist to create theories that could be tested. When we worked together in the Maya jungles of Belize we collected data at the temples and house mounds by day and spent our evenings theorizing and hypothesizing their meaning. She taught me it is possible to be idea-oriented and effective. The method is the playpen. The ideas are the playground.

What’s a mistake you made early on in your career, and what did you learn from it?

Believing that the answer to helping people through sharing my work was in the amount of content I posted. Most of my posts didn’t engage people and I was so busy creating content that I didn’t stop to ask why that was happening. I assumed because I wasn’t posting enough.

I learned that I wasn’t engaging people because I wasn’t engaging with people. When I started going to weekly networking events and meeting people – listening to their issues and concerns, sharing what I do – I felt more connected to people. When I heard them first hand I began to make more videos, my posts became more authentic and engaged more people, creating content became easier.

What’s a work-related accomplishment that you’re really proud of?

Working as an archaeologist in Belize I found a very rare item, a tooth inlaid with jade. The item was rare and also the location, far away from any temple or site where an elite member of society would be expected. Our whole theory and scope of work changed after that. Later that year I was asked to give a talk about my find at an archaeology symposium and discovered my enjoyment of talking to groups.