By Jessica Hamilton,
Item Correspondent
In 1982, Ellen Junious walked the halls of Sam Houston State University as a pre-law freshman. Twenty-four years later, with the release of her new book, it seems Junious has embarked on a different path. “It doesn’t seem like that long ago. It feels like just yesterday I was enrolling at Sam. I try to stay young,” Junious said.
Though she has always had a flare for law and government, Junious admits that it wasn’t always her focus. “I was pre-law at Sam but I do have a lot of different interest and things that I do. I would say my focus has always been in two areas - management and personal development,” she said. Today, Junious is utilizing her passion for business and people to help others achieve their goals. Aside from teaching business classes at Cy-Fair College, she is a professional speaker, a certified life coach, and now a published author.
“My book focuses on personal development and personal growth,” Junious said. “People struggle because we’ re being challenged in our corporate environment. There’s a lot of change and down-sizing. I work to help people deal with that change, realize their goals, and meet their full potential.”
Though her book, Unleash the Power of Personal Advantage, had its official release yesterday, the process has been two years in the making. “I began writing in 2005 but it wasn’t really in book form so I started doing workshops on all the topics I had written to see people how would respond to the material,” she said.
After receiving feedback from her workshops in Florida and Texas, Junious wrote her book on “seven keys to unlock potential success” and has had people talking ever since.
Junious was recently featured on TheGrits.com, a promotional, online literary radio station. “I think it went extremely well. I had a lot of positive feedback,” she said. “It’s still all so new. I anticipate that I will be speaking more and have a couple more radio interviews after the release.”
While the “seven keys” could easily apply to the business classes she teaches, Junious says she doesn’t use them directly in lecture. “Since the book is just being released, I don’t talk about the actual principles in class,” Junious said. “I share my work experiences and use real world examples. I take the textbook and bring it to life for them.” Because Junious has been involved in many organizations such as the National Black MBA Association and Texas Diversity Council, she is able to invite her contacts into the classroom. “I help connect the students with different organizations by bringing people in that I’ve worked with,” she said. “It’s a great way to start them off and help the students network.”
In between book signings and lectures, Junious dedicates much of her time to being a life coach. “As a life coach, I’m there for support. I’m supportive of another person who wants to achieve a particular goal and I help them discover that the answer to many of their questions is actually within themselves,” Junious said.
Junious meets with numerous clients either in person or over the phone, as she has one client who calls from Canada for her services. “I just like to help people reach their full potential,” Junious said.
Unleash the Power of Personal Advantage can be purchased online at Amazon.com and other online book retailers.
Comments