Our July Kalon Woman of the month was nominated by Kim Mylls; and as she put it: Jennifer S. Wilkov is the girl who not only makes lemonade from lemons; she is the one that would open a new lemonade store!

Faced with the worse adversity imaginable she was able to turn a horrible situation into something positive.  Her attitude of “how can I make a difference and how can I serve” is a true inspiration.

Jennifer’s purpose is to inspire people everywhere to leap into their lives and live the life they’ve imagined.  She believes it’s in every one of us – we CAN do it.

Ms. Wilkov is known as the “Make It Happen” girl. With nearly two decades of strategic planning and business development experience in corporate America and real life business ownership as a serial entrepreneur, she knows how to take any project from where it is to where you want it to be through proper planning, effective networking and sound marketing strategies that work.

A best selling award winning author, film writer and producer, and creative consultant for projects that ignite her passions, Ms. Wilkov is dedicated to helping individuals understand our world through books, films, blogs and other media with a positive message.

We are honored to have Jennifer as our July Kalon Woman of the Month.  Read on to learn more about this inspiring woman who truly epitomizes the Kalon spirit.

Sandra: What was the inspiration behind your companies?

Jennifer: For my end-to-end book publishing and marketing consulting business called “Your Book Is Your Hook!” I enjoy being a bestselling award winning author who has done it all with books:  writing, publishing, distribution, marketing and promotion.  My book, Dating Your Money: How to Build a Long-Lasting Relationship with Your Money in 8 Easy Steps, went from thought to sales in 90 days including all of these aspects that were spearheaded, written and led by me.  I really love books and offer my services to support first time and seasoned authors with real guidance, support, tools, techniques and tips to leverage their knowledge, wisdom, experience and inspiration with the rest of us.  Books are how many of us learn, get entertained and engage in other areas and ideas we’d like to find out more about.  It is a privilege to serve the Greater Good in this meaningful way.

As the co-creator and co-author of “Boys Before Business”, it brings me great joy to have found the balance in my life between a great love and a fabulous career.  Together, I have it all every day and want to share this know-how with other women who feel this unique combination has eluded them.  I was married.  I got divorced.  I wanted to stop going out on a lot of first dates and find men that were more in sync with the life I want to live.  I found him, the man of my dreams, the man who adores me, supports me and loves me.  We’re a dream team.  I know this is possible for every woman and it’s a blessing to bring this life experience to so many who have craved it for so long.

Sandra: What are you trying to achieve with your companies?

Jennifer: My passion and purpose with “Your Book Is Your Hook!” is to support others with expressing their life experiences through books.  We all love to read.  When we die, our stories and what we’ve learned from our lives die with us.  It is our responsibility to share it in the best ways we know how with others.  I provide the foundational guidance to help any individual learn how to get their book out of themselves and into the marketplace effectively to make a contribution and make a difference.  Whether it’s a fiction, non-fiction or children’s book, a hardcover, paperback or electronic book, your life is meaningful and your experience means something to someone else.  When we share our stories, we enrich the lives of others and our own.

I am head over heels about “Boys Before Business” and the total transformations I’ve witnessed in the women we’ve worked with.  Along with Kimberly Mylls, my beloved writing partner, co-creator, co-facilitator and co-author, I get to assist women with real strategies, techniques and methods that work to find, meet and keep the man of their dreams while enjoying and expanding their brilliant careers.  More happy women who have it all means that we get to do more of what we were born to do accompanied by the love, adoration and appreciation from the men in our lives.  Every woman can have this when they put “Boys Before Business.”

Sandra: What obstacles have you faced?

Jennifer: I have worked through many challenges in my life including overcoming a debilitating digestive disease called Crohn’s disease, leaving a dead marriage, transitioning from Corporate America to being a successful entrepreneur, escaping an abusive relationship quickly with a man who exhibited bi-polar, narcissistic behaviors and nearly wanted to kill me, being accused of and told to plead guilty by Martha Stewart’s attorney to a fraud crime I didn’t commit, and being totally wiped out by the legal system and its alarming processes and protocols.  I haven’t let any of this stop me from serving others with the highest of my abilities and speaking out to inspire others to follow their heart, and believe in themselves and their dreams.

Sandra: What did you have to sacrifice along the way to get to this point in your life?

Jennifer: I have sacrificed much including relationships, time, money and trust in those who didn’t have integrity and approached the world dishonestly.  I, like all of us, have had heartbreaks that hurt.  But I have never given up on the good life God gave me.

I have never sacrificed my own belief in myself, my own integrity and my desire to make a difference in the world around me, wherever my life may take me.

Sandra: How have you changed and/or how have your companies evolved since you started?

Jennifer: “Your Book Is Your Hook!” began when someone came to me and asked me as a best selling award winning author who had gone from thought to sales in 90 days to help him with his project.  I hadn’t originally thought of this as a skill I could bring to others.  Today, I have been called the quintessential writer and teacher for the 21^st century by my students and enjoy supporting first time and seasoned authors with their projects.  From in-house authors for publishing houses to the individual who comes to me with their first book idea, I have developed the consulting support to help each one with their individual needs.  I also speak at expos, conferences and in my own workshops and presentations.

I have been asked by WomensRadio Network to bring “Your Book Is Your Hook!” to the radio airwaves now as a talk show that will begin broadcasting this summer.  Stay tuned.  My involvement with the end-to-end book publishing community continues to expand and I love this!

With “Boys Before Business,” Kim and I have had our book picked up by a publisher and look forward to the release of this in time for the holidays later this year.  We have expanded to provide the “Boys Before Business” Network that is a membership community complete with a great weekly guidance packet for our members that takes them step by step through their own Boys Before Business journey to meet their own Prince Charming.  We just started our live Girlie Chats and look forward to coming to cities everywhere to bring the “Boys Before Business” experience to women everywhere.  The results have already been staggering for us.

Sandra: What are the lessons you’ve learned along the way?

Jennifer: It’s best to work with book consulting clients who are committed to the readers and want to serve their communities with their book.  I’ve found that authors who are more concerned about what their book will do for themselves as opposed to how their book serves the reading public are less satisfied with their book writing and publishing experiences.  When they focus on how to make their project time well spent and a holistic experience for the reader and themselves, they find more joy in the process and reap greater rewards.  When they win this way, we all win and I love consulting on these projects.

There are also parts of a project that some individuals don’t enjoy doing.  I’ve expanded my business by recognizing this and providing a solution using my strengths to fill these gaps for them.  As I identify them, I simplify the activity to close the gap so their time, money and energy are well spent and they get results.

With “Boys Before Business” I’ve learned how fortunate I am to have such a terrific writing partner and co-creator who has the same values, beliefs and dedication to serving women.  Both of us are dedicated to helping women live the lives they’ve imagined and doing what it is they are passionate about.  Boys Before Business embodies what I teach and share with others as a consultant, business professional and as a woman: we really can have it all when we have a great love, love what we do and have a great life.  You CAN do it!

Sandra: How do you define being successful?

Jennifer: Success comes in many shapes and sizes in my life.  I win in big and small ways every day.  Acknowledging that which I do well each day, how I’ve made a difference, what I’ve contributed to the Greater Good and sharing the great love and appreciation I have for those in my life is success for me.  Success begins and ends with love for me.  I love who I am.  I love what I get to do.  I love the people I get to share my life with, and I love the experiences I get – those that challenge me and those that elevate me to greater levels of living the human experience.

Whether I speak to an audience of 1 million or more through the radio or television or whether I speak to 1 person each day, I know that there is something I can do to make this world a better place for us all.  Watching an author hit the best seller list, get that speaking engagement, get that call from a publisher or literary agent, or finish their manuscript and book proposal or hearing a woman say, “I found him and he’s wonderful!” – this is success for me. Success is acknowledging and appreciating these opportunities to contribute and receive the rewards I reap each day.

Sandra: How do you balance work and your personal life?

Jennifer: I practice what I teach and put “Boys Before Business.”  I am so fortunate to be loved by the man of my dreams and to love what I do.  I schedule time for personal relationships and I schedule time for my business activities so each day I get to participate in both.  I have times to work and times where I don’t.  I make few exceptions and make it a point to be present in each moment with the person I’m with.  I use the Dear God Letter to clearly articulate my own goals and dreams and follow the practices we teach with this.  I love my life and I love what I get to do, personally and professionally.  I really do have it all.

Sandra: What worked for you that would be good advice for someone else in their fifties who are now reinventing themselves or pursing their passion for the first time?

Jennifer: You CAN do it!  Identify what it is you want and commit yourself, heart, soul, time, energy, money and every ounce of effort you’ve got to your dreams.  Believe that you can have them and that you deserve them.  After 9 career changes, believe me, I’ve reinvented myself enough times to know that bouncing back and moving forward depends on your attitude, motivation and what you focus on.  Keep your eyes on the prize and be clear about how what you do serves your passions and how the people you want to contribute to benefit from your work.

Clarity is the key to everything in life.  It speeds everything up.  Get clear about what you want to achieve, be, do and have.  Learn about the Dear God Letter process to make clarity easier for you and take this first step to achieving your goals and dreams.  (www.DearGodLetter.com)  It’s a proven fact that when you write it down, you have a greater chance for success.

Do everything in your power to make your dreams come true.  Ask for help in the areas for which you need support.  Do what you love.  Those who benefit from it will thank you and appreciate your efforts and great work.

Sandra: What’s next – any new goals or exciting things happening with your company or in your life?

Jennifer: I am now learning more about screenwriting for film and television and look forward to expanding my writing credits beyond books and freelance articles to these areas.

My 5^th book, Boys Before Business: The Single Girl’s Guide to Having It All co-written with Kimberly Mylls, will be available in stores and online in Fall 2009, just in time for the holidays, New Year’s resolutions and Valentine’s Day.  Our Boys Before Business Network continues to grow and expand with more members who want to have it all and we’re scheduling more live Girlie Chats in cities across the country beginning Fall 2009.  www.BoysBeforeBusiness.com

My radio show, “Your Book Is Your Hook!” serving authors, wanna-be authors and writing professionals everywhere will begin airing this summer on the WomensRadio Network and the next version of the “Your Book Is Your Hook!” website will launch this summer too.   www.YourBookIsYourHook.com Check out the variety of self-study classes and teleseminar series offered to bolster your experience as a successful best selling author.

I enjoy continuing to serve authors and writers as a private consultant and to expanding my own accomplished freelance writing career following my article in Marie Claire in April 2009 about my own legal situation and surviving my own prison experience in one of the nation’s most violent prisons.

I continue to speak and teach as many people as I can reach with my “You CAN Do It!” message.  I do believe that every person can do whatever “it” is for them in any situation, circumstance and condition.  I have.  You can too.  www.jenniferswilkov.com.

Jennifer, I want to thank you for sharing your story with our readers and thank you for being an inspiration to women across the world.

Sandra Levitin

I love being in my fifties! Smack in the middle of the baby boomer generation of women; a generation of women unlike any other. A group of women not ready to move over, lie down or let life pass them by sitting in a rocking chair.

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