Behind The Screens: Janne Robinson

 

THE POET WHO DOESN'T GIVE A FUCK

Rebel//Feb 2018

 

IN ONE LINE, DESCRIBE WHAT JANNE ROBINSON/THIS IS FOR THE WOMEN IS.

Janne Robinson is a 21st-century feminist beat poet, director, author of 'This Is for the Women Who Don't Give a Fuck' and CEO of 'This Is For The Women'—a company dedicated to empowering women to walk tall like an old cypress tree.

 

HOW DID YOU BEGIN? HAPPY ACCIDENT OR INTENTIONAL?

When I was 18 I started to write really personal descriptions of my journeys through Australia. I changed a lot that year and I started to share some of those writings on Facebook. And one of my friends said I should become a travel writer. So I took 30 things I'd written and submitted everything I'd written to 100+ travel magazines. Everyone denied me. Well, shit. I figured out quickly that I wasn’t that kind of writer. I was more personal. I had a roommate who said my stuff was way too personal to put on Facebook and that I should start a blog. Like put it there, over in that corner. And I'm so happy I never listened to her. I mean I have 50000 followers at my personal almost 40000 in my author page and it's how I share with people. I was discovered by Elephant Journal shortly after and they were really excited about my voice. And at that moment I remember feeling published for the first time in history online really felt like

I was someone and that, hell yeah, I'm good at that. And it kind of went on from there.

 

HOW LONG HAVE YOU BEEN WRITING?

I've been writing since I was little. I was published in third grade and I wrote short stories in junior high. But I never I never thought that I wanted to be a writer. I wanted to be a real estate agent because I thought that was a cool job that would make me a lot of money.

 

YOUR WRITING MAKES IT SEEM THAT YOU ARE A NON-CONFORMIST. I CONSIDER YOU A REBEL. DO YOU CONSIDER YOURSELF ONE?I think so, yeah. I believe that honoring our truth is our most important part in this great world. But I think that a lot of us conform because we unconsciously are on a very primal level, just terrified of being ostracized and not having that connection we all so desire. You work in the virtual world with many people having direct access to you which comes with preconceived notions....how do you handle the overstimulation from so many comments, DM's, and opinions of your work via keyboard? Is it vulnerable to be so "out" there? One of the most beautiful beliefs that I have, andneed, to navigate the world is that we do not control the feelings or thoughts of anyone. I'm not accountable for how the world reacts to something so I really just need to be sure that I feel really good in my creation.

 

CAN YOU DESCRIBE WHAT A DAY IN YOU LIFE LOOKS LIKE FOR YOU?I usually wake up in the morning around sunrise, make a coffeeand head for my Jeep to get to the water. In the morning I go to the ocean. It puts me at my absolute best. Every single day. Then I'llgo and make a huge kick ass breakfast and then the a second coffee and then I'll work there are a couple of hours. The past two years up until 3 months ago I was cramming too much on my plate. Thanks to some key people in my life I have much better balance and control on burnout and working.

 

CLOSE YOUR EYES... WHERE ARE YOU IN 20 YEARS?

I see a house on the ocean, coffee in cups, my jeep in the driveway, a man. For me happiness and joy, ironically since I spent so much time saying....screw suburbia, kind of looks like that in the future. I am really looking forward to setting some roots down and growing the personal side of my life and relationships. And of course to continue to work on my one true love, my writing.

 

TELL ME ABOUT "THIS IS FOR THE WOMEN."

I’ve been trying to make this for 2 years. My spoken word poem had more than a million views and I it was suggested that people may want to tangibly hold it. But I have had lots of learnings as I’ve stuck to the Made In US that I wanted. It’s been such a journey for me to stick to my integrity. I never wanted to start a company with cheap, shitty, stuff. It’s now it’s own company and I have so many ideas. Eventually I see retreats and a non-profit.

 

FAVORITE WORD, QUOTE, LYRIC, BOOK, PERSON, STORY THAT HELPED YOU BECOME WHO YOU ARE TODAY...AND MIGHT BE HELPFUL TO OUR READERS WITH THE SAME AMBITIONS AS YOU.

"Don't try." —Charles Bukowski

 

Background, Context & Reference

 

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