About

About this Blog

Hello there and welcome to Lucky Dog Musings!  I started this blog at the end of 2010 to share my story of transition from a 24/7 corporate career professional to an authentic well balanced individual.   I write about my current interests, experiences and adventures which include bicycling, health and wellness, simple living, and food.  I also share in my story of becoming a writer.

Why Lucky Dog Musings?  First, Lucky is the name of our dog.  We adopted her when we were living in Hong Kong.  She is a collie/chow mix and she has been a loyal and faithful companion for the last ten years.  I have learned a lot from Lucky and what she has taught me is very relevant to life.  Loyalty, focus, and living in the present are a few of the lessons I have learned from Lucky.  Besides the literal Lucky Dog, there is a figurative Lucky Dog.  A wonderful husband, good health, and a successful career are a few of the things which fortune has bestowed upon me (with a lot of hard work and heart ache along the way of course).  Next, musings is defined as a period of reflection or thought.  Putting it together results in Lucky Dog Musings.

I hope that this blog will inspire, amuse and entertain my readers.

About Me

My name is Leigh Janko.  I am married and live in Fort Collins with my husband, Renold Yip, and our dog Lucky.  After nearly twenty years as a professional engaged in the interior fabrics industry, I resigned from my Regional Sales Director position in September 2010 to pursue other interests.  I loved the work I did and the industry allowed me many wonderful opportunities for which I am thankful.  My primary roles have been in sales and sales management.  In addition, I owned a business in Hong Kong for five years.  I have worked and lived in many places including Hong Kong, Seattle, the Washington D.C. area and Northern Colorado.  My travels have taken me to numerous countries and continents.  I grew up in a suburb of Chicago.

Within the last couple of years, I began to feel that my life was somewhat one dimensional and focused primarily on work.  (I am not much different than most 40 somethings searching for the meaning of life!)  We do not have children and having a very strong, immigrant work ethic has meant a lot of my life has been devoted to work.  That is not a bad thing, I simply started to think the ratio between work and experiencing life was not really in balance.  I have always enjoyed the outdoors and after moving to Northern Colorado in 2006, I found myself surrounded by nature.  Hiking and biking were calling to me.  Having lost three close family members in the last several years, I found myself researching the connection between stress, exercise (or lack of), and nutrition as it relates to physical well being.  The "Great Recession" of 2008/9 revealed that a large part of "financial well being" was outside of my (or any other average person's) control.  While all of these things were swirling in my mind, a creative self was emerging and demanding attention.

After a serious review of our finances and a lot of encouragement and support from Renold, I resigned from my job.  I am in a period of transition and I believe these other interests will take me in a direction that allows a more authentic self to emerge.  At some point, I will need to earn a living again (unless I win the lottery).  My goal is to become a full time freelance writer.

Here is a photo of myself and Lucky:

And a family photo:

And a photo of Lucky doing her favorite thing:

Thanks for getting to know me!

Whatever you can do, or dream you can do, begin it.  Boldness has genius, power and magic in it.  Begin it now.  

- Goethe