Heyyy! I’m Siera Janaé, Founder of The LIGHTER Society
And I am a firm believer that you can turn pain and loss into power by using it to spark change that leads to the work and life you desire.
As a former caregiver to my mother, Janeane, who unfortunately passed away in 2013 from a terminal illness and the daughter of a disabled father who suffered a life-altering stroke when I was 10 years old, I have firsthand experience with trauma and loss. The complex trauma that came out of those experiences and others consistently used to make me feel stuck, unworthy, and powerless. However, those same experiences also led me to become giving and resilient, which I had not always acknowledged until I started becoming intentional about my healing. When I noticed trauma and loss creating a sense of stagnancy, unworthiness, and powerlessness for so many people around me, I knew I had to help change that by empowering them to leverage trauma and pain for power and not defeat.
Regardless of whether you’re an executive at a Fortune 500 company, stay-at-home mother, or the president, trauma and loss don’t discriminate. The fact is an unhealed past prevents you from showing up powerfully in the present .
But the excellent news is that by healing and being informed, you can still go on to live a vibrant life and have transformative experiences that enable you to heal after trauma and loss. So no, I don’t have a medical degree, nor am I a therapist. I am, however, a resilient, multi-faceted boss Black woman who helps others maintain their resilience and stay in their power or recognize it for the first time. I value healing, authenticity, peace, and creativity, as much as I value myself, the people I love, and what I do. And lastly, I am a cultivator of innovative ideas that change the lives of people and disrupt social and economic norms.
In fact, my greatest project and mission is to help as many people globally as possible reclaim power from hardship so they can live their best lives and become the innovators that leave a stamp on the world.
You can think of me not only as the Founder, but as the Guiding Light of this wonderful powerhouse.
Ensuring people become more trauma-informed is part of my work. However, helping you lead a life and career you can feel proud of and satisfied with is my passion. I want you to direct and manifest whatever version of life you envision for yourself with courage instead of fear. And I want to give you the support you deserve as you aim to flourish out of the past into an amazing future.
If you want these things too, you’re in the right place. Also, if you’re an organization seeking to understand how to communicate from a trauma-informed lens, you’re also in the right place.
The LIGHTER Society is a love letter to anyone who has ever experienced trauma, especially all who aim to defy the institutions that try to prevent them from existing authentically and from having the means to do so. It’s also a tribute to my mother, Janeane.
Short & Sweet Bio
Siera Janaé is a remarkably creative visionary determined to see more women believing they are powerful, competent, and valuable enough in business, at work, and within their personal lives. As the Founder of The LIGHTER Society, she strives to help people reclaim their inner light and go after their dreams, no matter how daring or trivial to others. Her background as a young caregiver to her late mother, Janeane, sparked her lifelong mission to help people flourish out of their difficult pasts into their futures with an understanding of their value. She also aims to help people center peace, creativity, and rest within their lives.
Siera graduated magna cum laude with a bachelor’s degree in business and communications. She is pursuing her Master of Arts degree in Trauma-Informed Leadership and her From Grief to Gratitude Grief Coach certification. Siera is a mental health advocate, skin and hair product lover, and nerd at heart. Currently, she lives in NYC with her Goldendoodle dog son, Paxton.