Book 101 Review

Jobert E. Abueva Author, The Janus Plan (Sept 2026) | TEDx Speaker | Driving Global Impact: Philanthropy, Marketing, Nonprofit Board Service
Jobert E. Abueva grew up between worlds. Born in the Philippines and raised across Nepal, Thailand, and Japan through his father's academic work, he has spent his career learning that the hardest threshold to cross is the one inside yourself. The Janus Plan is what he found on the other side. A global marketing and philanthropy executive at ETS (Princeton, NJ) whose career spans Fortune 500 leadership and international brand building, Jobert burned out running one of the world's most recognizable beauty brands, Clairol Herbal Essences, and turned that reckoning into a framework for beginning again. He is the author of Boy Wander: A Coming of Age Memoir (Rattling Good Yarns Press) and earned the Lambda Literary J. Michael Samuel Prize. His fiction, essays, and journalism have appeared in The New York Times, The Philadelphia Inquirer, Fortune, and Entrepreneur, among other publications. In April 2026, Jobert delivered a TEDx Talk, “Beyond Resolutions: The Art of Beginning with Intention,” at the University of Texas at Dallas, his first public presentation of The Janus Plan framework. He also publishes the newsletter Past • Future • Present, a growing community exploring intentional living and purposeful transitions. Jobert holds a BA in Economics and Asian Studies from the University of Michigan–Ann Arbor and an MBA from Columbia Business School. He serves on nonprofit boards including the WHYY Community Advisory Board, the Lambda Literary Foundation, and the ACME Screening Room. He shares his time between New Hope, Pennsylvania, and New York City.

Brandon Leibowitz 
I have been involved with digital marketing since 2007 and want to share my knowledge about SEO, Social Media Marketing, and Google Ads.
My name is Brandon Leibowitz and I run and operate SEO Optimizers. We are a digital marketing company that focuses on helping small and medium-sized businesses get more online traffic, which in turn converts into clients, sales, leads, etc. I got my start in digital marketing in 2007 after graduating from college with my degree in Business Marketing. In my first job, I handled the marketing aspects of an e-commerce website. The company that I worked for was a national e-commerce brand that had recently built their website and was looking to bring more traffic to it. I had no idea what I was doing and neither did they. I spent a lot of my time reading books and joining digital marketing forums to learn as much as possible about this new type of marketing.

Mark Taylor Creative and inspiring learning
Mark has been a professional percussionist for 25 years and has had the opportunity of performing with some the UK’s finest orchestras and theatre companies. With 3 children and his experience of delivering whole class music workshops around the UK, Mark wanted to share the creative and inspiring learning he was witnessing in schools. This was the start of the Education on Fire podcast in 2016. Today the show has released over 500 episodes and has been downloaded in over 150 countries.

Mark Taylor 
Ex Crime scene photographer becomes Daniel Craig Double and author.
Mark is an ex crime scene photographer for the met police in London who now works in film as a support artist, stand in and double. He's doubled for Daniel Craig on 3 projects but also worked on film and TV shows such as Andor, The Ipcress File, No Time to Die, The Magicians Nephew, The Thomas Crown affair, The Capture and many, many more. He's also the author of 2 novels, a film screenplay and an autobiography that details an incredibly varied and exciting life, from growing up with a Scientologist father who thought he was Jesus to working on cruise ships, a glamour studio and anti terrorist operations in the police. No wonder he took to writing about Jack the Ripper and reincarnation.

Jenny Leigh Hodgins Creative Empowerment Coach, Author, Music Educator, Vocalist/Pianist, Composer, Poet
I’m Jenny Leigh Hodgins, a Creative Empowerment Coach, author, music educator, vocalist/pianist, composer, and poet with over 30 years of experience guiding individuals in creative growth, performance, and authentic self-expression.I help creatives, busy professionals, overwhelmed caregivers, and creatively curious adults restore energy, overcome creative blocks, rebuild trust in their creativity, and cultivate sustainable creative flow. My approach blends burnout recovery strategies, creative empowerment practices, and insights from my longtime Buddhist practice, all centered on my mission of Empowering Creative Flow and Inspired Living.As a solo caregiver navigating complex family dynamics and estrangement, and as a former HOA board president and community leader who transformed neglected systems, I bring firsthand experience in resilience, leadership, and personal growth.