As writers, we are all creatives at heart.
As marketing writers, that creativity often gets trampled beneath the boot of the almighty dollar (or peso, euro, pound—you get the idea).
In any case, Solutions 8 Content Writer and Copywriter (yes, there’s a difference) Jani Kahukiwa is one of those rare souls who manages to channel her seemingly boundless creativity into writing for an industry that is hell-bent on replacing her at every turn with the latest AI tool.
And for that, she is my hero.
Her Solutions 8 journey began with a wish fulfilled.
Just three months before she joined the Solutions 8 team, Jani had written in her journal: “I wish someone would pay me to write.” Soon after, a friend told her we were looking for a copywriter.
The opportunity came at the right moment, and now she spends her days composing killer ad copy for our clients as well as writing highly engaging blogs to enlighten our readers. When I asked her what she enjoys most about her job, she told me: the people, the people, the people; words, words, words.
Of course, not every day is a walk in the park when you have a creative brain, but Jani has ways of drawing inspiration from the universe:
“I look to the ad copy gods in the sky, do my lucky ad copy dance around a bonfire and hope they send me the right words to sell that toothpaste, phone case, or sparkly necklace. When it comes to content writing, I just write. Whatever stupid thing pops into my head is good and valid. I can fix it later. I can’t fix an empty page.“
Phenomenal advice to writers at any stage in their journey.
Now, about those documentaries.
Jani has no shortage of hobbies to fill her time. During her down time, you may find her jumping out of a plane, diving with sharks, hitting the local BMX track, watching badger documentaries, coding, spelunking, or playing GTA or Pokémon GO. On those really special weekends, however, you will find her knitting.
Now, here I should probably mention that I gave her free rein to fabricate her answers as much as she wanted, so I will leave it to you to decide whether or not she was being 100% truthful.
(Either way, don’t we all love a good story?)
A galaxy far, far away…
Jani was born in the star cluster known as the Pleiades, grew up an Arcturian, but now says she is a bona fide Andromedan. She says she doesn’t really look like them, but she has an affinity for the place.
On that note, when I asked if she believes in aliens, Jani responded, “The Milky Way contains anywhere between 100 and 400 billion stars (some say 8 trillion!). Our sun is just one of those. The entire universe contains 100 to 200 billion galaxies. Naturally, I believe in aliens.”
You really can’t argue with that logic.
Here on planet Earth, however, she says Lake Boorangoora (sometimes called Lake McKenzie) is her favorite place she has visited so far. A perched lake located on K’gari (formerly Fraser Island) in Australia, its name means “waters of wisdom.”
Jani also shared with me the myth of Lake Boorangoora: K’gari was a spirit who provided help to Yindingie, messenger of the great god Beeral. In return for her good deed, Beeral turned K’gari into a beautiful island. The deep blue lake is one of her eyes.
A wanderer at heart, Jani also has dreams of visiting Norway. When asked if she preferred cities or remote places, she said, “Neither or both. Ideally, I’d spend three months in a bustling city, three months on a deserted island, three months on a mountain top, and three months beside a lake in the countryside.
A few words about family members (human and otherwise) and food
Jani says she LOVES her family, all of them, and that she is surrounded by learning, functioning, curious, time-traveling creatures. Her favorites, though, are the four-legged ones. Ferruccio and Zac are their names, and they have to be cuddled and scratched and cooed to before they go to bed. In the morning, Jani often wakes when Zac jumps on the bed.
“The human ones are a different kettle of fish,” Jani told me. “The two younger ones are teenagers. They tend to mumble and lock themselves in their room a lot. I find myself driving them places and giving them money. The hubby is pleasant and cooks for me. I am happy with my lot.”
Speaking of cooking, she says if given the option, she would prefer going out. “Only because my husband cooks all the time and I’d like him to take a break. He cooks better than most chefs. He cooks, I get fat.”
Her favorite dish is bagna càuda (meaning hot bath), a rich sauce made of cream, garlic, and anchovies and served as a dip for fresh vegetables. It’s her favorite because she became a vegetarian a year and a half ago and she misses it dearly. In case you’re curious, bagna càuda looks like this:
There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy.
When Jani and I talked about past lives, she told me she’s pretty sure she is on life number 600 (or somewhere thereabouts). “I’ve been a farmer, a soldier, a wife, a husband, a lover, a hermit, a witch, a priest, a sinner, a saint, a scholar, the village idiot, a king, a pauper.”
At the moment, she has a strange obsession with King David because she read Joseph Heller’s book “God Knows” while she was in Greece about thirty years ago.
She explained that she views the human experience as a multifaceted kaleidoscope of infinite learning possibilities and potential, proclaiming, “You gotta come back. It’s bloody interesting to be a human!”
Has she ever had a spiritual experience?
“Yes. Many times. Whenever I breathe, whenever I laugh, whenever I cry, it feels otherworldly. Then there was that time I took ayahuasca in the Orinoco flow. Then there were all those drugs in the sixties, oh man, those were the days!”
Interesting facts (or are they?) about Jani
As a kid, she wanted to be a secretary when she grew up—specifically, Mary Tyler Moore in Minneapolis. “I loved the clothes she wore and the house she lived in.”
She recently resolved the Riemann hypothesis. Unfortunately, her dog ate the proof.
If she could visit any museum in the world, it would be El Museo Nacional del Prado. Why? Because her daughter Desnuda is named after Francisco Goya’s, La Maja Desnuda, and she would love to visit with her.
If she were going to compete in an Olympic sport, it would be archery, because she loves the history of the longbow.
If she had the opportunity to redesign society as we know it, kindness would be her currency of choice.
The strangest thing in her home is a safe with no money in it. “It came with the house when we bought it. Didn’t know until we moved in.”
She hopes people describe her as sunny, aloof, non-invasive, and mysterious—even though she is sunny, aloof, invasive, and you can read her like an open book.
The Code of Successful Living (according to Jani)
- Observe the flow and go with it.
- While there’s breath in this body, life is pretty damn good.
- The universe balances everything in its own sweet time.
- Have faith.
- I can’t change you, I can change me.
- Love love love love love love love love love love and never stop.
Not bad… for an Andromedan. Hopefully she’ll hang around this Pale Blue Dot a little longer so we can keep soaking up her infinite wisdom.
Pamela Sapio
