Janet Ivey on Wonder, Space, and Inspiring Young Explorers

Susan Wise: Hi, and welcome to Stars Launch Pod, Space Technology and Research Sciences—brought to you by StarSciences.org, where we connect, collaborate, and accelerate. I’m your host, Susan Wise, and I am thrilled and so excited to have with us on Stars Launch Pod today, Janet Ivey of Janet’s Planet. Yay!

Janet Ivey, CEO of Janet’s Planet, Inc.: Hi, everybody.

Susan Wise: Janet is the CEO and founder of Janet’s Planet and the 2022 American Astronomical Society recipient of the Sally K. Ride Excellence in Education Award. Janet is an educator, speaker, and advocate, bringing science, storytelling, and space to life for students of all ages—including this older student right here. I’m a huge fan and so thrilled to have you here, Janet. Welcome.

Janet Ivey: Thank you for having me. And for anybody out there listening—this opportunity was brought to my attention by a former student, someone I still mentor. He’s twelve. So big shout-out to Lucas for the introduction to you, Susan.

Susan Wise: He was wonderful. Thank you so much for being with us. Let’s start by telling people a little bit about Janet’s Planet. Can you do that?

Janet Ivey: Sure! Janet’s Planet is an education company. We’re either in performing arts centers doing a live show, we’re conducting teaching residencies, or we’re hosting what I call Janet’s Planet Astronaut Academies. When I started almost 25 years ago—the idea actually came about four years before that—we began as interstitials on public television. Eventually someone said, “Hey, you could probably tour this if you put together a show.” Then someone else said, “Do you have camps?” Then COVID happened, and we completely flipped and launched an online platform where I taught students virtually for several years.

I realized I love being in person with students, but I learned the virtual space can also create meaningful connections. So when people ask, “What exactly is Janet’s Planet?”—the answer is that it’s an entire galaxy of things. It’s outreach, it’s a platform, it’s a show—many things under one umbrella.

Susan Wise: I love your show. I learned so many things—I was glued to it. It was very enlightening. Tell us what you’re currently working on to further the space industry.

Janet Ivey: A couple of things. I guess the most fun I have is when I get to be in a class or an auditorium. A few weeks ago, I was in a gymnasium with 170 third graders, explaining the Artemis II mission—how we’ll finally have astronauts orbit the Moon again. It’s been over 53 years since we’ve done anything like that!

There’s something magical about explaining the mechanism, then saying, “We don’t have a lunar lander yet—let’s see what YOU can build.” I gamify it and say, “If you come up with a really great idea, I might have to call my friends at NASA.” And then they build these incredible concepts. I take pictures and sometimes send them to a friend at JPL: “Hey, we don’t have a lander yet—maybe this is something!”

The hands-on outreach and teaching residencies—that’s one huge part. Often I’m going into very rural areas. For example, I’ll be in Klamath Falls, Oregon, where 25% of folks live at the poverty level. Being able to go there, fully funded by a grant, and give kids a window of opportunity—those “Oh, I didn’t know that was possible” moments—that’s everything.

We need a future workforce for the space industry, so part of my mission is to expose kids who might not otherwise have these opportunities.

This past summer, through the Janet’s Planet Explore Science Foundation, we were able to send 25 kids to Space Camp—19 to the U.S. Space & Rocket Center and six to the Cosmosphere. They also run space academies.

Lastly—and this has been my dream for a long time—we are working with an animation company in Brazil on an animated version of Janet’s Planet. The good news: as I age, the animated Janet will not.

Susan Wise: I love that.

Janet Ivey: No Botox for her! Fingers crossed. That’s a big dream—an animated series carrying all the science content.

Susan Wise: You mentioned the students—some as young as third grade. I can only imagine some of the questions you get. Is there one that comes to mind that really floored you?

Janet Ivey: Well, it depends on where I am.

Susan Wise: “How do you pee in space?”

Janet Ivey: Yes—there’s always the bathroom question! But some are profound. I’ll never forget being in Newberry, South Carolina. We were talking about building habitats on Mars, and this very solemn child asked, “Could you build a church on Mars?” I said, “If it’s important to you, yes.”

Then there’s the kid who says, “Janet, you know there are microorganisms and potentially microbial life in the Martian regolith…” and they know more than me! Or they ask about black holes and spaghettification or wormholes. And I’m like, “Exactly. YOU’RE going to be the one to figure that out.”

I love saying, “You know what? I don’t know the answer. Your job is to get really knowledgeable about it, and next time I’m here, YOU teach me and everyone else.”

Susan Wise: I love that.

Janet Ivey: That opens the corridors of curiosity. They become the researchers. I’m not spoon-feeding information.

Susan Wise: What has been one of your big “aha” moments on this journey?

Janet Ivey: I’ve had several lightbulb moments, but the biggest was realizing that we tend to dumb down content for kids when we should be talking to them like they’re the best innovators ever. I’ve found—whether it’s kids on the spectrum, kids with ADHD, or whatever their special awesomeness is—that if I love first, teach second, and treat them as colleagues, it’s astounding what they create.

That personal relationship is key. If I build a relationship, they want to do the work. If I create an experience, they love the experience. When you put those together—relationship and experience—you get long-term engagement.

Susan Wise: That gave me goosebumps. I love it. I’m sure this journey hasn’t come without challenges. What has been one of your biggest challenges—and how did you overcome it?

Janet Ivey: When I first entered the space scene, I’d been doing public television interstitials for a while. I self-funded a DVD project and reached out to a lot of people. One guy from the National Space Society, Richard Godwin, told me, “If you don’t do anything else, go to the International Space Development Conference.”

Because of scheduling, I sent a representative to pass out the DVD. After that, invitations started rolling in—to conventions, and even to produce something for Space Florida about microgravity. The timing worked out perfectly.

But my biggest challenge? Being misunderstood. I work with kids. I’m a theatrical actress. I project. I’m enthusiastic. And that can overwhelm certain people. Early on, at a space conference, a couple of gentlemen asked me, “Are you always like this?”

Pretty much! Even later, after I was President of Explore Mars, backstage managing speakers, someone else asked me, “Are you always like this?”

There’s a moment when you think, “Should I apologize? Should I tone it down?” But I recently read, “I’m a strong cup of coffee. I may be your brand, or I may not—but I’m not going to hide my light.”

People would say, “What you do is so cute.” And I thought—nothing about classroom-managing 170 third graders is cute.

So I had to overcome the imposter syndrome. And then this space artist, Pat Rawlings, changed everything. I was at a conference in Austin about ten years ago. I said something apologetic about my work, and after the person walked away, Pat said, “I know what you have—imposter syndrome.”

He told me a story of how NASA engineers would bring him designs to illustrate. He’d add things like handles or mirrors, thinking no one would notice. The engineers would come back and say, “Thank you! That’s exactly what we needed!”

He said, “I realized that if I was invited to the table, I was meant to be there. Same for you. If you’re invited to educate and help build the future workforce, you’re meant to be here.”

It was a turning point. I stopped apologizing for who I am.

Susan Wise: I love who you are. Your presence is contagious—your energy is on another level and lifts everyone in the room.

Janet Ivey: Thank you. But you know—it’s a physics principle. Energy is never destroyed; it’s only transferred. You have to be a torus of energy with kids. Our attention spans are like gnats on espresso! If I’m not fully engaged, they won’t be either. So I send out a life force of “I care about you—now let’s create something.”

Susan Wise: What one piece of advice would you like to share with our listeners?

Janet Ivey: I’m going to quote my favorite theologian, Frederick Buechner: “You will always be called to the place where your deep gladness and the world’s deep hunger meet.”

So my advice: find your deep gladness. There is someone out there who needs exactly what you have to offer. Opportunities will come from surprising places.

Be authentic—no matter how many head pats or “Are you always like this?” comments you get. Find what lights you up—what makes you jump out of bed excited.

And never assume what you have is too small to matter. I always tell kids about Clyde Tombaugh, discoverer of Pluto. His family’s farm was destroyed before he could go to college, so he built his own telescope out of farm parts and old Buick headlights. He sketched the planets and sent his drawings to Lowell Observatory—they hired him. With no college degree, he discovered Pluto in 10 months.

And the 11-year-old girl who named Pluto—Venetia Burney—named it simply because she thought the god of the underworld fit a dark, distant world. The Royal Astronomical Society couldn’t agree, so her grandfather mentioned her suggestion. And the adults said, “Sounds good to us.”

Never assume you’re too young, too old, too uneducated, too anything. Your impact matters.

Susan Wise: Thank you, Janet. I know Janet’s Planet is your passion, but is there any other passion project you’d like to mention?

Janet Ivey: I believe in “write it down, make it happen.” Years ago I wrote down the goal of doing Janet’s Planet full time, and I’m nearly there—just need to get the animation done.

But I also still act. Before flying out for my last two shows in Oregon this season, I woke up at 1:45 a.m. to film a self-tape audition for an episodic in Atlanta. The casting director wrote back: “Fantastic audition. You don’t look anything like the girl who would play your daughter, but I just wanted you to know it was great.” So that continues to be a joyful vertical of my life. I’ve done a couple of Christmas movies—one is The Least of These on Amazon.

But looking ahead 10, 15, 20 years, I hope Janet’s Planet continues with outreach and engagement. People ask me, “What’s your exit strategy?” I say, “Maybe when Grandma goes to Mars.” Or maybe I’ll extend Janet’s Planet to Mars.

As long as I can, I’ll keep doing this. Being around young people keeps me going, learning, and trying to reach even the toughest kids with the toughest home lives. If I can give them a moment of joy, that keeps me going.

Susan Wise: Keep inspiring the next generation of explorers—you do that so well. Janet, thank you so much for sharing your journey with us today. We look forward to visiting again. Thank you.

Janet Ivey: Thank you, everybody. Keep being curious and keep looking up.

Susan Wise: That’s my line! Make sure you join us where we connect, collaborate, and accelerate. We’d like to invite you to join StarSciences.org to receive a free one-year membership—just use promo code FRIENDS321. If you enjoyed this episode, leave us a review and subscribe. And until next time—keep looking up.