Chicago Public School (CPS) retiree Dr. Janice Fortman started her career in 1976 teaching Special Education at Kenwood Academy High School. Throughout her 31-years with CPS, she taught at various schools around Chicago. In the last 10 years of her career, before retiring in 2007, Dr. Fortman was a School Based Problem-Solving Facilitator at CPS’ central office. In retirement, Dr. Fortman has used what she learned and experienced in her career to offer guidance to others through books, coaching, and television.
Dr. Fortman has written two books and contributed to a third. Her books include, “The Little Book of BIG Behavior Interventions,” “The Secrets to How NOT to Throw Mama from the Train,” and “Harness the Power of Purpose,” a collaborative work in which Dr. Fortman wrote about effective communication in personal and professional relationships in the introductory chapter.
“I have always loved to write, and what better way to offer what you have learned and experienced to others?” said Dr. Fortman. Her second book, “The Secrets to How NOT to Throw Mama from the Train,” offers insight, advice, and solutions on how to navigate the challenges of the adult mother/daughter relationship. She states that the book mirrors the journey she had with her own mother.
Aside from offering helpful advice in her books, Dr. Fortman started a relationship coaching business because her friends and colleagues would come to her for relationship advice, and the advice worked. Her business coach told her that she was skilled in transforming relationships and that she could reach more people through a podcast. She took her skills and turned them into her first podcast/TV show, “Relationship Matters TV.” On the show, Dr. Fortman discusses the value of relationships with her guests. Her second show, “The Mother/Daughter Relationship Show,” offers solutions, tools, and techniques to create a more pleasant, loving, and harmonious relationship between adult daughters and their mothers.
