I just can't seem to get away from Hollywood. Back in my hometown of Hollywood, Florida, I begged my mom to begin performing arts classes after the first day of kindergarten. (She was surprised that I even remembered!) After three years of tap, ballet and acrobatics, I was recruited into a Vaudeville styled variety show where I got to moonlight as a singer, dancer and actor all the way through middle school. It left me with one pressing question: How many renditions of “Annie” is it possible to do in one childhood?
 
At sixteen, I got permission from my folks to be an extra in a movie shooting in Ft. Lauderdale called Nerds in Paradise. I loved being on the set (all night!), and wanted more of it. Luckily, I was able to keep up a good GPA, and when I was almost eighteen, I headed to UCLA. I got my degree in Communications but studied acting the whole time on the side. During my years at UCLA I began looking for work as an actress. I was thrilled to be cast in a few student films, and then I landed my first feature - a dark comedy based on Kafka's Metamorphosis.

After college, I joined a theater company but was yearning to continue my acting studies in New York. Once I realized that I wanted to do that, everything seemed to fall into place. Within months, I found myself spending one of the best summers of my life at the Neighborhood Playhouse. Once back in Los Angeles, I was cast as Libby in a celebrated Long Beach Playhouse production of Neil Simon's I Ought To Be in Pictures and Esther the Nerd on Saved by the Bell. I’m particularly proud of playing the part of Darcy in the NBC telefilm, Her Last Chance, with Jenna Elfman and Kelly Martin.

One of the biggest shifts for me was when I began writing and producing my own material. It was empowering to fund a project, hire a director, and cast myself as the lead. I’m deeply proud of my four short projects: Internet Dating, The George Bush Blues, Lisa and Lauren, and I QUIT. Now I’m channeling my entrepreneurial spirit towards my new training company, Jean Franzblau Consulting.

I’ve always wanted to play a mentally challenged girl. Juliette Lewis in the movie The Other Sister was a great example of the kind of role I’d like to tackle. I have twenty years of dance classes under my belt so I’d like to play a character that finds healing through dance. Dirty Dancing and Footloose are movies that fill me with longing. I had always wanted to play a sexy blues singer so I went ahead and wrote and produced The George Bush Blues. I was able to give myself a dream role come true.

I did this exercise where I pretended I was ninety years old and looked back on my career. Here’s what I saw: international travel, adventure, wonderful people, a great salary, and much joy. What stories I’ll have to tell!

From this exercise, my business mission statement was born: I create and perform signature presentations that bring delight, touch deeply and affirm the core goodness of people and the world.

I’ve enjoyed quite a variety of employment opportunities. Here’s a sampling: When I was a teen, I worked at Swenson’s scooping ice cream and making sundaes. Later, I was a bus boy (uh, girl) at a Mexican restaurant. I did promotions at malls – a perfume model, a tap dancing heart (for Valentine’s Day) and a mime. At UCLA I worked for parking services. I did my share of temp work. As my first full time job, I worked as a junior consultant in the strategic planning department of an architecture firm. I still don’t know what that means. I worked at a children’s birthday party company and played characters like Pocahontas, and Princess Leah and Jasmine. (Pocahontas was my favorite because of that sexy red arm band and fringe dress not to mention the fun of running and dancing with the children singing “Colors of the Wind”.) I’ve been a leasing assistant at a real estate company and eventually became a trainer in the technology department. My secret computer password at the time was: MyTimeIsComing.

And here I am now teaching classes in customer service, conflict resolution, stress management and leadership. Can you see the progression? (Maybe if you look real hard.)