Influential Woman · Education, Consulting, Research Psychology, Consulting in Manufacturing environments, Professor and
Janet Ruth Van Epps
Researcher, Speaker, Professor
Psychologist, Consultsnt, Author, Speaker & Chaplain, Viking Group of Wisconsin, LLC
Reedsburg, WI 53959
Her Story
About Janet
With over 56 years of professional experience, Janet Van Epps is a respected consultant, researcher, educator, and community leader specializing in education reform, psychology, public education Speakerand healthcare.
She began her career after studying at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and completing a hospital-based nursing program. As a registered nurse, she served on the original research teams for groundbreaking procedures, including the discogram, and participated in the first open-heart surgery and the first total hip replacement performed in Madison, Wisconsin.
Van Epps went on to conduct extensive research in psychology, violence, and PTSD. She worked directly with sex offenders and serial killers in Wisconsin correctional and clinical settings. She later taught at three Wisconsin universities, where she developed deep insights into education reform and its connections to behavioral issues.
She founded a multifaceted business that includes executive recruiting, an education division offering public speaking and training, and authored books on self-help and grief. The organization also maintains a ministry division dedicated to community assistance, including support for high-risk individuals and food bank initiatives.
Additionally, Van Epps served as a statewide consultant for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in Wisconsin on sexually transmitted disease intervention. She earned the professional designation of Disease Intervention Specialist from the CDC. She also leads a thriving consulting division that applies principles of educational psychology in workplace and organizational settings.
Van Epps holds three doctoral degrees, all earned summa cum laude, placing her among the less than one-tenth of one percent of Americans with multiple doctorates. She has been nominated for membership in the National Society for Leadership and Success and recognized by both faculty and students at Northcentral University for her academic excellence.
She is highly sought after as a consultant for her unique blend of clinical expertise, psychological insight, and practical experience.
Her Interview
Ten minutes with Janet
01What do you attribute your success to?
I attribute my success first and foremost to God. Every blessing and every lesson has been a gift from Him, and I live by Soli Deo Gloria—to God alone be the glory. My faith has been the unwavering anchor through every season. This foundation fueled the deep commitment required to earn three PhDs, each one a testament to perseverance and purpose. It also sustained me when I stood up for patient confidentiality in my professional life, even when it came at a personal and career cost. I trusted that God would open new doors—and He did, leading me to continue my work with even greater clarity and impact. That same faith and resilience have shaped my mission with the Viking Group of Wisconsin. I’ve dedicated myself to advocating for older women who face systemic challenges—housing insecurity, isolation, financial vulnerability, and the quiet strength it takes to keep moving forward. True success, for me, isn’t just personal achievement; it’s measured by how we lift others and turn our trials into service. I’ve also enjoyed teaching at three universities and doing consulting in manufacturing. When you love what you do, the long hours and building a network don’t feel like work at all. My mission draws from 2 Corinthians chapter one, where Paul writes that God comforts us in our troubles so we can comfort others with that same comfort. I was diagnosed with lupus at twenty-two and given a short life expectancy, but here I am at seventy-seven and still going strong. Even with a failed marriage marked by abuse, I’ve learned you can get beyond hard things and not let them stop you. This recognition from Forbes also places me among the wealthiest and most influential women, and I see my resources as a tool to glorify God through service to others.n.
My net worth is not public publication. It is a atool given to me.dx others it is not for any accolade to be awarded me.
02What’s the best career advice you’ve ever received?
Find passion about your work each day!
03What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
Establish a mission statement that you can live by each day and build what you want to build toward your goal professionally. A mission statement will establish structure for your career.
04What are the biggest challenges or opportunities in your field right now?
Postmodernism challenges psychology by rejecting objective truth and a unified self, instead viewing behavior and consciousness as socially constructed through language and culture. This destabilizes traditional empirical and clinical methods. It creates three main challenges. First, the crisis of objectivity: observer bias is inescapable since researchers are culturally embedded, and postmodernists reject meta-narratives like Freudian theory as Western, middle-class constructs. Second, the deconstruction of the self: psychology assumed a core, unified self, but postmodernists propose a decentered self with multiple, fluid identities shaped by social and cultural contexts. In therapy, this shifts focus from root causes to how clients construct narratives through language. Third, subjectivity versus the scientific method: radical relativism, treating all subjective experiences as equally valid, conflicts with science. It prioritizes qualitative exploration over quantitative testing, and by equating facts with socially agreed-upon discourse, it risks undermining evidence-based foundations for diagnoses and treatments.
05What values are most important to you in your work and personal life?
Integrity
Faith
Compassion
Servant Heart
Perseversncr
Join Influential Women and start making an impact. Register now.