Welcome to My Joy Enterprises! Composed of three seemingly unrelated strands, each is actually fueled by a deep passion to create, to teach, and to guide others. We invite you to investigate entertaining narratives, unique educational materials, and to experience the benefits of classic yoga.

| Michele Venne, Director

Author Michele Venne didn't begin her career as a writer. Completing her dual degree in Special Education and Elementary Education took up a majority of her time and energy. Though friends and family excitedly awaited her yearly letters, Michele continued to ignore the pictures that flashed through her mind as if they were a movie. However, in the summer of 2003, there was a hint of a story that swirled around and poked at her until she gave in and peeked into the well of her creativity. When she wasn't tutoring or conducting teacher training, Michele penned the Prologue and first three chapters of a manuscript. This collected dust for over three years, until a creative writing class was taken at a local community college. For one of the assignments, the Prologue and completed chapters were polished, and another five were written. And, yes, these too, sat for awhile longer. In June of 2008, after moving into a new condominium, Michele's intention was to write every day. There was rewriting and editing and research, and more rewriting, before Of Gifts and the Goddess was made available in February 2009. Michele's second manuscript, Of Dolphins and Desires, was in print by July 2009. The third book, Of Stars and Secrets, was available December 2009. Her first compilation of poems, based on her experience of completing a 500-hour Yoga Teacher Training Program, titled, Yogis All: A Journey of Transformation Volume l. has just become available in March 2010. The much awaited sequel to Of Stars and Secrets, titled, Of Prophesies and Promises, will be available by June 2010. Michele is currently working on manuscript #5 (the first in a trilogy, titled, Of Art and Air), which she hopes to share with her readers by August 2010. She is the author of a weekly blog, a collection of poems and short stories, and squeezes in, nearly every day, time to allow her pen to dance across the page.

Teaching, the first career choice of Michele Venne began when she graduated from Northern Arizona University with a dual degree in Special Education, emphasis in Emotionally Disabled, and Elementary Education. Shortly after receiving full time employment with a large public school district in Phoenix, Arizona, she fulfilled the requirements for an endorsement in Learning Disabilities. Since then, she has earned her Masters in Educational Counseling from the University of Phoenix, completed the training for Academic Language Therapy, was awarded Tfas (Technology for all students) certification from Texas Instruments, of which the small group of teachers she trained with were the first Special Ed. teachers in the nation to receive the certification, and then the T3 (Teachers Teaching with Technology) title. Michele has spent over ten years involved in, and leading, teacher training in her district, as well as presenting workshops within the state and at international conferences, in the areas of reading, math, and technology integration. Due to her experiences, Michele has developed creative, unique, hands-on, multi-modal materials to help students learn, practice, and be assessed in ways which are conducive to how the brain learns and retains information. Her kits are completely assembled, everything needed is included (even game pieces, dice, and chips), can be stored in a filing cabinet, are geared for settings from individual practice through whole group involvement, and are Standards-based. Michele realizes that there are many school districts, home-schooling parents, and tutors who could utilize her materials, but don't have access to the funds or equipment for technology-based manipulatives. Therefore, her materials involve little to no technology in an effort to assist a wider audience, as well as encourage face-to-face communication, rule following, appropriate behavior, and cooperation for the students. All of her kits are student-tested and ready to be used in the classroom today.

Yoga Instruction was more about transformation than becoming a yoga teacher when Michele Venne signed up for the Advanced Studies and Teacher Training Program at a local yoga studio in Phoenix, Arizona. Michele had been attending the studio consistently for two years when she entered the program. About three-fourths of the way through the eleven-month training, she realized that one of her purposes in this life is to teach. Discovering the benefits of a regular yoga practice, which includes asana (physical poses), pranayama (breath work), and meditation, Michele wanted to make those available for others. Her philosophy: "To use the tools and techniques of yoga to aid in artful living." She has currently completed all the requirements for a Yoga Alliance 500-hour certification, except her student teaching, which she plans on finishing by June 2010.

When she is't indulging in her imagination, teaching full time in a Resource program at a high school in Phoenix, Arizona, or on her mat, either participating in a class or leading students, Michele spends her time playing with her two incredible horses.