In this rapid‑fire interview on the Winning at Business and Life podcast, Professor Pete Alexander asks Janelle Lamb six concise questions. Lamb introduces herself as a mother of five, retired hairdresser, former Allegiant flight attendant, and the wife/assistant to the Pinal County Sheriff in Arizona. She now works as an author and speaker, sharing a message of authenticity and community. She highlights the importance of planning—quoting “Failing to plan is planning to fail”—and describes her habit of reverse‑engineering goals. Lamb advises business leaders to embrace risk, stay teachable, and remain flexible. She recommends fellow life‑coach Geri South as a guest. Lamb recounts her first jobs, from helping her father’s construction business as a child to working at Dunkin’ Donuts at sixteen, emphasizing how early challenges built confidence. The episode closes with her contact details: Instagram @sheriffswife_beautypatrol and her book The Sheriff’s Wife (sheriffswife.com).
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This is Professor Pete Alexander with the Winning at Business and Life podcast, where business leaders share their insights. It is 6 questions in 7 minutes because successful business leaders are busy and rarely have more time to spare. So let's get to it. Question number 1: In a few sentences, please tell me who you are and what you do.
Hi, Pete. Thanks for having me. My name is Janelle Lam. I am a mother of 5 kids ages 17 to 24. My youngest is a senior in high school. My oldest is deployed in Kuwait right now, and I have 1 grandbaby. He is a year old and very darling. I am a retired hairdresser of 23 years. I did a home salon, and that is how I worked while I had all my little kids at home, and then I just recently retired in October as a flight attendant for Allegiant Airlines. And that was a great decision. It was just time to be done. So I've been married 26 years to my husband, who is Mark Lamb, the sheriff of our county here in Arizona, Pinal County. And now I'm an author and a speaker, and I also am the assistant to the sheriff.
Wow, that's a lot of things, Janelle. I'm so glad you're on the show today. What's the best thing about working in your industry?
I think that now that I'm an author and I can connect with people more, I've got more time for that. I love being able to show people that we're just regular folks. We, you know, he's the sheriff and, you know, we have an example to set for the county, but we just put our pants on, you know, one leg at a time like everybody else. We have struggles, we struggle with our kids, we struggle with our mental health, everything, you know, just like everybody does. And I think bringing a realness to our position and just being able to connect with people and just help them realize that we're all in this together and we can all be successful. You don't have to be any, you know, certain position or anything. You can all be doing successful things.
Yeah, I love it. It's just the sense of community is what it sounds like that you're saying. So I really appreciate that. Question number 3: I have a fictitious book with all the answers for business. What chapter would you think most companies should read?
Chapter 3 called "Failing to plan is planning to fail." So, I feel like you've got to have a plan and you've got to execute your plan and do the uncomfortable work and just get in there and make your goals and that's what's going to help everyone be successful.
I love that quote and I think that the original source that I remember when I first heard it was Winston Churchill. So, that's somebody that would know that and, you know, it's just as true today as it was back then, wouldn't you agree?
Absolutely. Absolutely. I mean, you've got to have goals or else you're just spinning your wheels and you don't have direction. Just a really quick side note, I love to reverse engineer things. Figure out where you really want to go and then work backwards. What do I need to do to get there? And make that your goals.
Oh, I love it. That's great advice. Question number 4: Other than the generic work harder, have a great attitude, and care for customers, what insight would you like to give to other business leaders?
Um, I love the advice of don't be afraid to take risks. Don't be afraid to have your eyes and ears open to opportunities that may come your way that maybe you weren't expecting. Um, there's a lot out there, and sometimes we don't know what we don't know, and opportunities come our way, and you just sometimes have to have courage to take those risks. And you may end up in a completely new place that you didn't know you were going, but it's usually always a better place.
I love that. And it's just get over the fear factor because that's what a lot of times it happens is something is presented to you and we get fearful of actually taking, you know, stretching ourselves or taking the plunge because we feel like we don't know that or we might fail. Is that where you're going with this?
Absolutely. It's about being teachable. It's about learning. It's about just sometimes taking that risk. You know, we get locked in sometimes to our plan. You know, we have our plan and we're going to do our plan. But sometimes if you just stay a little bit flexible and, you know, learn something new and get yourself out there to meet people, you just never know what's going to come your way. And it could be pretty great.
That's absolutely right. I love it. Question number 5. What other business leader like yourself would you like to acknowledge and invite to be on my podcast?
Well, my best friend, her name is Geri South. She is a certified life coach and mother of 7 and has reinvented herself through challenges 3 times into a 6-figure income every time. She's a fantastic example of overcoming adversity and powering through, and just with sheer go-getterness, she gets it done. And she has really been successful in everything she does, even with everything she's had up against her. So she would be fantastic on your show.
Well, I look forward to interviewing her. Thank you for that referral. And our final question, question number 6: Please tell me about your first job.
My first job was really for my dad, putting nuts onto bolts for his construction company. That was when I was around 10, 11, 12 years old. But my first real job was at Dunkin' Donuts. Right when I turned 16, I was able to get my first real job. It was really challenging for me. I was the only person working besides the baker, the guy making the donuts. Then, I was running the front cash register, which, by the way, did not make change. I had to mentally make change and I was not good at math. So, I learned very quickly how to count back change. We also had a counter where people could come and sit and, you know, drink several cups of coffee and have some donuts and chit-chat. It was all me. I was waitressing on the people on the counter. I was getting the dozens for the people coming in, making change, and it was hectic and I learned a lot. It taught me really that I could I could do a lot more than I thought I could. So, putting me out of my comfort zone was really good for me.
I love that story. And I can just picture in my mind you running around to the counter, filling coffee and getting donuts and doing the change and everything like that. And you're right. I mean, you learn that you've got more ability than you ever imagined possible until it's tested like that.
Well, I certainly earned that $4.25 an hour or whatever minimum wage was way back then. I thought I was rolling in it. I thought I was really big balling out then.
I know, it's all in our perception, isn't it?
Well, gas was only 25 cents a gallon as well, so my hourly went a lot farther.
It's so true. So Janelle, thank you so much for being on the show. How can people find you?
So you can find me on Instagram at @sheriffswife_beautypatrol. And then also on my website where you can purchase my book is sheriffswife.com. My book is called The Sheriff's Wife: Holding It All Together Behind the Scenes in Politics. So go check it out, sheriffswife.com.
Perfect. This is Professor Pete Alexander with the Winning at Business and Life podcast. Thanks for listening.
