Who is Jana Shelfer?

At age fifteen, Jana sustained a spinal cord injury that left her paralyzed from the chest down. During rehabilitation at Craig Hospital, a quadriplegic asked her to scratch his nose. After she helped him, he looked at her and said, "You don't know how lucky you are." That moment stayed with her. Later, she wrote a simple question in her journal: "How Lucky Am I?" That question became the foundation of the Living Lucky® philosophy.

Jana went on to compete for Team USA in three Paralympic Games, earning a Paralympic Gold Medal and later being inducted into the U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Hall of Fame. She also built a career in media as a talk radio personality, working in terrestrial radio, XM Radio, and iHeartRadio. Along the way, she developed another creative outlet through artwork and the journals that would later become part of the Living Lucky® practice.

In September 2024, Jana entered her first adaptive water ski competition and finished last. As she came out of the water, she decided she wanted to become a World Champion. She committed herself to practicing the Living Lucky® formula multiple times each day while training on the water twice a day.

In December 2025, she competed at the Adaptive Water Ski World Championships in Mulwala, Australia. Fourteen months after finishing last in her first competition, she became Adaptive Water Ski World Champion, won three gold medals, one silver medal, set two world records in trick skiing, and was named National Adaptive Athlete of the Year and International Adaptive Athlete of the Year. Today, that journey serves as a real-world example of the Living Lucky® methodology in practice.

Today, Jana serves as co-founder of Living Lucky®, where she speaks, creates, teaches, and helps people apply the daily practices behind the movement. She shares the Living Lucky® message through keynote presentations, workshops, coaching, and the Living Lucky® Podcast with Jason Shelfer. Together they help people create lives they feel lucky to live through awareness, agency, gratitude, contribution, and intentional action.

Jana is also the creator of the Living Lucky® daily tools and original artwork. Rather than focusing on recording the past, her guided practice helps people intentionally create today, tomorrow, and the future they want to experience. Her artwork is woven throughout the Living Lucky® ecosystem as a visual reminder of possibility, growth, and gratitude.

On the water, Jana continues to live the principles she teaches. Her journey from last place to World Champion remains part of the Living Lucky® story because it demonstrates the consistent application of intentional daily practice over time rather than a single defining moment.

You can experience Jana's work in several ways. Invite her to speak at your conference, association, organization, or event. Learn alongside her through Living Lucky® coaching and programs. Listen to the Living Lucky® Podcast with Jason and Jana Shelfer. Explore the Living Lucky® daily tools and artwork she created to help people practice greater awareness, gratitude, and intentional living every day. However you begin, the goal is the same: to build a daily practice that helps you create a life you feel lucky to live.