Janis Black Warner has found success as the owner of PillowTalk Studio since 2005. Her company is a perennial favorite bath and bedding store offering pillows, blankets, linens, jewelry, and candles, among other comforting products. With a stellar career spanning decades, she founded California Feather & Down with her husband, Jeff Goldman, in 1987. The company grew into the fourth-largest down pillow manufacturer in the United States, boasting more than 80 stores and 450 employees.
A lifelong innovator, Ms. Warner created the body feather pillow and down body pillow specifically designed for pregnant women and sold thousands of the pillows each month through the Right Start children’s catalog. Moving forward, she created the first down infant comforter and the baby booster nursing feeding pillow, which led to her being featured in practically every juvenile product magazine. Ms. Warner was the No. 1 exhibitor of body pillows at the Juvenile Products Manufacturers Association in Texas and has been featured on the cover of the Westside Weekly section of the Los Angeles Times.
As the author of “Janis Black’s Books of Inspiration,” Ms. Warner personally gave her book to former Presidents Barack Obama and Bill Clinton, as well as to multiple celebrities, including Justin Bieber and Elton John. Committed to sharing her insights, she found success through her speaking series on mental health for a decade and has devoted her time as a mental health advocate. Beginning her career in 1984, Ms. Warner worked for Home Box Office (HBO) in business affairs. While working for HBO, she completed coursework in business management at the University of Southern California before leaving the company in 1987, after which she founded California Feather & Down. From 2007 to 2008, she also had the experience of working for Dr. Siegal’s Cookie Diet Store. Currently, Ms. Warner is writing her third book of inspirations and an additional book about mental health with the prospective title: “Pain to Purpose: A Journey to Mental Health Wellness—Getting Rid of Stigma by Telling Our Stories.” Believing that “life is a lesson,” she hopes to share what she has learned.
Ms. Warner has always been devoted to helping others through her philanthropic efforts, with a primary focus on mental health advocacy. She draws inspiration from her father, who was a real estate developer responsible for building office buildings, shopping centers, and commercial real estate in Hollywood. Ms. Warner’s father also wrote seven of his own books of inspiration. Motivated by and coming from a family with a history of high achievement, Ms. Warner’s grandfather founded a clothing company, B. Black and Sons, in Los Angeles, California, which still exists. Moreover, Ms. Warner enjoys writing and collecting inspirational quotes. Some of her favorites include “People treat you the way they feel about themselves” and “Look in the mirror, not the magnifying glass.” To date, she has given out more than 3,000 copies of her books and is proud to foster positivity in her readers.
An active member of her community, Ms. Warner has been a board member and president of the president’s club at Vista Del Mar for more than 40 years. Learning the value of service early, when she was 18 years old, she became the president of the charitable organization Friends for Life. For a decade, she served as a board member of the Beverly Hills Police Foundation, and she contributed to the foundation board for the Children’s Hospital of Los Angeles. Ms. Warner previously raised $450,000 for the Cedar Sinai Pediatric Intensive Care Unit and helped the Children’s Hospital of Los Angeles build a meditation garden. For now, she has put PillowTalk Studio on hold as she became a certified interior designer at age 50. Further, Ms. Warner enjoys managing and leasing her eight properties among her endeavors.
