If you've met Union County Commissioner Janet Holloway, you might know her as a kind, thoughtful woman, full of smiles and good cheer. While all of those are true, this business leader and politician has a deeper story to tell, one of perseverance and hard work, even in the most trying circumstances.

Janet grew up in Luttrell on Bull Run Road, graduated from Horace Maynard High School in 1978, and married husband Bill Holloway, now deceased, when she was 17 years old. The couple moved to Maynardville, but Janet eventually moved back to Luttrell because she missed it so much. She studied cosmetology in vocational school at HMHS and later attended Dennis Young's School of Beauty in Knoxville.

Her first work experience was at Standard Knitting Mills in Knoxville, but she soon found other work because working conditions there were "like a jail," she said. She worked as a hairdresser at Pat's Beauty Box in Halls for 12 years before another opportunity called her back to Union County.

It was 1990, and Cindy Renfro wanted to sell her beauty shop, then housed in a mobile home just off Highway 33 in Maynardville. Cindy asked Janet if she wanted to buy, and Janet brought it up with her husband.

"I said, 'I can't run a beauty shop,' and he said, 'Yes, you can,'" said Holloway. She received encouragement from her father, the late Clyde Atkins, as well. He went with her to the bank to borrow funds to buy the shop and the land it sat on.

"I was worried because it was a lot of money. He said, 'Janet, as long as you're working you'll be able to do it,'" Janet said. "Dad was one of these you can do anything you want to do people. He was my inspiration."

Janet bought the shop in August 1990. Husband Bill Holloway passed away in January 1991.

"I was so thankful that he pushed me into (buying the shop) because I was able to be self-sufficient," Janet said.

She kept working in the beauty shop, known as Janet's Hair Salon, and eventually saved enough to build several commercial spaces on the land. She moved the salon into one space and leased the others to help pay for the building. It gave her enough room to add spaces for more hairdressers and a nail tech. Janet said she loves her career and her customers.

"My customers are like family," she said. "Most of them started out with me as children, and now I'm doing their children's hair."

Janet ran for Union County Commission, was elected in 2007, and is currently on her third term. She said her brother-in-law, former Union County mayor Larry Lay, inspired her to run.

"I've enjoyed what I've learned so much," Janet said. "I had no idea that it took that much money to operate the county. As a business person, I knew that you can't spend money that you don't have, but I also knew that you have to spend money to make money."

She praised the Union County Department of Finance, which was created during one of her terms in office.

"That has been such a help to this county," she said. "Budget meetings used to be long, endless nights, and now we're done in two meetings. Ann (Dyer) and her employees have made our job so much easier."

And while the building of Paulette Elementary School is controversial, Janet stands by the new school as something she's proud of.

"(Principal) Jason Bailey, that's his baby. He is so proud of that school. He takes such good care of it," she said. "The teachers and the students love it, and it makes me proud."

As a commissioner, Janet sees infrastructure challenges facing the county, including growing broadband Internet access and saving for future buildings.

"A school and justice center, those two things will be coming up," she said. "We know these things. It's just getting the funds for them."

In 2008, tragedy struck Janet's family again as her daughter Beth passed away due to cystic fibrosis. Janet honored Beth's memory with several years of a fundraising walk to raise funds for cystic fibrosis research. She set a goal of $100,000, thinking it would take 25 years of walks to make it. She reached the goal in just eight years.

Ask Janet how she's kept going through the loss of two so dear to her, and her answers turn to her faith.

"People ask me, 'Janet, how do you do it?' We don't have a choice but to do it. I stay busy and I talk to the Lord. The Lord's gotten me through it," she said.

She also mentioned friends, family and role models, including James Heiskell, with whom she's in a long-term dating relationship, and Wanda Byerley, whose friendship Janet called "one of the best things that ever happened to me."

Janet said she's plans to keep working and running for re-election for a long time to come. She enjoys staying active at New Friendship Baptist Church and loving her dog, Sally Ann.

"I'm just me, and I try to do the right thing," she said. "I can't stand for anyone to be mad at me, so I try to make things right. I want people to be proud of our county. I'm a listener. I'm not the most educated County Commissioner, but I've got a lot of common sense.

"I'm very thankful for my life, and I'm just so blessed to have my families."