Janet Ryan could only watch as her beloved mother coped with early onset Alzheimer’s disease. The experience led her to focus on taking supplements and the basics of good health for herself, but soon she realized she wanted to find ways to help others.

“My passion for anti-aging is probably at the crux of this,” Ryan said as she spoke about her Morris county-based business SpectraSpray Global.

The state registered women-owned business, which started in March 2016, sells spray vitamin supplements that are easier to absorb than pill supplements.

Ryan, a trained classical pianist who had done some work selling supplements, didn’t have a background in business, but she had the drive and desire to keep moving, and with the support of a trusted mentor the company began to grow.

“I had no idea what I was doing,” Ryan said as she reflected on five years in business.

“You start for whatever reason and then you reevaluate why you’re doing this,” Ryan said, noting that there were at least three times along the way that she thought about quitting. “But each time a breakthrough happens.”

One of those breakthrough moments came after she met a representative from the federal International Trade Administration at a women’s entrepreneurial event. That representative first broached the subject of exporting with Ryan.

“You don’t know what you don’t know,” Ryan said. She eagerly listened and soon connected with the New Jersey Business Action Center’s Office of Export Promotion and its NJ State Trade Expansion Program grants, designed to help small businesses reach a global audience.

Now, following participation in a trade show supported by the grant, she has connections with customers or potential customers in Singapore, Ukraine and South Korea along with leads in places like Canada, Turkey and Norway.

The business is growing and her daughter has even joined in, helping develop marketing and graphics for the business. “My kids are grown and this (business) is like a third child,” Ryan said.

Her advice to women in the business world? “Put your seatbelt on,” Ryan said, of the ups and downs of running a business.

Despite those ups and downs, Ryan said she wouldn’t have it any other way.

“I wasn’t looking for a job,” Ryan said. “I was looking to build a company.”