[1] Before becoming a full-time cartoonist, Jan worked as a waitress, car salesperson, bookmobile driver, advertising copywriter, graphic designer, and greeting card writer.
In her cartoonist career, she initially worked as a graphic designer in the daytime, while doing cartoons at night.
[3] Prior to Eliot's syndication, she was mentored by cartoonist Lynn Johnston, who proofed the cartoon strips.
This weekly strip appeared in the Eugene, Oregon, The Register-Guard for five years before the name was changed to Stone Soup in November 1995, when it became nationally syndicated by Universal Press Syndicate/Universal Uclick.
[12] In addition to eleven Stone Soup compilations, Eliot's work has appeared in: 2011 Timely and Timeless, Library of Congress (September 2011)[13] 2016 Comic City, USA, Oregon Historical Society (December 2016 - January 2017)[14] 2010 Eugene Arts and Letters award[15][16]