We had the good fortune of connecting with Janet Smith and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Janet, what do you attribute your success to?

The most important factor behind the success of Pueblo House and KOYC Radio was perseverance and being able to find resources when funds weren’t available. Starting a radio station from ground up was challenging, especially in light of not having any radio experience. Being resourceful was instrumental in us finding the equipment and skilled people to help pull it all together. With the Pueblo House it was pretty much the same…having the resources pulled together to make it happen without having the funds available. Many people pulled together because they believe in the cause of helping youth in a very underserved area of Pueblo.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.

I started in finance when I was 18 yrs old and worked my way to Bank Manager (in Canada) by 1990. I spent years working for banks and trust companies, until I started my own financial planning business in 1998. In 2001 I met and married a US citizen and moved to the U.S. where I became a citizen in 2007.  Now I hold dual citizenship in both US & Canada. After moving to the U.S, I was a regional manager for a major company and then a CFO for a minor baseball league near Seattle, WA. When the Occupy Movement started I was a bookkeeper for a Clean Energy Company, and doing books remotely which allowed me to travel extensively throughout the U.S, I interviewed people about the hardships they faced during the financial meltdown and after a few months, visiting over 160 cities, I landed in Pueblo where I found houses boarded up and abandoned.  I wrote to 4 owners on title of those properties and was surprised when I heard back from one owner willing to donate his house to our non-profit, which was a 501c3 by this time. That started a series of events that took on a life of its own and after having 3 houses donated and securing a low power FCC radio station we have made a huge impact in East Pueblo giving back to the community,

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.

In Pueblo we have some of the best artists, both musicians and artists. The Riverwalk is probably the drawing factor for many tourists given the ambience and shops/restaurants to visit. We have some of the nicest parks and bike trails. Pueblo is only an hour away from some great mountain towns and those worth visiting are Beulah, Salida, Florence, Boulder and Fort Collins. We are the home of Pueblo Green Chilis and this town is proud of that heritage. The Chili Festival and State Fair are two events that draw tourists from all over. Memorial Hall attracts some great talent and those concerts also bring in tourists. Overall it’s Pueblo’s great weather, with over 320 days of sunshine that people love.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
The success of Pueblo House was due to many people but two were instrumental in going above and beyond, Dr. Ann Courtright and Glen Burke were two valuable resources that helped get our non-profit off the ground. The Occupy Movement was instrumental in landing me in Pueblo, where I met these two and a few similar minded people who believed in making a difference for kids. KOYC Radio was started after a referral from Todd Urick (of Boulder, CO) to obtain a low power FCC license which was being offered at no cost. The equipment to run the station was donated by Daniel Hyatt of La Junta and that’s how we were able to launch the 98.5FM station KOYC.

After touring the country for months I wrote a book called “Movement” that would document my journey of discovery during a time when people were standing up to the big banks greed and Wall Street shenanigans. .

Website: www.pueblohouse.org. and www.koycradio.com

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/janetgwilson/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/PuebloHouse and https://www.facebook.com/KOYCRadio

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCWEetipRlDgIrurnjrcRjjA

Image Credits
All photo’s are those I’ve taken

Nominate Someone: ShoutoutColorado is built on recommendations and shoutouts from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you or someone you know deserves recognition please let us know here.