Juliette Winningham
As the Founder and CEO of the FreeBird Foundation of Evergreen, Colorado, Juliette Winningham is a force for good in the community. Her foundation is concerned with creating a better life for underprivileged children and families around the country.
To further this goal, Winningham has recently released her children’s book series, Bruno’s Amazing Adventures by Juliette Winningham and Nicolas Kistler. This series features the adventures of a Bernese Mountain Dog named Bruno and his friends. The first book in the series, Rocky Mountain High, focuses on the need for camping and hiking safety in the wilderness.
Winningham believes that children should be encouraged to play outdoors, but that they need to stay near a trusted adult if they go out into unexplored areas.
Juliette Winningham’s business background is in the energy industry, and she was able to carry over many of her skills from the business world into running a nonprofit. She always takes care to network and to bring a certain level of respect to her business interactions. She has been skilled at fundraising, helping her fledgling foundation get off the ground.
Through her nonprofit’s activities, Juliette Winningham hopes to give back to her community. She believes that children are the foundation of the future, and that they need to be helped and supported if their parents are unable to provide them with certain advantages.
Her book series, as well as her tireless work to support needy families and children, have drawn positive attention to the FreeBird Foundation of Evergreen, Colorado.
What are your favorite books?
My favorite books to read are historical fiction, biographies, and business books. I am especially interested in historical fiction dealing with Europe in the sixteenth century. My favorite recent read was The Mirror and the Light by Hilary Mantel. This is the third book in a trilogy about Thomas Cromwell, who was an instrumental figure in the court of King Henry VIII.
I also love to read biographies. I found the book Alexander Hamilton by Ron Chernow to be especially interesting. I have seen the stage show, and it gave a thorough historical background to this musical.
Business books are something that I read often and recommend to my partners. My favorite business book is Forces for Good: The Six Practices of High-Impact Nonprofits by Leslie Crutchfield. This book provides a blueprint for nonprofits like my foundation that want to make a true and lasting difference in the community as a whole.
What is your favorite TV show?
I do enjoy watching TV. I like food shows and travel shows best of all. They provide me with an excellent way to relax. I like to cook, and it is fun to get inspiration from these shows. Many of them have recipes listed online.
My favorite cooking shows are Chopped on the Food Network and Top Chef on Bravo. Chopped is a lot of fun because the chefs don’t know what they are going to be asked to cook with, and some of the combinations are truly out-of-this-world. Top Chef is an intense competition show that produces chefs who are ready to run restaurant empires of their own. When I travel, I try to find restaurants that are owned by contestants on these food shows.
What are your aspirations in life?
My aspiration in life is to provide the help that needy children and communities need to be healthy and successful. Until recently, I wasn’t aware of the struggles these families faced just to put food on the table. As we enter an economic downturn, it is even more important to make sure that our neediest families are being supported. Many people who have never needed social services in the past are going to need support, and private nonprofits can be a big help in picking up the slack.
What is your favorite thing about working in your industry?
My favorite thing about working in the nonprofit sphere is knowing that I am going to be making a big difference in the lives of my clients. I have always been comfortable financially, so it was hard for me to understand how people struggled to make ends meet.
I eventually came around to realizing that every family needs help at some point in their lives. My favorite thing about helping these people is knowing that their children will have a better chance of success throughout their lives.
What’s your biggest pet peeve?
My biggest pet peeves are rudeness and discourtesy. We are in an unfortunate time when crudeness in public discourse is seen as acceptable. I think that everyone needs to take a hard look at themselves and decide whether they are being respectful and kind. I know that sometimes I struggle with being impatient, and I have tried to tone down the way I interact with people as well.
Unfortunately, this negative tone is coming from the highest levels, and there is little that anyone else can do to stop it. I believe that by making public life kinder and more thoughtful, each person can make a difference in their own circle of friends and business acquaintances.
