www.forwardjanesville.com |20 My family is the most important thing to me. I am happiest when we are together. My wonderful husband and I have been married 39 years. We have two beautiful daughters and five awesome grandchildren. We try to get together regularly and attend school and sports events anytime we can. We see our extended family whenever we can, too. I come from a very large family, so even if it’s an unplanned get together, we run into each other often and can catch up. I've always believed in giving back and helping anyone who needs help to the best of my ability. I would volunteer at the church with my mom, watching kids in the Sunday school room or preparing meals for potlucks. When I was older, we would help with the food pantry or if elderly neighbors needed help with yard work or errands, we would do it. My mom taught me that serving others serves your soul. Most of my life I have had 2 or 3 jobs at a time. They aren’t on my resume because they were a lot of seasonal positions for variety and learning experiences. Real estate is something I had always planned on doing. My thought was when we retire, I could do real estate to keep me busy. We moved a few times, and our agent said, “Why don’t you just get your license now instead of paying me every time you find a new house you like?” It was great advice, and I went for it. I got my Wisconsin license in 2018 and Illinois license in 2023. HOW DID I GET HERE? success • challenges • life lessons • education • career • family • inspirations I always knew that I wanted to work and I wanted to serve people. I always loved sales and getting people things they wanted. I think when I was 8, I would do door-to-door sales with what was called a Tom Watt kit. I also went to neighbors’ houses asking if there was any work I could do for them. It was a win-win; I helped with something they needed and I earned money. At 15, I started waitressing at Town and Country Restaurant. I loved being a waitress. I was able to have great conversations with people while serving them and making some really wonderful connections. I married my high school sweetheart, Eric. At that time, we were both in college, both working and no plan of having children. I was taking business management courses at UWRock County, and the plan was to graduate college and find a career in retail management. Sometimes things don't work out like you have them on paper. We were blessed a year later to have our first daughter, and a year and a half after that our second. I went back to college, but Ole Natter offered me a position and I decided to take on-the-job learning over college and worked with them for a few years. It was a gamble, but I felt learning hands-on was what I needed. Ole and Dan Natter, Mike Benson and Jim Campbell taught me about work ethic and how to run a business. • LYNNETTE WIRTH GENERAL MANAGER, BASICS CO-OP NATURAL FOODS; REALTOR, COLDWELL BANKER THE REALTY GROUP {WORK EXPERIENCE} 2006 – PRESENT Basics Co-Op Natural Foods 2018-PRESENT Realtor, Coldwell Banker The Realty Group 2013-2016 Certified Fitness Instructor, Train Dirty Fitness 1994-2000 Operations and Projects Manager, Cambeck Petroleum {EDUCATION} 1987 High School Diploma, Janesville Craig High School I knew Basics needed a different location as soon as I began working there. The customers wanted a larger variety of products, wider aisles, lower shelving and a community room. September 25th of 2008 we opened our doors in a location twice the size of our old store. Our projections were conservative at a 25% sales increase. Then GM announced that they were shutting down. All the other businesses that supported them were also closing. Our sales increases were only 8%. It was a tough road for a long time. Our staff was amazing, and we pivoted over and over as needed. We survived and have grown our sales over 3 times what they were in the old store. • • We moved back to Janesville from Florida and I had taken a position with Deb clothing store. I was flying out on Mondays and back to Janesville on Thursday or Friday. My territory was North Dakota, South Dakota, Iowa, part of Illinois and part of Wisconsin. My kids were in high school, and I felt I was missing out on too much in their lives. Basics Co-op posted they were hiring for a General Manager. It was a store that I already shopped at and loved, so I applied. They offered me the position, and over 20 years later I'm still here. I love what Basic stands for. I love our customers and our staff and the continued growth that I feel personally and professionally working there.
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