The business side of Jan
This bio was written by the person that knows her best, Gibby.
Jan has been married to her life partner Bill (Gibby) Gibson for 30 years. They have two sons Ben and Nate who are now in their 20’s. She loves her pets and there are always lots of them around the house. Jan is always ready to help with a smile on her face, a ready boisterous laugh and handshake that you will never forget. A course trainer once described Jan as an iron fist in a velvet glove, Gibby says "that is so true, she 's the best negotiator and sales professional I've ever met." Not afraid of new challenges Jan has taken numerous courses in business administration, sales techniques, marketing, training adults, heavy equipment operation, machines operated are ( back hoe, heavy loader, tandem dump truck. ) and more. She has also worked in house construction, but sales and negotiation are her strongest skill sets and her passion. Over the years she has established and maintained solid working as well as personal relationships with her clients, and students. After all for Jan the joy in life comes from service to others, family, friends, clients and community. The friends she makes are the bonus for her.
Jan Gibson has resided in Grey County for the past 24 years, originally hailing from the town of Alliston Ontario. Shortly after moving to this area Jan started her first entrepreneurial venture, FussBudgets Professional Maids. FussBudgets was started by Jan with a vacuum cleaner and $100.00 in cleaning supplies. Because of Jans dedicated service to her clients as well as her business and sales acumen Fussbudgets became a premium maid service and property management company with 14 staff serving more than 300 residential clients plus numerous commercial, municipal and industrial accounts in Grey, Bruce and Simcoe Counties for over 10 years, grossing over $500.000.00 per year in sales after only 4 years . Jan reluctantly sold the business in its 10th year when her husband and partner became ill.
Gibby recovered and the entrepreneurial bug would bite Jan again in the early 90’s when she decided to fulfill a noticeable need in the market place. Ms. M was born. Over the years she had taken different courses relating to business but always found that they where lacking. So she decided to take her woman’s intuition and business skills and go to work. She taught entrepreneurial classes mainly in Simcoe County on how to dress for success, how to hone your natural talents and how to market your self by using guerrilla tactics to become a success. Due to government cut backs and the closure of the school where her classes where held it was time for a change. After Ms. M was retired, Jan had pondered a career in real estate but the timing wasn't’t right
In 1997 she went to work at Zehrs in Owen Sound. Were she was a assistant department manager. Nothing could douse the entrepreneurial flame that is so much a part of Jan. After 8 years and knee surgery it was once again time for a change. In June of 2004 she left Zehrs to pursue her long time dream of a career in real estate. It seemed the natural thing to do with her back ground in property management and her ability and love of working with people and properties. Jan has always put the needs of others ahead of her own and will continue to do so while fulfilling her long time dream of a career in real estate. This is just the beginning.
The article below was written about Jan by the Enterprise Bulletin in Collingwood Ontario
May 8 1996
This was the Fussbudgets logo,
seen on Jan,s fleet all over Grey, Bruce and Simcoe Counties
The personal side of Jan
Jan Has Many talents, the things she likes to do in her spare time are not what some might think of as normal for a woman. One of those things is a love of vintage british sports cars. Over the past few years she acquired for a very good price ( guess who did the negotiating ) a 1980 Triumph Spitfire. Jan her hubby Bill and her son Nate disassembled restored and reassembled it to original condition and colour Thats right this lady handles a wrench as good as any body
Jan calls her spitty Before restoration with Jan Having fun
after restoration at a friends house
The Many Faces of Jan, family and pets
She encourages her family and friends to do what they love and supports their endeavors to excel at what they do with zeal .
Nathan James Gibson
Jans youngest son Nate is a speed board racer and sponsored rider for Exzuberence sports a Canadian long board manufacturer, here are some pictures of Nate racing at top challenge and other places. Nate's chosen career path is automotive tech ( mechanic ) he is currently a 3rd year apprentice and works at Fox Chrysler in Owen Sound.

Nate with 2006 race deck Nate in the lead in practice

Nate racing at Top Challenge Montreal 2006 his current best speed 103 km per hour
Here are a couple of links to events Nate is going to this year
www.topchallenge.ca Mount Royal Montreal Quebec
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SyyElmhdKKw Top Challenge
Benjamin Lane Gibson
Jans Older son Ben is a Computer Systems Tech and a published poet, below are a couple of Ben's poems that have been published.
Bens Blog
www.unlitcandle.blogspot.com
Lush Gardens Turn Tundra by The Tides (09.20.04)
By. Benjamin L. Gibson
The seasons are slowly growing cold
I can feel the tides of the world changing around me
My heart begins to ache with the thought of things lost
Memories turn to those we love
Those we are losing to the tides of time
Lovers once, now friends again
We met long ago when the seasons were cold
Icy beginnings with a slippery end
Lonely Hearts wonder
Through now frozen hills of old
There once stood lush gardens of green and gold
Roses bloomed, from the sweet soft ground
Rain drops fell as though tears from the heavens above
Beautiful rainbows cross the open fields
As the cold October winds blow ever stronger
The lush gardens grow cold and barren
Roses wither, the soft ground turns hard and bitter
Our rainbows fade away and the sky grows gray
No stars left in the sky, no moon to guide my way
Once a great garden of earthly delights
Now cold winds over the dark tundra blow
The tides of the world come changing
Revealing the secret ocean below.
Ode to a Beautiful Woman
By Benjamin L. Gibson
I stare at the moon, and all its glory
The sun stands tall above all other things
I watch the stars and wonder
A woman, A Friend, A Lover
More glorious then the moon
More powerful then the sun
And more beautiful then the brightest star
Will I find her, Will she find me, and Will it ever be
Or is it already
Gibby will be posted soon
|