SALT LAKE COUNTY — Before getting into politics and becoming Salt Lake County‘s Mayor, Jenny Wilson worked for Robert Redford.
FOX 13 News spoke with Mayor Wilson on Tuesday about those experiences.
Wilson says it was her first real job after college, And it happened at a time even before the film festival was officially Sundance.
She said her time working with and for Redford had a huge impact on the rest of her life.
After a day filled with meetings and other county business, Wilson reflected on his passing.
“I think my early development, just in terms of my ethics, my values, what I wanted to champion, were absolutely impacted by Redford and the organization," she said.
WATCH: Robert Redford's legacy in Utah set to be as lasting as his films
Wilson said she was one of the first handful of people hired by his organization in the late 1980s, and she was immediately impressed by his collaborative and welcoming style.
“He gave everyone he invited to Sundance — whether it was me as an employee, people coming in for workshops — he gave them the freedom to kind of get to know each other, to learn from each other. It was a workshopping environment," she recalled.
The deliberate way Redford created throughout the years, his form for storytelling, making sure that independent voices were heard, and doing it in his own, unique way.
“But just over the years, seeing what he stood for, and more importantly, how he stood for it," Wilson said. “He didn’t do it through force or intimidation or anger. It was a through healthy dialogue. And then he expressed his own way through the art he created.”
Wilson also reflected on the fact that with Redford living and passing away in Utah County, this was the second sad and major event to hit that county in less than a week.
