The Jogbra view of Hinda

The Free Press interviewed two former Jogbra colleagues of Hinda Miller's, co-founder Lisa Lindahl and Jan Kimbrell, who was national sales manager for Jogbra and worked with Miller for 17 years.

They did not have good things to say about Hinda and both said they would not vote for her if they lived in Burlington.

There are a lot of people in Burlington singing Hinda's praises, but one must give pause when the people who worked so closely with her have such strong negative opinions of her.

Excerpt from the Burlington Free Press story on Hinda Miller today, by John Briggs
http://www.burlingtonfreepress.com/apps/pbcs.dll/section?Category=MILLER

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The co-founder of Jogbra, Lisa Lindahl, had a different experience with Miller.Lindahl spoke reluctantly of her 15 years working side-by-side with Miller, but said that if she lived in Burlington rather than Colchester, she would not vote for her former partner. She spoke, she said, to avoid being complicit in an illusion.Miller, as mayor, would have the ability to present a picture, or tell people what they want to hear, Lindahl said, but does she have the chops to do the city, given the needs? ... The short answer is, I don’t think so.She criticized Miller both on grounds of her business acumen and on grounds of character.

The company was founded in 1977, and Lindahl became president. She said that as the company began to grow, she issued equal shares to designer Polly Smith, who created the first Jogbra prototype, and to Miller.Lindahl said Miller betrayed her trust by later secretly acquiring Smiths shares to become the majority shareholder. She said I’d have to do what she said. Smith describes it this way: Stupidly I did sell her 80 percent of my shares, without calling Lisa. It was just horrible ever after that. Because (Jogbra) was Lisa’s idea. Hinda had always been a bystander in the company. Miller, presented with Lindahl and Smiths description of her purchase of the shares, declined comment.

Another former Jogbra colleague, Jan Kimbrell, spoke of Miller from her home in California. Kimbrell, who was national sales manager for Jogbra, worked with Miller for 17 years. She said a visitor from Vermont recently asked her opinion of Miller and asked whether she would recommend her for mayor.I told that person directly and emphatically, No, she said. Burlington is a wonderful town. It seems to need a stronger personality with stronger credentials, rather than the legend in your own mind. Kimbrell described Miller as insensitive and calculating, and added, She has a chameleon style. Shes a very bright woman. She can read situations and adapt. Is it necessary to have sincerity behind that to be effective? In politics, I don’t know. I think she’s sincere about her aspirations.Often we worked around her rather than with her, she added. She made things personal to the detriment of good business decisions.Informed of Lindahl’s and Kimbrell’s remarks, Miller said, I am not going to get into this. I am not going to talk about what people said about me 20 years ago. I respect Lisa for the work we did together at Jogbra. We had an extremely difficult partnership, but together we ran a very successful business. And anyone who has been in an intense business relationship for 14 years understands that you don’t always come out friends.