When Zita Cobb left the business world at the age of 42, she really didn't know what she wanted to do with herself but she did know that she wanted to be challenged as much as she was when she was Chief Financial Officer and Executive VP for JDS Uniphase.
With some money set aside, Cobb took to sailing the oceans of the world. After four years at sea, Cobb decided she wanted to give back to the community where she grew up and that made her who she was, and proceeded to set up an educational grants for the children of Fogo Island, off the northern coast of Newfoundland.
Together with her brother she set up the Shorefast Foundation that offers micro-financing for artisans and small-business owners, and an artists-in-residence program that features six state-of -the-art self-contained studios on the island. In June 2013 Cobb unveiled a 29-room inn on the rocky coastline only a few steps from her home town of Joe Batt's Arm. Designed by Newfoundland architect Todd Saunders, the hotel features a cinema, library, restaurant and lounge and its rooms are furnished with locally-made furniture and quilts.
Ken Rockburn spoke to Zita Cobb at her hotel in Joe Batt's Arm, Newfoundland and Labrador.
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