"My dad was a radio announcer for the Montana State Bobcats," says KPCW General Manager Renai Bodley Miller. "Radio is in my DNA."
A wide-ranging TV news career led Renai to a lengthy stay as a news executive at KSTU. "I was working away doing 24-hour cable news in Washington when a friend called me about a job in Salt Lake," she recalls. "I soon realized any place you could ski and golf in the same weekend was a great place to live!”
"I would drive to Park City to ski in the morning, then sneak into the lady's room to change for evening après ski fun," she smiles. "In summer, I'd tell friends to come for the Kimball Arts Festival."
Planning to retire to Park City in 2015, Renai was soon back in the newsroom, becoming GM of KPCW in 2017, a place she compares to a "community campfire, where everyone gathers to find out what's happening."
Befitting her news background, Renai stays curious and adventurous – from coast to coast. "My husband's family has a New Hampshire camp for kids, and when the adjacent tree farm became available, he pounced on it," Renai recalls. "Now, I'm a tree farmer!"
"We surprised ourselves again last year by buying a boat in Seattle," she says. "We said, 'Life is short. let's do it!' We just finished a 'Weekend Navigator' class."
Of her unquenchable passion for her work, Renai says, "You learn something every day in a newsroom. I love meeting with reporters and engaging with donors."
"Our community cares," she observes of her adopted home. "People here like being informed. They like finding solutions. It is also an incredibly generous place."
"But the best part is that almost everyone is from somewhere else; we have chosen to live here," she says. "That love of place makes Park City a wonderful - and easy - community to belong to."
