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| Meet: Bianca Bartley |
Peace-is of Bianca
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| "By nature, I’m an artist.
However, I fully understand the
importance and value of having
a firm foundation and grasp of
business and management
skills." |
| Artist and businesswoman Bianca Bartley
likes people to be daring and bold. Her striking
jewellery brand Peace-is of Bianca matches this
philosophy. And so do her ambitions for her
business.
Bianca wants her brand to “develop other art
forms in an effort to enhance the physical,
spiritual and emotional makeup of mankind
through the creation of jobs, outreach and charity.” |
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| Meet: Robyn Fox |
Mount Edge Guest
House, Food Basket
and EITS Café
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| "Ambitions are endless but
my focus right now is to make the
best of this opportunity." |
| During childhood walks around her father’s
farm in Jamaica’s Blue Mountains, Robyn Fox
remembers watching seedlings grow into flowers.
You could say that Robyn’s business has grown in
much the same way. Robyn studied hospitality and tourism in Canada
and Jamaica and worked in Kingston’s only
boutique hotel. The experience of working with
her father on his farm and small guest house
(Mount Edge Guest House), since January 2011 has
helped Robyn expand her business. She now also
runs a successful farm café and food home
delivery service. |
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| Meet: Simone Bell |
Ideatrade
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| “We continuously challenge ourselves to be innovative, accessible and reliable in providing avenues for buyers and sellers.” |
| Simone Bell describes herself as a “magnet for
challenges”. She’s certainly taken on a few.
Already studying for an MBA, working as a sales
rep and being a single mum, Simone decided to
start her own business.
Simone set up Ideatrade, a company that helps
businesses promote themselves, find new
markets and boost their sales. Simone is never
happier than when she’s coming up with business
ideas and “comes alive”’ in creative meetings. She
believes it’s her company’s energy, reliability and
integrity that attracts the customers, and keeps
them coming back. |
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| Meet: Andrew Khan |
Moringa Labs
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| "I have been equipped
with the knowledge to start a
successful business, and it is with
this goal in mind that I
push ahead." |
| Nothing gets Andrew Khan’s blood pumping more
than a good business idea. He’s in his final year
studying entrepreneurship at the University of
the West Indies and says that when his research
backs up a wonderful opportunity, his heart
rate increases. At 18, he started his own small
dog food retail outlet called Champdog Alliance.
In the first year it was unsuccessful and so he
re-launched it, shifting its strategic direction, as
champdogja.com, now Jamaica’s premier website
for advertising dogs for sale. Andrew has now set
his sights on business number two: turning the
product of a tree called Moringa, which grows
in Jamaica’s tropical climate, into a profitable
business that will also help improve the nation’s
nutrition. |
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| Meet: Joan Webley |
Nanook Enterprises
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| "I’ve always enjoyed feeling
like I’ve found something new and
I believe that Nanook will discover
fresh Jamaican talent." |
| Joan Webley has always loved the sound of needle
on vinyl. Her childhood brings back memories of
her parents’ record player and she remembers
listening to the cassette version of Coolio’s
Gangsta’s Paradise for two solid months. This
passion for music has shaped Joan’s career. She
worked in the entertainment industry in Australia
for three years, first as a junior publicist and
booking agent, while training to be a barrister,
and later representing film makers on copyright
issues after being admitted to legal practice.
Returning to Jamaica in 2008, the 28-year-old has
been steadily training and implementing other
developmental initiatives. She has now set up a
cultural centre where artists, including musicians,
film makers and writers, are aided in making a
commercial success out of what they do. |
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| Meet: Leanne Talbot |
Island Cycle
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| "I believe that to be successful in any business it is
important to create a balance
between knowledge
and experience." |
| When Leanne Talbot moved to Jamaica from the
UK at the age of 11, she knew she wanted to be
an entrepreneur. This belief was first born out
of frustration at what she perceived to be a lack
of choices but it soon turned into a realisation
that, in a developing country, there are many
entrepreneurial business opportunities.
Now 24 and in her final year at the University of
the West Indies where she is studying business
management, Leanne is always thinking of new
business ideas. She has decided to go with one
of them – getting her recycling business off the
ground in Jamaica and turning it into a Caribbeanwide
company. |
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| Meet: Kevin Earle |
KRL Supplies
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| "My ambition is to have a
great business where people can feel the energy of good service and
reliability." |
| Kevin Earle is a salesman. He worked in sales
for nine years but always wanted to be his own
boss. A father of three, he’s driven by the desire to
create wealth for his family and is already well on
his way to achieving this aim. His business sells
locally-made Jamaican products, including food
and crafts, to the tourism industry. It’s providing
employment for local manufacturers in Jamaica,
and if Kevin’s dreams are realised, will soon be
creating jobs Caribbean-wide. |
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| Meet: Alecia James |
Signature Cakes
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| "Believe in yourself and
there is no limit to what you
can achieve." |
| Entrepreneurship is not unfamiliar to Alecia. Here
parents have their own transportation business,
so she knew she was born to be an entrepreneur.
She began cooking and baking for her family from
the age of eight, experimenting with flavours. She
went on to specialise in studying food industry
at Jamaica’s University of Technology and landed
her first job at the newly opened Ritz Carlton Rose
Hall Hotel as a cook. Working there for eight years
in the pastry department, Alecia rose through the
ranks to assistant pastry cook. Three years ago,
she took the bold step to start her own business.
Now Alecia’s dream is to manufacture and
distribute cakes and pastries world-wide. |
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| Meet: Edward-Marshall Case |
Edward Case
Construction Concepts
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| "I want to continue helping
my community and do more than I
am now." |
| Ever since he first heard about Sir Richard
Branson, Edward-Marshall Case has admired
his vision and entrepreneurial ability. Like Sir
Richard, Edward, 23, started his business in his
teens. He is helping build much-needed new
homes in Jamaica by offering low cost and
professional construction services.
Passionate about designing houses, Edward
wants to expand his business and by the time
he is 30, to be the director of a multinational
company. And he already knows that he’d like to
spend his retirement teaching and mentoring
young people in business skills. |
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| Meet: Andrew Ross |
Seascape Caribbean
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| "I want to see the vivid reef
that I read about and my professors
talk of with tears in their eyes." |
| Born in Canada, Andrew Ross moved to Jamaica in
1997. Coming from working on the Great Barrier
Reef he was disappointed by the poor condition of
the country’s coral reefs and shocked by the rarity
of fish. He spent three years working as Scientific
Officer at the Montego Bay Marine Park, and
studying marine biology and coral restoration,
where he developed a high-productivity way
to grow and propagate coral for restoration.
The best way to plant large amounts of coral
seemed to him to be privately, so he has turned
his passion into a business. That business’s coral
and coastal ecosystem restoration services are
helping to restore valuable ecosystem services in
the Caribbean and keep tourists coming back. |
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