Islandista Pre-Summer 2014

Presummer edition 2014

High Flying!

BDS$2.00/US$1.00

Our guide to career success and satisfaction

ISSUE 4

How to dress for success

Gaynelle Marshall on her career’s second chapter

HANDLE YOUR BUSINESS

Jaydene Thomas and Lana Jones show how

Our readers are

...Smart ...Sophisticated ...Discerning

ADVERTISE WITH US Contact our Advertising Team at islandistaadvertising@gmail.com Patricia Delgado 823-6400 | Paula Jackman 232-0291

EDITOR’S note

P

erhaps it’s a bit late in the year to be sharing resolutions but I’m going to go ahead and do it anyhow!

Somewhere between bringing out our holiday 2013 edition and the start of 2014, we resolved to make Islandista bigger and better this year and to do so in tangible ways.

And so we bring to you our first ever all-digital edition. This pre-summer 2014 edition which you are quite likely holding in your hands as you read it on your tablet or phone, is the first part of our expansion to a quarterly publishing schedule.

That’s right – we’re moving up to four editions this year. Our summer and holiday issues will continue to have a print edition but our new pre-summer and pre-holiday (or spring and fall if you’d like!) issues will be completely digital.

At Islandista, we pride ourselves on being aware of and on the cutting edge of trends in fashion, carnival, music and of course, technology.

So when we saw that tablet sales are expected to increase by 79% over the next four years and that digital magazine sales are doubling and tripling in countries further afield, our interest was definitely piqued.

Furthermore, we could hardly avoid seeing the thousands of smart, stylish islandistas who whip their tablets out of their handbags whenever they have a few minutes to spare.

We knew we had to be there and so here we are!

In the vein of this enterprising spirit, this whole issue is dedicated to careers and business – from a fabulous islandista perspective of Editor-in-chief Amanda Lynch-Foster course!

Let’s be frank - the economic climate right now throughout the Caribbean is not the best. That much is obvious and the media has spent lots of time analysing, discussing and dissecting our economic woes.

We’re coming at it from a different angle. With the inspiring message of Easter still on our minds and the soaring sight of kites still in the air, tugging and straining to go ever higher, we feel like this is a time of year that lends itself to optimism.

Yes, the economy is not great so this is why we are showing you ways to conquer and get in control of your career. There are many pathways to success and in this issue of Islandista, we are showing you more than a few of them.

Your path to career success might involve leaving the comfort of the familiar for something new as broadcaster Gaynelle Marshall has done (page 22) or starting your own business like islandistas Lana Jones (page 24) and Jaydene Thomas (page 28). It may be a matter of having the confidence to “just try a t’ing” as islandista Facebook executive Maxine Williams urges (page 20). We hope that the stories of these islandistas inspire you.

In addition to inspiring examples, this edition is also full of practical career advice from how to dress for success to using social media to your advantage and how to become a successful leader.

We hope that this issue gets you ready to rise and fly as well.

Mandy xxx www.islandistas.com

www.twitter.com/islandista

www.facebook.com/islandistas

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Michelle Bridgeman

Sueann Tannis

ON THE COVER

Photographer: Khalil Goodman Model: Zhane Padmore Styled by: Bedazzle Boutique, Sky Mall

Contents

Mialisa Fenty

Celebs

05 | Power moves for islandistas Jourdan Dunn and Nina Compton

Entertainment

06 | My Barbados Weekend review

Beauty

07 | Career makeup for the modern islandista

Amleya Clarke

Play Mas

08| The Rise of Monday wear at Carnival

Fashion

&contributors Editor-in-chief Amanda Lynch-Foster Design Director Mialisa Fenty Photographers

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Islandistas We Love

18 | Nina Compton’s Top Chef Run

Khalil Goodman Amleya Clarke The Morgan Photo Writers Sueann Tannis Michelle Bridgeman

20 | Facebook Exec Maxine Williams’ Power Moves 22 | Gaynelle Marshall’s Brand New Groove

Money Matters

24 | Handle Yuh Business – Lana Jones 26 | Life Insurance Protects What Matters Most 28 | Handle Yuh Business – Jaydene Thomas 30 | How to Ace That Interview

Food & Dining 32 | To Market We Go

10 | Push for more colour on the catwalks 12 | Dress for success 16 | How She Works It – Tamita Griffith

Khalil Goodman

Danielle Brathwaite-Lynch

Editorial Assistant Danielle Brathwaite-Lynch Advertising Executives Patricia Delgado Paula Jackman

Relationships & Family

33 | Social Media Reputation Building 34 | Like A Boss – A Blueprint for Leadership

Makeup Alphaeus Lythcott (Alphaeus Designs) Kamilah Codrington (I Heart Makeup)

ISLANDISTA celebs

Top Chef Nina Compton Takes to the Sea Veronica Campbell-Brown

Veronica CampbellBrown Back on Track It’s been the year from hell for Jamaican sprinter Veronica CampbellBrown but she can now hold her head up high after the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) upheld her appeal against a two-year ban which the International Association of Athletics Federation (IAAF) secretly tried to impose on her.

After supposedly testing positive for banned diuretic HCT last May, she had been given a public warning in October by a disciplinary panel in Jamaica which ruled that her violation was not serious enough to warrant a ban.

However, the IAAF apparently took issue with the leniency of the punishment and ordered Jamaican authorities to order a twoyear ban. Curiously, the increased punishment was never publicised. It was only revealed in April when Campbell-Brown’s appeal against it was successful.

In its ruling on that appeal, the CAS was harshly critical of Jamaican athletics and antidoping officials’ handling of the case, saying “deplorable” mistakes were made in how they collected a urine sample provided by the seventime Olympic medallist. CAS noted that these errors may well have led to “environmental contamination” of Campbell-Brown’s sample.

As a result, CAS completely cleared Campbell Brown of failing the doping test.

Islandista has been a long time supporter of VCB and we stood behind her from the start so this news is a relief to us, as it is to all of her true fans.

Even though she didn’t win Top Chef – New Orleans, St. Lucian chef Nina Compton has stayed in hot demand ever since Season 11 of the show wrapped (more on her Top Chef run on page 18).

This includes Bravo, owners of the Top Chef franchise itself which is expanding this summer to a Top Chef At Sea series of cruises in collaboration with Celebrity Cruises. The four cruises will feature meals and cooking demos by some of the most popular ‘chef-testants’ to have passed through the program.

Nina has been included in this number and come August, she will be whipping up culinary delights on the seas of Alaska as she is slated to be one of the featured chefs on a cruise then.

Jourdan Dunn is New Face of Maybelline Islandista model Jourdan Dunn has scored a huge coup when she was recently announced as the face of Maybelline cosmetics.

While it’s easy to cue the ‘maybe she’s born with it’ jokes, the more serious side is that this is a major career accomplishment for Jourdan which surely cements her status as a supermodel. A major mainstream beauty contract has long been considered one of the markers of having arrived as a model. When you add this to her Victoria’s Secret show appearances, her popular online cooking show ‘Well Done with Jourdan Dunn’ and her appearance in Beyonce’s Yonce music video, it is clear to see that Jourdan checks all the boxes for ‘super’ status.

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ISLANDISTA entertainment

A burst of colour starts the Colour J’ouvert 3K

The Happiest Man Alive, Machel Montano, who performed during My Barbados Weekend.

A Solid First Effort from My Barbados weekend

by Michelle Bridgeman

E

aster weekend in Barbados may never be the same after My Barbados Weekend.

A mixed team of Barbadian and Trinidadian party promoters made a commendable first attempt at bringing the party weekend concept to Barbados.

Initially planned to be three backto-back parties in three days, it ended up being two in two as one of the hotly anticipated highlights of the weekend – the all-inclusive Fancy the Cocktail Party was cancelled.

However that doesn’t mean the weekend wasn’t a hit. It got kicked off on Easter Saturday with the Beach Ball featuring Machel Montano and a line up of local and international DJs including SLAM FM’s popular DJs Puffy and Salt.

Coming over from Trinidad were DJs Private Ryan and Hypa Hoppa and DJ Sasha.

The highlight of the Beach Ball was the pre-judging of the bikini segment of the Miss Barbados World 2014 competition. The delegates strutted their stuff in bikini designs by Moodswings Swimwear and sunglasses

by Sun Collection. Cover girl of the Islandista Holiday 2013 issue Emilomo

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Reigning Miss Barbados World Regina Ramjit was on hand for the Beach Ball and Miss Barbados World swimsuit segment judging.

Akpevwiehor won this competition with runner up being Shakela Bellamy and third place going to Melanie Mark.

The person everyone was waiting to see Mr HD, Mr ‘Happiest Man Alive’, the man of the hour, Trinidad’s 2014 Power Soca Monarch, Machel Montano graced the stage with his energetic and pulsating soca hits. Nikita Browne from Barbados also joined Mr. Epic on-stage for fantastic rendition of his songs.

To finish off the weekend, the MBW team held a charity run, the Color Jouvert 3K with proceeds in aid of Variety the Children’s Charity. The run started at Dover with a pop of colour.

The first colour pink was thrown up in the air at the beginning of the run and along the route, participants encountered stations with different colours of powder which were tossed on them.

The Miss Barbados World delegates represented with some of the children from the Variety the Children’s Charity and they all chipped down the road to the sweet soca vibes.

All in all it was a fantastic weekend and I had a blast. The My Barbados Weekend team pushed the limit in holding events and giving to charity in the process.

We’re confident that we can expect big things from them in the future!

ISLANDISTA beauty

Putting On Your Best Face Makeup for the Modern Career Woman

T

he expression ‘putting on your best face’ takes on a whole new meaning when you consider the connection between cosmetics and career advancement.

In a 2011 study by a joint group of researchers from Harvard University and Boston University, it was revealed that wearing a little (or even a lot) of makeup increased people’s perceptions of a woman’s competence and trustworthiness.

The study showed study participants a range of women. Each woman sported four different makeup looks ranging from barefaced to full on makeup.

Fascinatingly enough, whether they were allowed a quick (250 milliseconds) or lengthy glance, participants tended to assess the makeup-wearing photos of the women as more competent than the barefaced versions of the same women.

A 2013 poll by British cosmetics retailer Escentual reaffirmed this, with more than two thirds of bosses saying they would be less likely to employ a female job applicant if she didn’t wear make-up to her interview.

Makeup could also help or hurt promotion prospects as 60.8 percent of company executives said that if female staff members didn’t wear cosmetics on a regular basis it would have a detrimental effect.

Whether these views are politically correct is a whole other article but it is interesting to note that one of these studies measured subconscious perceptions while the other measured conscious views and both came to basically the same conclusion – makeup matters.

So with that in mind, Islandista has a few beauty tips to help smooth your moves up the career ladder.

There are some basic beauty tips that nearly everyone invested in their career should take heed of. For instance, tattoos. Unless you are working in a highly creative and liberal field (think: Rihanna), you might want to think of applying some concealer to them, especially if you are going for an interview. Better yet, get your tattoos in areas that won’t be easily revealed in business wear. Anywhere between the hip and knee, on your back, stomach or even upper arms is viable and hardly likely to be seen.

Another basic – exfoliate. This applies to both lips and face and to both women and men. Flaky, chapped lips are distracting and aren’t attractive on anyone. A gentle moisturising scrub on your lips can work wonders and you can even make your own, using a little salt or sugar mixed with an essential oil.

The exfoliation rule also applies to your face – unless you have extremely sensitive skin. In fact, it’s the number one rule from Revlon’s Global Artistic Director Gucci Westman who says a good lactic scrub will “make your skin luminous all day” and provide a sound foundation for your makeup look.

And speaking of foundation – it’s usually advisable unless you have flawless, blemish-free skin. A touch of concealer and some foundation – or better yet, a two-in-one concealer foundation will go a long way towards making you look polished and put together.

Another key makeup basic – well groomed eyebrows.

Over-plucked eyebrows get a side-eye for taste. So do harsh, painted on eyebrows while unruly brows can convey a lack of attention to detail. Learn your face shape – whether oval, diamond, heart-shaped or square and what eyebrow shape works best for them. Then keep it consistent. Any touching up with eyebrow pencil should be done with a dark brown pencil. A black eyebrow pencil will only give you a Morticia Adams from The Addams Family vibe.

Once you have followed these simple beauty basics, you can go fairly minimal with your lipstick and eye shadow because you’re basically good to go.

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ISLANDISTA play mas

I

The rise of monday wear

t’s the rise of a whole new industry dedicated to just one day of the year.

And no, it’s not Christmas, it’s Carnival Monday in Trinidad.

While once upon a time Carnival masqueraders were content to wear just a band-branded baby tee and boy shorts or even the top of their costume if they were feeling fancy, now a whole slew of designers are offering semi-customised Monday wear collections.

Come Carnival Monday, names like Mon Diva (by Trinidad-based Barbadian designer Janelle Forde), Christian Boucaud, Keisha Als, Custom Made Carnival Supplies and Rawle Permanand rule the road within the big-name bands like Y.U.M.A, Tribe, Island People and Bliss.

“I love Monday wear! [It’s] another reason to dress up and look cute,” declares marketing manager Tricia Henry.

Airline manager Kai Salandy was more circumspect, terming designer Monday wear “interesting” and adding: “Purchasing Monday wear outside of a package is a clear indication of the need for bands to enhance their Monday presentations.”

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Henry explained her additional motivation for Monday wear, noting that “it preserves the splendour of the costume for the Tuesday.”

Her Monday wear this year was from the Mon Diva line by Forde whose Carnival 2014 collection Diva meets Beast was inspired by legendarily powerful and charismatic women such as Cleopatra, Elizabeth Taylor and Zsa Zsa Gabor.

Interestingly enough, one thing Forde’s collection was not inspired by?

The costumes of the actual Carnival bands her clients jump with.

“I rarely am inspired by the costumes presented for mas on Tuesday as I and many other clients believe that Monday is fun day. It is meant for experimenting with fashion and wearing colours that may not be in your Tuesday costume,” Forde told the Trinidad Guardian’s Metro Magazine earlier this year.

Judging by the Monday wear seen on the streets of Port of Spain, she’s not the only one drawing her own inspiration. Monday wear outfits have become just a few feathers short of full-fledged, independent costumes with their elaborate designs even surpassing the offerings of Carnival bands in other, smaller Caribbean islands.

“I don’t think it necessarily needs to match back at all,” mused Henry when asked about her Monday wear preferences.

“What I like to do is choose a detail from my costume that I would like [to see] reflected in my Monday wear in some way but I don’t want it to be matchy-matchy.”

With Monday revellers marching to their own beat, it raises the question - does its increasing popularity and individualism take away from the artistic cohesion of band presentations

or – more excitingly, does it harken back to the older tradition of individuals’ mas?

Some still prefer their Monday wear to closely complement their Tuesday costume with geologist Lynn Morris opining: “I like my Monday wear to match my costume colours. It’s like giving a big hint of what’s to come on Tuesday!”

Just as with Tuesday costumes, the prices for Monday wear can vary widely, with outfits ranging from US$75 for the most straightforward designs to as much as US$500 for fully customised options.

Still for some, money is not going to come between them and Monday wear.

Henry is one such devotee, asserting: “Carnival is one of my very few indulgences so I am prepared to pay for Monday wear and I don’t feel like I have to justify it to anyone since I am paying for it myself.”

However others find the prices hot enough that they prefer to DIY when it comes to Monday wear.

“I created my Monday look myself as always and so many people asked me who did it for me!” exclaimed Morris, noting that: “A little bit of planning is all that it takes. No need to break the bank to get a bit of Monday haute…. I find the prices hot and know that I can achieve

the look I want myself. So off to eBay and the trim shops I go!”

Still there are others who can’t be bothered to get onto the Monday wear wagon at all. Graphic designer Jeunanne Alkins is one of them, noting: “I’m not into any of the extras at all. Monday wear, professional makeup, hair, bling boots, accessories - I do none and if my boots from last year [are] still functional, I will wear it next [year]. Whatever they give me with the costume is what I’m playing in or part thereof even. It’s my personal tastes - I can’t manage fuss.”

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ISLANDISTA fashion

Push for colour on the catwalks

T

he Diversity Coalition’s campaign for colour on the catwalks is working and Caribbean models are among the biggest beneficiaries as was seen during the recent Fall/Winter 2014 fashion season.

In New York, London, Paris and even Milan, it was clear that the message championed by Bethann Hardison and supported by islandista supermodel Naomi Campbell and supermodel Iman was getting through.

In addition to the big name regulars such as the BritishJamaican Jourdan Dunn, Puerto Rican-Virgin Islander Joan Smalls and the Dominican Republic’s Arlenis Sosa, several Caribbean newcomers made an impact during the season which started in February and ended just last month.

Jamaicans Kai Newman and Tami Williams of Saint International and Ysaunny Britto of the Dominican Republic saw plenty of runway time, walking in many shows between them. They strutted for some of the most high profile designers in the fashion industry too, including Alexander Wang, Burberry and Helmut Lang.

Their journey to the fall/winter collections, which with its darker colours and wintry themes, usually feature less models of colour than the spring/summer collections, is surely due in part to the increased awareness which Hardison, Campbell and Iman have stirred up.

The Diversity Coalition started their campaign back in September 2013 with a searing open letter sent to the organising councils of the big four Fashion Weeks ‎just ahead of the Spring/Summer 2014 collections.

The letter said in part: Eyes are on an industry that season after season watches design houses consistently use one or no models of colour. No matter the intention, the result is racism. Not accepting another based on the colour of their skin is clearly beyond ‘aesthetic’ when it is consistent with the designer’s brand. Whether it’s the decision of the designer, stylist or casting director, that decision to use basically all white models, reveals a trait that is unbecoming to modern society.

Jamaican Kai Newman

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The straight-talking missive caused a sensation, particularly since they named names, calling out industry heavyweights such as Donna Karan, Versace, Céline, Louis Vuitton, Alexander McQueen, Calvin Klein, Prada and Chanel for barely using models of colour in their previous 2013 shows.

The trio followed up the letter with rounds of high profile media appearances in the U.S and U.K, using their

Ysaunny Britto of the Dominican Republic

Jamaican Tami Williams

considerable combined clout to make themselves heard.

“The statistics, it’s really shocking,” Campbell told ABC’s Good Morning America.

“Heart-breaking. Your body and beauty, it doesn’t matter what colour you are. If you’ve got the right talent, you should be there having the opportunity to do the job.”

Campbell showed the fearlessness that has come with 27 years in the industry and well…being Naomi Campbell, when she told the UK’s Mirror Newspaper that she tackled Victoria Beckham directly after she was named as one of the designers whose shows under-represent models of colour.

“I called Victoria and I spoke to her. I don’t want to pinpoint anyone. It isn’t a blame game. Everyone’s name was on that letter because they’d done it. It could have been completely unintentional. She is one of the designers on there like anyone else.”

In Naomi-esque style, she declared forthrightly: “There is no way to candycoat this sort of thing. You have to be straight. We had the percentages and we were armed

with the facts and you can’t be nervous about upsetting people. I speak the truth. People might not like it but I am doing it.”

There was no easing up when the F/W 2014 shows rolled around in February and March. More pressure was applied as the Coalition published another frank open letter which tracked the progress, showing who had made a change and more tellingly, those who hadn’t.

The D.C. team reported a “marked improvement on the runways and a positive response to the letters received by the major fashion councils and the designer brands they count as members.”

However, this is not the end. Encouragingly, they have vowed to “continue this improvement across the entire industry”, adding that they were looking “for consistency and not because of advocacy or a season lending to darker skin.”

The letter finished on a wry note, pointing out: “Diversifying is not difficult. The resistance to do so is intriguing.”

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ISLANDISTA fashion

DRESS FOR

SUCCESS

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Face the day. What could have been a basic black and white shift dress is livened up with the verdant green and intricate pattern, bringing a jolt of interest that is even better than caffeine.

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t’s time to put your career into high gear and what better way to show you mean business than by being well dressed – in the most literal sense of the word?

While in years gone by, ambitious career women showed their gravitas by echoing men’s style in the power pantsuit, now there’s a whole new way of dressing for success.

As power dynamics shifted and ever more women made it to the top of the table in the board room, the idea of appropriating masculine style to convey power began to seem like a relic of another time.

In a world where women now equal and even outrank men in career and educational achievements, feminine style is now more than enough to communicate strength, confidence and professionalism.

Which brings us to that most feminine item in the wardrobe, the dress.

Islandista teamed up with The Hub to show how a bold and stylish dress can take the modern career woman throughout all that her work day will throw at her.

Getting her point across. Stand out and get heard in this vibrant, colour-blocked dress which requires only simple accessories as it pops enough on its own.

Show your serious side in this elegant black and grey dress. The slightly tweedy grey fabric lends it the heft of academe while the asymmetrical fold of the skirt still says that you know a thing or two about fashion.

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ISLANDISTA fashion

Pause for a style cause in this stunning and ontrend painter print dress which combines whimsical , colourful art within a graphic black and white structure.

CREDITS Photography: Amleya Clarke Clothing and accessories: The Hub, Shopping by the Bay Model: Lyngeolle Morris Make-up artist: Alphaeus Lythcott (Alphaeus Design) Photo assistant: Danielle Brathwaite-Lynch

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The crisp black and white and prim length is spiced up with an edgy zippered detail running down the front of the skirt.

Statement necklaces are a hot trend with no sign of cooling anytime soon.

A statement necklace in rich and vibrant colours really does make a statement.

A meal out with clients requires something both classic and distinctive. This sunshine yellow dress with its embroidered neckline does the job.

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ISLANDISTA fashion

How She

Works It Tamita Griffith is serious about fashion and business

C

Always presentable.

When she’s doing presentations to media house partners or training potential sales agents or content creators, Tamita sports a look which deconstructs the classic skirt suit by putting together complementary separates. The dramatic ruffled collar of this leopard print jacket makes it fun while still being corporate.

And of course, there’s the requisite pop of colour, compliments of her pink top and pink-and-green peep-toe heels.

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an a woman be serious about fashion and serious about business?

It shouldn’t even be a question but it has long been – whether spoken or unspoken.

There has long lingered an insidious perception that if a woman is ‘too’ stylish and concerned with clothing and her looks then maybe she is more style than substance.

Award-winning novelist Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie addressed this with great eloquence recently in a piece in Elle Magazine, where she spoke about reconciling such perceptions with her inherent and inherited, love of fashion.

“I had learned a lesson about Western culture: Women who wanted to be taken seriously were supposed to substantiate their seriousness with a studied indifference to appearance. For serious women writers in particular, it was better not to dress well at all, and if you did, then it was best to pretend that you had not put much thought into it. If you spoke of fashion, it had to be either with apology or with the slightest of sneers.”

Tamita Griffith is a young professional who shatters this tired old stereotype.

As we prepared for her Islandista photo shoot, she spoke enthusiastically about her return to the Caribbean Media Corporation in the position of Assistant Regional Sales and Marketing Manager. She was informed and passionate as she spoke about CMC’s plans for its cable television station Caribvision, the opportunities posed by the Caribbean diaspora in North America and the direction Caribvision wants to take in terms of content.

This seriousness of purpose definitely extended to her approach to fashion as she arrived for the shoot perfectly coiffed, trendy stiletto nails on point and makeup completely done.

She also came armed with not one, but two suitcases filled with fabulous clothing, shoes and accessories for each outfit. The accessories were not carelessly flung into bags but carefully packaged in felt jewellery bags or jewellery boxes. She brought her own hangers and each outfit was meticulously thought out and put together according to the professional occasion.

Clearly this is a lady who is as serious about her style as she is about her career.

Day to night. This cerulean blue dress with its deep cowl neckline is a “day to night” outfit that can be dressed up or dressed down according to the occasion. Tamita paired it with patterned platform shoes with a sky-high heel. Vertiginous high heels are a must for this petite professional who measures in at just under 5 feet tall.

She means business. Tamita explained that this is a look she would wear “if I was going to a business meeting with clients or potential clients” noting that older executives in particular sometimes prefer a jacketed look. She makes a concession to conservatism by making the base of the outfit classic black and white but adds a characteristic “pop of colour” by including the bright orange blazer. “I have to have colour,” she says.

CREDITS Photographer: Amleya Clarke; Makeup: Alphaeus Lythcott (Alphaeus Designs)

In the swing of things.

With its embroidered collar and panelled puff sleeves, this black and white trapeze dress is ideal for a business dinner.

The monochromatic colour scheme is sober enough for business bigwigs while the fun shape and a pair of ruby red heels is pure Tamita.

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ISLANDISTAS WE LOVE

S

Chef Nina Compton

Brings Together a Nation

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he’s got the flavour.

The sumptuous duck and foie gras ravioli flavour.

The delectable turtle meat meatballs, chocolate zeppoles, cold smokes lobster tartare, and gnocchi flavour.

And even though St. Lucian Chef Nina Compton shockingly didn’t win in the February finale of Bravo’s reality show Top Chef, she still came out a winner.

Since her time on the show, the Miami-based chef has become a bonafide culinary celebrity and has spent the last few months flying all over the United States as a guest chef at high profile restaurants and charity events.

In March, she nipped up to Chicago for a ‘Top Chefs United’ benefit dinner. In that same month, her home restaurant in Miami, Scarpetta offered a special menu created by Nina which featured some of the winning dishes she created during her Top Chef run.

In April, she was guest chef at The Saint Austere Restaurant in New York City and Swine Southern Table & Bar in Coral Gables, Florida.

In June she will be over in California for Laguna Beach’s Taste of the Nation and come August, she will take to the high seas of Alaska as one of the featured chefs on ‘Top Chef At Sea’, a joint venture between Celebrity Cruises and Bravo.

“People now come to the restaurant and they start screaming when they see me and say they feel like they know me. And I have a rapport with these people even though they haven’t met me yet. I think being on Top Chef will open doors because more opportunities will come to me.”

It’s been a dizzyingly busy stretch for the St. Lucian chef but it’s no surprise since she gained legions of fans during her time on Top Chef Season 11 with her masterful meals and calm command of her kitchen.

Her loss in the finale to Chef Nicholas Elmi was a shocker, prompting thousands of outraged fans to vent their rage on Twitter and forcing chief judge Tom Colicchio to tweet a defence of the judging panel’s decision.

Colicchio’s subsequent admission on Bravo’s reality post mortem show ‘Watch What Happens Live’ that “Nina clearly cooked better all season” did nothing to make fans any happier with the decision.

However the fans showed who their true Top Chef was as Nina won the US$10,000 Fan Favourite prize by a landslide margin of 82% to 18%.

Nina herself has been sanguine about her loss, preferring to point to the good that has come out of her stint on the show.

“I think definitely, win or lose, just having the recognition and the support helps,” she told the Miami New Times.

“People now come to the restaurant and they start screaming when they see me and say they feel like they know me. And I

have a rapport with these people even though they haven’t met me yet. I think being on Top Chef will open doors because more opportunities will come to me.”

Another major benefit of her Top Chef appearances was the sense of pride it brought to her native island of St. Lucia. St. Lucians of all stripes banded together behind Nina, even creating their own nationalistic Twitter hashtag #teamgreenfigandsaltfish to track and celebrate her progress.

The sense of unity engendered was especially moving since it shone a new light on the Compton family which in St. Lucia, is usually associated with politics.

Nina’s late father Sir John Compton was St. Lucia’s Father of Independence, a long-serving Prime Minister and the founder of the now opposition United Workers’ Party.

Her sister Jeannine Compton-Antoine is a former MP who followed in her father’s footsteps and won his seat in a byelection after he died in office in 2007. The family’s political roots stretch even further as their father’s first cousin is St. Vincent and the Grenadines former long-standing Prime Minister Sir James Mitchell.

Despite the deeply political connections, Nina’s rise through Top Chef delighted St. Lucians on both sides of the political divide. On the night of the finale, there was even a massive, government-supported viewing party held in the main square in the country’s capital of Castries.

Prime Minister Dr. Kenny Anthony, a one-time political rival of Nina’s father, called her a role model for young St. Lucians, saying: “I call on all young Saint Lucians seeking a role model or with doubts of their own capability to… take example from Nina Compton, who has shown that everything is possible anywhere, anytime — once you are committed to pursue and achieve your goal. Saint Lucians at home and abroad are all proud of Nina and she knows she carries the support of each and every one of us,” he stated.

Nina responded to the outpouring of support with as much love for her countrymen as she received from them. On the day before the Top Chef finale, she posted a deeply personal message on her Facebook page, saying: “When I was invited to be part of Top Chef, one of the things that was foremost in my acceptance of the challenge was doing my country of birth proud and showing others what we can do. Coming into the finals, the support from my little island has been incredible - in fact truly amazing. Very few might ever know what it is like to have a whole nation rallying behind them, and I can only hope that I do [justice to that] support not just now, but going forward in the future.”

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ISLANDISTAS WE LOVE

Facebook Exec Maxine William’s power moves

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he’s got the power.

When Trinidadian native Maxine Williams was named to Ebony Magazine’s Power 100 listing this past December, it was in recognition of her influential position at one of the biggest technology companies of our time – Facebook.

In September 2013, Maxine was appointed as Facebook’s Global Head of Diversity where she is tasked with developing the social network’s internal diversity and inclusion strategies.

The position not only puts her squarely in the middle of the ongoing public debate about the diversity of Silicon Valley but it puts a very different face into that debate. As an immigrant (she moved to the United States to study when she was 16), she is hardly out of place in Silicon Valley where about half of science, technology, and engineering workers are foreign-born.

But as a woman and a black one at that, she is basically a micro-minority. Colorlines reported that in the tech industry, only 27 per cent are female while only 5 per cent are black.

Excitingly, as the person handpicked by Facebook power duo Mark Zuckerberg and Sheryl Sandberg to improve their diversity efforts, Williams is in a position to do actually something about these numbers by bringing a wider crosssection of talent to the tech table.

She has come well prepared to the formidable task at hand, thanks to her Caribbean background which she has credited with giving her the confidence to compete anywhere.

On Sheryl Sandberg’s Lean In website she relates how she got accepted to Yale - a quintessentially Caribbean tale of

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“faith in achieving the impossible” as she put it herself.

“I arrived with very little understanding of American cultural norms and no road map to success. However, I did come from a people who, through the pressures of slavery and indentureship, developed a faith in achieving the impossible along with a particularly high tolerance for risk. The adage that is often heard in Trinidad is “just try a ting!” In other words, assume no limit to your potential to overcome obstacles and give every challenge your best shot.”

She did just that, especially when she was wait-listed by the Ivy League university.

“My first letter from Yale stated that I was wait listed. A classmate explained that it meant they liked me but not as much as other people who they definitely wanted to have.

I remember having two clear reactions. One was “but they don’t know me. So how can they make that determination?”

And the other was “they didn’t fully shut the door so there’s still time to try a ting”.

I set out to get them to know me better. I borrowed a video recorder and set it up on a tripod. Standing in front of the camera, I improvised an account, with humour, of who I was and of what a great addition I’d be to a school. I put the VHS tape in an envelope and mailed it off to the Yale admissions office.”

It worked and she got accepted. From Yale, she embarked on a journey of such dazzling career diversity that it seems almost inevitable that she would end up where she is now as an expert in the field.

First, there was a sojourn to another top level university after she won a Rhodes Scholarship and attended Oxford University where she studied law. She credits a Guyanese-

“The adage that is often heard in Trinidad is “just try a ting!” In other words, assume no limit to your potential to overcome obstacles and give every challenge your best shot.”

Bajan friend with introducing her to the possibility when they won the prestigious scholarship first.

After years in the United States and the United Kingdom, Williams then returned home to Trinidad where she immersed herself in a range of activities. These included practising law, teaching at the University of the West Indies St. Augustine campus, working as a diversity professional and human rights coordinator and most excitingly, playing the oh-so-wicked Isis Des Vignes in the beloved and bacchanalian Trini soap opera Westwood Park.

A soap opera star/lawyer – you have to love it!

Eventually her path took her back north again and she worked as Diversity Director with global law firm White and Case, taking the company from an ‘old boys club’ type environment to a second place ranking in the US on The American Lawyer 2013 Diversity Scorecard.

She also made a name with her thoughtful, nuanced commentary on the issues and sub-issues of diversity, making

frequent contributions to the highly-regarded Guardian Newspaper in the UK. In a piece about how diversity improves all kinds of groups from businesses to sports teams to universities, she wrote: “…Diversity is the method by which we achieve excellence in groups. A group is likely to perform better if it includes people with a variety of skills, characteristics and perspectives. Brilliance, diligence and diversity – that’s the winning combination.”

And as it so happens, that also seems to be Maxine Williams’ winning combination as well – a strategy that has taken her from Woodbrook to Silicon Valley and given her a hand in shaping the future of the world’s wealthiest and most influential industry.

It is a long way from home for the girl from Woodbrook but when you think about it, everything in her Caribbean life has prepared her for this moment.

We are confident that she will seize it.

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ISLANDISTAS WE LOVE

A new role for a familiar voice Radio personality Gaynelle Marshall tells all about her switch to the brand new Y 103.3 FM

“

People had initially asked us ‘well why Y?’ And we said ‘Y not?” says Gaynelle Marshall, her distinctive voice cutting across the brunch-time buzz of the coffee house where Islandista has met with her.

She’s actually talking about the slightly mysterious, single-lettered name of the brand new radio station, Y 103 (dot) 3 FM but she could just as easily be speaking about the thought process which led her to a new career challenge as programme manager of the station.

Blonde-streaked hair sweeping across her forehead and sporting her signature pearls, she is fairly bubbling with excitement as she discusses the new endeavour.

After 18 years (“I could have raised a full-grown, voting adult in that time!”) with Barbados’ biggest radio company, Starcom Network, Gaynelle has moved over to Power Broadcasting (also owner of Slam 101.1 FM) where she is tasked with shaping the direction and identity of their newest station.

So what led her to leave the familiarity of a large and very established media conglomerate for a new radio (ad) venture?

She is thoughtful in answering, eventually stating: “There comes a time at which you really have to do something new and challenging or else you’ll never really know if what you think you know, you actually know.”

But after 18 years as one of the most familiar voices at Starcom, 16 of which were at 104.1 FM in its various incarnations, Gaynelle was ready to find out what she really knew and more importantly, test it out in front of the public.

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Her previous position as a programme supervisor at Starcom had prepared her somewhat for her new role.

“It definitely prepared me for it because as an assistant you see much of what is going on. Sometimes you are able to see the forest a little bit better for the trees because you’re not really in the thick of things and it gives you an opportunity to plan how you’d do things a little bit differently, a little more strategically,” she reflects.

The opportunity to put these thoughts into action is what drew her to Y 103.3 FM when she was approached by Power Broadcasting CEO Habib Elias.

“Well as Habib Elias would tell you, he’s been nagging me for over a year,” she says with a laugh, adding: “I would call it a gentle prodding. He and I have known each other since about 1997 and he was a regular listener to me when I was on 104.”

Before making the change, she consulted with friends and family, in particular her brother Kevin ‘DJ

“There comes a time at which you really have to do something new and challenging or else you’ll never really know if what you think you know, you actually know.”

Bubbles’ Marshall, who had made his own move from Starcom to Power Broadcasting’s SLAM four years earlier.

“Basically he said ‘you’ve never been in it for the popularity so you don’t have to worry about whether or not it’s a popular decision. It just has to be something that you want to do and what’s the worst that can happen?’ Which is true!” she exclaims.

With her younger brother’s words of wisdom in the back of her mind, she made the decision and made the move over to Y 103.

“I thought when else in my life would I have an opportunity to be at the helm of a start-up station? Most people are never there in their career – you [tend to] catch it when it is already in motion and you kind of just work to suit. People usually find their templates already ready-made but this time I was able to have a lot of direct input as to the direction we were going,” she shared.

Added motivation came from the fact that Elias made it clear that he saw Gaynelle as being integral to the station’s character.

“He’s always been very open and honest about saying that if he didn’t get me, it would have been a 24-hour automated station. So I apologise in advance for anyone who wanted a 24 hour automated station!” she discloses with another burst of laughter.

Good thing then because, on the contrary, Y 103.3 FM

isn’t automated, it’s animated with an engaging line-up of on-air talent whom Gaynelle personally selected and its own, very distinctive sound and feel.

“It went through a number of different stages but when we looked at it more closely we said ‘well there is still a genuine market out there for an adult contemporary station. One that’s perfectly suitable for playing in your home, your car, your office, back in the car, back home again. So it’s basically your take-with-you-wherever-you-go station - the best of the 80s, 90s and today’s mainstream hits,” she explains, talking us through how their months of research and discussion led to the Y 103.3FM that hit the airwaves a few weeks ago.

Gaynelle says that being at a much smaller station has led her to change and grow professionally.

“I’ll tell you, it forces you to become a lot more organised and a lot more streamlined. You have to be a lot more hands on but you also have to be a lot more trusting of your team and I trust my team implicitly. Everybody, especially in a very small entity must know exactly where their role fits into the scheme of things and be fully allowed to do that,” she says.

Thus far, she’s enjoying every minute of it. The response of the public has been particularly heartening and she shares how people have been reaching out to her on social media, out in social settings and even at the supermarket, to tell her how much they have been enjoying it.

“The reaction to the station has been more than encouraging. I’m actually surprised. I don’t think I’ve ever been in a situation where as a start-up station that we’ve garnered so much underground attention. The buzz has definitely hit the streets or hit the offices as it were and it’s been very good.”

“When else in my life would I have an opportunity to be at the helm of a start-up station? Most people are never there in their career – you [tend to] catch it when it is already in motion.”

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ISLANDISTA MONEY MATTERS

Lana Jones -

The world is her canvas

T

o paraphrase Thoreau slightly, ‘The world is but a canvas to her imagination.’

When Lana Jones sees a child’s face or a woman’s pregnant belly, she sees a potential canvas for art and the delight it can bring.

“Smiling, painted faces make me very, very happy. I feel like the heroine that turned a fantasy into reality. It’s inexplicable, really,” says the painter and proud owner of Faces of Colour by Lana Jones.

Like any good (super)heroine, she has another identity by day as an account executive with advertising and marketing agency GHA DDB. Despite the inherent challenges of having a full-time job on top of running her own business, Lana says the dual role has actually been very beneficial.

“It works perfectly for me at the moment. Being in the marketing industry has helped me formulate my strategies in regards to building and promoting the business in a strategic and effective manner. In terms of time management, I am always able to give 100% to my job Monday to Friday and give the same 100% to Faces of Colour since I paint mainly on weekends and bank holidays,” she tells Islandista.

In fact, her main challenge as an entrepreneur isn’t a time thing but a mind thing as she says it can sometimes be difficult to push herself to put in the practice she needs to perfect her craft.

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“Scheduling practice time and staying motivated are a few of the main challenges for me… At the beginning of the year, I set six-month and one-year goals for the business and have to remind myself of them constantly when I am feeling uninspired to practice. Once I sit at my practice table and start to work though, I am reminded of the joy I derive from painting,” she shares.

Fortunately, her nearest and dearest are there to give her the extra nudge that she needs from time to time, with everyone providing support in their different ways.

For instance, her partner, saxophonist Arturo Tappin is her “voice of reason”.

“Because he is a musician, he completely understands the value in practising often and encourages me to share knowledge whenever I can. One thing he always says that has stuck with me is “practising will help you stay ready so you won’t ever have to get ready!” Lana notes.

Her father John and siblings John Jr. and Giselle provide a more practical form of support as her undesignated-butalways-willing “EBTs- emergency brush transporters.”

“I have turned up to paint on at least three gigs and as I am setting up my station, I realise I have left my brushes on my practice table! Of course, I have a mini melt-down each time but quickly pull myself together after one of them agrees to bring my brushes for me!” she reveals.

Her late mother Laura provided enthusiastic emotional support and was Lana’s “biggest fan.”

“My mom, before she passed away 2 years ago, was always encouraging me to be the best I can be and was easily my biggest fan – even when I painted the most god-awful looking design on my face when I first started out!” says Lana.

The official start to Faces of Colour came nearly two years ago, in October 2012 just after returning from her graduate studies in the United Kingdom.

“I started Faces of Colour after a telephone conversation I had with a friend who was encouraging me to get busy with starting the business and to ‘stop procrastinating’. I knew I had to get on it and started throwing around some potential names in my head. After much consultation, I settled on the current name and went to register the business soon after,” she explains.

The self-taught artist came to the business with some experience, having done face-painting at school fairs and body painting at Crop-Over fetes in the past before she made her passion official in 2012.

For now at least, she has found the face-painting field to be relatively free of competition, mainly because “the face painting scene is not very big in Barbados.”

“However, there are a few face painters that I think are pretty talented and would consider stiff competition,” Lana acknowledges, adding: “I think my personality married with the quality of art I put out differentiates me the most. You are only as good as your last paint gig but your personality will shine through every single time because it is who you are; you can’t hide

who you really are for too long! At the end of the gig, if you were tardy, unpleasant and generally unfriendly with the kids, it doesn’t matter how great your work was – you probably won’t get a call back for another event.”

Lana hasn’t had those problems, no doubt because she is incredibly enthusiastic about making her clientele happy.

“I feel with every face I paint, I have changed a child’s day, even if for a few minutes!” she effuses, while noting: “There are some gigs where I feel accomplished and proud and there are others where I beat myself up terribly because I feel like I didn’t paint at my best. Like any artist, I see my flaws more than the customer [but] all that really matters at the end of it all is that the customer is happy with my art.

That’s what makes me the most happy,” she declares.

Since starting, Lana has expanded into pre-natal belly art, creating works on the expanded bellies of expectant mothers who are getting photo shoots done. She has plans for a lot more and shares her dreams for a “a small school for face painting where I can share my knowledge and craft with aspiring face and body artists in Barbados and the Caribbean.”

In the medium term, she has her sights set on a bigger canvas – walls.

“I’d really love to get into painting bedroom murals for kids. The face and body has its limits but to paint a wall in a room lends itself to so much creativity! Who wants to volunteer a wall in their house?” she laughs.

Credits: Photography: Himal Reece Models: Simone Greene and Lana Jones

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ISLANDISTA MONEY MATTERS

JAYDENE THOMAS handles business and family

J

aydene Thomas is the type who isn’t afraid to speak up.

It’s a trait that has influenced both of her careers – first as a journalist in her native Jamaica and here in Barbados and now as a young lawyer running her own practice, Capital Law Chambers.

It is also a trait that has put her at the intersection of her past and present careers as her frank pronouncements on hot button legal issues have been sought out by the media.

For instance, when the Shanique Myrie imbroglio broke out in 2011, Thomas was one of the first to speak out, telling the Jamaica Observer: “Every time that a flight arrives from Jamaica, the nothing-to-declare line is automatically closed. We are treated like criminals by the authorities.”

Her comments on the contentious case brought her some negative attention in her adopted home of Barbados.

“Initially there was some backlash, threatening emails and phone calls,” she recalls.

Coming just a few months after she had opened her practice, the hostility could have been intimidating for some but Jaydene took it in her stride.

“Those who know me would know

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that I wouldn’t be fazed by it,” she tells Islandista calmly.

She also showed that she has no issue in speaking truth to both sides, making headlines again last year when she chastised some of her fellow Jamaicans for giving their homeland a bad name in Barbados.

“Every week at least one Jamaican appears in court for bringing up drugs.

It’s getting ridiculous and it looks bad,” she declared.

Even in her frustration, she showed empathy for the hapless would-be traffickers, many of whom are poor, undereducated and from rural areas, issuing sage advice.

“I want to make a plea to the Jamaicans who are bringing in drugs and those who are contemplating it, to stop. Don’t do it. They will be caught and the promise of payment of US$1,000 is not worth it.”

It is this empathy for others that motivated her to switch careers and become a lawyer.

“I was initially curious about the profession but decided to switch when I saw it as a tool that I could use to help others,” she notes.

At the urging of her mentor, former MP and government minister Tyrone Estwick, she decided to return to

Barbados in 2009 after completing law school in Jamaica.

“After doing my in service training in Barbados in 2008, I was invited back to Barbados to work on a full time basis by my then senior, Mr. Tyrone Estwick.

He was a great mentor and teacher and had a wonderful personality. He was also diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease,

“Most of my clientele was built from word of mouth. I did a lot of pro bono work to build experience as well as reputation. Good interpersonal skills and my communications background also helped a lot.”

but he never let that get him down.

The personalities meshed and I never looked back,” she recalls.

Sadly, within a year her mentor passed away and she had a choice to make. This was where her fearless streak came in handy as she decided to launch out on her own. Using the foundation Estwick had laid, she hung

out her shingle and founded Capital Law Chambers.

It was by no means an easy journey since as a non-national, she did not have the built-in support base one would have in their own country.

“Let us just say that my bank accounts in Jamaica felt it,” she notes wryly.

She overcame the challenges in a variety of ways, telling us: “Most of my clientele was built from word of mouth. I did a lot of pro bono work to build experience as well as reputation. Good interpersonal skills and my communications background also helped a lot.”

Three years later, her law practice is growing, something which brings her a great deal of satisfaction as she gets “to nurture something and call it my own.”

Her family has also grown in the last three years, with daughter Chelsea being born in late 2012. Being a mother adds another layer to how Jaydene manages her business as she points out: “When I leave home for work I focus on work and when I get home, I focus on my daughter. Separating both aspects of my life at the appropriate time gives a nice balance to everything.”

Maintaining this delicate balance was especially important in the period just after her daughter was born which fortunately came during the courts’ annual Christmas recess.

“I was out of office at the time, but I was working from home and ran the office from home. Whenever

necessary my secretary would call me if something needed clarification, but for the most part she had everything covered. I had my daughter during the Christmas break so I didn’t miss much court and before I went off I made sure that my matters were adjourned to dates which would give me at least an eight week break from going to court,” she related.

As she looks to the future, Jaydene has two priorities – her firm and her daughter.

“I see Capital Law Chambers evolving into a diverse law practice with offices not only in Barbados but other jurisdictions. I personally want it to be one of the first names that come to mind when one thinks of law in the Caribbean. As for me, I just want to be a successful mother and businesswoman who leads a comfortable and happy life.”

“I want to make a plea to the Jamaicans who are bringing in drugs and those who are contemplating it, to stop.

Don’t do it. They will be caught and the promise of payment of US$1,000 is not worth it.”

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ISLANDISTA MONEY MATTERS

How to ace that interview W

e’re not trying to scare anyone or anything but it’s best to face your fears head on.

So let’s talk about The Job Interview.

Even the most confident, self-assured islandistas get nerves when it comes to the thought of doing a job interview – and to be honest, that’s entirely natural.

After all, this is a situation where you are putting yourself out there to being judged by others and where for the duration of the interview at least, first impressions really will matter most.

So let’s talk about conquering The Job Interview. Let’s talk about owning it and getting onto the path of career success and fulfilment.

How are we going to do that, exactly?

Well, we’re going to read an interviewer’s mind of course.

Sheena Mayers is a Labour Management Advisor with the Barbados Employers’ Confederation and has experience in just about every area of human resources from training to labour law to recruitment.

She provides human resources consultancy to a range of local companies in various industries - both those that are members of the BEC and those that aren’t.

She knows more than a thing or two about interviews and what interviewers are looking for. Sheena was kind enough to let Islandista pick her brain to find out what interviewers are looking for, what makes for a strong resume and how to answer the dreaded ‘tell me about yourself’ question.

Islandista: What are you looking for when you review a resume and/or job letter for a position?

Sheena Mayers: The first thing I look for is good grammar and spelling; overall good writing skills. Poor grammar or spelling is a definite no! This lands your application at the bottom of the pile.

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What are some common mistakes people make on their job letters or resumes?

I have noticed that many Barbadians underestimate their achievements and this leads them to think their application looks poor and lowers their self-confidence. Every achievement has value. Involvement in community activities can develop leadership qualities and one-day courses highlight dedication to self-development.

What makes for a strong resume or job letter?

A strong resume highlights not just the titles of the posts you’ve held, but gives insight into the major responsibilities you’ve had and any successful projects or career highlights.

If you can highlight how you improved your department or business, that’s a definite plus.

Is it considered acceptable or annoying when an applicant calls or emails before or while you are in the short-listing process? From where you stand, does it show enthusiasm or pushiness?

To call or email while the company is short listing comes across as pushy and not enthusiastic. The recruiter may have a busy schedule and has not completed the short listing process or alternatively, they have read so many applications that your name may not immediately “ring a bell”.

Conversely, feel free to send a follow-up email after the interview, thanking the company for the opportunity.

Which first impressions strike you the most for you when you first encounter a job applicant (e.g. timeliness, dress, handshake or demeanour)?

Definitely dress! If someone is inappropriately attired, my first thought is ‘if this is how they sell themselves, how will they sell the company?’

Dressing for an interview – can you give us some general dos and don’ts?

I am a firm believer in formal office attire for interviews.

This means men should wear, at minimum, a tie, and ladies need a suit or dress and jacket.

Are there some general traits that you look for when interviewing someone, regardless of the career field?

These are the four things that I look for when interviewing: • Confidence not arrogance – be confident in your ability but not so arrogant to think that nothing will be a challenge for you.

• Ability and willingness to learn – Even if a candidate is not technically strong but has a teachable attitude, they will score high.

• Team spirit – are you willing to put aside personal wants for the advancement of the team or organisation?

• Perseverance – how you deal with challenges, examples

of how you managed a difficult situation.

What are some common questions that tend to come up in interviews and how can someone prepare for them?

People hate the “tell me about yourself” question. But you simply need to approach it from 3 angles: • Your professional career • Your educational achievements • Wrap up with a nugget from your personal life (e.g hobbies, children, community outreach) What questions do you like to hear from job applicants?

I like to interview candidates that have done their homework. You can always tell when a person is genuinely interested in the organisation and the job by the questions they ask. Questions like these show that you are genuinely interested in the organisation: • How is the department structured?

• What areas are the company hoping to develop in the future?

• What major challenges do you foresee on the horizon?

What do you consider major warning signals that an applicant is not right for a job?

At an interview, the candidate’s personality should shine through. I become a bit wary when it’s impossible to gauge the type of individual, and when the answers to personality questions are inconsistent.

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ISLANDISTA FOOD AND DINING

To the G market we go!

luten-free goodies, organic vegetables, freshbrewed coffee, jams, jellies and homemade hummus – oh my!

In recent years, farmer’s markets have been on the rise in Barbados, driven by the interest and tastes of discerning foodies.

While Barbados continues to have a fractured and fractious relationship with vendors, particularly street vendors, the increasing popularity of these farmer’s markets has ironically enough, made vending more socially acceptable than ever before – at least within these markets. Perhaps it’s the distinctly upmarket setting of many of the most popular markets that pulls hundreds of Barbadians, expatriates and visitors out to them every weekend.

Brighton Farmer’s market, set in the heart of the St. George Valley, is the original in this mould. It was started in 2001 by the Pile family, owners of Brighton plantation, to sell off extra produce from the plantation.

It is a true farmer’s market in that is definitely for those who are used to waking up with the chickens, starting at 6 am and hitting its peak around 7 to 7:30 am. By 9 am or so, it’s just stragglers left so if you’re not an early bird, it’s not for you.

Brighton also started the tradition of local farmer’s markets being as much about the liming as it is about say, buying limes. With lots of picnic tables and a selection of children’s rides spread out under a vast and beautiful flamboyant tree, the picturesque area lends itself to taking a load off your feet while you nibble at your purchases.

The cheekily-named ‘Pilebucks’ coffee stand, run by a varied assortment of teenaged Pile relations and friends, also goes some way in persuading Brighton market aficionados to linger a bit longer as they sell quality freshly brewed coffee and tea.

Hastings Farmers Market in Christ Church is another up and coming popular market. Based at the ArtSplash Centre across the road from the scenic Hastings Rocks Esplanade, it gets started at a slightly more manageable 8:00 am.

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Perhaps because of its base at the art-focused centre, this market has a higher concentration of craft and artwork than Brighton. It also attracts more locals and a large number of South Coast tourists.

Feel free to browse through hand-painted sarongs and dresses or handmade ornaments, funky jewellery or even get a soothing back rub from the massage therapist on hand.

There’s not one but two regular, in-house food stands – ArtSplash Eats which sells fresh smoothies, juices and a few pastries and Richard’s Gluten Free Deli which operates all week.

Perhaps the most eclectic of the crop of upmarket markets is the Holder’s House Farmer’s Market which aims to be as organic as possible.

Holder’s takes places on Sundays and gets started at the positively late hour of 9:00 am. It runs through until 1:00 pm, making it ideal for a pass through just after church.

Heavy on West Coast (read British) visitors and a good number of bohemian locals, it probably has the smallest proportion of farmers but the widest range of food and other items. On the food end, you can buy organic, locally made goodies like ital food, kefir milk, chutneys and spices, organic bread and even fresh fish which literally comes from down the road at the nearby Payne’s Bay fishing market.

On the non-food side, there is a wide range of jewellery and craft, beautiful works of art, cushions and soft furnishings and straw hats.

While these are some of the more popular ones, the trend has not escaped the notice of other enterprising folk. Many more farmers or craft markets have started popping up, trying to combine the liming and vending vibe. These include the Villages at Coverley, LimeGrove Lifestyle Centre, the Crane Resort, Colony Club Hotel, the Holetown Chamber of Commerce and the National Conversation Commission.

They provide an opportunity to eat out of the ordinary and support local farmers and artisans so what are you waiting for? To market you should go!

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ISLANDISTA Relationships & Family

by sueann tannis

Social Media and Your Career

C

hances are you’ve heard the jawdropping stories about people who have lost their jobs because of social media.

The truth is, despite these heavily publicized faux pas, there are people out there who are doing quite the opposite. They are landing dream jobs, launching careers and making connections— one network, one post, one comment at a time.

Here’s how you can do it, too.

Connect on LinkedIn If you are looking to get ahead professionally, a LinkedIn profile is a must.

It’s where 277 million people around the world go to meet business contacts, find jobs, and be found.

It’s how recruiters hire and screen job applicants. In fact, a 2013 survey showed that 89% of HR staff said they have used LinkedIn to fill a position at some time.

Good news is, many leading Caribbean companies are using LinkedIn to find employees, too. So it’s the perfect network for the job-seeking islandista to be part of.

Share What Makes You Shine Having a LinkedIn account doesn’t mean throngs of potential employers, clients and investors will instantly come knocking at your virtual door.

You’ve got to get their attention.

Highlight your professional strengths, accomplishments and specific examples

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of projects you’ve worked on. It’s a great way to stand out in a setting where most people copy and paste bland job descriptions.

Of course, highlighting accomplishments goes beyond LinkedIn. Every now and then, share your bright career and academic moments with friends and family on other networks.

It’s a good way to remind people of what you are capable of doing professionally.

Don’t Be Shy If you want to make major career moves, being shy on social media will do you no good. I repeat, being shy on social media will do you no good.

If there’s a company you’d like to work for or someone you want to do business with, leave a thoughtful comment on their posts; reply to their tweets; or send a message to let them know what you think of their work.

On social media, you’re often just one click or comment away from a professional connection, or someone who knows someone, who knows someone.

Showcase Your Talents and Passions Thanks to the digital world, ordinary women have a good chance of getting noticed by sharing their passion for an industry, or by showcasing their talents.

For example, in 2007 I started a fashion and lifestyle blog and seven years later, it’s still paying off. Through the blog, I have received offers to write for magazines, be part of media features, and I even landed a job when I included it as a portfolio item in my interview.

Simply put, when you show the online world what you’re passionate about, and stay committed to it, you can reap big benefits offline.

Clean Up Have you “googled” yourself or reviewed your social media profiles lately? You better, because HR people will. Last year, three in four recruiters said they used social media to screen prospective hires; one in four use search engines.

If you are less than proud of what you find, launch a digital cleanup.

Delete social media accounts you no longer use and make tweaks to privacy settings, profile photos, the content you post, and updates you are tagged in.

You may not see a change in search results overnight but over time, these adjustments definitely pay off. As you improve your social media profiles, join new networks, and get involved in more conversations online, you will begin to reap the rewards of working smarter online – opportunities, new connections, and even bigger paydays.

Blueprint for being a boss

T

he world as we know it is changing.

Over the course of the lifetime of many islandistas reading this magazine right now, we have seen the position of women in the workforce changing.

While we are not yet near equality (men still out earn women for similar work in every Caribbean country), the rise of Caribbean women in the workplace cannot be denied.

The indicators of advancement show themselves at every stage – from the University of the West Indies where women outnumber men in nearly every department , to the executive appointments pages of the business papers where female faces smile out of the newsprint next to announcements of their new plum picks.

However, one of the unintended side effects has been that there is not yet much of blueprint for women seeking to reach the highest echelons of their chosen career path.

With the view from the top still very male, there are not many senior female executives out there for ambitious young women to model themselves on.

Fortunately, Islandista has you covered. We’ve pulled together a blueprint on how to be a boss, using advice and information sought personally from amazing female executives we know and some words of wisdom from famous female executives such as Facebook’s Sheryl Sandberg.

Find someone who’s done it before “Career mentors are invaluable,” says Maria Boyce, Business and Development Manager at G4S Barbados.

She added: “You gain so much insight from persons who have walked the road you are now walking. I find it is a great resource to gain a different perspective on the many and varied things that you are faced with daily as an executive. I have had and still do have some amazing mentors.”

Speak up for yourself “The No. 1 person who controls whether you keep your hand up is you. The world is not going to notice when you take it down,” advocates Sheryl Sandberg, chief operating officer of Facebook and author of the bestselling book Lean In, where she urges women not to be afraid of their own ambition.

Stay in touch “Part of the way people transition their careers is by keeping a vast network of professionals at their disposal.

Networking is something women should be doing anywhere and everywhere and all day long, from the dog park to the line at Starbucks.

If you have a point of commonality, there’s the opportunity to connect.

Something as simple as, “What’s your dog’s name?” can lead to a mentor or

Sheryl Sandberg, chief operating officer of Facebook

the job offer you’ve been dreaming of,” advises Nicole Williams. She knows a thing or two about networking as the Connections Director of Linked In. Watch and learn “Pay attention to managers in your workplace. Really observe them.

What do they do well, how do people respond to them? When you are done observing, read business books, magazines and the newspaper sections focused on business. You can learn a lot about the businesses doing well and not so well by how the leader supports a culture for staff. I didn’t have specific management training but learned and was curious about others. You will absorb it,” advises Michelle Lynch, Manager of Volunteer Engagement with Crohns and Colitis Canada.

Be gentle with yourself about the whole ‘balance’ thing “Stop believing in balance,” says former Disney/ ABC president Anne Sweeney, bluntly. As a mother of two, including one autistic son, she calls balance “the B word because it just doesn’t exist.”

“On days when you can’t get it all done, the best thing you can do is say ‘You know what? I gave it my best and I’m going to wake up tomorrow morning and try again.”

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