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I Came Back to Jamaica to Run My Family’s Business—The Reality Shocked Me · Babes, how did you get here

• 0:14
  We're dropping new episodes every single week.
• 0:17
  So make sure you subscribe.
• 0:18
  You don't want to miss this, babes.
• 0:19
  And leave a comment and tell me, what do you want to hear out of my next conversation?
• 0:24
  Your support really helps this community grow.
• 0:26
  And if you know someone who's quietly been thinking, should they take that next big leap?
• 0:30
  Babes, send them the podcast.
• 0:33
  What is the difference?
• 0:34
  Just culturally, the energy.
• 0:36
  I had work.
• 0:38
  I didn't work in a traditional restaurant before, but I worked at Topgolf.
• 0:40
  I don't know if you're familiar with Topgolf.
• 0:42
  It's like a golfing place, but it has a restaurant, bar, like a whole thing in college.
• 0:47
  I feel like
• 0:49
  Just being somewhere black owned and being a black person in America, you're able to be yourself a little bit more.
• 0:56
  Right.
• 0:57
  Now, in hindsight, when I went to get the job there, I was under the impression I was the only black server.
• 1:03
  The night I went there, there was no black servers.
• 1:05
  Right.
• 1:05
  So it would have been like a typical Miami situation.
• 1:09
  Sure.
• 1:10
  But yeah, the person who owned the restaurant was really young.
• 1:13
  Oh, really?
• 1:13
  He was really young.
• 1:14
  I think he was about 28 when I started working there.
• 1:16
  Okay.
• 1:16
  Yeah.
• 1:17
  So,
• 1:18
  again i like to like or i just always end up finding myself around people who are quite you know big personalities or aspirational you know so um working for him
• 1:32
  I think I took a little bit more pride working for him than working at Enterprise.
• 1:36
  I can tell you that much.
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  I mean, what he was doing and what he was accomplishing.
• 1:40
  However, he ended up doing it.
• 1:41
  I don't know the history of how he was in the position he was in.
• 1:46
  I mean, that was inspiring.
• 1:47
  And there was no way to deny that we were making money, but he was making money.
• 1:53
  Sure.
• 1:53
  Everybody eats.
• 1:54
  Yes.
• 1:54
  And I feel like that unity come like it's something that is just
• 1:59
  innate in black people.
• 2:01
  The history of our struggle, at least, that's what I would hold.
• 2:03
  Right.
• 2:03
  When you're around the right people.
• 2:05
  Some some persons are small minded, to be honest.
• 2:08
  Sure.
• 2:09
  But, um, yeah, it was inspiring what he was doing because at the end of the day, he was giving us the opportunity to uplift ourselves.
• 2:16
  Yes.
• 2:17
  Now, not everyone took the opportunity.
• 2:19
  Took that opportunity.
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  Some people are very short sighted, like I just said.
• 2:22
  Um.
• 2:24
  and they're there for their money.
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  They spend it the next day, they come back.
• 2:27
  And that was the interesting thing about being a server.
• 2:32
  The fast money.
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  So initially the plan was to, you know, focus on videography.
• 2:38
  But I'm not going to lie.
• 2:39
  After six months, I realized that I was addicted to fast money.
• 2:43
  Okay.
• 2:44
  And that was something I had to be honest with myself.
• 2:46
  Because I'm like, everything I said I was going to do, I wasn't doing.
• 2:49
  Now I had a fat savings.
• 2:51
  I can get on a plane and go on a trip if I wanted to.
• 2:53
  Right.
• 2:54
  If I wanted to only work two days a week, I could have.
• 2:56
  Okay.
• 2:56
  So back to the conversation about that professor.
• 3:00
  Yeah.
• 3:01
  Flexibility.
• 3:02
  That was something she brought up and that stuck out to me.
• 3:05
  Sure.
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  Because I knew I wanted a flexible life.
• 3:07
  Right.
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  Who wants to work?
• 3:09
  five days a week, six days a week.
• 3:12
  Sure.
• 3:13
  With no vacation in sight, no this, no that.
• 3:16
  You know, you're stressed.
• 3:17
  So when I took the serving job, I was like, it'll be flexible, I can do, I can pursue this creative outlet.
• 3:23
  Sure.
• 3:23
  And make money from it.
• 3:24
  And I'm making really good money here.
• 3:26
  Did you ever pursue the videography?
• 3:27
  No.
• 3:28
  Oh, that's what I'm telling you.
• 3:31
  I got so caught up.
• 3:33
  Right.
• 3:34
  And I can realize that with myself.
• 3:35
  I got so caught up.
• 3:36
  Sure.
• 3:37
  But you know,
• 3:39
  Something so interesting about that portion of my life and something that I like to stress is, a job doesn't define who you are at all.
• 3:47
  At all.
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  Because during that time, I remember when I
• 3:52
  decided I was going to go and do serving.
• 3:55
  Right.
• 3:56
  I wish my mom could tell this story because she thought I was a crazy person.
• 3:58
  I was about to ask, did anybody think you've come with your big, big degree?
• 4:02
  Because even when I serve in my own restaurant, the UK definitely looks down on hospitality in general and serving.
• 4:09
  It's beneath you.
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  And so I wondered if anybody felt that you were regressing when you said, yo, I'm going to be a server.
• 4:16
  Definitely.
• 4:17
  Okay.
• 4:18
  Not that it was voiced directly to me in an aggressive way.
• 4:21
  Sure.
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  Because I'm the type of person, I'm going to do what I want anyway.
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  You know, what I feel called to do.
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  There's no one that's going to stop me from doing that.
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  I literally don't do anything I don't want to do.
• 4:31
  Now that I think about it.
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  Yeah.
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  I heard my mom telling that story recently.
• 4:37
  Okay.
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  So I only really heard her true feelings recently.
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  And what were they?
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  Um, she thought I was a maderman.
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  Like you go to college, you get a job with benefits.
• 4:47
  Yes.
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  You quit.
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  Everybody loses their job.
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  You quit your job to go serve.
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  Right.
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  Right.
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  But then when we talk about the money and this is why I say a job doesn't define you because
• 4:58
  Of course, even within myself, I'm like, oh, my God, I'm going to go serving.
• 5:01
  Like, all my friends are in law school.
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  Sure.
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  They're going to be like doctors.
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  They're doing this.
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  They're in these corporate jobs.
• 5:08
  Yes.
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  And then they're miserable.
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  So how about that?
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  And that's why that conversation with that community college professor stuck with me.
• 5:17
  I wish I could remember her name.
• 5:19
  Sure.
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  Really stuck with me because I had that conversation.
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  Or I had that experience with that professor.
• 5:25
  Sure.
• 5:29
  in a sense looked down on or so I wanted more for myself like you know I rushed out of there sure like I was but I was there that conversation I don't remember much about everything else I remember that conversation it's one of the driving forces in my life because
• 5:43
  I mean, all the decisions that conversation plays in my head, like what do you want your day to day look like?
• 5:49
  What do you want your life to look like?
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  Because I mean, your day to day builds up to, of course, your life.
• 5:53
  Days fly like this, like quickly.
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  So what are we spending our days doing?
• 5:57
  Sure.
• 5:58
  My friends didn't experience that conversation.
• 6:00
  And it's so ironic because during that time period, people are struggling.
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  They're stressed.
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  They're depressed.
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  Like things that us Caribbean like kids, like, what are you talking about?
• 6:10
  Right.
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  They're experiencing all these things.
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  And like me, I was willingly going to work.
• 6:17
  Right.
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  Six, seven days a week.
• 6:18
  Right.
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  Because I was addicted to fast money.
• 6:20
  Right.
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  Because I knew I could go in there, make money.
• 6:23
  I could spend it, save it, whatever, and make it back.
• 6:25
  Sure.
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  And if I really wanted to take a week, two weeks off, I could have.
• 6:28
  You could do that.
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  And I would have been A-OK.
• 6:30
  Right.
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  If someone called and said, let's do this trip, I could have done that.
• 6:32
  Sure.
• 6:33
  You know?
• 6:34
  So having those conversations with my friends who are struggling, their teachers, teachers are so like looked down upon, like, yeah.
• 6:42
  Or they're just neglected, honestly.
• 6:44
  They don't get paid nothing.
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  And they have, like, the hardest job.
• 6:47
  Yes.
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  And the most important job.
• 6:48
  Yeah.
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  It's pretty sad.
• 6:51
  Law school.
• 6:53
  Becoming a doctor.
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  Taking this bar exam.
• 6:56
  Sure.
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  Failing it.
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  Like, all those stresses.
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  And I'm here, like, I don't know what's next for me.
• 7:00
  You're living your best life.
• 7:00
  Yeah.
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  I'm like, I don't know what's next for me.
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  I know this is not my end-all, be-all.
• 7:05
  Sure.
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  But it's good money now.
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  But this is good money.
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  And that goes back to the topic of...
• 7:09
  work and working for other people and and taking pride in what you're doing at the time that you're doing it yes knowing that this is temporary but while you're here let's put our best foot forward and let's see what comes from it and i was blessed during that time period of my life and so many people that i worked with
• 7:25
  I don't know what they chose to do with their money, but I mean, we were all, you know, really put in a really great position.
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  I'm talking from the dishwasher all the way up.
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  And these are positions that people are like, look, don't wash some plates.
• 7:37
  Like, you know what I mean?
• 7:38
  Immigrant people as well.
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  Majority of, they were all Haitian to be honest, spoke this much English, you know?
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  And we're all here like making money underneath this young black guy who, I don't know where he got this vision from.
• 7:54
  It was really,
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  It was a really important part of my story.
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  Like when I look back on it.
• 8:00
  How long were you there for?
• 8:02
  Almost three years.
• 8:03
  Oh, really?
• 8:04
  Almost three years.
• 8:05
  OK.
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  Right.
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  So I was there and after year one,
• 8:09
  of fun and doing the absolute most, I'm like, okay, I feed off of energy.
• 8:14
  Sure.
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  And a lot of the people I worked with, I realized there was nothing more they were attaining for.
• 8:22
  Everyone kind of like, I kind of would say to myself, I wouldn't really always go out with them after work.
• 8:26
  I'm like, okay, this is work.
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  I made my money.
• 8:28
  I'm out of here.
• 8:28
  Right.
• 8:29
  See you guys tomorrow.
• 8:31
  But I also noticed that a lot of them didn't aspire for much else.
• 8:35
  Okay.
• 8:35
  Which is a really common thing in the...
• 8:38
  service industry which again is not necessarily bad it's just different it's just different because if this is how you make your money and you're okay with that and i know you're making good money because i'm here too yeah you know if you can pay your bills or whatever makes you feel comfortable you know is your norm or what you aspire right because what i aspire for is not the same of course some people could just want to enter they have a roof over their head know where their next meal is coming from take one vacation a year or one vacation every five years sure so it looks
• 9:08
  Um, I never judged that, but I did feel myself being kind of like, okay, why am I here?
• 9:13
  Sure.
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  Several times, even like on outings going out.
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  I'm like, oh, like I'm here, but what's next for me?
• 9:22
  Sure.
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  It was just knocking on my spirit.
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  Like what's next for me?
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  I need to do, I need to move on to the next thing.
• 9:27
  Right.
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  And the pandemic was over.
• 9:29
  The PPP loans ran out.
• 9:31
  Like I'm being honest.
• 9:32
  The money was like not as good as it once was, but I'm glad that, um,
• 9:37
  I was smart during that time and saved a lot of my money.
• 9:39
  So before we continue, make sure that you join our community by clicking the link below.
• 9:45
  You will get to choose thumbnails before the episodes go live, pick our next destinations, even recommend guests.
• 9:52
  I really cannot wait for you to help me shape where this podcast goes.
• 9:56
  you get towards the end of the three year yeah it was year two was really like when you started strategically thinking yeah a lot of incidents happened there i got into there was a new manager he he
• 10:10
  spoke his mind and I spoke his mind and he didn't like that.
• 10:13
  So it was just like trying.
• 10:17
  It was just really like, okay, the money wasn't as good.
• 10:20
  I was kind of over it.
• 10:21
  The people were like, okay with where they were at.
• 10:24
  I wasn't.
• 10:25
  And I was constantly complaining.
• 10:27
  Okay.
• 10:27
  Yeah.
• 10:28
  And something during that time period that I noticed is like, if you're constantly complaining, you have to change something.
• 10:38
  And I was constantly complaining.
• 10:39
  I know people were tired of me because I would come into work and be like, cut me.
• 10:43
  Sure.
• 10:43
  If it's slow, I'm like, I'm ready to go.
• 10:45
  Sure.
• 10:45
  Even though I needed that money, I was like,
• 10:48
  I'll figure it out some other way.
• 10:49
  Sure.
• 10:50
  I was constantly complaining, so I just knew I had to do something.
• 10:55
  But what was next, right?
• 10:56
  Now I have a two year gap on my resume.
• 10:59
  That was something I was thinking about too, because when you go to college, that's something they teach you.
• 11:02
  Okay.
• 11:04
  Like they're gonna ask you, what were you doing?
• 11:06
  Like if I tried to transition back into the corporate world.
• 11:09
  Sure.
• 11:10
  And ironic enough, when I left enterprise, I had said I would never go back to corporate.
• 11:13
  Okay.
• 11:14
  I was like, I would never go back to a 95.
• 11:18
  Yeah, I was just like that office type of life.
• 11:20
  Like, it's not for me.
• 11:21
  Okay.
• 11:22
  Like, I was like, no.
• 11:23
  With serving, people still complain.
• 11:25
  Right.
• 11:26
  But it's like, okay, I have you for an hour and a half and then you're gone.
• 11:29
  Like, which I guess is similar with the car situation.
• 11:32
  But it's like,
• 11:33
  When you're serving, you have multiple tables.
• 11:35
  You may have one bad table, but you may have like two great tables.
• 11:37
  I used to go to my good tables and moan about the bad table at the same time.
• 11:42
  And then we'd make jokes.
• 11:43
  They'd be like, should I go spill their drink on them?
• 11:45
  And the balance of having different people in the space really helped you get through the shift.
• 11:50
  Yeah, and it makes you realize it's not that serious.
• 11:52
  I feel like when I was the job I was working before, I'm like, okay, constantly complaining.
• 11:55
  The boss is telling me to do this, to do this.
• 11:58
  I'm like, okay, no.
• 12:00
  Whereas with serving, it's like you get your schedule, you come to your shift.
• 12:03
  Yeah.
• 12:03
  You do your best with the tables you get.
• 12:05
  You make your money.
• 12:07
  You go home.
• 12:07
  Sure.
• 12:07
  You split it with who you're supposed to split it with.
• 12:09
  You go home.
• 12:10
  Bye.
• 12:11
  Bye.
• 12:11
  Nobody's really breathing down your back.
• 12:13
  Sure.
• 12:13
  You know?
• 12:13
  So.
• 12:16
  Yeah, I was just constantly complaining during that time.
• 12:18
  I was like, okay, something has to change.
• 12:19
  Now, my father, every time I would visit, would always say, when are you going to come?
• 12:24
  We're running a family business.
• 12:25
  When are you going to come?
• 12:27
  And in my mind, I was like, never.
• 12:29
  For real.
• 12:30
  In my mind, I'm like, okay, I want this.
• 12:32
  In my mind, I'm like, this is what I want out of my life.
• 12:35
  And what is the this at this point?
• 12:36
  And I'm still trying to figure that out.
• 12:37
  Okay, cool.
• 12:38
  But you know that it's not that.
• 12:39
  So the family business is...
• 12:42
  Woodstock Negril.
• 12:43
  Okay.
• 12:43
  Yes.
• 12:43
  We're a restaurant.
• 12:45
  beach bar grill one-stop shop so your dad hears also that you're working at another restaurant yeah and he's just like that's the segue to take over the family business yeah and you're just like actually it's not i just haven't figured out what it is yet but i know it's not that yeah okay yeah and it's so funny because when i was at that um restaurant there was a lot of incidents that manager that was rude to me or whatever we got into it he got fired he was stealing money oh lord um and my mom used to be like you could be the manager of that place okay and i would tell her
• 13:13
  I was like, I'm making more money than a manager.
• 13:15
  Why would I want to be the manager?
• 13:16
  I don't have to deal with no stress.
• 13:18
  I come, two bad tables, whatever.
• 13:20
  Eight great tables, I go home, I come back.
• 13:23
  No, I'm not going to be the manager.
• 13:24
  Even though that was something I knew within myself.
• 13:26
  And I was so critical, too, of some of the things going on.
• 13:29
  Hence why me and that guy ended up getting into it.
• 13:32
  Because I'm a pretty vocal person.
• 13:36
  You know...
• 13:37
  I think I can pick and choose one to be vocal about certain things.
• 13:41
  But yeah, she used to be like, you could be the manager of that place.
• 13:44
  I know you could do it.
• 13:45
  And I'm like, I have no interest in doing that at all.
• 13:47
  Because in my mind, I'm like, I'm getting up out of here.
• 13:49
  I'm not going to stay here.
• 13:50
  And does out of here mean out of hospitality?
• 13:53
  Or does out of here just mean out of that particular restaurant?
• 13:57
  I don't have the answer for that question.
• 13:59
  I really don't because at one point I was considering moving to another restaurant.
• 14:02
  But then I thought about it.
• 14:03
  Our restaurant, we were making so much money.
• 14:05
  It was black owned, which for me is important.
• 14:08
  For other people, it may not be.
• 14:11
  You spend so much time at work.
• 14:12
  Let's enjoy the people we're around.
• 14:14
  And some things are just unsaid things when you're around people of color.
• 14:17
  Sure.
• 14:19
  Also, like restaurants in Miami are really fancy.
• 14:21
  There was a lot of things that we weren't trained on.
• 14:23
  Okay.
• 14:23
  You know, like wine lists.
• 14:25
  Right.
• 14:26
  Like that was not our vibe.
• 14:27
  Right.
• 14:27
  So I was like, okay, if I have to transition, I would have to go through a whole nother training process.
• 14:31
  Okay.
• 14:31
  Learn a whole new cuisine.
• 14:33
  Right.
• 14:33
  Like, and then the clientele is going to be completely different.
• 14:37
  So now I have to be a different version of myself.
• 14:39
  Okay.
• 14:39
  You know, there's two different versions of like who we are at work.
• 14:42
  What does a different version of yourself mean?
• 14:45
  Like code switching and being like,
• 14:48
  I don't know how you'd experience like a five star Michelin restaurant.
• 14:52
  Like I was like, I'm not trying to be that stressed out.
• 14:55
  Yeah.
• 14:55
  I want to come have you guys order your shots?
• 14:57
  Yeah.
• 14:58
  Order your cocktails.
• 14:58
  You know what I mean?
• 14:59
  Yeah.
• 14:59
  I can tell you what's good on this menu.
• 15:01
  I like this kind of food.
• 15:02
  I won't lie to you.
• 15:03
  I can guarantee the food's going to be good.
• 15:05
  So you're going to like it.
• 15:06
  Right.
• 15:07
  You know, and there's music.
• 15:09
  It's just a vibe.
• 15:10
  Yes.
• 15:10
  Energy.
• 15:11
  I'm big on energy.
• 15:12
  The energy was good.
• 15:12
  It was good.
• 15:14
  I mean, when I joined, it was like at peak and it was slowly like many restaurants, which I think is
• 15:20
  The restaurant industry is a tough industry.
• 15:23
  It kind of was just like... Maybe it wasn't because they're doing well right now.
• 15:27
  I won't even say that.
• 15:28
  Maybe it was just me.
• 15:29
  Yeah, because they're doing really well right now.
• 15:32
  And he's branched off.
• 15:33
  There's multiple around the States.
• 15:35
  So, I mean, I was a part of something that I think was kind of like the first of its kind.
• 15:40
  Sure.
• 15:42
  Which I'm happy about.
• 15:43
  I'm grateful for that time period of my life.
• 15:45
  But there was just something knocking me like, okay.
• 15:47
  So what was the final push that said, I'm finished?
• 15:50
  Yeah.
• 15:51
  My college friends.
• 15:52
  Okay.
• 15:52
  My college friends.
• 15:54
  I was dabbling with this idea of like moving back to Jamaica.
• 15:58
  Okay.
• 15:58
  And I don't have like, people ask me what made me do it.
• 16:01
  And I always say it's God because if it were up to me, I would be chasing God knows what.
• 16:08
  Literally, God knows what.
• 16:10
  Cause I was always chasing something or trying to figure out, I was making sure I had money.
• 16:13
  I always had money.
• 16:16
  I always wanted more and more and more.
• 16:17
  And I never, I could never say what that more was.
• 16:19
  Okay.
• 16:19
  And for me, that was kind of like a little insecurity because it's like, I know I'm so great.
• 16:24
  Mm hmm.
• 16:25
  Everyone knows I'm so great.
• 16:27
  Not to toot my own horn, but like, this was like the energy that people feed me.
• 16:30
  Sure.
• 16:31
  You know, and it's like, okay, but like, what am I going to do next?
• 16:34
  Right.
• 16:34
  And then I was always filled with ideas, but never acting on ideas.
• 16:37
  Sure.
• 16:38
  Which,
• 16:39
  I'm grateful for my college friends because they say how it is.
• 16:42
  You know, like you talk about it, do something about it.
• 16:45
  Do you think that because you were earning money and that was validating the idea that other people had planted, but also you knew within yourself who you were and in terms of your standards and because you had money, then it kind of meant that you didn't feel pressure to pursue these other ideas that you had.
• 17:02
  ah i think for a time being okay yeah because you know your peers are struggling and they're they're taking the straight and narrow route right the route that everyone says to do yes but nobody knows because while they're in the midst of it their parents can't even um sure understand what it is that they're exactly going through because they never walk that road that's the road they led them in right but they never walked that road and i feel like i could sit here confidently and say that's something that my friends admire about me okay because
• 17:29
  since I got to the University of Central Florida, like, I don't know.
• 17:34
  There was just something about me that I was like, I'm gonna do what I wanna do.
• 17:37
  Like, maybe I am an old soul.
• 17:39
  Cause in my mind, I'm like, this is not my first rodeo.
• 17:41
  I'm not impressed by the little things, you know, the typical thing somebody would be.
• 17:46
  I'm like, next, like what's next?
• 17:49
  What's bigger?
• 17:49
  What's the next thing?
• 17:51
  So I think that's something that they admire about me.
• 17:54
  For sure, I know that.
• 17:55
  Cause I just was always like, okay, they would,
• 17:59
  kill their friends probably would kill them or they'd probably kill themselves if they ever quit a corporate job and serve and now that we're in our older 20s i'm 28 now most of my friends are 29 over the past two years is when they've taken chances like that like quitting teaching to do a retail job or to work party events and stuff like that because again a job doesn't define you i think as
• 18:23
  a caribbean you know person that grew up in a caribbean household we're taught all these things but it's not necessarily true um there's some truth to it yeah it gives you stability but maybe your mental health will be debilitating or i don't know maybe you miss out on what you're actually called to do because you're just climbing this corporate ladder it looks different for everyone so it's hard for me to say like
• 18:48
  you know, what is and what isn't.
• 18:50
  You say that you don't know what brought you here.
• 18:52
  And I wonder, do you think the fact that that was like your first real taste?
• 18:57
  I know you said you worked a little bit in hospitality whilst you're at school, but this is your first job in hospitality.
• 19:01
  Yeah.
• 19:01
  Long term.
• 19:02
  Yeah.
• 19:03
  Do you think that that was also a part of watering those seeds to transition into taking over the family business?
• 19:11
  Maybe my subconscious, but in my mind, no.
• 19:13
  Okay.
• 19:14
  No.
• 19:14
  Like I honestly, not at all.
• 19:17
  Okay.
• 19:18
  I remember when I was thinking about it, considering it, and it wasn't like a long time before I actually moved.
• 19:25
  Because I think I decided I was going to move in December and I moved in January.
• 19:28
  Okay.
• 19:29
  But I was constantly complaining.
• 19:32
  One of my friends, she's an attorney now.
• 19:33
  I remember she came to my house.
• 19:37
  sat down and like did this whole map to kind of like map out what it is that i like to kind of derive me to like what kind of job to apply for during the time period where i was like describe the map to me oh my gosh it was just like similar to what the college professor okay what do you like to do yeah um you know what kind of field do you want to work behind a desk do you want to be talking to people do you want to be traveling like just little things to map out okay
• 20:02
  And then she would get me on LinkedIn because she's really good at that.
• 20:05
  This is why you go to college.
• 20:07
  She's a friend teammate because they may be good at things that you were like, this is not for me.
• 20:10
  We just recently had a conversation because if I could have her networking skills, I think I would be...
• 20:16
  Who would I be?
• 20:17
  I would love to see, honestly.
• 20:19
  She's amazing.
• 20:20
  But she sat me down, mapped it out, came to like, okay, this position will be good.
• 20:25
  Like social media, she knew I liked social media.
• 20:27
  It was an honest conversation.
• 20:29
  She likes a rigorous life.
• 20:31
  An attorney makes sense for her.
• 20:33
  Obviously for me, that's a no-go.
• 20:35
  Right.
• 20:36
  I like social media, I like video.
• 20:38
  What do you wanna do?
• 20:39
  What kind of jobs there are?
• 20:40
  This was more like dissecting deeper than doctor, lawyer.
• 20:43
  You know?
• 20:44
  Then we'd search up jobs.
• 20:46
  And then she'd take me to LinkedIn.
• 20:47
  Okay.
• 20:48
  And she'd, like, put it in, find people from industry.
• 20:51
  She's, like, whether it was, like, a makeup company or just little things.
• 20:55
  Because those companies have so many small jobs.
• 20:57
  Yes.
• 20:57
  Not just working at the counter.
• 20:58
  Departments within.
• 20:59
  You know?
• 21:00
  And she took me through that whole process, messaged them.
• 21:02
  Like, I forgot what it was.
• 21:05
  an informal interview.
• 21:06
  Sure.
• 21:07
  Like had me calling people.
• 21:08
  I was doing all of this because I was like, I'm tired of complaining.
• 21:11
  Sure.
• 21:12
  So she helped me like in that.
• 21:15
  But really and truly the move itself.
• 21:19
  I remember it was a day in December.
• 21:21
  She was getting ready to move because she had just got her first big job.
• 21:25
  We were sat in the car.
• 21:26
  It was four of us.
• 21:28
  and i was talking about the possibility of moving home and all my like worries and fears okay of doing it and the conversation was just such a beautiful conversation i can't like i might cry if i talk about it but yeah they were just so encouraging and they're like you you definitely should do this like don't worry about this okay whatever i don't want to cry and i was like okay it's something i'm gonna think about but the conversation was so empowering why does the conversation make you so emotional
• 21:57
  Just family dynamics.
• 21:58
  Okay.
• 21:58
  You know, I had been away from my family since I was 17.
• 22:01
  Okay.
• 22:02
  That's the important thing.
• 22:03
  Yeah.
• 22:03
  So it's like growing up together, moving together.
• 22:06
  And then like I'm the youngest.
• 22:08
  Okay.
• 22:08
  Which is important for me to see.
• 22:10
  So everyone kind of.
• 22:12
  moves back to Jamaica, moves here, moves there.
• 22:14
  So I had been on my own.
• 22:15
  Like, I went to college in TCC with my two older siblings.
• 22:20
  Okay.
• 22:21
  And then I left.
• 22:21
  I was so sad there.
• 22:22
  It was not for me.
• 22:23
  I left and came to Orlando.
• 22:25
  And during that time when I was in Orlando, the two of them came to Jamaica, I think at some point.
• 22:31
  So I was spending holidays alone.
• 22:32
  It's just family issues.
• 22:34
  Okay.
• 22:35
  Right.
• 22:35
  So I was like, oh, my God, am I going to go?
• 22:37
  I hadn't lived with my family in so long.
• 22:38
  I'm like, I'm going to move back.
• 22:40
  and built my family.
• 22:41
  Sure.
• 22:42
  Like, what does that look like?
• 22:43
  Okay.
• 22:43
  All I know is my life on my own.
• 22:45
  Does that mean I was 110% content with that distance between my family?
• 22:50
  No, but I was scared of that unknown of like, oh my gosh.
• 22:54
  Had you found comfort in your, it's fair to say you felt isolated.
• 22:57
  And I don't mean negatively.
• 22:58
  Yeah, yeah, yeah.
• 22:59
  But would it be fair to say that you had begun to find comfort in that isolation?
• 23:04
  And so you weren't sure changing that dynamic, especially as the youngest?
• 23:09
  what that would be.
• 23:10
  For sure.
• 23:11
  Yeah.
• 23:12
  I enjoy my own like my me time.
• 23:16
  Right.
• 23:16
  And I think the more time you spend with yourself, you get to know yourself better.
• 23:21
  And you know things that tick you.
• 23:25
  And then you kind of suppress things too.
• 23:27
  Because when you don't deal with stuff head on, you just suppress them, but they're still there.
• 23:31
  So I think that conversation was like, oh my gosh, am I going to do this?
• 23:34
  Right.
• 23:35
  And again, back to the thing about God speaking through people and carrying messages.
• 23:40
  I feel like that conversation I had with my friends, I was like, okay.
• 23:44
  I hadn't thought about it, and it was just like, okay, that's an option.
• 23:47
  But applying to these jobs, maybe I could be working in New York, or whatever the case may be.
• 23:53
  And then one day I just decided after that conversation, that conversation stuck with me.
• 23:56
  I don't know that they necessarily even remember the conversation.
• 23:59
  It probably for them was just like another one of our like debriefs.
• 24:03
  Sure.
• 24:03
  Because our lives were changing so much.
• 24:05
  My friend was moving to Chicago to get into this big law firm job.
• 24:10
  And a lot of changes were happening.
• 24:12
  My other friend had just passed her exam to become a doctor of physical therapy.
• 24:17
  So a lot of changes were happening again.
• 24:19
  Me silently confess to what's next for me.
• 24:22
  So, yeah.
• 24:24
  That was probably like a three week portion.
• 24:25
  I was like, okay, I'm gonna move.
• 24:26
  Okay.
• 24:27
  And then I let it be known and everyone was like, what?
• 24:29
  Like, you're actually moving?
• 24:32
  They're really encouraging though.
• 24:34
  Okay.
• 24:35
  But I just say that to say like that conversation we had is another conversation that like plays into the factor of me moving.
• 24:43
  Okay.
• 24:43
  Plays a major factor of me moving.
• 24:46
  But it wasn't definitive after that conversation.
• 24:48
  Was it just that your friend supported the move?
• 24:51
  That really kind of said, okay, I could do this?
• 24:55
  What was it about the conversation?
• 24:56
  The conversation was just uplifting because I feel like even though I say I know myself, which I genuinely think I do, when people see something in you that you see in yourself, it's a certain reassurance that's kind of mind blowing.
• 25:09
  Cause it's like, oh, I'm not that conceited.
• 25:12
  I'm not going to concede it, but it's okay.
• 25:15
  Yeah.
• 25:15
  Because so many people in my life back me.
• 25:17
  Right.
• 25:18
  You know, I'm not delusional.
• 25:19
  Right.
• 25:19
  Like you see, so I see it, but you see it too.
• 25:21
  Yeah.
• 25:22
  So it's there for sure.
• 25:23
  Yeah.
• 25:24
  And like I said, from I got to that college, it's a, it's a friend, a big, pretty big friend group.
• 25:30
  I think if anyone talks to them, they will speak so highly of me because I feel like my character or just like my soul and sure like uplifted them so much.
• 25:38
  And I don't think they experienced that from someone ever or if
• 25:42
  being like their peer.
• 25:43
  Right.
• 25:44
  You know what I mean?
• 25:44
  Someone's so like confident, like, okay.
• 25:46
  One of the things I love about your silent competitiveness is that it's not at all envious.
• 25:53
  Never.
• 25:53
  You know what I mean?
• 25:54
  Yeah.
• 25:54
  I think sometimes people hear competitive and it has almost a negative connotation.
• 25:58
  And I love the fact that you can be competitive with your friends and it's inspiring.
• 26:03
  For sure.
• 26:03
  You know, your friend does something, you think, cool, I need to step up now.
• 26:06
  And it's funny because on a very, very simple level, I sent a picture to my friend and I said, I'm trying to be pretty like you, my pretty friend.
• 26:13
  And then afterwards, I was like, oh, shit.
• 26:14
  I mean that in a lovely, inspirational way.
• 26:16
  Because sometimes when you read a text, it comes off the wrong way.
• 26:19
  She goes, babe, pretty sees pretty.
• 26:21
  I wasn't even thinking like that.
• 26:22
  So it's really nice that you have that dynamic with your friends.
• 26:26
  I don't know if they have it with me.
• 26:27
  i know a few of them are like that because like i said everyone's life like what they want out of life is different right um i think we do in a way know like okay we have some heavy interests in this group like no one will ever be last but like like last place sure um but it's like okay different degrees yeah yeah for sure um some people want to be a mom and a wife and you know
• 26:52
  work three days a week yes that's completely fine there's other heavy hitters who want their name on a library they want this and that things that I'm not even thinking of but I'm like let me start thinking bitch I mean that's the beauty of the friends that I made in college did any of them think moving to Jamaica was going to be a step back no okay no ironic enough prior to me moving we had
• 27:18
  gone on this really big trip.
• 27:19
  Okay.
• 27:20
  I don't know if you saw my TikTok.
• 27:21
  No.
• 27:21
  Okay.
• 27:22
  I tried to vlog it, but I'm inconsistent.
• 27:24
  So I never like completely put it up.
• 27:26
  Sure.
• 27:27
  But the September before I moved.
• 27:29
  Okay.
• 27:30
  So that's September, 2023.
• 27:31
  We all came on a really big trip.
• 27:33
  To Jamaica.
• 27:33
  We call it fam.
• 27:34
  Yeah.
• 27:35
  17 of us.
• 27:36
  Wow, I don't like so much people.
• 27:37
  Okay, continue.
• 27:38
  I know.
• 27:39
  I was a big friend group, I misunderstood.
• 27:41
  For me, big is anything like plus than two.
• 27:43
  Yeah, it's a lot of us, honestly.
• 27:45
  Guys and girls, the girls are a little bit closer.
• 27:47
  Sure.
• 27:48
  But that's just the relationship we had in college.
• 27:50
  And we were just kind of like, okay, we should have a reunion.
• 27:53
  Cause we're always talking about,
• 27:55
  life is going to change.
• 27:56
  We're always like, oh, someone's going to get married.
• 27:58
  So we're going to have a baby.
• 27:59
  Like, let's get together.
• 28:00
  And, you know, so we had that trip.
• 28:03
  So they came to Jamaica and saw the beauty of Jamaica and probably were wondering, why the hell are you being a server?
• 28:09
  You know, I'm sure I'm sure some of them are like, why are you serving?
• 28:13
  You have all of this to come to.
• 28:15
  Yeah.
• 28:15
  Why are you there?
• 28:16
  Yeah.
• 28:16
  But I feel like everything that glitters isn't gold.
• 28:21
  And you should never look at other people's lives.
• 28:25
  and like create your own idea of what is really going on.
• 28:31
  Right?
• 28:33
  One of my friends, one of my really good friends in this friend group, I would say she's the one I could relate to the most because her family has a business, a bakery in New York.
• 28:45
  And they have like, what's it called?
• 28:47
  Franchises, multiple franchises.
• 28:50
  So it's ironic because
• 28:53
  It's not like I even became friends with her.
• 28:55
  Okay.
• 28:56
  But she went on to get her MBA to do accounting to come and take on this role as an accountant at her, you know, family bakery and all types of stuff.
• 29:04
  And she's the only person that I feel I could really relate to like my worries because business is one thing.
• 29:12
  Family is one thing.
• 29:14
  Family, business together.
• 29:16
  If you're not in it, you can just sit back and wonder what goes on to make something run.
• 29:22
  It's a beautiful thing, don't get me wrong.
• 29:24
  But I feel like the trials and tribulations might be a little bit more sensitive.
• 29:29
  Yep.
• 29:30
  sensitive is the word i'm going to say i'm not going to say like all right it's just a little bit more sensitive versus like a your boss like so the first time i see you online i think your opening line is i've come back to jamaica and i'm the youngest person but i'm the boss yeah yeah and it made me smile for just numerous reasons wait can i quote it word by word yeah i moved back to jamaica to take over the family business yes all right
• 29:54
  And I'm going to take you along for a day as the youngest in charge.
• 29:57
  Yes.
• 29:58
  Yeah.
• 29:58
  And that was it.
• 29:59
  And for so many reasons, it made me sad.
• 30:01
  I mean, anything that talks about business, immediately, I'm tuned in.
• 30:04
  But I think it was that youngest boss element that I found really, really interesting.
• 30:08
  It was key for me to mention that.
• 30:10
  OK.
• 30:11
  And I'm glad that you picked up on that and enjoy that.
• 30:14
  Because I feel that in any dynamic, whether it's family or just being the youngest in a, it could be in a corporate structure, it could be an independent business.
• 30:23
  I think that there, and I always say that I think Jamaica is ageist before it's even sexist or any of the other ists.
• 30:29
  And because when I was just trying to start my own business here, it was very much like, you need to get experience before you want to come and tell us how you're going to take over the world.
• 30:36
  And I didn't take it as a bad thing.
• 30:38
  I just took it as a life lesson.
• 30:40
  And so I just wondered when you came and you were the youngest, did you feel that you got any pushback from whether from within the family business structure or even maybe it might be from suppliers or because they're needing to adjust.
• 30:53
  Right.
• 30:54
  The fact that you're you're new and you're young.
• 30:57
  How was that combination received?
• 31:00
  Um, you know, I think staff wise that was there.
• 31:03
  I don't think it took long for them to warm up to me.
• 31:06
  I don't think they really had much of a choice.
• 31:08
  Right.
• 31:09
  My presence is very in your face.
• 31:11
  So here I'm here.
• 31:12
  Right.
• 31:12
  You know, that's just the spirit that I have.
• 31:14
  Right.
• 31:16
  I do think throughout the year that I've been here a year and a half.
• 31:21
  It's it's it's kind of funny because I think some people like it.
• 31:26
  OK, you know, and they're kind of like open to it.
• 31:30
  But I do think, just on even regular things, and I don't only think it's age-ish.
• 31:36
  Okay.
• 31:36
  I think it's also being a woman.
• 31:39
  Okay.
• 31:39
  Like a little girl in their eye or something.
• 31:41
  You know what I mean?
• 31:42
  I can tell by body language, mannerisms.
• 31:45
  Sure.
• 31:46
  That some people are kind of like, okay, she thinks she's just that and the third.
• 31:50
  Sure.
• 31:51
  Which I am that.
• 31:52
  Right.
• 31:52
  That and the third.
• 31:53
  Right.
• 31:53
  I am.
• 31:54
  And I always have been.
• 31:55
  Sure.
• 31:55
  So...
• 31:57
  I think it's a mixture of both, but as a person that's adaptable through everything I've been with, I adapt to that.
• 32:05
  I don't live my life to please people.
• 32:07
  Okay.
• 32:08
  And that's why I think,
• 32:10
  this position just God just put me in this position because it's not an easy position to be in.
• 32:14
  Right.
• 32:15
  When you decided to move, did you know that was that a permanent move or was it going to be temporary?
• 32:23
  In my mind, when I had my like goodbye dinner with my friends, some of them like, we're like, you're moving.
• 32:28
  What?
• 32:29
  And I was like, I'm going to only be gone for three months.
• 32:31
  Okay.
• 32:32
  Literally.
• 32:32
  I was like, I'll be gone for three months.
• 32:34
  I'm just going to go over there, um, take the knowledge I know and try to set some structure and I'll be back.
• 32:39
  Okay.
• 32:40
  I'm only gonna be gone three months.
• 32:41
  Everyone's like, oh, that's not bad.
• 32:43
  Some of my friends were like, girl, I knew you were not gonna be gone for just three months.
• 32:47
  Yeah, most of the girls were like, please, like three months, come on.
• 32:52
  But in my mind, that's really what I had set out to do.
• 32:54
  Now, if you ask me what was my plan, after that three months,
• 32:59
  I don't know.
• 33:00
  The universe was going to take you where you needed to go.
• 33:03
  And that's just always me.
• 33:03
  I'm like, this is what I'm doing.
• 33:05
  I don't know what's next, but this is what I have in my mind.
• 33:08
  Quickly after being here, I realized, okay, um...
• 33:12
  It wasn't going to be a little bit more.
• 33:14
  I think the first month was just shadowing.
• 33:16
  Okay.
• 33:17
  I really think the first month I was just there.
• 33:18
  Right.
• 33:19
  Like, I don't think people even knew I was in charge.
• 33:22
  Ironic enough, the series that I started on TikTok that you came across.
• 33:26
  Yeah.
• 33:26
  I didn't start filming that until I was there for eight months.
• 33:28
  Okay.
• 33:29
  Yes.
• 33:30
  So a lot of people are like, I've seen since your first- From the beginning.
• 33:33
  No, you haven't.
• 33:33
  I'm like, you really haven't.
• 33:34
  Yes.
• 33:34
  I will.
• 33:35
  And.
• 33:36
  It's funny because I remember when I was moving, my friends knew I liked to do content creation.
• 33:42
  On TikTok, I kind of got my pop from travel.
• 33:44
  Okay.
• 33:45
  From travel videos, actually, is where I got my pop.
• 33:48
  Mostly all travel videos.
• 33:49
  Okay.
• 33:49
  Yeah.
• 33:49
  My first 10K was from a trip to Ireland and London.
• 33:53
  And then the next pop I got, I did a road trip around the United States with my friend Val, who was moving.
• 33:59
  It's like the same people.
• 34:00
  Sure.
• 34:00
  Core people in my life.
• 34:02
  And then what else?
• 34:03
  Oh, no.
• 34:04
  No.
• 34:05
  don't know anyway that i got my pop from travel sure and it was always something that i wanted to do but like that inconsistency in me or like that overthinker in me um just kind of sat on 20 20 something k followers um because i'm like okay i'm not traveling so what am i gonna post right like there's nothing to post and things going on in my life right and i remember when i was moving my friend had said to me she was like you can post about
• 34:30
  you being in Jamaica, which is something I thought about, but I honestly didn't know what that would look like.
• 34:35
  Okay.
• 34:36
  Either.
• 34:37
  And then I had, as a person that used to live here too, I think my mind, when I'm traveling to Ireland, I'm like, nobody knows me here.
• 34:43
  Right.
• 34:44
  By the time we left the trip, people knew us there.
• 34:45
  People were like, you guys are the girls, you know what I mean?
• 34:48
  But it's different.
• 34:51
  I could care less what they think.
• 34:53
  Moving here now, I'm like,
• 34:56
  There's just so much things that go into it, like safety, bad mind and all types of stuff.
• 35:01
  So I was kind of like hesitant to post about that.
• 35:05
  But yeah, initially when I came, I hadn't post.
• 35:09
  And those first couple of months was just really me shadowing and just kind of understanding the flow of the pace and also observing and seeing, okay, what could be done differently.
• 35:20
  When did you know and why that it was no longer going to be three months?
• 35:27
  Conversations with my dad.
• 35:28
  Okay.
• 35:29
  Yeah.
• 35:29
  I think those first couple of weeks, months, whatever it is, really made me hone in on his vision.
• 35:37
  Okay.
• 35:38
  And I'm a person who doesn't, I don't believe in coincidences.
• 35:41
  Right.
• 35:41
  At all.
• 35:43
  Nothing is a coincidence.
• 35:44
  Right.
• 35:44
  And and the fact that I worked at that restaurant, I forgot to mention that restaurant was the longest job I ever had.
• 35:50
  Okay.
• 35:51
  Because I'm a person that gets bored easily.
• 35:52
  Right.
• 35:53
  And I'm like, oh, it's searching for what's next.
• 35:55
  Right.
• 35:56
  Onto the next.
• 35:57
  Yes.
• 35:57
  So that restaurant was the longest job I had ever had.
• 36:01
  The spirit of it.
• 36:03
  Now that I'm talking about it, it's like things align because the guy that owned the restaurant was 28.
• 36:07
  So I'm 28 now.
• 36:08
  Sure.
• 36:09
  um black owned i mean we're in jamaica so you would think everything is black owned but it's but it's not yes especially in negril right especially in these tourist hubs yes yeah especially in the grill yeah um good point so through the conversations i had my dad i'm like okay i feel more
• 36:26
  Like, again, I'm an energy person.
• 36:28
  I can't tell you what made me move here.
• 36:30
  Like that conversation with my friends didn't make me move here.
• 36:33
  Sure.
• 36:34
  We've had conversations about me coming here prior to that specific conversation.
• 36:39
  And I came here with three months in my mind.
• 36:40
  I was adamant.
• 36:41
  I had a flight booked and everything.
• 36:42
  Really?
• 36:43
  Yeah, because even though I'm a Jamaican citizen, I don't have a Jamaican passport.
• 36:48
  Okay.
• 36:48
  So you're required to go back to the States like every three months or 90 days or something.
• 36:52
  Yeah.
• 36:52
  So I had the three months.
• 36:54
  Right.
• 36:55
  The flight was already booked.
• 36:56
  But yeah, it was a conversation that I had with my dad that really made me understand his vision.
• 37:01
  What is his vision?
• 37:03
  Legacy is the vision at the end of the day, right?
• 37:08
  I mean, I think from the outside people would look at what we have and probably guess and wonder how we come by it.
• 37:12
  Okay.
• 37:12
  Um, but I don't believe in coincidences.
• 37:14
  Right.
• 37:14
  Right.
• 37:15
  Um, so many people probably have the same opportunity that my father, my parents probably had and used it differently.
• 37:22
  Sure.
• 37:22
  But it's not by chance that that happened.
• 37:24
  Right.
• 37:24
  I don't believe in coincidence.
• 37:26
  Right.
• 37:26
  So this is here.
• 37:27
  Um, I'm now here.
• 37:29
  Um, and I'm this who I think I am.
• 37:32
  You know what I mean?
• 37:33
  Yes.
• 37:33
  And am I going to come here and do a half ass job or am I going to come here
• 37:38
  get my feet like boots on the ground running and turn this into you know what i believe it could be right business i believe business is like a reflection of the owner like okay you know that relationship it's all tied spiritually everything it's all tied um
• 37:57
  And to have a business like that, that's like a service business that you're literally touching people in some ways, somehow, whether it's through food, music, whatever the case may be that we offer at Woodstock.
• 38:08
  You know, it's a reflection of me.
• 38:11
  Sure.
• 38:13
  It's a reflection of my father.
• 38:14
  Yes.
• 38:15
  But now I come here.
• 38:16
  you know head honcho did you feel extra pressure from an age perspective from a coming back to jamaica you've been away for quite some time at this point and also i don't mean this disrespectfully but it's very different to be a server than to run a restaurant of course that's like a huge jump of course did you feel extra pressure that lord i really have to deliver or were you still very much open like i'm just going to take the experiences as they come
• 38:44
  that silent competitiveness is never just, I'm taking experiences where they come.
• 38:49
  Like if I'm gonna do something, I'm gonna do it.
• 38:51
  Right.
• 38:52
  There is no, you know, that pressure doesn't come from anyone but myself.
• 38:56
  Okay.
• 38:56
  At the end of the day.
• 38:59
  My brother was there prior to me.
• 39:01
  Okay.
• 39:01
  Right?
• 39:01
  And he left.
• 39:02
  Okay.
• 39:03
  For his own reasoning.
• 39:04
  Yes.
• 39:04
  Now, it's like, that was his reign.
• 39:07
  Yes.
• 39:08
  I know it's your time.
• 39:08
  Now it's my reign.
• 39:09
  Yes.
• 39:09
  Jamaica's small.
• 39:10
  Yes.
• 39:10
  Right?
• 39:11
  And the girl even smaller.
• 39:12
  So, people know what's going on.
• 39:15
  And am I going to let my presence be felt?
• 39:18
  You know?
• 39:19
  And be seen?
• 39:21
  What do you think was the biggest surprise from an operational perspective that you hadn't expected?
• 39:26
  And the reason I say this is because when I opened my first restaurant, I had zero experience.
• 39:29
  I'd never been a server.
• 39:31
  I'd never worked in a restaurant.
• 39:32
  I didn't know.
• 39:33
  I just thought I knew what I wanted as a consumer and worked my way backwards.
• 39:36
  And I have the first Monday service that changed my life.
• 39:40
  I know it might sound really dramatic because this was like nine years ago, but there is one Monday that I like my life will never be the same again.
• 39:47
  Monday in London, even in London, is still a quiet day.
• 39:50
  So I used to have a chef, he'd work six days a week, and Monday was his day off because that was our slowest day.
• 39:56
  I had a friend from Jamaica who was over with me, just because I don't like petty cash and I don't like paper, so I knew I could trust her to kind of manage that for me.
• 40:03
  And at the time, the bartender was my boyfriend, so I said, well, you can work the Monday.
• 40:06
  And it would just be the three of us.
• 40:08
  Normally I'd be sitting in the back doing some admin because it was calm.
• 40:11
  This particular Monday, the world and their mother was inside my restaurant.
• 40:14
  I'm not joking.
• 40:15
  I'm like, where the hell all of you came from?
• 40:17
  Again, my inexperience, I never checked the venues.
• 40:20
  We had like event venues nearby and they were having a show, which I know now.
• 40:25
  At the time, I was just like, why are you guys all here?
• 40:28
  And I'm literally running around.
• 40:30
  So my friend is in the kitchen.
• 40:32
  I'm not joking.
• 40:32
  She's not a chef.
• 40:34
  She's just in the kitchen because it's Monday.
• 40:36
  I'm serving, bartender, cool.
• 40:39
  And it got to the point where I was forgetting things on people's orders.
• 40:42
  One lady came and she said that she wanted to show her friend what a black owned business looked like.
• 40:47
  I started crying because I'm like, you've brought someone from far away to see what a black owned business looks like and this is how I'm representing us.
• 40:55
  Then one lady,
• 40:56
  She says to me, do you want me to take the payments?
• 41:00
  So when I come back, because I've given her the card machine to pay, lo and behold, she then takes six other payments from other, because I'm running around like a mad person.
• 41:07
  I'm behind the bar and this lady says, I'm just going to ask for the bill now, just because I realize that you're quite busy and it might take some time to come.
• 41:15
  But when you bring the bill, you forgot my sweet potato fries.
• 41:18
  So could you take it off the bill?
• 41:19
  I start bawling again.
• 41:20
  I said, I'm sorry.
• 41:21
  She goes, no, no, no, I'm not complaining.
• 41:22
  Yeah.
• 41:22
  I'm just letting you know ahead of time.
• 41:24
  And the point is, this Monday was the worst service I ever had.
• 41:29
  And I vouched never to have a Monday like that again.
• 41:32
  And literally, things would happen in the restaurant business.
• 41:34
  I'm like, but it's not like that Monday.
• 41:36
  Yeah.
• 41:36
  Like, nothing could kill me after getting through that Monday.
• 41:39
  Why am I crying to strangers?
• 41:41
  It's just not a thing.
• 41:42
  And so I wondered, do you have an equivalent Monday experience where you were like, okay, cool, this is serious now?
• 41:50
  Definitely, definitely.
• 41:52
  First off, you never served, so I can understand the shock.
• 41:56
  But like crying to strangers or just crying at work is such a normal experience for anybody that's ever served.
• 42:02
  Because in the States, I don't know what we would say down here, but in the States we call it being in the weeds.
• 42:07
  Okay, yes.
• 42:07
  That's when like everything's going wrong.
• 42:09
  You're piled up, you're like up to here.
• 42:10
  The weeds were real.
• 42:11
  And like someone can say, where's my ranch?
• 42:13
  And like that's it.
• 42:14
  Like, you know, the kitchen yelled at you, it's.
• 42:17
  it's a madness me and my friend were hugging and bawling in the kitchen I could imagine just because we didn't know what the hell was going on I could imagine honestly I've had a couple days like that when I was serving okay now being on the other end of it one day that will stick with me mind you I've only been here for a year and a half now but Mother's Day 2024 okay it's like my doomsday okay and and
• 42:44
  not to compare, but your day was just a Monday.
• 42:47
  It was easy.
• 42:48
  Mother's day.
• 42:49
  Things matter.
• 42:50
  Ideally, one of the most important days that people like care their, um, loved one, their mom.
• 42:55
  Yes.
• 42:56
  Sorry to dads, but their mom.
• 42:58
  And it was just a train wreck.
• 43:00
  It was a train wreck.
• 43:02
  We were in over our heads.
• 43:04
  Um,
• 43:05
  Honestly, that day scars me.
• 43:07
  It's so funny because it literally scars me, and it wasn't that long ago.
• 43:10
  Is it that there were more people than you expected?
• 43:12
  Well, we came up with a brilliant idea to do a buffet.
• 43:15
  OK.
• 43:16
  Mind you.
• 43:18
  When I got there, the kitchen wasn't operating like a kitchen like.
• 43:22
  I'm used to okay you know in what way in always in all aspects of like prep okay so pushing out so how it's scheduled all types of things no mother's days in me but I came in January okay I mean some would say I've been there a while what but this is like a first outside of Valentine's Day it's our first major holiday so I know we're not dealing with
• 43:44
  you know, understanding white people.
• 43:46
  Right.
• 43:46
  We're dealing with Jamaican people.
• 43:48
  Right.
• 43:49
  Who are carrying out their mother, their granny, this person, that person.
• 43:53
  Here, because we have now advertised as an all-you-can-eat buffet from this time to this time.
• 44:00
  Sure.
• 44:01
  It was a train wreck.
• 44:03
  From guessing the people, I think we said that it started at 11 o'clock.
• 44:07
  Okay.
• 44:07
  The kitchen was not ready to go by 11 o'clock.
• 44:09
  Okay.
• 44:09
  Persons were there before 11 o'clock.
• 44:11
  Oh, God.
• 44:11
  Busloads.
• 44:12
  Right.
• 44:12
  Like a family, like a van, 12 people.
• 44:15
  Sure.
• 44:15
  And I think we also gave out complimentary glasses from others.
• 44:19
  Oh, God.
• 44:20
  thinking that could hold them over.
• 44:22
  They were advertised as well, if my memory serves me right.
• 44:26
  That first wave of people, I think the first set of food that came out, that first family of people wiped it out.
• 44:32
  Mind you, even to begin with, we were not prepared.
• 44:37
  We were not prepared.
• 44:39
  And that first family just wipes it out.
• 44:41
  Now, I think we pushed the all you can eat for like 11 to 3, like a short period of time, thinking that would help us.
• 44:50
  It was honestly one of the worst days ever, to be honest.
• 44:54
  It sounds like a long four hours.
• 44:56
  The longest four hours.
• 44:57
  The longest.
• 44:58
  And then, did we call it entry?
• 45:01
  No, people had to pay for their all-you-can-eat to come in.
• 45:04
  Okay.
• 45:05
  So then people are asking for their money back because the food was taking too long to come out.
• 45:09
  And one person, you know, asked for their money back.
• 45:12
  And the next time I hear that, they call, it was, it was like the supervisor that we have on duty, she was drowning.
• 45:18
  I don't even know if she, it was a mob for people.
• 45:21
  Like it was insane.
• 45:23
  And I had to go in there and I'm like, you know what, we just have to talk to people like, what are we going to do?
• 45:27
  we're failing we're drowning we're going to run and hide we can't run and hide we have to just stand up and take whatever they're saying yes and pray that maybe if we move with some empathy emotion they might be understanding yes and we're just getting back their money or whatever we have to do let's just make them leave happy but let's like let's overcome this now that was like
• 45:49
  being in the lions then i'm not gonna lie like standing there and having to stand as a proud person which i am which is always not the best thing to be but in a situation like that i wasn't gonna bow down either i'm still gonna be a pride person sure um because i take pride in everything that i do at that point i wasn't posting online okay i'm here imagine if i was right imagine if i was imagine i'm thinking about like it would have been so horrible but um yeah i started to stand there with pride and kind of back my staff um
• 46:19
  you know that was something I learned even being a server something I hated was when the manager went and made the server look bad.
• 46:25
  I had to back everybody at the end of the day.
• 46:29
  I mean I put these people in that situation.
• 46:30
  I put the staff in that position with running with this idea in over our head we're gonna have the best mother's day and it was disastrous.
• 46:38
  Now it didn't stop there.
• 46:39
  Three o'clock hits.
• 46:40
  Buffet is done.
• 46:42
  People are pleased.
• 46:42
  Music is playing.
• 46:44
  The people who hated it got their money back and left.
• 46:46
  Whatever.
• 46:47
  Who we could satisfy with, satisfy that group.
• 46:49
  That first group.
• 46:50
  Yes.
• 46:50
  They were having a ball.
• 46:52
  Right.
• 46:52
  So the key to the story is to show up early.
• 46:54
  Right.
• 46:54
  But they were having a ball.
• 46:56
  They were there how long?
• 46:57
  Right.
• 46:57
  And everyone was dancing.
• 47:00
  I remember being like, oh my God, we survived that.
• 47:02
  Right.
• 47:02
  Like, in my mind, there was no time to cry, to be honest.
• 47:07
  But I'm the type of person, like, when I'm up to here, I think I take it out on a lot of people.
• 47:12
  But everybody was drawn in at that point.
• 47:14
  Sure.
• 47:14
  So...
• 47:15
  I thought it was over.
• 47:17
  We didn't think about the dinner wave.
• 47:19
  Oh no.
• 47:20
  We didn't think that, okay, we kept something in the day.
• 47:23
  Sure.
• 47:23
  But we didn't think- You still have service.
• 47:26
  About dinner and how it's still Mother's Day.
• 47:28
  Oh Jesus.
• 47:28
  And how people are coming out to order this big old fish and all type of stuff.
• 47:31
  And now they're ordering a la carte from your menu.
• 47:34
  Right.
• 47:34
  Oh geez.
• 47:35
  And nothing was prepped.
• 47:36
  Oh Jesus.
• 47:37
  We had our serious issue in our kitchen, honestly.
• 47:39
  It was, it was, I'm telling you, that was, that day would stick with me forever because we thought it was over.
• 47:44
  Right.
• 47:44
  Like we survived that, we were laughing about it.
• 47:46
  It was round one.
• 47:47
  We're like, oh my God, laughing at it.
• 47:48
  I'm like, oh my God, I can't.
• 47:49
  The reviews are going to be so bad.
• 47:51
  Like, oh my God, what are we going to do?
• 47:53
  No.
• 47:54
  The next wave.
• 47:55
  And that one was even worse because it was like nothing.
• 47:57
  We were so focused on this buffet drowning in that.
• 48:00
  And then now.
• 48:02
  So what do you do?
• 48:03
  Do what we could.
• 48:05
  I'm not gonna lie, that's it, we did what we could.
• 48:07
  Who we could serve, we served, who ordered and walked, got up and left, got up and left.
• 48:12
  I just, I mean, we literally just did what we could.
• 48:14
  Yeah, yeah.
• 48:16
  Your mother beats mine.
• 48:17
  Yeah, that will stick with me forever.
• 48:20
  We have Father's Day coming up in a few days.
• 48:24
  And Mother's Day this year, I mean, I feel a lot better about how it went this year.
• 48:28
  There's still things we could have changed and done better.
• 48:31
  but compared to last year we went from here to here like i am i'm content with how this year went um and i think father's day this sunday is gonna be should be a breeze do you find so whenever we would have mother's day you'd always have overbookings and for father's day it would never be as many as mother's day do you find the same here
• 48:51
  Yeah, like when we were discussing what to do for this Father's Day, I was so conflicted because I'm like, I don't even remember last Father's Day.
• 48:58
  I don't remember if people came.
• 48:59
  I don't even remember what we did.
• 49:01
  Sure.
• 49:02
  Like, I don't remember.
• 49:04
  But right now with us advertising and pushing Father's Day for this Sunday, a couple of people have reached out.
• 49:11
  And I feel like a lot of people don't do things.
• 49:13
  So it leaves that market open for us.
• 49:15
  Sure.
• 49:15
  To capitalize on that.
• 49:17
  So I think it will be good.
• 49:18
  Okay.
• 49:18
  This year, last year, I think we might have just done a dinner.
• 49:21
  This year we're doing a live show.
• 49:22
  Okay.
• 49:23
  So...
• 49:24
  I think I'll get back to you on how the turnout is, but I'm anticipating it should be a breeze compared to Mother's Day 2024.
• 49:31
  I will never forget.
• 49:32
  Never.
• 49:33
  Do you think, again, working in the States versus working in Jamaica, there are some distinctive, and I appreciate, I'm just speaking about hospitality, not about just life in general.
• 49:42
  Do you think there are some distinct differences culturally within those spaces in terms of how they operate?
• 49:49
  Are you talking about staff or are you just talking about normal operations?
• 49:53
  Anything that you find, whether it's the way, for example, from a UK perspective, I think that people don't see hospitality in the UK as a career.
• 50:03
  They see it as something they kind of do while they're figuring out their life.
• 50:07
  And so therefore, there is not a self-respect from the person working in hospitality, but also the consumer doesn't respect it.
• 50:14
  So for example, I have a lady, she'll come to me, she'll be like, oh, so how long have you been working here?
• 50:18
  And I say, oh, I've been working here from the beginning.
• 50:20
  And she's like, is this just what you want to do with your life?
• 50:22
  There's that energy of, you know, service, hospitality, isn't a career.
• 50:27
  whereas I don't, maybe because we have such a tourism driven sector here, I don't see it as with the same disdain that like customers have for hospitality.
• 50:37
  Certainly not for America.
• 50:38
  Americans, I feel like again it might come from an experience whether you've been a server or someone in your family has been a server in America, there's not this level of like disrespect to the role.
• 50:48
  I just wondered are there any cultural differences that you think between America and Jamaica in terms of hospitality?
• 50:55
  Well, you think in America there's no disrespect towards the role?
• 50:58
  No, I think from an individual working in the service industry, you tend to know people in England don't go through hospitality.
• 51:06
  They've never done it, right?
• 51:07
  It's not like a thing.
• 51:09
  I don't know what else the students are doing, but in a way that I feel like America, if you go to college, most college students have worked.
• 51:17
  hospitality job yeah and that I think impacts how they go through their experience in the hospitality world even from a tipping culture right so in America it's very normal yeah and you're working for your tip and people will say in the UK oh but they're just being nice to you for the tip I said okay care why they're being nice I like the niceness so you give the tip
• 51:37
  Yeah.
• 51:37
  Whereas in the UK, there's not even an incentive to kind of be more hospitable or more warm because they're not getting an additional tip anyway.
• 51:44
  So it's kind of like, well, I might as well just dash on the plate.
• 51:46
  Oh, wow.
• 51:47
  You know what I mean?
• 51:47
  Yeah, I think, um, I think it may be a little bit different just because like you said down here, it's very tourist based.
• 51:54
  Sure.
• 51:54
  Um, I do think hospitality is a choice of career in Jamaica, in the islands, just in general.
• 52:00
  Um, one day I heard somebody said that like,
• 52:03
  any like majorly tourist base like the islands and the tourist industry is like modern day slavery okay um which that's a big take but i kind of understand what they're saying what are they saying because the economy kind of thrives off of tourism sure if there's no people coming to the country
• 52:20
  how do you think also that's because a lot of the hotels a lot of the tourist businesses are owned by foreigners would it be the same together and would you still see it as modern slavery if it was Jamaicans like yourself owning the restaurants or is it because of that foreign dynamic I think there's so many factors that play into it really and truly because if we think about it on a
• 52:40
  on a deeper level and even everything that's happening today with other deportation right everybody thinks the grass is greener on the other side so the island suffer from a major brain drain yes and these are things like I'm talking about but these are things being here that I become passionate about because I see it firsthand just through being now a business owner and being in this position where we employ persons
• 53:02
  like you said like in the States it's kind of a rite of passage to serve not everybody does it and it's kind of looked down upon because like you're serving people like even then even the title of it it's like you're a server right so it kind of is like you're the butler or whatever the case may be um it's kind of a rite of passage though in the States more so over whereas here I don't think
• 53:25
  people feel as though they have many options or the government even puts many options into place for the people here.
• 53:31
  People think they have to go to the States to make way in life.
• 53:37
  which is really sad it's something i think about do you think it's true or do you think that there are opportunities to to come back you spoke about brain drain do you think that you would encourage other jamaicans to return or do you think that you completely understand why they are where they are and they should stay there well two things can be true at the same time and i i i agree with both statements right um but i do feel like if the this there wasn't this big major stigma around
• 54:06
  the better life in the States.
• 54:07
  I mean, a lot of Jamaican people, a lot of island people, immigrants, go to the States and struggle.
• 54:12
  Struggle worse than they were here.
• 54:14
  The struggle looks different.
• 54:15
  Yes.
• 54:17
  One of my friends, one of my college friends, she's Haitian, and she said to me that the United States has an individual culture, whereas the Caribbean is more community-based.
• 54:28
  Yeah.
• 54:28
  If you think about it, when you go to the States,
• 54:32
  so many homeless people sleeping on the road.
• 54:34
  When nighttime come in Jamaica, how many people is sleeping on the road?
• 54:38
  And that alone speaks volumes.
• 54:40
  Cause that means the community, some way, some how, you know, we don't know where they go to sleep, you know, but somebody maybe lend them their veranda or something, you know, for the nighttime, whatever the case may be.
• 54:50
  So I think a lot of people, I understand why people,
• 54:56
  move to the states i can't be a hypocrite sure my parents moved to the states give me a better opportunity to even be in this position to run a business yep um to speak on this podcast you know but i do feel like or at least one of my hopes is that there's a shift okay it's okay to go and explore right people need exposure um so they're not ignorant right i'm passionate about that but
• 55:20
  But maybe take the things you learn and come here and create those opportunities for Jamaica, for your home country.
• 55:27
  So that's something I'm really passionate about now.
• 55:29
  I can definitely see why you would go over there.
• 55:32
  It's painted like this pretty, you know, penny.
• 55:35
  Yeah.
• 55:36
  But imagine what could Jamaica be if all the best people that are of Jamaican descent who have left.
• 55:43
  for this better life, carry the knowledge that they know and come here and do something for the country.
• 55:48
  Of course, we would have to get through the government and politics and all of that.
• 55:51
  It's probably easier said than done.
• 55:53
  Sure, but it can be done.
• 55:54
  But I feel like it could be done.
• 55:55
  I mean, we're exceptional people, Jamaican people.
• 55:59
  And we're all about the world in all type of government positions in the states, in this country, that country.
• 56:05
  What about this country, the country you come from?
• 56:08
  So, I mean, I get it.
• 56:11
  but there's room for growth and i i don't i really genuinely don't think it's gonna happen unless that happens sure really and truly because right now who owns jamaica jamaicans yeah
• 56:25
  So I think one of the things that comes to mind is you're in hospitality, which is a daily like grind and you speak a lot about your friendship circle and where they are abroad.
• 56:33
  Yeah.
• 56:34
  How have you managed?
• 56:36
  Because it seems like there's such a support group for your day to day and I don't get the impression they're here.
• 56:40
  Yeah.
• 56:41
  So how have you like managed on a social just day to day lifestyle?
• 56:44
  My day to day lifestyle is running a business.
• 56:46
  OK, really and truly.
• 56:48
  um we're a text a face time away right which thank god we live in this generation sure i'm a quick flight away my name is not that far okay i feel like i try to always have some type of flight booked whether it's every five months or something sure um for that social aspect of my life but we kind of are all in that age where we're
• 57:07
  figuring out our next step.
• 57:08
  Okay.
• 57:08
  You know, I've never been 28 before.
• 57:09
  This is my first time being 28.
• 57:11
  But people say that like, between this, like these next five years, very monumental years in our life.
• 57:18
  So everybody's just really focused on that.
• 57:20
  I don't necessarily have a social life here.
• 57:22
  Okay.
• 57:24
  in Jamaica, sadly, because I feel like I'm a very social person.
• 57:27
  But I feel like in life we go through seasons, and I know I'm in the season for a reason.
• 57:32
  So just focus on what I'm doing, and then we'll get there.
• 57:35
  I've had a lot of fun.
• 57:36
  I don't know if I stress that enough during my time period serving.
• 57:40
  I've lived life, and sometimes I look back and I miss that.
• 57:43
  But I also remember that voice that was within me, that was always like, okay, what's next?
• 57:49
  Do you see yourself staying in Jamaica?
• 57:52
  I'm the wrong person to ask that because I don't know what is about me.
• 57:57
  I always see this and then life leads me this way.
• 58:00
  It's really hard for me to answer that question because I came here thinking I'd be here for three months.
• 58:08
  Jamaica and me will always go together.
• 58:10
  Because once I put my name on something, it's on it.
• 58:13
  And I take pride in it and I'm not going to just...
• 58:16
  like it flop.
• 58:17
  Sure.
• 58:17
  Me and flop don't get together, none at all.
• 58:19
  So I'm definitely, we'll always be in cahoots as long as the family business is there, up and operating.
• 58:26
  Sure.
• 58:28
  I've come to, you know, the acceptance that a part of my life's mission is to push this legacy forward and it's not really even for me.
• 58:37
  Sure.
• 58:37
  And it's probably not even for my lifetime.
• 58:39
  Sure.
• 58:41
  But I take pride in that.
• 58:42
  I can't sit here and say all these things and then be like, No, I'm leaving Jamaica.
• 58:46
  Right.
• 58:46
  Ideally, I would love to live like by is it by coastal people say like six months, summer six months off just because the industry we're working is very seasonal.
• 58:56
  OK, because we're not only a restaurant, but we're like in like you said, a tourist tourism sector and one summer comes comes around hurricane season.
• 59:05
  It's not as busy.
• 59:06
  OK, so
• 59:08
  I would hope to like, I'm just at the beginning of my journey, so I would hope to have something there.
• 59:14
  Sure.
• 59:14
  Miami, maybe who knows?
• 59:16
  Yep.
• 59:17
  Africa.
• 59:17
  I'm all for that too, like Nigeria somewhere.
• 59:20
  I love London.
• 59:21
  Okay.
• 59:21
  You can go back.
• 59:22
  I love London, but I feel like it's so far.
• 59:25
  Okay.
• 59:26
  It's such a far journey, like from Jamaica.
• 59:28
  Miami is so close, but I do love the diaspora of Jamaicans and the Caribbean culture.
• 59:33
  I love London.
• 59:34
  I think it's the most diverse city I've ever been to.
• 59:37
  I haven't traveled as much as you, but I'll never forget when I landed there.
• 59:41
  I was like, wow, there's actually a little bit of everybody here from the airport, from your land.
• 59:47
  So I like London.
• 59:49
  Cool.
• 59:50
  I have a few quick five questions for you.
• 59:53
  Tasty or juicy?
• 59:55
  Oh my God, I had juicy beef today.
• 59:57
  I'm not kidding.
• 59:58
  I was just telling my dad, I'm like, I feel like juicy beef is top tier.
• 1:00:02
  I literally had one today for the first time in years, honestly, because I normally get taste these or like a bakery.
• 1:00:08
  Yes.
• 1:00:08
  Juicy.
• 1:00:09
  Okay.
• 1:00:09
  Yeah.
• 1:00:10
  Curry goat or oxtail?
• 1:00:13
  Oxtail.
• 1:00:14
  Rum or red stripe?
• 1:00:16
  Rum.
• 1:00:17
  Cassava or yam?
• 1:00:21
  You don't like needle?
• 1:00:21
  Yam.
• 1:00:22
  Oh, Lord.
• 1:00:22
  Okay, cool.
• 1:00:24
  Cane juice or coconut water?
• 1:00:26
  Ooh.
• 1:00:27
  I'm going to say coconut water.
• 1:00:29
  Cool.
• 1:00:29
  That's all for me, babes.
• 1:00:30
  Thank you very much.
• 1:00:31
  Thank you for having me.