Before I moved to Guyana and spontaneously established RED Entertainment with my partners, I grew up in sunny South Florida with the beach as my best friend. I’d like to believe my decor style could be attributed to my life near the ocean – bright and fresh! In the summer of 2011, I obtained a Bachelor’s Degree in International Business and Marketing at Florida International University (FIU). During my years at university, I worked as an Event Coordinator at Professional Catering Incorporated (PCI) in West Palm Beach, Miami and then with the American Marketing Association (AMA).
As co-owner of RED Entertainment and RED Marketing, my role involves Communications, Events Management and Marketing. My other partners, Kristina King and Chelsea Fung, all bring differing skillsets to the team, which enables successful executions but what we all have in common is the ability to make it happen even when limitations are particularly challenging. And I must say that I am equally proud of the fact that we help our clients make their vision a reality. We are trendsetting and continue to develop new and exciting ideas within our events and marketing departments. Every day is an adventure that I look forward to with our team!
How did you arrive at the idea for your business? What was your key driving force to become an entrepreneur?
In 2012, we spontaneously decided to uncover our hidden desire to create impactful moments in people’s lives. There was no real driving force to become an entrepreneur as it was a spur-of-the-moment venture that we never planned. We all had different paths individually, however, today as a dynamic trio, we put our passion for quality, uniqueness and love of making people happy into producing memorable experiences as RED Entertainment. And within recent years, we have developed our sister company, RED Marketing, in which we provide advertising, market research, event marketing, along with other marketing services with a hands-on, engaged and collaborative approach that is solutions driven.
What has been your most satisfying moment in business? How do you define success?
I don’t have one particular satisfying moment experienced in our business, but what is continuously gratifying is our collaborative methods of executing projects. As a company, collaboration is at the heart of our process as we collectively engage with our client and other skilled professionals to get the job-at-hand done. Our event planning and marketing projects require working with different people from varying lines of work and we strive to build relationships based on reciprocity, respect and support. We truly believe that one person can do anything, but they can’t do everything! There are so many elements involved in any given project, campaign or event that need to be perfected in every way possible. The best way to get it all done is to collaborate with those that can perfect the elements that we can’t do ourselves; and the ability for us to do this is exactly what we define as success in our business!
What is your greatest challenge being an entrepreneur?
As you would expect, it is a bit tough for us as young women to gain respect in the marketing and entertainment industries as it is dominated by men. However, we take on the challenge almost every day and recognize it as a stepping-stone to further success for not only our company, but for ourselves as individuals.
What piece of advice would you give to other young people who want to become entrepreneurs?
For upcoming entrepreneurs, our key messages are: Education is important, even more so in this day in age (it is not overrated). Don’t be discouraged by what other people have to say. The best is not always perfect. Do what you love and love what you do (as cliché as it sounds). Listen to your instinctual gut feelings. Don’t be afraid to show your vulnerability. Support your colleagues, friends and family no matter what!
Who has been your greatest inspiration?
Our greatest inspiration are all of the female entrepreneurs that are making waves, moving mountains and making magic in Guyana and all over the world. Locally, we have women like Shivana Persaud of Lure by Shiv and Danielle Hodge of Indigenous Coconut Oil producing amazing quality products.
And there are numerous specialists providing fantastic make-up services, baking exquisite cakes and confectioneries and creating spectacular paper crafts – MUA Susan Saks, MUA Renee Chester, Glo Guyana, Lianne’s Cakes, Noodle Cake Creations, Crafted by Chey, just to name a few! They inspire us to continuously improve, innovate and keep on keepin’ on!
