Grennell
Avia Ustanny, Outlook Writer
ALPHONSO OLIVER Grennell has gone from illiteracy to teaching and from fixing radios and motorcycles to building a driving empire.
The automotive specialist who now runs his own driving school and is the acting head at the Mona Church of Christ credits his success to his mother -- Norah Grennell - a woman who taught him the value of hard work and believing in himself.
"Is not the same day leaf drop in water that it rot," she would say to her son about bad habits which needed changing and - to his credit - he took note.
Norah Grennell dropped out of primary school and started her working life as a sugar cane labourer on plantations in Clarendon. But, she was not to remain in that position. In 1959, Norah opened her first grocery shop in Ballards Content, Clarendon a business which she would pursue until shortly before her death.
By her side in the shop was son Alphonso, who recalls many occasions on which his mother would take him aside and tell him stories about her life. She was also teaching him how to conduct his own life.
"One of the things I will always remember about her is the number of persons she would credit even when she had bad experiences with others."
She would give goods on credit to cane cutters who ought to have paid at the end of the season, but several would return home without meeting their obligations. Still, Norah Grennell would extend credit again.
HOW THINGS WORKED
As a boy, Grennell was curious about how things worked and would also help his father - Sydney Grennell - fix his motorcycle and radios. One among seven children which included three sisters and three brothers, he was sent the latest to school, not starting until age seven.
"I still don't know why I started school so late, but it presented so many challenges for me in the years to come," Grennell recalls.
At York Town Primary School he missed out on grade six when he was told that he had to go to secondary school because he was too old for primary school. Grennell was frightened because, he says, " I knew I was not mentally ready or qualified to enter secondary school."
At Denbigh Secondary School he tried to keep up academically with the other students. His mother, he said was a constant source of encouragement who boosted his self-confidence by allowing him to assist her in running the business.
He remembers one occasion when, on realising that his mother was making no profit at all by purchasing goods from one wholesaler, he took the initiative to change to another one with good results.
BRIGHT STUDENTS
At school, however, Alphonso was reading well below average at age 16. However, he found a way to keep up with the bright students.
" I never back down from a challenge and so I found a strategy to help me take notes," he recalls today.
He would listen keenly and remember all that he could from the teacher. Then, he would study twice as hard or even longer than other students in his class.
Alphonso also became a Christian in the Ballards Church of Christ, whose pastor, Sydney L. Palmer, took to calling him 'Doctor' and 'Lawyer' and again boosted his self-confidence.
Alphonso used his Bible for reading and spelling practice.
" I remember once I did not know how to spell a word, but I knew where it was found in the scriptures, so I just took the Bible and found it," he told Outlook.
Soon, at Denbigh, teachers began to notice Alphanso's dedication. He was asked to be a part of the school students' council executive body as a senior prefect and graduated with the top achiever award in auto mechanics.
But, a tug of war began between Mr. and Mrs. Grennel when Alphonso was ready to leave Denbigh. His father wanted him to work as there were others to be sent to school.
"We never had it easy, Alphonso recalls. Those were hard times."
But, his mother believed that he should receive further education and insisted on doing extra work and sales to make this happen.
SACRIFICES
Alphonso enrolled in Vere Technical High School to do a two-year certificate course in motor vehicle technology and craft studies with her support. His mother, he said, "believed in making sacrifices. None of my siblings suffered. If it meant that she would wear one slippers everyday and one suit, it is what she would do."
She would always say that her children should get a better education than she got.
Alphonso graduated within a year with the award for best performance in auto mechanics. He continued to attend Vere for another year and taught farm mechanics to students who specialised in agriculture. After leaving Vere, he took a job as a conductor on a mini-bus plying Mandeville to Kingston route.
Determined to take professionalism to the field, he was well-dressed everyday. But, cheated out of his pay once too often, he left for Kingston where a brother was attending the University of the West Indies and said he should come to the city and see what could happen.
CHALLENGES
Life in Kingston was not easy. After many rejections, he finally got a job at Beach's Auto Supplies and Repairs Limited with a $40 salary.
Always aware that more money would only come through upgrading his qualifications, he enrolled at the HEART Trust/NTA's Jamaican German Automotive School (JAGAS). He recalls that for each day he went to school, $8 would be deducted from his pay, but he knew he had to complete the course.
Grennell graduated from JAGAS in 1987 with a certificate in Internal Combustion Engine and Vehicle Works and accepted a job at Cable and Wireless (C&W) as an apprentice mechanic. Later, he accessed a sponsored programme by the company to send its telephone technicians on courses at the then College of Arts, Science and Technology (CAST), now University of Technology.
Although the programme was not intended for garage personnel, Alphonso convinced the training and department managers that they could benefit from these courses. He did well and by 1992, he was promoted to supervisor in charge of the general servicing of the company's fleet of vehicles.
He completed all his certificate courses from CAST in 1993 and in 1995, enrolled in JAGAS to do a course in Automotive Service Management. He again, graduated at the top of his class in 1997 and was promoted to executive training officer at C&W.
DEFENSIVE DRIVING INSTRUCTOR COURSE
Soon after, the company asked him to participate in a defensive driving instructor course in Trinidad.
Grennell served the company for one more year before he was made redundant in one of the company's downsizing exercises. These were disappointing times, but it was nevertheless the catalyst for a new vision. The automotive expert decided to open his own driving school and on June 1, 1999, Grennell's Driver Safety Training and Services started doing business offering services including basic driving, driver assessment, driver upgrade, refresher driving and defensive driving to individuals and companies.
Today, the company employs five trainers and is registered with the National Safety Council for which Alphonso is the only agent in Jamaica. It also offers specialised courses for drivers of emergency vehicles such as ambulances and large vehicles such as tankers.
Constantly seeking to improve his level of service, Grennell has gone on to do advanced courses such as the security driver instructor course in West Virginia and trainer of trainers programme in defensive driving in Trinidad.
His one regret, Alphonso Grennell says, is that his mother who died at age 70 passed away before he could do something really special for her.
SAVINGS
But, the lessons are still with him. She taught him, he said, that savings could be made from the smallest income. Today, the bulk of his redundancy payment is still on fixed deposit. It is his pension, he says.
She also taught him to be honest and to live with integrity, both commodities which Grennell says have proven to be invaluable in the success of his business.
His mother has passed on, but she lived to see fulfilment of her wishes for her children. Grennell's siblings include a fashion designer, an insurance superintendent, another automotive businessman, a marketing specialist, a landscaper and a nurse. Not one of them is without a rewarding career.
All are still close, too.
"My mother always said to us, you are one blood, you must be there for each other. I say the same thing to my two sons," Grennell states.
Married to Monica, a teacher, Alphonso is father of two sons, Seth and Steven, who are being raised on a foundation started by a female cane cutter from Ballards Clarendon.
