Winston Sill/Freelance Photographer Thalia Lyn
Like many Chinese Jamaicans, Thalia Lyn's first B.Sc. (Behind Shop Counter) degree laid the foundation for her future success as a businesswoman.
She has come a long way from working in her parents' bakery as a young girl and is now a successful restaurateur, heading Jamaica's premier chain of quick-service restaurants, Island Grill. Ironically, Mrs. Lyn did not set out to be in business. After returning from university, she did a brief stint as a teacher at her alma mater, Immaculate Conception High School, but the lure of business was strong.
Among her early ventures was a self-serve ice-cream shop called Dairy Queen. In 1991, Lyn opened the doors of her first Chicken Supreme restaurant in Kingston. By 1998, Chicken Supreme was rebranded Island Grill, and has since advanced to become a competitive Jamaican brand with a strong loyalty among customers. Island Grill now has 14 outlets islandwide and will soon expand to other locations in the region.
All this success was not without challenges. Still, Lyn encourages other women to enter business as she did. Speaking from her own experience, she said, "Banks don't seem to be as favourably disposed to giving women loans for business. It's only recently that banks have stopped asking me to bring my husband in to co-sign loans."
Still, she encourages young women not to feel daunted.
"Go with a good business plan, and keep trying," she said.
Accomplished businesswoman aside, Thalia Lyn also binds Jamaica's diplomatic ties with the Thais, as she is the honorary consul to the Kingdom of Thailand. Since her appointment she has led a successful trade mission to Bangkok and is working to establish stronger ties and links between both countries.
Contributed
Zein Issa-Nakash
Zein Issa-Nakash is another dynamic young woman in the tourist industry. Like her twin sister, Muna Issa, she continues to make strides in the hotel business that has been a family 'tradition' for three generations.
She has been vice-president of marketing and environmental affairs at SuperClubs since 1998. She is also the president of A to Z Travel in Florida and a member of the Kingston chapter of the Jamaica Hotel and Tourist Association as well as the Caribbean Tourism Organisation. Her achievements in the tourism sector have not gone unnoticed, because like her twin she was named as one of the '200 Most Powerful Women in Travel' by Travel Agent Magazine from 1997-1999. She copped one of the top places three more times between 2001 and 2003. She was also named one of the 'Rising Stars inTourism' by the same magazine in 2002 and 2003.
Mrs. Issa-Nakash also enjoys tennis, running, aerobics, and reading.
Junior Dowie/Staff Photographer
Scarlette Gillings
Named for a character in Gone with the Wind by her grandfather who said that she was very beautiful at birth, Scarlette Gillings is the managing director of the Jamaica Social Investment Fund (JSIF).
A social policy specialist and project manager, Mrs. Gillings has extensive managerial and technical expertise in programme development, project formulation, and monitoring and evaluation in the areas of social development, social policy and gender. Since its establishment in 1996, Mrs. Gillings has led the JSIF to the successful completion of more than 600 social and, economic infrastructure and organisational strengthening projects for more than a million beneficiaries. Now that is phenomenal!
Social development
Young Scarlette fell in love with social work while in university pursuing her degree in that field. Then she was a recipient of the Rockefeller Foundation grant to carry out research on the impact of rural development interventions on men and women in Jamaica and Dominica. Working with the probation services and the National Children's Home, Mrs. Gillings developed an interest and passion for the social development of people and communities, with particular emphasis on gender issues. Her studies also fuelled her passion. The rest is history.
Mrs. Gillings has since held many posts, including that of chief planner for Social Planning Division at the National Planning Agency (now the Planning Institute of Jamaica); national director of women's affairs, Jamaica (special assignment), 1984 to 1985; chief technical adviser, Food and Agriculture Project, Office of the Prime Minister, Tanzania, June 1991 to June 1994, and more.
She received the Order of Distinction (C.D.) for her outstanding contribution in thefield of social development and Welfare at the ceremony of investiture and presentation of National Honours and Awards 2005.
