Joan Ann John has brought
to reality the old adage “turn yu hand mek fashion”.
A love for tourism and
sales took Mrs. Joan Ann John from Guyana, the land of her birth to Barbados where she
hand made and sold macramé bags mainly to tourists.
Like some of us Ms. John
was drawn to St. Vincent by the chords of marriage, when in 1984 her husband decided to
return home to St. Vincent and being an obedient wife she followed him.
Upon arriving in St.
Vincent, she began looking for the materials to continue her craft but could not find the
macramé strings anywhere on the island.
While still pondering
over what to do for a living in her new found home, she visited the wharf to watch the
cruise ships and there she spotted a pile of conch shells. She inquired as to the owner
and was told that it was garbage and that she could take all she wanted.
The fishermen’s
garbage became the 1st step in Mrs. John’s unique trade in St. Vincent and
the Grenadines. She took home a sack of conch shells, bleached, deodorized, polished and
retailed them at the same Cruise ship wharf for US $5.00 each.
While on the Young Island
dock one day, Ms. John looked up to admire the Poinciana tree and got another bright idea.
“shak shak” would make an excellent souvenir. She varnished them, wrote St.
Vincent & the Grenadines on them and traded them for US$2.00. Some she left
unvarnished and sold for US$1.00 each.
From the sale of shak
shak and conch shells, Ms. John gradually expanded her trade to include other items such
as t- shirts, tie and dye beach wear and any little item marketable to tourists. Before
long, she had a striving business supplying visitors with many unique souvenirs. With
tourism being seasonal Ms. John commenced sewing various garments during the slow season
which she wholesaled and retailed in the Grenadines and Grenada.
In 2001 when the Cruise
ship berth was built, Ms. John was the first to secure a shop and with a loan from the NDF
opened the now fully stocked Island Style Boutique. In fact for a few months Ms John
was the sole shop operator at the Cruis Ship Berth
Ms. John received
subsequent funding to improve the shop and has developed an excellent relationship with
the NDF.
In addition to funding,
Ms. John has received training from the NDF in several areas of small business
development. She strongly believes that personal development is imperative to the growth
and survival of her business and uses every opportunity to enhance her entrepreneurial
skills.
DAVE CAIN
When you are in need of fresh locally
grown vegetables you must contact Dave Cain. From a tender age Dave would readily assist his
parents on the farm. Dave although he
appreciated his parents hard work he decided to seek employment outside of the farm. He worked with Décor products for a number years
specializing in the installation of greenhouses.
Dave soon realized that
he could enhance his own farming practices with the use of green houses. He approached the National Development Foundation
in 1999 to purchase two greenhouses. He worked
full time and farm on a part time basis. Now
into green house farming he realized that the returns far exceeded his expectation, this
was Dave’s motivation to quit his job and go into farming on a full time basis.
He invested in more green
houses to date he has a total of twenty-seven (27) green houses at three locations,
employs a total of ten employees and produces over 4800 lbs of vegetables weekly. His main crops are Tomatoes, cucumbers, sweet
peppers. He also cultivates a variety of other
crops. His products are retailed at all
corners in St. Vincent and the Grenadines. When
you see a juicy healthy tomato, just think Dave.
You will agree with me
that Dave is a very ambitious young man, as the saying goes, “behind every successful
man is a good woman” that woman is Steforn. They
are the proud parents of three lovely children. Dave being an astute businessman has
provided a home and a comfortable standard of living for his family.
I believe that if you
should ask Dave what’s the secret to his success he will tell you that first of all
he owes it all to the Almighty and is grateful to the National Development Foundation for
their continued support and guidance.