Welcome!

Introduction

Welcome to my resume 2.0!  I am currently a corporate communications manager at a leading regional financial corporation where I lead on external communications and investor relations. 

I also run a marketing and public relations consultancy, Lyrical Lava PR, with special emphasis on event planning, media relations, artiste management and web 2.0 communications for business development. 

I'm also happy to provide career advice to students, graduates and mid-career professionals.  Those I have assisted with placements to date are employed at reputable firms such as the Central Bank of Barbados (CBB), Sandy Lane Hotel and Barbados Shipping & Trading, Ltd.  Others are thriving micro-entreprise owners.

Education

I am currently enrolled in the MBA program with the University of Surrey and I expect to graduate in the year 2010.  For my dissertation I am aiming for a study on the corporate relevance of social media in Barbados, with special attention on the tourism industry, the main foreign exchange earner.

Prior to this I would have graduated in 2002 from the University of the West Indies, Cave Hill Campus with a B.Sc. in Public Sector Management with a tourism studies concentration .

I also hold certificates in web 2.0 marketing, intellectual property law for e-commerce and business development, marketing for small business management, public speaking and speech writing, tertiary level course design and conversational French and Portuguese.

I also enjoy learning at the International Association of Business Communicators (IABC) professional development and networking events in Barbados and around the world.

Professional Experience

Prior to joining the financial sector, I worked as at the Barbados Tourism Authority as a corporate communications specialist responsible for media relations, marketing communications and internal communications. 

I have also worked as a freelance journalist with Barbados' leading media house, the Nation Publishing Company, mostly following leads on youth affairs, entertainment and culture.  Previously I would have served as assistant producer of the National Talent Search Contest.

Other odd jobs I've held include career consultant; document processor; clerical officer at the departments of Price Control and Customs; lead singer in a hotel band, (something I still do in the moonlight!); store assistant in the Linens department of Cave Shepherd and my father's food business; master of ceremonies; pageant choreographer; stage manager; and itinerant salesman!

HONORS & PUBLICATIONS

In 2004 I won the Caribbean Territorial Council of Toastmasters' Table Topics (Impromptu) Speech contest in Montego Bay, Jamaica and the UNESCO Literary Arts Prize for the Commemoration of the Struggle Against Slavery with a prose piece entitled "Sankara the Slave".

The following year I published a poetic anthology entitled "Igniting the Fire Within". I compiled the findings into a public lecture entitled, "How to Market Your Books" revealing statistics and industry trends based on 18 months of local industry intelligence.

On July 3, 2008 I became the founding president of IABC Barbados.  Effective July 2010 I handed over the reigns to our new president and now serve as Senior Delegate, with special responsibility for continuity. 

Read more about my perspectives on marketing and public relations in Barbados at my blog or email me to see my traditional resume (how 80s lol). You can also message me on Facebook, Linkedin or Plaxo :-).