Makada Haye Entrepreneur, Statistic Breaker

Contemporary Jamaica is full of success stories of our athletes, academics and states men and women. In this, our fiftieth year of independence from Great Britain, it is the ingenuity and creativity of our young people that the country needs to guide it through the next fifty years. Norman W Manley said that his generation had sought and won political independence and that the next generation should seek to attain economic independence. Such a challenge is being answered by young entrepreneurs such as Makada Haye. If the name rings a bell it’s because she is a Production Assistant at Kool 97 FM.

But that is just one of the many faces of the ambidextrous and industrious Makada Haye. At 30 she has already established herself as a player in the local entertainment scene with the March 2010 formation of Your Events and Entertainment Specialist (Y.E.E.S) Ltd. March is a very important month for Makada as it is the month in which she gave birth to her two boys, 12 year old Damari and 5 year old Sekani; March is also the birth month of her celebrity father, George Bancroft Haye, otherwise known as ‘Early B’ a founding member of the vintage reggae group Wailing Souls.

 Having grown up in the tough inner-city community of Water House, the inspiration for her father’s 1981 hit Fire House Rock, Makada is used to challenges and has used them to be the inspiration and drive for her career and entrepreneurial initiatives.

A past student of the Tivoli Garden High School, Makada had a keen interest in the Arts and even started her own singing group, having been bitten by the song bug inherited from her father. However, after leaving high school and having to assist with her father’s concern over the ownership and copyright of his own musical works, Makada set her sights on becoming an authority and a moving force in the local entertainment sector. As such, she enrolled in the Vocational Training and Development Institute (VTDI) programme for Entertainment and Events Management at the Gordon Town campus, while working full-time as an Administrative Assistant.

While she read for the Diploma, Makada was an active participant in the production and staging of several high profile events including Saint International’s Style Week Jamaica in May 2006; International Reggae Day 2006 and she was also a part of the coordination team that executed dancehall artists D’Angel and Beeni Man’s wedding. Her programme also allowed her to intern at KOOL 97 FM and her flair for production resulted in her being asked to stay on at the radio station. 

At KOOL 97 Makada became more exposed to the planning and execution of public events including outside broadcasts, concerts and even the popular Blue Mountain Adventure tour. She had an idea….. What about using all her training and practical experience and her now widened network of artistes, promoters, small businesses and event planners and form her own business?

With the advice and art design from an associate the idea of a positive and progressive sounding YEES was formed as being an events planning company, created to bring to life unique concepts to events and new approaches to entertainment marketing in Jamaica.

The company currently concentrates on three main areas: Production and Event Management; Event Planning and Artist Management/Bookings.

Events hosted by Y.E.E.S include the inaugural staging of Cosmo-Topia a first of its kind cosmetic expo in 2011 and TRENDZ: The Xpo 2011-2013. Two performing artists, Unstoppable Fyrh and DJ Maximu have been signed as talents of Y.E.E.S and both artists have songs and videos which have received good rotation on the local and international charts.

She is also one of those who believe that she must lead by example and has been the inspiration for other young women from humble beginnings as well as up and coming female entrepreneurs. She has already recorded voice over commercials for FLOW and has been the face of a major Scotia Bank and Grace Cook Soup campaigns. To top it all off, she is now in the process of completing her first book which focuses on entertainment.

Makada has said that what motivates her most is when she comes upon a seemingly insurmountable challenge or when someone tells her that she cannot do something or is not good enough “I will show you that I can. I don’t consider myself to be better than anyone. I however consider myself to be far better than what society had originally perceived me to be”. Coming from the ghetto is not a curse. The ghetto is a state of mind not a lifestyle.  Having broken the cycle of the ghetto I am a statistic breaker!

View article below re the second staging of TRENDZ the Xpo:

Please 'Like' Facebook Page Here: YEES

Copyright 2013,

Author Winsome Campbell-Green
Visit: www.cgwritingservices.com

I was thrilled and excited to feature Stacia A. Davidson on Women, Beauty, Purpose And Empowerment. She granted me an exclusive interview that I have shared with you below:

Stacia: I refer to myself as a "Dream Warrior" as I will fight relentlessly to ensure my dreams are realized.

My ambition is to remain happy. I am happiest when I am pursuing a dream and living a balanced life. I am excited at the possibility of bringing a new idea to life, sharing quality time with the people I love and competing whether in sports or otherwise. Making my brands Yaad Trendz and Natural Icon successful are the dreams that fuel my passion and keep me going.

I am unique because I am enterprising, strong in faith and I can stay positive even in adversity. My unique take on life is that happiness is the journey. As such, I live happily in the present and I am forever grateful. I consider myself innovative and resourceful as I am able to use what I have at my disposal and turn it into something great and usable. I believe that my purpose is to motivate and empower women to live happy fulfilling lives.

Stacia: I started creating outfits while at University when I wanted to attend events but just didn't have the money to buy a new outfit. I would transform clothes that I already had and turn them into totally new designs. Necessity is the mother of invention and re-creating and up-cycling clothes fastly became a hobby of mine. It was the positive reviews of friends and onlookers that encouraged me to make a business out of it.

I believe in doing what gives me fulfillment and makes me happy. Also, my father was self-employed so I believe I had already grown with that influence of wanting to have my own business. Besides, I’m a problem solver by nature and that’s really what an entrepreneur does. Entrepreneurs know that behind every frustration is a new product or service.

Stacia: My biggest challenges were access to capital/raising equity, lack of sufficient and steady income and making ill-informed decisions and mistakes that cost me valuable time and money. The road of a Dream Warrior is also a lonely one. It’s the road less travelled. It’s so much safer to get a job rather than being the one to create jobs for others. One of my biggest challenges initially was keeping my spark and passion alive when it would have been easier to give up. It’s understandably hard for people to keep believing in your dreams when they don’t see any real fruits bearing. Negative and doubtful comments can be harsh and depressing but you really do have to stay positive and fight for your dreams. You have to be that positive force and warrior for yourself. Thankfully, now I have a network of like minded individuals from the Branson Centre of Entrepreneurship Caribbean that I can call on for support and advice etc. Iron sharpens iron so I’m really grateful for such a network. Also, it’s an ongoing learning process so even though I’ve learned from my earlier bad decisions and mistakes, there’s always so much more to learn.

 

Stacia: Faith in God, Belief in my dreams, supportive network and just the excitement of accomplishing what I set out to do keep me going.

Stacia: Just Do it! That’s really my advice. Make sure you are passionate about it then make the decision to do it. Passion begets persistence and persistence begets success. People tend to overthink things and think themselves out of taking the plunge. The excuse is always that it’s too risky or it’s not the right time but anything that you go into without preparation and knowledge is risky and there will never be a right time so one has to just decide to do it then do it. 

When you have decided that you are going to go into business, it’s important that you research the industry or field that you want to go into. Is it overcrowded? Is it profitable? What value are you bringing to the industry? Who are your competitors? What would you be doing differently or better than them? I’ve learned that if you think the competition can do a better job than you then you aren’t properly positioned to exploit your strengths. What’s your angle? Find a way to apply your strengths, talents and passion in a way that no one else is doing or no one else is doing well

Stacia: I remember reading the Toilet Paper Entrepreneur and the author suggested that if you want to know what your true passion is in life you have to evaluate yourself. Ask yourself what activities bring you the most joy, happiness and satisfaction? What would you volunteer to do simply because of your love for it? What makes you lose track of time, complete tasks almost effortlessly, and come out energized? When you are talking to friends, what is the one subject that you can go on and on about until they are rolling their eyes? The answers to those questions can give some insight to what your true passion(s) are.

Stacia: I believe in living a balanced life and, for me, all pieces of the puzzle must fit together. I must cater to all aspects of my being, that is, the physical, spiritual, emotional and mental. If one area is lacking then there’s an emptiness. My belief in God, prayer and meditation help to fuel my faith and passion to follow my dreams.

Stacia: The 5 things I would want women to remember come in the form of general life lessons that I’ve learned not just from and for business but from and for relationships:

Personal Blog Page: Stacia-Alicia Dairies