The first step

Half a year ago, I started thinking, thinking about my life and what I did from day to day and what the future would bring. As a 25 year old male in a developing island state trapped between the giants of North and South America, I held a privileged, educated and professional lifestyle, with the freedoms and honours that such a lifestyle conveyed upon one in a small and competitve environment. I was born and educated in Trinidad and Tobago but decided at a very early age to shred my island wear and move to the quintessential metropolis for Caribbean citizens - New York, NY.
I planned and orchestrated all to ensure that I would be able to go to school in the United States and set the stage for the privileged existance I desired. My intention was to pursue studies in International Management and be on the cutting edge but I soon came to the realisation that business was not necessarily my area of interest and quickly switched to study Communications and Latin American Studies. Following graduation and a stellar university career, notched with envious achievements such as Editor in Chief of the Legend Yearbook, elected Valedictorian, leading member of the Model United Nations team, Fulbright scholar to the Universidade de Sao Paulo and member of the Student Government, I settled in to a job with an admirable company called TransPerfect Translations. To this day my whole university experience though enjoyable and diverse seems like a dream.

This company, started by two university students in their dorm rooms with one minimal equipment and funds, blossomed into this profitable international communications business specialising in the production of translations and coordinating interpretation services for clients worldwide. I was hired to help the company develop the Interpretation side of the business as they had mastered the production of translated documents but managing interpretation jobs was a bit more tricky and required dedicated resources. The company and role fascinated me and I settled into a routine and challenge which would end one year later.

Following this year of post-graduation work, even though I had a 3 year work permit sponsored by the company, I was laid off. Thankfully, I had started making plans eons ago about going back to school and had a couple months before heading home to begin the programme. I would study International Relations at the Institute of International Relations, University of the West Indies and have a chance to gain insight into this field that held fascination for me. Before I headed home, I copped a job at AMC 25, one of the largest cinema multiplexes on 42nd Street, New York, NY . Here I gained valubale insight into the world of the blue collar worker, customer service and the service industry - an experience I would not trade for the world.
This experience back home, studying, was to have a profound effect on my life and be definitive in terms of my friends and perspectives. It was here that I met some of my dearest friends and was to be the base of the privileged social life that I was to experience following this. I excelled at the programme and upon completion of the 1 year post graduate certificate. I aplied for jobs and was hired by the then Lever Brothers West Indies Limited to work as Corporate Communications Assistant.
This was to be another amazing experience and one that will forever be one of my most definitive experiences. I remained with this company for 3+ years, became the Corporate Communications Manager and developed professionaly and personally in ways imaginable, especially in learning about Corporate Brand Management and leading the company's transition to its new name, Unilever Caribbean Limited. I was a manager and held a position of influence and privilege in this organisation and it was from all this that I left.


In addition to all this I had several failed personal relationships and one in particular, my last that tore me to shred emotionally from the inside out. One that I will never forget and that made it difficult for me to trust and love openly again.

What prompted me to leave this all and come to a new city in the Old World - London, UK, and what was awaiting me there?
Stay tuned and share my journey, views and perspectives with me and share your comments along the way.