Michele English: The real island girl
ADMITTING that, based on the image painted in the international media, she had her own perceptions about Jamaica before moving here eight years ago, Michele English says what she encountered was the total opposite.
In a recent interview with the Jamaica Observer, the outgoing president and chief operating officer of Flow and Columbus Business Solutions said that she immediately felt welcomed and a warmth that made her feel right at home once she got here.
“I had been to Ocho Rios once on a cruise for a couple hours, so other than that, I had never been here before I was offered the job,” English recalled about moving to Jamaica to take up her post as head of Flow. “When you go online, unfortunately, you don’t get the best impression of the country.
“So, myself and my husband came down in January, eight years ago, and went to the Jazz Festival and we came down to Kingston, and I was blown away,” English stated. “It was completely at odds with what I was expecting based on what I had been reading.”
English said that one of the things that really struck her and her family was how similar Jamaica was to her home in Newfoundland, Canada.
“We come from Newfoundland, which is an island, and we saw a lot of similarities,” English said. “I think it’s an island culture, because I have met a lot of people from around the world who are from islands and there are so many similarities.
“There is a warmth that you get. I know my mother grew up in a small fishing community and when I was growing up, I would go out there and nobody ever locked their door, you are welcomed wherever you went whether people knew you or not,” English continued. “It’s that kind of warmth that we found here, immediately. People just sort of welcomed you in and so it makes it easier.”
As of July 1, 2014, however, English will have to leave the place she has called home for the last few years to relocate in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, when she takes up her new post as executive vice-president and chief customer officer for Columbus.
“Moving to a place like South Florida, I don’t think it will have that kind of feeling,” English told the Sunday Observer. “I am sure it is wonderful there, don’t get me wrong, but it’s so much bigger and people are so spread out.
“I am not expecting that same sort of immediate feeling of home and welcoming, but you know, you have to be open to change and taking on challenges,” English said.
However, she is excited about her promotion and the prospect of having to create a strategy to drive profitability through improving customer value. English also thinks that she has been groomed for her new role, which is about how Columbus differentiates itself as a company going forward. According to English, in order to do that, the company has to ensure that the customer experience is the “absolute best they can find anywhere”.
“You need to understand your business to be able to develop it,” she said.
But she will miss Jamaica and the team she has worked with at Flow and Columbus Business Solutions.
“I think what I love most about Jamaica is the people and the physical beauty — I absolutely love the mountains. For me, just sitting and looking gives me a sense of peace but really it is that warmth, that love of life,” English noted. “We have so many crazy things that happen around here (at Flow).
“People are really dedicated and work hard, but they actually enjoy life,” said the President, adding that it is okay to be serious about your business but to also have fun.
Looking back at her years at Flow and what she has achieved to date, English said that she knew, at some point in her life, that she would’ve been a CEO, but did not know specifically that she would’ve been where she is today.
“I remember saying to my dad when I was in university that I was going to be a CEO and he sort of laughed and said ‘sure you know, go do that’,” English said laughingly, and that’s what she did.
But as a woman, how does she balance having a family and also being a corporate executive?
“I think some of the qualities that make you an executive or a leader are the things that help you to balance, so you have to be organised… juggling the ball, but most importantly, I think it’s having a supportive family,” said the mother of a 13-year-old girl and a wife of 17 years. “So my husband shares in everything, we try to share all the responsibilities, he travels a fair bit too, so we have to coordinate and make sure that we’re working together.
“And my daughter, she is very mature for her age,” said English. “We make sure we get to all the important stuff and support her, but thankfully she is fairly self-motivated too, so I don’t have to sort of organise her study, that is a bit easier for me for sure.”
She disclosed that being at the helm of the telecommunications outfit and committing to develop its operations was not easy.
“You make choices and take risks, you have to be tough and other times you have to be compassionate, so it’s not easy,” English said. “You have to work really hard.
“For years when I first came to Jamaica, you know you are building a business, so I worked all the time,” English said. “So I missed a lot with my daughter, she had just turned six when we got here, so I did miss things. But you realise you gotta make the most of what you’re doing and commit to it and everything will be fine.”
English was also quick to point out that getting to where she is today could not have been done had she not been prepared.
“You have to own it and say ‘this is what I want to do and am gonna do what it takes to make it happen’,” said English. “So I have changed roles when I found myself in positions that didn’t challenge me anymore. You want to be able to continually learn. I went back to school when I was working, did an MBA part-time.
“I actually took jobs that paid less money than I was making in current roles because I felt that the opportunities that they offered would round me out more and help me get to where I wanted to go,” English recalled. “I think the bottom line is, you gotta be prepared to make those choices and stick to it.”
While admitting that the glass ceiling exists, the petite CEO told the Observer that it did not affect her success or the lack thereof at any point in her career.
“You know a lot of people talk about being a woman, does that make it more difficult or easy or whatever, but I don’t think so,” English opined. “I think what’s important for any leadership position is really the qualities and the willingness to really work hard, to perform.
“I mean I am not saying that there is complete fairness in the world and the workforce everywhere in terms of women, you know, the glass ceiling is a real thing for sure, but I don’t personally think that my success or lack of, at times, had anything to do with that really.”
English said that whether you’re a man or a woman, setting yourself apart is the key to getting ahead.
“I think it’s about performance — you work hard, you do a good job, stand out from the crowd, make sure when you do, people notice that you stand out from the crowd, and put your hand up and say, ‘I am ready to take that on, I want to do it’,” she said. “For me, probably one of the biggest things is to have integrity, and so when am dealing with anyone — the people I work with, partners, suppliers, customers — it’s always about being straight. If you are straight with people, they will be straight back, that helps.”
She admitted that her job as head of Flow and Columbus Business Solutions could never be complete, but pointed out that she is more comfortable about moving to another area of the company now than she was when she was offered another position two years ago. She is confident that the team that is now in place is going to take the organisation to the next level.
“Probably the thing I am most proud of is the team that I have been part of assembling and had the pleasure of working with,” she told the Sunday Observer. “I am getting a little emotional now, but you know, I have made a lot of good friends and I consider this my family. So even though I am going off to another part of the organisation, there is a special part in my heart for the team here.”
This is not the last of her. English promised to return to the island as often as she can.
“I absolutely love johnny cakes, but it’s the whole meal — ackee and saltfish, the callaloo that’s spiced up and those Johnny cakes; I could eat it every day,” English said. “It’s not something I ever make for myself… I will be back and forth, so I will be making sure that I get it.”