The buzz… she’s spent three years in Uganda, five years in Lagos, Nigeria and is now based in South Africa.

The more… she works with a multinational communications company that has an African presence, and is its assistant general counsel and currently works in its Africa regional headquarters in Johannesburg, South Africa. She moved at the beginning of this year and will be there for the next few years.

Her impressions of the continent now, versus when she left New York for Uganda… I moved to Uganda nine years ago. Then, Africa seemed remote and while I had friends from Nigeria and Ghana, I honestly did not feel connected to the continent or the culture. And it wasn’t that I didn’t appreciate my blackness. I have always celebrated being a woman of colour, particularly working in corporate in New York and navigating those nuances… but having now lived in three countries in Africa, I see the beauty that is Africa. Each country has its own rich culture and tradition, idiosyncrasies, its own natural reserves and wealth and here is a continent of almost all black people. Beautiful black people. So now, I don’t just appreciate my blackness, I celebrate it. There is so much for us to be proud of as black people.Her advice to her 19-year-old self contemplating the future… “Be open!” At 19, I had just started university and had a plan laid out for my life. I expected it would go in a particular direction and so prepared myself for that. Now I can easily say that so many of the twists and turns outside of the scope of my plans, so many of the seeming disappointments were really opportunities that led me to where I am. So now, while I am still the consummate planner, I tell myself when things seem to be going in an unplanned direction, that it is well. I surrender. I surrender to God and acknowledge and believe that whatever is His will is also mine. I remain open. And so, I now enjoy the journey, every aspect of it, and am always curiously awaiting the next step of its unfolding.

And to someone wanting to expand their global reach, but is filled with apprehension… It’s like Langston Hughes’ Harlem, about a dream deferred. I believe the untapped creative resources we have in Jamaica as well as in the wider Caribbean is colossal. My advice to someone fearful is to go outside of where and what is familiar, to explore what is foreign; you would be surprised by not just how much of an opportunity you have to learn and grow from that experience (and there is so much we can learn from each other), but also how much of an opportunity you will also have to teach. It stems from the uniqueness of who we are, and we have such amazing talent here. Plus, Jamaica is a beautiful speck, but in a much broader spectrum. You just never know where you will land and you can’t do yourself the injustice of stopping until it organically ends.

Her five fondest memories of Uganda, of Nigeria and what (outside of South African house music) she’s currently obsessing about…

(i) Walking into what would seem a nondescript building in Lagos or Kampala, and then it would be almost like you walked into another world; it transformed into fancy and upscale, from the food to the ambiance, to the music, and usually it’s really cosmopolitan and you really get the feeling you could be anywhere in the world — somewhere in Brooklyn or even London; (ii) the people in both Uganda and Nigeria — I have met and bonded with some of the most wonderful, giving and thoughtful people who have embraced me with wide open arms and treated me like family; (iii) I miss fabric shopping on a Saturday at Lagos or Tejuosho market, chatting up the vendors, haggling a bit and taking home some of the most beautiful textiles for both myself and EtAl; (iv) so there’s a spot in Lagos called Bogobiri that hosts a Thursday Night Open Mic and you get to see the most talented artistes in Nigeria, for free! It’s always jam-packed with an eclectic group of very artsy and fashionable folks. It would be my Thursday after-work secret. Loved it, as you didn’t quite know what you’d get or who you’d see perform, but it was always really, really good. In terms of South Africa, I am looking forward to just exploring the country. COVID-19 has prevented that so far. I had visited South Africa a few times before I moved there in January, but there is so much difference between visiting a country and living in it. So I am really excited about what my day-to-day there will entail for the next few years.

It’s been three years since the opening of EtAl boutique, a space dedicated to high-end fashion and accessories…

… and there have been lots of changes since… I luckily opened on the eve of the Black Panther movie revolution. I call it a revolution as I think you could actually see a real transformation in many of our own people of colour in their acceptance and celebration of our black identity; our African culture and heritage. Over the last three years I have seen how African fashion has started to become accepted as part of mainstream fashion, and of course there has been some cultural appropriation in the process. In terms of target customers, the idea of who one would think of as being a typical EtAl customer has also evolved and “Afrocentricity” is now almost revered instead of ridiculed.

Since COVID-19, care has to be taken in terms of having large groups in the store. So, we are focused more on personalised service through appointments. We’ve also had to conduct virtual appointments as well. You certainly lose the benefit of fitting the clothing and jewellery in those circumstances, but the clear benefit is that you can be in your bed and shop, and it’s more interactive than shopping online. Also, I am in the process of increasing my online presence, and so have been focused on launching a new website for EtAl. It’s important to innovate in these times, so I have been exploring a few ideas about how to use the brick and mortar.

On the radar for the next five years… I would love to see EtAl expand into some other Caribbean countries. Would also love to broker a bit of cultural exchange through fashion, and bring together some of the top fashion designers from Africa with those from the Caribbean in an AfriCarbbean fashion show.