Chris-Ann Thomas’ journey to success

SHE may not have had the best start in life, but as far as finishing the journey is concerned, Chris-Ann Thomas is determined to continue succeeding and defying the odds.

An outspoken, down-to-earth, jovial individual, Thomas, 22, was born in Kingston and spent the first eight years of her life with her grandmother in Linstead. In less than immaculate circumstances, at a tender age she had to learn how to make ends meet, which meant selling produce alongside her family’s matriarch in Linstead market.

“She [grandmother] was a vendor in the market, and because it was just her and I living together, whenever I was not at school I was pretty much in the market with her. I recall many afternoons and evenings spent sleeping in cardboard boxes under her stall while she was selling,” Thomas told All Woman.

“Eventually, I started making my contribution by selling bag juice in the market while she sold at the stall. That was how we made ends meet really. However, there were many days and nights when she just did not have it, and all we could afford to eat was boiled dumplings and butter, dried coconut and water, or just water alone.”

By the time Thomas turned eight, her mother took her back to Kingston where she experienced a slightly better life until she became a teenager and experienced abuse.

“Things were more or less okay until I got to high school [Ardenne High], when I suppose the financial pressure took a toll on her. Although admittedly she did help in some respects, she became physically, verbally and emotionally abusive.”

This led to her living with four different families, foster parents and eventually being placed in a private girls’ home.

“She was very hostile more often than not, and was sometimes even neglectful, so classmates, friends and teachers, recognising this, took turns putting me up when they could, or helping me out in whatever way they were able to. This was in addition to the fact that I sold sweets to help maintain myself. Eventually, the Child Development Agency intervened, and I was placed with a foster family briefly, but then they were travelling out of the country for a while so I was placed in the girls’ home,” she said.

But despite her less than favourable circumstances, Thomas had one main goal – to do exceptionally well academically. And so, with her belief in God at the forefront of her plans, she maintained a high level of determination and drive in order to succeed in spite of the difficulties she faced.

“Whenever I found myself in unfavourable situations I always tried to envision what life would be like once that hurdle was surpassed,” she said.

Subsequently, after high school, Thomas managed to secure a full scholarship to the University of Technology (UTech) after placing fifth overall in Jamaica for her excellent CSEC grades.

Now she also holds a first class honours bachelor of business administration degree with a double major in accounting and finance and banking from UTech and has recently attained a master of science degree in international accounting and finance with distinction from the University of Birmingham where she placed first in the programme. This was as a result of being the inaugural recipient of the University of Birmingham and Jamaica National Foundation Legacy Scholarship in 2014. She was also a student representative for her master’s programme while at the University of Birmingham and was involved in a range of extra-curricular activities such as tutoring, mentoring, drama and creative writing, and other clubs and societies.

Thomas is passionate about business, commerce and entrepreneurship, which she credits to her informal introduction as a child hustling to sell sweets from the latter part of primary through secondary school. She also has a soft spot for youth empowerment, education, governance and economic development and said her love for the business discipline comes from the area being the most dynamic aspect of social science.

“I am awed by the fact that it is so intricately interwoven in our everyday lives on personal, organisational, national and global levels. I particularly value entrepreneurship because not only do I see it as the best way to dabble in all the aspects of business and commerce that I enjoy, but also because I am very passionate about the role of enterprise creation in national and global development,” she said.