Ms. Ife Badejo, creator of Happy Power Hour, gave the key address
St. Maarten/Anguilla:---- The Governor’s Reception of Anguilla, hosted by Her Excellency Ms. Christina Scott, started last year as a way to bring the private and public sector together in an effort to better strengthen Anguilla’s economy. In partnership with the Anguillan Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ACOCI), this year the reception took on the form of the Happy Power Hour, a premier networking event on St. Maarten. This is the first international Happy Power Hour, which to date has reached more than 1000 entrepreneurs and professionals. With the aim of expanding networks, growing businesses, and facilitating collaborative projects, the Happy Power Hour has had such speakers as Mr. Imran Amjad, chairman of NAGICO, Mr. Jean Arnell of COMPUTECH, and Dr. Will Moreland, Forbes featured entrepreneur and #1 Leadership Life Trainer in the US. Usually, behind the scenes and focused solely on facilitating the networking aspect of the Happy Power Hour, this is the first time that Ms. Badejo has come to the forefront to share her knowledge on entrepreneurship.
The theme for the evening was “Building Entrepreneurs for the Future”. During the evening, the ACOCI presented Mr. Bren Romney of the Department of Youth and Culture with a check of US$2000.00 for the Business Plan Innovative Award of the GET SET program. This program works to remove four identified main barriers to entry for young entrepreneurs including financial and training barriers. Young entrepreneurs can get business plan training and up to $28 000 as seed funding if their business plan has been approved.
About 70 entrepreneurs and decision makers listened to Ms. Mirabelle West, creator of OH YEA (Organization of Hustlers, Young Entrepreneurs of Anguilla), and Mr. Kenroy Herbert, Managing Director of Leviticus Lifestyle shared their entrepreneurial journey and the importance of entrepreneurship. Ms. West gave a lively presentation of why it important to work closer together. Mr. Herbert, told the story of a man who started his business at 65 years old and in financial ruin. He later explained that in his eighties he was a billionaire and beloved for his business: KFC. The man he spoke about was Colonel Sanders.
As Ms. Badejo was called upon to speak, she did not hesitate to begin with facilitating the networking part of the evening. Before she spoke, she asked the audience to find at least three (3) people they did not know, collect their business cards and find out how they can support each other in business. Under the theme, Building Entrepreneurs for the Future, Ms. Badejo shared the 5C’s that are necessary for the 21st century entrepreneur. She explained how Character, Commitment, Communication, Community, and Collaboration are imperative to success in the 21st century. Character, though self-explanatory, is necessary as people also want to do business with those they like and trust. She highlighted that commitment is absolute and thus can’t be provisional, you either are or you aren’t. To the point of communication, she elaborated on the importance of listening to make better decisions. As for community, her claim was simple, “Success is a team sport” and to find out who can be a part of success team in order to best collaborate. For which she reiterated Greg Satell’s point, that Collaboration is the New Competitive Advantage and summed it up like this:
“If you are not collaborating, then you are competing. If you are competing, then you are losing”.
Ms. Badejo invited the audience to the upcoming ‘entrepreneurial getaway’, DOMINATE 360. This three (3) day experience (Nov. 17-19) will provide entrepreneurs with in-depth, real time insights on how to achieve unparalleled success in their business. During this event, entrepreneurs will have fun and dynamic opportunities to connect with likeminded people from around the world on the in their business. For more information on DOMINATE 360 or INFOBIZZ, contact This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
