#goalsConfidential: Jewel Daniels Radford, Jamaica

#goalsConfidential highlights the inspiring lives and advice of multicultural women living and working internationally.

What do you do?

I head Daniels Communications, a talent development and leadership recruitment company that has offices in the Caribbean and the United States.  I spend my days crafting solutions that solve people management and development challenges to attract, develop, and retain high-performers.

What keeps you enthusiastic about what you do?

This industry affords me the opportunity to connect with people at various intersections of their lives where they allow me to share some of their most difficult moments and help them map their way to impactful solutions. That wakes me up thirsty to greet the next opportunity and sends me to bed late at night preparing for what will come next.

What is it about Jamaica that most people don’t know?

Jamaica is a Caribbean paradise that once you learn to appreciate and embrace the culture, the doors of opportunity swing wide open.  Most people are not aware that Jamaican women have been able to significantly advance their careers  such that they were acknowledged for having the highest portion of women managers across the globe according to the International Labour Organization (ILO) 2015 report. Jamaica affords a quality of life where entrepreneurship is woven deeply into the fabric of how the country function that has allowed me as  an ex-pat and Caribbean-American women business owner to accelerate my professional growth; and, knocked down barriers I fought against for years while living and working tirelessly in the States.

What has the island given you, and what have you given back?

Jamaica, foremost, has given me the opportunity to live out my dream of connecting authentically to my Caribbean roots of Kittitian and Jamaican heritage while also allowing my daughter to experience this first-hand.  The island has welcomed my Blackness, my “womanness”, and my intelligence; and, I have the ability to use my platform of global experience and education to share and teach people how to understand the expectations and rules of international business and win at it!

What advice do you have for women #over35?

Take your hand off the panic button is my advice to any woman who feels as if she has reached a barrier in her career. I share this in my book, It Takes Tenacity, 15 Power moves to Survive the Wilderness and Weather the Economic Storm to basically illustrate the point that life brings difficult times, and your ability to successfully navigate them requires that you think, do, then think again. Having to answer to someone younger just might allow you to learn – if you are willing to listen. We all have something valuable to offer, regardless of age.  Life presents cycles not to wipe you out, but to offer new opportunities,  get you out of your comfort zone and evolve to become your best self.

What can American women learn from Jamaican women?

Through my lens, Jamaican women have mastered the art of not having to surrender or compromise their “womanness” and femininity to garner success – at home or at work – because there is an unspoken, but understood, respect for how to deal with men. Jamaican women give deference to men to lead in various aspects of home, parenting, and work.  They know the right balance of making sugar and salt taste nice, always being clear about what benefits the sweetness brings. In business, they wield a lot of power with nearly 60 percent of Jamaican women holding management positions, outpacing all other countries, according to the ILO 2015 report.

Anything else you’d like to say?

Realize that you are on an evolutionary journey of becoming your best self which can only be achieved by loving oneself enough in the stillness and calmness of your own company; complimented by finding comfort in saying no to what does not positively feed you and yes to who and what fuels you. Never be afraid to reset your compass trusting yourself to make the best decision when you are rooted in a right relationship with God.

You may reach Jewel Daniels Radford here.

Originally posted 2018-08-01 06:00:22.