Business View Caribbean | May 2016

102 May 2016 - Business View Caribbean Business View Caribbean - May 2016 103 the educational process. It re- ally enabled me to explore many different avenues and look at something that I would be pas- sionate about and want to do from a career perspective.” Jackie Sutherland Global Gateway Solutions – President/CEO “I’m a farmer’s son - raised in farming and solving prob- lems in family businesses. The defining moment in my career was coming out of graduate school, when I realized that the power of computing was revolution- ary for solving problems and that you can apply tech- nology to solve business problems in ways that would create efficiency and profitability in industries like farm- ing.” Darwyn Melnyk – Iron Solutions – President/CEO “I think of the advice that I received from my previous company owner, when I came to Plant Solutions as General Manager: ‘You’re going there as general manager, you’re not go- ing to be an engineer, any- more. You’re going to be a businessman.’ And that changed my perspective.” Jason Ramsingh Plant Solutions – General Manager “When we made the decision to only focus on being a great replacement contractor that only replaces three products: siding, windows, and doors – that was really the defining moment that helped our growth, because we learned over the years how to be really good at those three products.” Mitchell Spector Woodbridge Home Exteriors – CEO “Early on, I felt very led to be working in the aging servic- es industry. The pivotal point was by the time I graduated from grad school, I recog- nized that I was not just here to do a job, but I was here to change an industry – to be progressive in my think- ing and to be a leader in the industry. That was a huge ‘Wow!’ factor for me in my career.” Joel Anderson – Village on the Isle – CEO “I think that would be the time I decided to join my father (who started the business). That changed everything for me because after that I be- gan doing something that I really like to do. It’s been ex- citing. Sometimes it’s been difficult, but for the most part, it’s been very reward- ing.” Fernando Quijano – CIB Corp. – President “I was the seventh of eight children. And by the time my parents got to me, they didn’t have any ambition for me at all. So, they kind of gave me freedom to dream and follow my own path. And I quite like being iconoclastic.” Andy Thesen- Hermitage Bay, Antigua – Managing Director “I spent 20 years working in the insurance industry and one day, unexpectedly, I quit. I was talking to some big companies to continue my career, and what John (company founder) offered was a significant de- crease to my salary, but the dream was sold to me and I saw it. I joined Fiesta; John and I partnered and we started this journey and it’s been fantastic.” Deane Silke – Fiesta Insurance - President “I saw opportunity, professionally as well as personally, and took advantage of it. I’m a registered dietician by profession and when I was offered a regional dietician position, I did that for a bit, and then was offered to get my nursing home administrator’s license. And I saw that as being a wonderful opportunity to expand my skill set and to start looking at the much bigger picture of what long- term care was all about.” Donna Steiermann – Claridge House at the Bridges - Administrator “It’s been the owner that I work for. He’s very aggressive and he’s given me and my executive team the keys to the car saying ‘Go out and grow this business. Take some risks on it and don’t worry about failure.’ He’s given us the confidence to go out and work together. He’s never held us back.” Jesse Chalich Northern Plains Railroad – Executive Vice President