New beginnings are at every turn for Melissa Lewis-Mayne. She’s a new hire as the business development executive at UBT Corporation Limited, a new graduate of the University of Technology (UTech), and a new wife (with a baby on the way).

The 32-year-old is positively beaming as she steps into the Terra Nova All-Suite Hotel’s Regency Bar & Lounge to meet us for after-work cocktails. There’s much to talk about, and the sassy exec is eager to fill us in.

What are you sipping?

I am having a virgin piña colada. I would usually have a sip of alcohol but, doctor’s orders, I am with child so I’m off alcohol and will be for a good while.

How has your day been?

My day has been ‘fantabulous’. I’m recently married and today, I got the wedding video and I also received my pictures from my graduation ceremony at the University of Technology. So nothing can spoil my day.

So, you’re a freshly minted college alum. Any special memories?

I was bestowed with several awards from the University of Technology. I came out the top marketing student, and was also awarded the most industrious marketing student, which I am extremely proud about.

Were you working while pursuing your tertiary studies?

I was working full-time with Logistical Support and when I started my fourth year, I decided I wanted to stop working and focus on school as I had a goal in mind. I stopped working and then UTech hired me as a project administrator for the last semester. UTech then sent me to UBT Corporation, where I am now employed as the business development executive.

What is your current role with UBT?

UBT is a trading company with our parent company located in Shanghai — we are into hardware, electronics and plumbing supplies. The company is presently venturing into a supply-chain partnership between Jamaica and China, so we are trying to get companies who are interested in importing goods from China. And given the language barrier, separate cultures and distance, we have an advantage over most companies; instead of just going on the Internet to make a purchase, you can now have a personal relationship.

What kind of impact do you envisage having on the company?

The supply-chain partnership is new so whatever I am bringing to the company will be growth. All the businesses we have been getting since I have been there, it all started since I came on board in July, and we expect a lot more growth in the future.

Why the choice of marketing as a profession?

I worked in banking for several years. When I started my degree, it was with the intention of doing finance as a major, but in banking I was the marketing and sales manager at Inter Trade Finance and I developed a passion for selling and interacting with people, and did foreign exchange trading as well. I decided to change from finance to marketing, and it was the perfect idea as I have excelled at it. It blends with my personality.

You’re from humble beginnings and overcame a lot of life obstacles. Can you share your journey?

I am from very humble beginnings. I hail from the Grant’s Pen community where I honestly know more dead people than people who are alive right now. I lost a brother to violence in the inner city. Where I’m from not a lot of people really get to excel or move on to college from high school. Most of my female friends from then dropped out of high school or, after high school, haven’t pursued anything else. After high school, I sent myself to college. I started UTech in 2005 and dropped out a year later after I became pregnant with my daughter. I went back in 2010 because I had a drive and passion to be something different. When I looked around me, I realised not a lot of persons excelled from where we are, and I didn’t want to be part of a cycle. Even when I had my daughter I didn’t want her to be a part of that, either. I worked full-time, threw ‘partner’, saved and paid my school fee. My husband helped me to pay for my tuition in my final year.

Would you like to give back to people who face similar challenges to your own?

I am actually doing so, as, through UTech, I am mentoring students and guiding them on how to get through final year. I also have two younger sisters whom I’m trying to help see that we are better than that. It’s challenging mentoring young people, but they will eventually get it.

What perfume are you spraying?

J’adore by Dior.

Flats or stilettos?

Stilettos all the way; I have a serious shoe fetish! Of late though, it’s been flats as I’m into my second trimester.

Jeans or an LBD?

Little black dress, of course, because it’s always cute.

Who does your hair?

Shericka at York Plaza. She’s a weave queen, the perfect hairdresser.

Who does your nails?

For over a decade now, I’ve been doing my nails at Tashai’s Nail World — she’s at Cherry’s at Balmoral Avenue.

Who inspires you?

My mother Beverly Moo Young. She is the true definition of a savvy businesswoman and I admire her strength and the fact that she never gave up on anything she wanted. She started out as a higgler travelling to small islands in the late 1980s and 1990s to buy and sell, and then opened a restaurant, and today, operates her own party rental company Bounci Bounce.

What’s your idea of the perfect man?

Perfection is in the eye of the beholder. I don’t think there is a perfect man or woman. The perfect man for me is Captain Craig Lewis Mayne. He’s a pilot with the Jamaica Defence Force. He’s intelligent, self-motivated, compassionate and energetic. One minute he can be the serious dad and the next minute, it’s almost as if I have two kids living in the house. He complements my flaws and who I am.

What’s your idea of the perfect date?

The perfect date involves anything that has to do with my daughter Sahai. I am clingy to my daughter so the perfect date would be a picnic with her and Daddy, or dinner at home with her and Daddy.

Where will Melissa be five years from now?

I am into entrepreneurship and intend to start my Master’s next year in entrepreneurship, so the intention is to own my own business, even if it’s a patty shop, I will own it.

HANDBAG ESSENTIALS

MAC Studio Fix Face powder

Maybelline Fuchsia Fever lipstick

EOS lip balm

Ray Ban sunglasses

Michael Kors purse

Samsung S 4 cellphone

Victoria’s Secret Amber Romance lotion