IT’S not unusual for corporate leaders to veer off the path of their youthful ambitions, but the climb to the top for Alyssa Moo Young is nothing short of an anomaly. The newly appointed CEO of Izizzi Lottery took up the post just days before her 31st birthday.

She, like many young Jamaicans, left high school without a set career path in mind. Her mother passed away at a young age due to illness, while her father dealt with a falling out in his business which rocked the family’s finances.

Moo Young’s once cushy life was upended; yet she maintained an enterprising and determined spirit through it all.

From working weekends at a local pharmacy while in high school, marketing and selling her father’s famed artwork, to accepting a job at a gym, nothing was too odd or too small for the budding Moo Young.

People started to notice her knack for fixing problems, her ability and willingness to work well with others, and her eye for commercial business.

“I used to assist my friends in their businesses with getting things done. I have always been a fast learner and very tech savvy. I did whatever I needed to do and seized opportunities as they were presented to me. While doing that, I was able to build my network in the corporate community with individuals from various companies whom I had to interact and negotiate deals with,” she recalled.

One of those companies was Pepsi-Cola Jamaica, and they had a new position, special accounts manager, which they thought she was suited for.

But she was quickly reminded of the reason she never thought of a future for herself in corporate Jamaica. With no university degree the thought of applying for the job seemed daunting, and it took a push from a loved one for her to make the step fully into the corporate world.

As the saying goes, the rest is history. Once Moo Young stepped in, her quick-witted nature gave way for rapid rise.

“I told myself that I could do this, and maybe after one or two years then I could branch out on my own,” she mused.

But she eventually stayed at that company for almost five years, moving up the ranks and gaining knowledge and hands-on experience that would help to shape her into who she is today.

However, the matter of her schooling eventually began to dog her. She was faced with the ultimatum of either going back to school to rise in her career, or face being left behind in the cut-throat world of business.

Usually the bold go-getter, she says this particular issue made her feel shoehorned.

“I believed it was unreasonable as I was doing a lot of work and became very integrated into the business, having done a lot of cross training within the company — but this is the corporate world,” she said.

She had now whetted her appetite for the endless possibilities that existed for her in the business world and realised that her abilities expanded beyond the restraints of a lack of a university degree. None of the number of questions regarding her capabilities was going to stop her from excelling!

For Moo Young, the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 was seen as a chance to re-evaluate and to seek new opportunities. In this pursuit she joined One on One as business development manager and then went on to launch the Hugo app in Jamaica, joining them as their general manager prior to getting the call from Izizzi Lottery.

“This was a big step for me because I went from little to no corporate experience, to a manager at a large corporation, to successfully launching a rapidly growing business, and now the CEO of a company in a large industry,” noted Moo Young.

Though she described it as an unexpected dream come true, she’s already taking on the challenge of navigating the relatively new company through the gaming industry in which there had only ever been one player. She has already begun overseeing massive changes as the leader of Jamaica’s only fully digital lottery. And despite the mammoth task she will have in growing the company and the doubts cast by her young age, she maintains a limitlessness in pursuing success.

Time away from the office is spent on myriad sports, cooking for the fun of it, or relaxing and taking time for herself, which helps to ground her for the new role she has to master.

An unflinching Moo Young insists that, “Even as CEO you don’t need to know everything but you need to have confidence, integrity and execute effectively. I rely a lot on my team; it’s very important for me to have their trust and support to lead the business in the right direction. As CEO it’s my responsibility to drive the goals but I cannot do that alone.”

So far, the new industry for her has been fun and exciting. And already she and her team are setting out to strengthen Izizzi’s retail and trade presence and, most importantly, help her customers to win more and to “step up di ting”, just as she did.

As she looks back at her personal wins — whether in playing dominoes, which she enjoys, or in the boardroom as CEO — she has no regrets about her journey. Though she rues nothing, Moo Young encourages others who have the opportunity to continue learning and excelling in their education, as she believes it is a great stepping stone for success.

But while acknowledging this opportunity may not be awarded to everyone, she added, “Never give up, and always strive to be the best you can be, seizing the opportunities along the way.”

“Ultimately, I always aspire for more. I always feel like there is more I can do and there is more that I will do. I always felt as if I should be doing something great. If you asked me two years ago if I thought I’d be where I am today I’d have told you ‘No way.’ But if you asked me two years ago if I ever saw more for myself, I would have said definitely. I just didn’t know what that was at the time.”