BUSINESSWOMAN Marion Stone has come a long way from the 16-year-old who found herself pregnant during the last year of high school in 1988.

While her classmates were graduating, Stone was home nursing a new baby boy, born just three months before the school-leaving exercise.

Looking back, Stone, affectionately called Miss June, says even then she was determined to make a life for herself doing her own business.

“My father was a sugar worker and my mother stayed at home. With seven of us as children to feed it was hard for the family. Those days I didn’t understand life, so I got caught but I never gave up.

“I went to the market to work because I didn’t have any support from the child’s father. I remember I used to walk and sell plastic bag, seasoning, box drinks — anything that we know would move fast,” said Stone.

After years of struggling to make ends meet in her home parish of Westmoreland, better prospects led her to Treasure Beach in St Elizabeth, where she focused on establishing a business in the bustling town of Black River.

“I have been living in St Elizabeth now for 28 years. It took me a while to settle down and find a business that would provide steady income, something that could go a little further. At one point I had an ice cream shop, but the rent was too high, and I had to let it go. Then a friend told me about Access Financial and I checked it out and got a loan. Since then, things have improved a lot,” said Stone who now sells Jamaican souvenirs, clothing, pillows, and haberdashery items inside Black River Market.

The 51-year-old mother of three has steadily grown her clientèle which expanded even further recently, thanks to the microfinance entity. Stone was one of two customers of Access Financial Services invited to showcase their wares as part of the company’s ‘Champion of Small Business’ campaign executed on Black River Day on July 28.

“We have been using these events to highlight the hard-working entrepreneurs who have been pushing and growing their businesses, defying the odds to earn a living and take care of their families,” said Access Financial Services Marketing and Communications Manager Nicholas Mundell.

“It is absolutely wonderful to see customers like Miss Stone getting an opportunity to engage a wider and more diverse clientèle. We saw the difference it made when we invited customers to be in our booth at Expo Jamaica earlier this year, and we plan to keep finding these opportunities for them because they deserve the big stage,” added Mundell.

Support from the microlender included a professional brochure, a marketing tool which Stone said has already borne fruit.

“I had good sales on Black River Day, mostly Jamaican souvenirs. Since then I also received several calls from people who got my brochure on the day. I’m really grateful to Access for the promotion.”

Now a grandmother of three, Stone says the road was rocky raising her children and establishing her business, but she’s encouraging others to keep going after what they want.

“I had to fight many battles, especially for my children, but I can tell you that there is a light at the end of the tunnel. You just have to keep pushing. Since I came to the Black River Market and get into Access, I always have stock, and I’m working on my house in the meantime. I’m not gonna lie to you and tell you it’s easy, but you can make it as long as you don’t give up,” Stone asserted.