JAMAICAN sales force development firm Think Grow Lead (TGL) has announced that it is entering Trinidad in what it says is a seminal step in realising plans for a more large-scale regional expansion.

Additionally, the group said it has appointed Johanna Samuels as the new chief executive officer effective January 2, 2024, while Paul Bryan, who held the role of group managing director, now assumes the post of regional sales director.

“Some of the largest sales force development contracts we have won in our eight years of existence came from Trinidad, though the bulk of our revenue come from Jamaica,” TGL Group founder and Chairman Duane Lue-Fung said in a news release.

“We found that our TGL School of Sales and Sales Management was attracting a lot of Caribbean interest whenever we advertised our courses. Based on the interest and intrigue of the market, we decided that Trinidad, with the size of their economy and the need to grow, was an ideal place to have our first regional office,” he added.

Lue-Fung said that the group decided it was also an opportune time to move into the Trinidad market as the feedback remains encouraging and ideal to establish TGL’s footprint there.

He explained that having Samuels join the leadership team as the group expands to Trinidad is fortuitous and strategic.

“While it is easy, and perhaps the norm, for founders of businesses to remain at the same management positions for years, and even decades, despite the new requirements of their role, Paul and I realised that new ideas, new thinking, new methods, new thrusts, new markets, new insights could come easiest from hiring bright, sharp, effective, aligned leadership talent, and provide them with the environment, resources and support to take the business to a new level. Failure to do this leaves many a business plateaued for a long time,” Lue-Fung explained.

“We are about growth and impact; and while Paul and I remain active and focused on working on specific areas of the business, Mrs Samuels’ appointment has opened up the opportunities for capitalising on new ideas, practices, and systems while she works in the business. This will allow her and us to more fully express our mission of unleashing the potential of people and businesses across the region,” he added.

The group describes Samuels as a highly motivated, results-focused leader with more then 10 years’ experience in the fields of human resource development, people operations, and change management. She holds a BSc in Psychology from The University of the West Indies and has completed extensive resiliency leadership training, HR certification in instructional design, as well as transformational leadership training from Dale Carnegie Institute.

She has served with some of the top companies in Jamaica, and her combined experience extends across the areas of employee learning and development, talent acquisition, and change management.

“My leadership style is transformational and participative. I aim to create a space where I want people to be positively impacted by how I lead. I also want them to feel led to participate in decision-making where they are compelled to share their ideas and be involved in processes and change,” the release quotes Samuels.

Commenting on TGL’s expansion into Trinidad, Samuels said, “We just launched TGL Trinidad so there is a lot of building out of a blueprint of what we want to do there and just identifying a conglomerate of trainers who are able to carry on the TGL brand.

“What we ultimately want is to have a landmark in the Caribbean — and not just limited to Jamaica but we really want to be in our neighbouring countries — and what better way than to have our business teams scaled in the different Caribbean countries? So, Trinidad was one such place that provided an opportunity to grow, and what I think our chairman and outgoing CEO decided to do was to take a hold of that opportunity in duplicating us in another area,” she added.

Lue-Fung believes that Samuels’ experience and her extensive knowledge in HR and training, combined with her strong leadership abilities, will help the company deliver improved execution and financial performance.

Think Grow Lead offers a vast portfolio of development programmes inclusive of training, recruiting, coaching, and sales culture transformation for salespeople, sales managers and sales leaders. TGL also diagnoses, recommends, and offers solutions for a variety of sales-related ailments that affect sales organisations. The group prides itself on creating a transformative educational experience for sales professionals focused on the knowledge, skills, attitudes, and competencies required to overachieve in competitive sales environments.