When serial entrepreneur Kizzy ‘Prosperity’ Reynolds found out she was pregnant, she felt as though her whole world was falling apart. Living in a small board house in the tough neighbourhood of 100 Lane off Red Hills Road in a volatile domestic situation with a schizophrenic abusive father and a down-on-her-luck illiterate mother, things couldn’t have appeared more dire for the plucky 19 year-old mother-to-be.

However, fast forward 25 years later, she is still a single mother, but one who is the chief executive officer of three successful businesses, New Oceans Shipping Co Ltd, entertainment company New Wavez Entertainment Co Ltd and New Waste Company Ltd that deals with solid waste management. She is also a Justice of The Peace.

“My family was homeless for about eight years, my mother’s friend had to ‘put we up’ from age 10 until about age 18,” she said.

“It’s been a long ride, at the time, when I got pregnant at 19, I lived in a board house with a board floor in 100 Lane. Most of my friends who are males are dead. A lot of people I know didn’t make it to live to see this age, so I am grateful, the hard work and sacrifice paid off. All I can tell people is that, from God inna it, it must work,” she said.

Reynolds’ son, Jamari ‘Bronco.don’ Taylor , just graduated law school, and is a successful music producer whose latest release, Chronic Law’s Scars from War Part 2 is trending on local YouTube charts.

“It’s not an easy road, you have to put the child before you, so if you can, wait until youre ready to have a child. You hear Buju say: ‘Is not an easy road’, it is really not an easy road, plenty of sacrifice, plenty of heart-ache,” she said.

Now, Reynolds is now embarking on a new business venture – New Oceans Shipping Company Ltd with two locations, one in Doral, Florida and Douglasville in Atlanta, Georgia.

“We are industry beaters in terms of cost, convenience and time. We offer door to door, door to port and port to port services. We help you pack, drop it from the location to your house. We ship Friday, it reaches Jamaica on Monday, and we deliver Wednesday,” she said.

These days, Reynolds has tried to ‘pay it forward’ by mentoring other single teenage mothers through charity foundations, and by giving pep talks to teens about making informed sexual choices at youths all over the island. Through her own foundation, Nolivia Foundation, she has fed the poor, helped to further the education of inner city children, and assisted the mentally challenged. She has helped over 300 kids with their back to school and living expenses.