Ethnie Miller Simpson’s entrepreneurial journey

ETHNIE Miller Simpson initially had her hopes set on being a nurse, but fate set her on another path, one which eventually led to her becoming an entrepreneur with a long and impressive list of accomplishments.

Currently the head of branding company Zinergy International and its subsidiary Zinergy Foods, Miller Simpson has also worn the hats of a teacher, co-director and consultant among many other roles.

However, she had no idea that this success would follow what she thought was just a bid at improving her grades for nursing school at the time.

“I started out wanting to become a nurse and I got through and did the test, and I remember the administrator came down the day and said to me, ‘Little one, let me see what grades you have’, because she realised I had passed the test and I was waiting on the fabric to make my uniform,” Miller Simpson recounted.

“And she said to me, ‘But you know you can get a better score for math, you have math at a grade three, why don’t you go back and do over the math and come back?’ And you know I bawled from Kingston straight to Spalding, because I had always dreamed of being a nurse and suddenly I felt as though there was an obstacle in my way,” the Manchester native continued.

She explained that she made the decision to retake the exam but her principal at the time encouraged her to think about pursuing A levels as she felt the youngster had the potential to do well.

The entrepreneur said she decided to pursue her A levels which she successfully completed and then applied to university soon after. However, due to space restrictions she wasn’t admitted, but this did not deter her, and she decided to apply for teachers’ college instead.

Upon completing teachers’ college, she went on to university where she completed her first and second degrees in international relations with a minor in psychology.

“I went back to teach because all my working life I had to work and study; I never had the luxury of just being a student. I had to earn enough money to take care of the additional bills. Even if your parents were helping out, you had to help out as well, so I went back to teaching. I loved it, it is one of the best professions ever, and I taught just about 12 years in high school and then I took a chance and went to Digicel,” Miller Simpson stated.

Her venture into the corporate world came as a result of encouragement from one of her former students who felt she was the right person for the job. She would eventually take on the role of a training executive.

“And that’s where I came up with the idea of branding people through training, which is what I do now; so that’s where everything really stared for me. I was actually hired twice at Digicel as my first position was made redundant, but then they invited me back as a consultant,” Miller Simpson said.

“I realised then, between my knowledge, education, my skill set and even my attitude, that I had a lot to leverage and so I did. After I left Digicel, I went to NCB where I was employed to rebrand their corporate learning campus and I was instrumental in helping to get one of their programmes accredited,” she continued.

However, this was not to last, as the recession came around and Miller Simpson lost her job at NCB, but she decided against seeking another job, choosing instead to start a company with friends.

“That’s how I ended up with Zinergy. The initial company didn’t work because the partnerships fell apart, but the concept was sound, the business model was sound, and I just decided to take a leap of faith again, and I jumped,” the entrepreneur stated.

Starting Zinergy International was a major accomplishment for Miller Simpson, with its focus on branding people through training and development as well as branding promotional items and corporate events. Nevertheless, she stated that being selected for the Fortune/US State Department Global Women’s Mentoring Partnership “has been the highlight of my life”.

“Coming out of that experience, I fell in love with the concept of working with women and empowering women, and then I went to the Dominican Republic where I met with Hillary Clinton and got the idea that we should really come together across the region and focus on helping women to drive and grow their businesses,” Miller Simpson stated.

Coming out of the programme, the Women Entrepreneurs Network of the Caribbean was born, with the executive being made up of leading women entrepreneurs. Miller Simpson, who is currently the president, said that there are chapters in Guyana, Trinidad and The Bahamas with plans for continued expansion of the network both locally and regionally.

As to her future plans, the former Clarendon Farm Queen and current university lecturer stated that she will be focusing on expanding her businesses, especially Zinergy Foods, which through its current operations, farms crops such as cassava and scotch bonnet peppers for resale.

“I’m focusing on building Zinergy Foods because I think we have an issue with food security, and our import substitution needs to be improved because there’s too much food we are importing which can be cultivated here, so the supply chains are not as healthy as they need to be. Also, building Zinergy International through listing on the Stock Exchange and working more on a community level to drive agriculture,” she declared.