Amita Persaud Webb ⁠— In her own lane

AMITA Persaud Webb is not only growing physically as she expects her second daughter, but she is also growing into her best self as a mother and businesswoman. Failure has never been an option for the investment advisor, small business consultant, social media influencer, host and television presenter, so although third trimester tenterhooks and COVID-19 restrictions might slow her down temporarily, she will not be stopped.

“I don’t think I have the capacity to just chill out when there are things that need to be done,” she shared with All Woman during an intimate socially distanced interview.

“And the bottom line is that I don’t have a choice. The reality is that life happens, and really, what are your options? Are you going to hide under the bed? I can’t fit under the bed, so I just have to keep it pushing and keep it moving.”

The Russian-born child of a Guyanese mother and Jamaican father has been keeping it moving all her life. Even with no scripted career path in mind, she learnt the value of hard work from early on and she brings that mindset with her wherever she goes.

“I did a paper route while in school and I even did some bartending when I was studying for CAPE [Caribbean Advanced Proficiency Examination],” she recalled.

Having moved to Jamaica as a toddler, Persaud Webb grew up in Golden Spring, St Andrew. She would then spend most of her teen years in Guyana, and then the United States, before returning to Jamaica to pursue tertiary studies at The University of the West Indies (UWI), Mona campus.

“Because of the kind of subjects I did in high school I ended up going to read for a degree in banking and finance at The UWI,” she recalled.

But within weeks of enrolling in the business programme, Persaud Webb found herself working as a television presenter. Spurred by a random message on Facebook inviting her to audition for a role, the bubbly teen broke into broadcast media as the host of the Fiwi Choice Top Ten Chart Show.

“I thought about switching my degree to pursue something in media instead but I decided against it, because I had already started,” she reasoned.

She took longer than most would to complete that degree, but by the time she was through with it in 2017, she was an experienced TV host and producer, a successful entrepreneur, and a mother.

“It was a learning experience, trying to figure out how to be a new mother, but at the same time also trying to figure out balancing all the other things that you want to do, because life doesn’t necessarily stop when you have a child,” she said of being a student and single mother.

She felt as if the only option she had was to keep the ball rolling, and so her daughter Avani, now seven, had many exciting adventures at video shoots, events, and even classes.

“Some people get nannies and babysitters, but it was a case where I didn’t have either of those so it was either I was going to sit there with the baby or I was going to get up and do the things that I had to do,” she defended. “I really had no choice. My life changed a lot with motherhood but I would definitely say it changed for the better.”

By this time her interest in business started blooming, and she started her own line of women’s sandals, APW Collection in 2014. She also went on to present and produce business and lifestyle content for Business Access TV.

“I’ve come full circle. I’m more interested in business now, compared to then,” the investment advisor reflected. “I think sometimes we can get very one dimensional with things that we want to do, and I don’t think that people are one dimensional. I think we all want to do very different things and there is nothing wrong with exploring all those things.”

Also borne out of motherhood was Persaud Webb’s ability to make social media work for her. At first she was just excited to share her bundle of joy with the world, but she soon saw that if used strategically, social media could provide an extra stream of income. Almost 90,000 Instagram users now follow the sassy fashionista for gorgeous pictures, inspirational words, and the occasional peek at Avani’s adventures.

“You’d be surprised when you keep that ball rolling just how much you can accomplish and how much you can get done, and how much more confidence you can have in your abilities,” she mused.

She is still not boxing herself into any one career, and will go wherever her creativity takes her.

“I’m not very structured. I lean more towards the creative side,” she said. “Anything that allows for creativity and expression of self is something that I genuinely enjoy doing.”

She anticipates that things will get a bit more hectic for her when her second daughter arrives in a few weeks, but she is prepared to keep the ball rolling just like she always has.

“I’m having a girl, and I don’t mind. I get along with girls,” she laughed. “There are still some things that I want to get done before the baby gets here, but I’m trying very hard to stay home and stay safe right now. When she gets here I’ll probably have to regroup and maybe hire additional help, because there is only so much I can do.”

Hopefully by the time she turns 30 in October, Persaud Webb will be able to do one of her favourite things with her daughters — walk around in supermarkets. But come hell or high water, Amita Persaud Webb will be booked and busy as long as she is alive and healthy.

“As single mothers we tend to do this thing where we have a checklist in our heads. So my checklist now will be doubled, but I intend to be very busy,” she grinned. “My motivation is that I have things I want to get done. I have kids and I want to live the life that I’m preaching to them. And one day I’m not going to be here, so why not get those things I want to do right, right now?”

Being a mom has been a most rewarding experience for her, and she is excited to see how it will continue to shape the woman she is becoming.

“Motherhood has brought out a lot of my better characteristics. I find myself doing a lot of things that I wouldn’t necessarily do if I wasn’t somebody’s mom,” she said. “One thing that life continues to teach me is that we can’t keep pinning accomplishments and those token moments in life to an age or a number, because we’re all on different paths and our circumstances are very different.”

Another important lesson Persaud Webb has learnt over the years is to quiet the voices of doubt, and to live without fear of people’s opinions.

“Regardless of what you do or how you do it, people are going to have an opinion,” she said matter-of-factly. “You could have been the Virgin Mary times three, they’re still going to have an opinion. Oftentimes their opinions are rooted in their own feelings, experiences, and their own perceptions about themselves and their realities. When we internalise them, all of a sudden their problems are our problems. It’s an uncomfortable way to live.”

And the only opinions she is concerned about are those of her children.

“I’m a mother first and that will always triumph over a lot of other things,” she said. “It’s important for us all to just trust our journeys and follow our value systems. If any opinion of me is valid, it’s that of my kids. Nobody wants to know their kids don’t like them or don’t think highly of them, or don’t want to emulate them. After all, they’re the ones who will be writing my eulogy, so it’s very important.”