Shauna-Kay Anderson’s business sense

IN times of crisis, such as the one the world is now facing, people dream more than ever of becoming their own version of Mark Zuckerberg or Jeff Bezos in online business. But for Shauna-Kay Anderson, CEO of Humbird Media, this is already a reality.

Back in 2014, Anderson was passionate about the vision that she should become a business owner.

“The name Humbird came to me because I was an avid bird-watcher, and while walking home one day I spotted one. The idea of the name hit me like a bolt of lightning. The hummingbird – fast, beautiful, creative, efficient. That was it!” she said.

Humbird Media is a digital media agency that has been offering website, animation and graphic design services as well as social media management to a growing portfolio of local and international clients since 2016. Its story is a symbol of faith over fear, and the vision, resilience, and creativity of Anderson and her now-husband, Cory.

The turning point came from out of the blue in September 2016. Anderson’s godmother invited her to visit her home in Florida just so they could spend some time together. While there, her godmother encouraged her to pursue her business idea.

“She’s an author and had always pushed me to try entrepreneurship, but I was still so fearful,” Anderson admitted. She had tried taking the entrepreneurial path before and was unsuccessful.

As a little girl, Anderson dreamt of having a large family of six children and working from home so she could support and raise them. All grown up years later, in 2014 a grim reality struck her. “I was walking back to work after signing up for a number of savings plans at a local bank. It was then I realised that the money I was earning would not be nearly enough to manage my own life independently, much less a bundle of children.

“It was then that I heard God confirm. He said, ‘Of course not. You’re going to quit your job and start your own business.’ ”

Newly graduated with first class honours in multimedia from CARIMAC at The University of the West Indies, Mona, Anderson was working for a small graphic design firm in Kingston when she started making plans to leave her job. Unfortunately, a number of family issues, fear and doubt overwhelmed her business plan until she neglected it.

Then two years later in Florida, as Anderson built a website for her godmother, her constant encouragement re-awakened Anderson’s faith.

“As soon as I got back to Jamaica, my boyfriend at the time [Cory] was with me 100 per cent, and together we started seriously working on Humbird Media,” she said.

Cory had a full-time job so they worked together on the business at nights. He also spent a good portion of his salary each month on new computers and software for the business.

“Though Cory was an actuarial science graduate, he was always a creative. In addition to being the chief creative director and providing assistance to create designs, he manned the back-end of Humbird Media,” Anderson explained.

They registered Humbird Media as a partnership in November 2016 and started off with one client for the next few months.

“Soon, one client turned into another, into another, until we established a strong online brand,” she said.

The company took another big leap at the start of 2018 by going fully digital, which allowed the couple to offer more specialised services and focus on attracting more overseas clients.

In April 2018 Cory left his full-time job and today he and Anderson are working from home, side by side. Cory still balances business management and logistics with the creative aspect, while Shauna-Kay focuses on designing, graphics and animations.

“We’re not millionaires [yet] but we’ve managed to build a stable business that has been paying our bills and affording us the lifestyle we’ve been working for,” Anderson said.

As for her dream of having six children, Anderson married Cory in March 2018 and says they’re working towards that goal. “In the future we hope to be able to build out a team with an external office so that we’ll be able to raise our children while our business runs,” she said. They also want to grow their clientèle to ensure the business continues to expand.

Jayda Lunan is a journalism student from the Department of Communication Studies at Northern Caribbean University.