Maria Jones’ transformation
Maria Jones is the executive chairman of The Business District.
AW: What was your first job?
Full time, and fresh out of high school, I worked for Barclays Bank DCO. However, during my high school years, I worked summer and Christmas jobs at several stores on King Street in Kingston.
AW: What would you say is your best career achievement to date?
At the age of 35, I was appointed executive vice-president for marketing at Air Jamaica Limited.
AW: When would you say you have worked the hardest?
As permanent secretary in the Ministry of Education (MoE), I assumed the task of renewing and modernising all aspects of the ministry and establishing systems to make the ministry more responsive to and caring of the various groups for which it was responsible. This task required 24/7 engagement, was mostly fulfilling, but had many frustrations.
MoE was even more challenging than my work in conceptualising and operationalising Jamaica’s first full-service private business incubator, The Business District, in 1993.
AW: What is your go-to place/thing/quote for inspiration/motivation?
My husband Edwin was an excellent daily sounding board. But, my life is guided by Longfellow’s poem …“The heights by great men reached and kept were not attained by sudden flight, but they, while their companions slept, were toiling upward in the night.”
AW: What is your advice to young women who are looking to pursue a career in your field?
Many first attempts at establishing a business will fail. Furthermore, most businesses will take two to three years to show desirable and encouraging results. Don’t be discouraged, try and try again … follow your dream.
My own business experience can attest. After opening The Business District in 1993, the economic situation forced us to close in 1998. We reopened in 2011 and added a second branch, District 360, in 2022. We now offer over 12,000 square feet of physical offices and coworking spaces, plus virtual offices, all covered with a range of business support services. The Business District is a community-centric collective of associate businesses and professionals that benefit from business cross-fertilisation, and derive lower costs by sharing resources and facilities.
