Sophronia McKenzie ‘techs’ a leap of faith
STATING your claim on any industry has its difficulties. In some more than others, the climb to the top appears lonely. Now take technology, being a Jamaican woman, and merging that with unshakable faith. That’s how Sophronia McKenzie describes her journey as she navigates the intricacies of being a female entrepreneur, running a tech start-up, and managing teams located in multiple countries.
The founder and CEO of visuEats was thrust into early entrepreneurial pursuits in 2002 when her year group at Wolmer’s Girls’ was denied a graduation ball due to disciplinary issues.
“I took it upon myself to conceptualise, plan, execute, and sell tickets to my own graduation ball. I needed an adult and a teacher and so I got my mother and my English literature teacher, Ms Rodney, to chaperone. I booked the hotel, sold tickets — making a little profit for myself as well — and I gave the girls a graduation ball that I think we all deserved,” McKenzie recalled.
As a result of her defiance, McKenzie was refused a space in the institution’s sixth form programme, which also influenced the trajectory of her life.
“After my sixth form application was rejected, I enrolled at Vector Technology Institute. I was the only girl in my year group at the time and graduated at the top of my class with an associate degree in computer science. This ultimately helped position me for a life in technology,” she explained.
After graduation, she started her bachelor’s degree at the University of Technology, Jamaica (UTech) then transferred to the United States in 2006 to study at Florida International University (FIU). McKenzie blossomed, completing her bachelor’s degree in accounting. She attributes excellent business acumen and management skills to both life experience and formal education.
“The profit is in the process — you must have processes. You must have a system and be prepared to pivot if the system doesn’t work. I believe in processes, I’m very organised, and that’s how I can track and manage multiple projects and teams at a time,“ she said. ”There will always be challenges if you’re winging it.“
Transitioning from student life in the United States back to Jamaica after completing school in 2010 had its challenges, and McKenzie returned to the States soon after in 2013. There she secured her first job, door to door sales for AT&T.
“I wasn’t doing well when I came home, and after discussing it with my brother at the time, I made the decision to go back. I went back to the States with US$100. That’s what I went with thanks to two of my friends who both gave me US$50 each.”
Holding positions in accounting, sales, technology, and project management since then have groomed McKenzie for success with her personal business pursuits through visuEats.
“I would go out to restaurants and be restricted by only worded menus. I love food and I wanted to eat with my eyes first, to see what the dishes looked like. I always complained, and then a friend reminded me I worked in tech, I could build a visual menu. So I did.”
She added: “While it was just supposed to be a visual menu, visuEats has morphed into so much more. Speaking with restaurants, they would ask for help with reservations and with delivery, making it a visually immersive, easy to use platform that does online orders, front-of-house integrations, and now marketing for restaurants”.
Describing her journey as a constant walk in faith, McKenzie has committed to trusting the process.
“I know that God will do it, He has been doing it, and He will continue to do it. When I started this business my first monthly expense was US$150; it has grown to so much more over the last five years, but God continues to do it. Month by month, step by step.”
