Sisters’ Ink making a mark
ALTHOUGH it is common for sibling rivalry to exist between brothers and sisters who are close in age, that is not the case for Opal and Allison Levy.
Instead of sparring, the sisters have maintained a bond, and together are using their company, Sisters’ Ink, to leave an indelible mark on the lives of those they meet, especially entrepreneurs and small and medium enterprises.
Born and raised in Albert Town, Trelawny, the Levy sisters, who are only 18 months apart, told All Woman that they don’t share personality traits: Opal is more of a tomboy while Allison is prim and proper.
They both explained that this continued throughout their years at Westwood High, but eventually Opal transformed as she was given leadership roles. As a result, the sisters grew closer and together charted a course in life where impacting people positively was at the fore.
“We are children of teachers and our parents held us with very high expectations, and as a result we were driven, gave the best ourselves, and ended up giving back a lot,” Allison said.
Eventually, both sisters ended up working in the financial industry with Opal doing banking, relationship management and product development, and Allison dealing with mortgage financing.
But while there, they explained that they were usually asked to do presentations, motivational speeches and workshops. On top of that, the Levy sisters explained that they came across a lot of entrepreneurs who wanted assistance — whether through regular financing or mortgage financing, and realised that this was an area where they could wholeheartedly give of their service.
And so, they both decided to leave corporate Jamaica in April 2016 and start Sisters’ Ink to provide business consulting and management support services while forging lasting and meaningful partnerships with their customers — entrepreneurs and small and medium enterprises (SMEs).
“We are both coming from senior executive positions. Walking away was a sacrifice; many people asked if we were crazy, but we made the decision to take a cut on our salaries for the greater good. We served a lot of persons and helped a lot of persons while in corporate Jamaica, and now that value added to them is being added to us,” Opal said.
“Since coming into our own company we’ve had much success as it relates to interaction and training of entrepreneurs. I’m also the network manager of Alpha Angels out of Montego Bay. They are a group of businessmen who have come together to invest in entrepreneurs in start-up businesses, so that fits perfectly into what we do. When companies have challenges we see an opportunity to go in and assist them to overcome these challenges, to make recommendations for them, stay in, and execute these recommendations for them. We prepare entrepreneurs for pitches and prepare them in other areas. So if we see that there is a gap, we train them and get them in front of investors and banks for financing. We also do mortgage brokering, so if you have a dream of purchasing a home, we take you from the dream to the reality. There is also the Sisters’ Ink Empowerment Centre where we do our training at a small fee for groups, but free of charge for individuals,” Opal added.
The sisters explain that at the core of their business are their strong family values and dedication to ensuring that their customers are satisfied.
“Many consultants give advice and walk away. We walk you through the process, give advice, and help you to implement capacity so that going forward your problem doesn’t arise again. We believe strongly in integrity, we believe in excellence, we believe in giving fair work. Nothing we touch is left incomplete and we believe once we come into your company, environment or space, then you must turn around, as SMEs are the engines of society,” Opal noted.
Additionally, the sisters run a soup kitchen once per month where they both prepare dinner and soup to give to the homeless and needy persons in sections of the Corporate Area.
“Whenever we go, it breaks our hearts. There’s always a line and it includes little children. If we had the resources to house them, that’s what we’d do,” Allison said.
They have also given scholarships to the Albert Town Primary School in Trelawny, the school they both attended before going to Westwood High.
Devoted Christians, Allison and Opal believe in seeking God’s kingdom first, then waiting for your blessings.
“It’s not how much you can amass in terms of wealth, but understanding your purpose in life. If you do what you’re meant to do, you eventually get paid. The more we give back is the more God blesses us,” Allison said.
