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Toronto, Canada, April 1: Former Guyana Defence Force soldier, Ingrid King, is definitely a role model for women. Recently, she was presented with this year's TNT Eagles Woman of Excellence award. King is the founder of her own company which provides secretarial services to companies and community organizations.
Another role model for women is Jamaican-born Delores Lawrence. She was the keynote speaker at the event at which King received her award. Lawrence owns a placement agency -- Nursing Home Healthcare Inc. -- which provides nurses for institutions and private patient care.
As a young child growing up in Jamaica, Lawrence received an early introduction into business and finance by accompanying her supermarket-owner mother to meetings with bank managers, she told the audience at the Black History Month awards brunch sponsored by TNT Eagles & Community Unity Alliance (CUA) last Sunday in Markham.
So when she chose to open her business in Toronto in 1985, she was prepared for the challenges of trying to get a line of credit to get her agency off the ground.
"It wasn't easy dealing with the banks," Lawrence said.
"When I went to the bank with my business plan, they told me I could get $5,000. They however turned down my request for $25,000 for my cash flow despite the fact I had over $100,000 equity in my house and $5,000 in Canada Savings bonds. In effect the bond secured that $5,000 that I was getting and the bank was not at risk."
In spite of this, she said, the bank also demanded that her husband co-sign for the $5,000 they were giving her to start the business.
She recounted working out of her home for the first two years and being forced to seek office space after being threatened with legal action.
"Many of the nurses that worked for me would come to my home for their pay cheques on a Friday which meant that there was constant build-up of cars on my street," said Lawrence. "That did not go well with the neighbours.
"One day, an inspector from the Town of Markham showed up at my door and served me notice that I should stop doing business out of my home because I was violating the residential by-laws. That forced me to go and look for some office space."
From humble beginnings, NHI currently employs about 1,400 health care personnel who provide quality home care. The company's clients include hospitals, long-term care facilities, insurance companies and private individuals.
Lawrence has been recognized for the last three years as one of the Top 100 Women Entrepreneurs in Canada by Chatelaine and Profit magazines.
The event was also a major fundraiser for the Second Chance Scholarship Fund developed to provide young offenders who have served a full sentence with access to financial assistance to offset their post-secondary education costs. The recipient is awarded a $1,000 scholarship, a computer and a printer.