NO-ONE was more surprised than she, says reigning Miss Guyana World Alexis Glasgow, when she landed the job with the British cosmetics firm, Urban Therapy, as spokesperson for the entire Caribbean. It happened while she was in London on her way to China for the Miss World Pageant, she said.
“I still get goose-pimples just talking about it. It’s so unbelievable; coming from Berbice; not knowing what I would get into; just working and going to school and then landing this great job,” she told the Sunday Chronicle close to two weeks ago.
She had just done treating the kids in the Paediatric Ward at the ‘Georgetown Hospital’ and was feeling rather pleased with herself.
“It’s something that I like doing,” she said. “It reminds me of myself as a child.”
As a matter of fact, it was one of those little ‘must-dos’ she had to get out of the way, since this new job of hers was not just unpredictable but usually takes her away from home for long periods at a time.
For instance, she’s just been on the job for a little over two months and already it has taken her to Costa Rica and Trinidad and Tobago. And when she leaves this time around, which is in another week or so from today, she will be heading for Tortola and Sint Maarten among other Caribbean destinations.
“So whenever I’m here, I usually try to do as much as I possibly can,” the 23-year-old Berbician beauty said.
A former trainee Flight Attendant with the local carrier, Universal Airlines, Alexis says what this new job requires of her basically is that she go around to the various Caribbean islands sensitising people to the fact that there is this new hair and skin-care product on the market called ‘Urban Therapy’ and what a boon it is for their hair. It also entails putting together a monthly report, among other matters she has to attend to.
She says that what has helped her adapt so well to this new job is the invaluable experience she gained while working with ‘Universal’ which required, among other things, that she interact with people.
Asked how she liked it so far; how it compared with being an ‘air hostess’; and why she jumped at the chance to work with Urban Therapy rather than stay with ‘Universal’, Alexis said, obviously preferring to deal with the last question:
“Because I get to see more. With the airline it was specific destinations …New York; St Kitts; Suriname; Trinidad; Guyana. But with this new job, I get to venture out more. It has also helped me realise that I have potentials I didn’t know I had; like being bold and being able to speak in front of a large audience.”
The one thing she has learnt in the two or so months she has been with Urban Therapy that she will always treasure, Alexis says, is being able to communicate with people of another nationality and gaining their trust.
“Talking to people in a foreign country and having them listen to you and pay keen attention when you’re not a native of that country can be very difficult,” she says. “So you have to be a very positive person and make sure what you’re saying is making sense and able to grasp their attention.” To be able to do this effectively, she says, requires doing lots of research and ensuring that you know the product you’re marketing.
To date, she says, the product has been doing pretty well for itself in the Caribbean, and is particularly popular here in Guyana where it was launched last October during the Caribbean Hair and Beauty Show. It’s a product that caters mainly to people of mixed African descent, she said, since theirs is a quality of hair that is very difficult to manage. There is also a men’s line in the works, and this is due to out soon.
As to what sort of career goal she has in mind, Alexis said that before the pageant, it was a toss-up between staying on a while longer with the airline and going off to university, as her main interest lies in marketing and communications.
Which makes the job she’s currently doing tailor-made for her. “It’s perfect; just what I wanted,” she said. She’s very well paid, and the good thing about it, is that she’s doesn’t have to go to work every day. “I can just sit at my computer and get my work done. What else can a girl of 23 ask for!”
And, with the amount of experience she knows she’ll have in another year or two, she’s now thinking seriously about starting her own business.