Leading women in business, media and beauty honoured

Dr Terri-Karelle Reid, Kalilah Reynolds and Gabrielle Waite on Monday evening were honoured by Flair for their work and contribution in the fields of media and communication, business and beauty, respectively. Excited to be gracing the red carpet during The Distinguished Awards gala, held at The Jamaica Pegasus, the three leaders shared sentiments of pride, respect and joy to be among the 21 women who received The Distinguished Awards that evening.

For Reynolds, who over the last few years had gained a large following for helping individuals “get this money”, the occasion was largely moving for her because this was her first time receiving an award for business since launching Kalilah Reynolds Media in 2019.

“It feels so amazing, it is the first time I am receiving an award in this category, not as a journalist, not for social media or media, but as a business leader and that is blowing my mind right now,” she said following her presentation.

Supported by her daughter Alexa Roberts, and her friend, personal trainer, Patrice J. White, Reynolds could not help but smile from ear to ear as she collected her crystal plaque. According to her, this all started because she identified that people needed the services she is now providing and she is happy she branched off into entrepreneurship. As for her upcoming plans to continue helping to spread sound financial knowledge, she said she cannot say too much at this time, but people can expect big things.

“I am working on launching a membership programme and two other things that are top secret right now. I am super excited about everything and cannot wait to share,” she said.

Waite, chief executive officer of GabbyGlam Co and Carnival Glam Hub, shared that for her, the moment provided a chance to pause and acknowledge how far she had come.

It really is an honour you know to be in a space with so many powerful women and even to just be recognised, I feel like for myself personally, every achievement is just like okay, you have done one, on to the next, but I have not taken the time to actually stop and celebrate the wins. I am really honoured and happy that Flair gave some women the opportunity to stop and celebrate their wins,” Waite told The Gleaner.

The 26-year-old, who is a leader in the beauty world across the Caribbean, recently concluded the Jamaica leg of CarnivalGLAMHub that hosted EBONY magazine this year. The next stop is St Lucia and Miami and she is currently working on the release of a new lip line for Gabby Glam Cosmetics in time for summer.

“This award or being here might not mean you have reached to the top, but it allows you to take a moment to appreciate where you are on your journey and that is rewarding and a push to keep working,” Waite said.

Summing it up perfectly, Reid said that The Distinguished awards are important because they highlight the work women do, that sometimes goes unrecognised and this is why being an awardee is so dear to her.

“I am honoured to be a recipient of the 2023 Distinguished award in media and communications from The Gleaner’s Flair. As a community builder, I always endeavour to be open and honest about my lived experiences, the highs and lows, the victories and the challenges, with the hope that the transfer of knowledge will resonate with, and impact someone else in a positive way,” she shared.

“A lot of us want to bloom and bear fruit overnight, but that I just not how life is, it is a marathon and not a sprint and I tell people who are at the seedling stage, don’t look at other people’s gardens. Focus more on feeding your seed and nurturing your soil so that when your fruit starts to bear then it will be so good that people will be unable to ignore you,” she continued.

Reid recently released the audio version of her book My Brand Compass: The 13 Cs to Building Your Personal Brand and said she has other projects in the pipeline, but her style is to ideate, and create, then do and at that point she will announce.

The Distinguished Awards have been recognising women making exceptional strides in their fields since March 2018.

This year’s event was sponsored by Mastercard, Scotia Investments, JAM-DEX, Port Authority of Jamaica, S Hotel, ATL Automotive, Sygnus, Grace Foods, Key Insurance, DRT Communications Limited, Dynamic Events, MoBay City Run, Spanish-Jamaican Foundation, Royalton, Baileys, Massy Distribution, Lifespan, Hema Luxe, P.A. Benjamin, Wendy’s, CPJ, Flow, In Good Company, British Caribbean Insurance Company and The Jamaica Pegasus.

aaliyah.cunningham@gleanerjm.com