Level Up Lounge: Siblings build on mother’s foundation

For decades, Miss Annie hustled to build a solid foundation for her and her family, from selling stuff while in school to eventually opening Annie’s Mart in Pagee, Port Maria.

She worked hard to send her children to high school, then to college, so they wouldn’t have to struggle the way she did, and in so doing exhibited the real meaning of a ‘strong woman’.

Annie’s Mart has stood at 1 Warner Street for close to a decade, serving the community of Pagee and the wider Port Maria area.

Inspired by their mother’s resilience, two of her children – Kerrian Scott, known as ‘Penny’, and Teneil Rhoden, aka ‘Randy’ – have seized the opportunity to build on the solid foundation their mother built.

The result is Level Up Lounge and a charity organisation, which is funded mainly through proceeds from an entertainment event title ‘Blistik’.

“Growing up, we always wanted to make mommy proud. She has this thing where she always says her kids have to live a better life than she did, and she surely made that happen,” Scott told The Gleaner.

She continued: “From her late teens she took it upon herself to become a business owner, and she started her hustling back then. I didn’t grow up seeing my mother go to parties. Our mother worked hard and did so much on her own, sent three of us to high school; all three are college-educated. Seeing all of that, it’s a good feeling to know that we could have come back and use some of the principles and business knowledge that she instilled in us to establish our own business, nurture it, and watch it grow over time.”

“Sometimes she would tell us how proud she was of what we’ve done, though there is a lot more that we’d like to do; but pretty much we’re just mimicking our mom. So for us it’s a success; showing our mom that we’re able to carry on her legacy, is what it means,” she added.

The quality of food and service available at Level Up Lounge lifts the Pagee community and ensures there is something nice for visitors to eat and enjoy a pleasant atmosphere.

The menu ranges from seafood to favourite Jamaican dishes to burger and fries.

“It’s a unique spot. (From) upstairs looking down, seeing the whole community, with a lovely view of the ocean,” Rhoden pointed out.

It was he and his sister who decided to extend the building to another floor after an unsuccessful search to find a suitable location for the business.

“We’ve been searching for years for somewhere to lease or purchase but hadn’t had any luck. The idea came up one day – why not use the roof?”

He said it is good to build on their mother’s legacy of hard work.

“She has paved the way for us in every way possible; we hope to follow in her footsteps. She has been very successful; Annie’s Mart is number one.”

Outside of the excellent food and service, Rhoden pointed out the importance of job creation, with the lounge employing five persons from in and around the community.

And inasmuch as they followed their mother’s business principles, they have also followed her kindness to others by ensuring that year after year, they help others through their unofficial charity organisation, funded mainly by a series of entertainment events under the Blistik brand.

“It’s what we grew up and saw our mom doing,” Scott said. “I remember when I was going to primary school, my mom would have small things in the yard and kids from the community would come there. She’s always giving stuff. When it’s back-to-school time when she’s buying stuff for her business, she would buy extra cases of pencils, books, erasers to give away. Watching my mom do things like that inspired us to ... continue the trend.”

And according to Rhoden: “We always have giveaways after each event. Sometimes we have back-to-school treat, and we always supply parents with books, pencils, bags, everything you can think of that a child needs to go back to school.”

During the pandemic they went house to house delivering food items to people right across St Mary. Their latest project is working on a house for a needy woman in the Trinity Land area of St Mary.

“We had pledged to help her, because the house that she’s in is in a deplorable state,” Rhoden explained.

The siblings have pledged to continue their charity work, which they have been doing for years without fanfare.