It was December 2001, while serving in the Military, I was visiting a friend (a medic) in the Medical Inspection Room (MI Room) and I encountered his Head of Department. She knew I had recently applied for a position and due to no fault of mine was not chosen. She questioned me about my qualifications and plans for the future.

Being discouraged from not being successful, I indicated that I had no plans for future personal improvement. She became upset, stating she hated to see young people wasting their youth and potential. She seemed to think I had plenty and given recent events, I thought I had none. She asked why with my credentials, I didn’t apply to study Pharmacology or Radiography because a local college was advertising their programs.  She was sure I would get in easily! There was an unspoken understanding to silence a superior officer in the Military, you say “Yes sir/ma’am, yes sir/ma’am” (like the nursery rhyme three bags full. Full of hot air or lip service) She ‘suggested’ I apply and like any good soldier, I said “Yes ma’am!” and so the conversation ended.

Little did I know she would not let up.  About a week later, she saw me and gave me a pull out from a daily newspaper with the advertisement she had spoken to me about prior. She again ‘suggested’ I apply; again I responded with “Yes ma’am.” I had NO intention of applying and thought that this was a topic that would die a natural death once the deadline for application closed. I was comforted in the thought that she’s not my immediate head of department and I was not under her chain of command, additionally, this is a personal matter – all is well.

The weeks went by and I saw her occasionally and what I did not account for was her impeccable memory and tenacity. Every time she saw me she would ask if I submitted my application, to which I would say no and offer some trivial and weak excuse. Eventually, she got fed up of my clear procrastination and issued a direct order.  It went something like this – “Private soldier, the next time I see you and ask if your application was submitted and your response is no, I will arrest you on charges of failing to comply to a lawful order as to show willful neglect and gross insubordination!” This would have meant military jail for a period to be determined by the Commanding Officer.

That day she lit the fire of motivation, fueled by fear that pushed me not only to drop in my application to study Radiography (10mins before it was closed), but I attended and aced the screening interview. I began to emerge from the mental rut I was in because I didn’t get the promotion. I was accepted and it was time for orientation and school was carded to start the first week in September 2002.  I was elated and she was really happy for me as well.

Her support did not end there. I had to get approval from our Superiors for time off to study as it was a full time program for three years. She advocated on my behalf to not only get the time off to study but also for the Military to grant me a full scholarship for tuition.  After much back and forth with her superiors, she won on my behalf and I started school one week after the semester started. Had it not been for her, I would not be where I am in life today.

After pursuing studies in Radiography for three years, I returned to full time military service. By this time I was transferred to the Medical Department, however, my advocate had since retired. I served for a further three years and then left the Military. I worked at a premier Private Hospital where I had an experience that gave me the idea for a mobile medical imaging company. Five years later in 2013, I would incorporate a my mobile medical imaging company that would eventually take full flight during the COVID 19 pandemic.

During the pandemic, we were well sought after to provide medical imaging to patients in the comfort of their homes. We provided X-rays, Ultrasounds and ECGs to C19 negative patients, who did not want to risk infection by going into public spaces and patients who were C19 positive and could not access institutional care but were treated at home by their Physicians.

Post Covid, the World has learnt some lessons, one such lesson is the availability of medical imaging in the comfort of your home. No longer is it mandatory to go to an xray department for routine or common services. This is of significant benefit for patients who are bed bound, non-ambulatory, have a  weakened immune system or just as a matter of convenience can call on us and benefit from our services.

The existence of our Company has changed the paradigm of the availability of medical imaging at the point of the patient’s need. As a Radiographer, I am very happy for the trajectory my life took.  I have been privileged to present at Local and International professional conferences and I’ve been published in three medical journals. This all came about because an Officer saw the potential within a discouraged young man, who had no vision for his life. I am eternally grateful and indebted to Ms. Wendy Mc Intosh for her encouragement and her persistence that did not allow me to give up on myself.  She has positively affected the delivery of medical services in our Country and by extension our Region, as we are about to launch our Grenada operations in the new year (2024).

The question is not IF to leave but WHEN!

This was a big mental debate for me. It was a topic going through my mind for years! It was 2019 and I had just started a new job at another hospital. I thought that this new place was my salvation from all the ills I’d been experiencing at my previous job. Little did I know it would be four short months into my tenure that the beast would raise its head. The conditions and treatment were worse than where I worked previously. Though I had my private company, the income was not sufficient to support my expenses related to my family, a mortgage and other responsibilities.

In 2020, I was able to expand by purchasing some equipment and then COVID hit. During the lockdown my salary dropped by 40% and I was only working two to three days a week. This gave me the opportunity to focus on my business, offering X-rays in patients’ homes. This started slow, but as the numbers rose and the restrictions tightened, our reputation spread and demand rose exponentially.

When the restrictions were relaxed we had grown to offering services during regular hours (8am – 4pm) and many of our customers had become accustomed to the regular working hours. Therefore, trying to facilitate the demands after my regular working hours was not feasible and I ran the risk of losing business.

At this point, although the company was doing okay and was able to support my responsibilities, I was fearful to leave the safety and security of my job. So I had to pivot – I opted to hire a full time staff member. This worked relatively well, but we were plagued with various issues with the candidate mainly because of my inexperience in managing people, failure to establish boundaries early and general trusting and naivety in dealing with people.

After six months of various human resource challenges, my employee resigned abruptly without notice. This came after he was confronted with facts that proved he damaged a piece of expensive equipment. So, I had to pivot again. I had no time to advertise the vacant position, so I realized I had to go back into the field doing X-rays. I applied for one month’s no pay leave to facilitate my clients, while advertising the vacant position.

I hired another full time staff member- a female this time.  However, due to the physical demands of the job, she decided to practice at a conventional fixed location radiology department. I was forced to pivot again, so I hired a personal administrative assistant, this proved to be a most life changing decision. She was able to bring order to my schedule and revolutionize how my time is managed.  I now do the same amount of work in less days and am able to block random days during the week for valuable family time (something that I was not doing )

As for my stress, it has been converted from distress (negative) to eustress (positive). I no longer have to go to what in my mind was a negative, toxic work environment.  As for my responsibilities all are being taken care of by the business.

This chain of events forced me to see that the time was ripe and right to abandon my feelings, my fear and dependency on my secure job. Going through the experience tho I was afraid of the unknown, but looking back I’m glad I pivoted the times I did.

In 2019, I was having a telephone conversation with a friend of mine who’s a neurosurgeon. I casually mentioned an idea I had to provide mobile x-rays to non ambulatory patients and I’ve been researching the topic since 2012. He immediately caught the vision and asked me not to share it with anyone as he wanted to be my sole investor and business partner. I said okay. We had numerous conversations subsequent to this first one and he was very instrumental in guiding me to do my due diligence. This proved invaluable as I look back over the various interactions I’ve had with some vendors.

2020 came along and I had viewed various systems and collected three quotes. By this time however, the COVID 19 pandemic had started to spread and countries began restrictions. So when I had decided on a system, I spoke to my friend who told me because of the pandemic he didn’t want to spread his finances too thin and I should seek three other investors. As per his request I did and the five of us were about to make the purchase when the restrictions became tighter and the full lock down ensued. All of the four investors pulled out.

In preparation to approach the investors, I worked with my accountant to write a business plan with projections and market survey and other details. Out of desperation and frustration, I shared the idea with my brother. He saw my passion and excitement and asked to see the business plan. As an accounting clerk, he immediately saw the potential and decided to invest.

It was quite by accident I approached him and I would have never guessed that he would have invested in the company because medicine is not his field of expertise.