October 29th 2011
Nineteen & Running It
By Kendell “Scady” Eugene

If Beyonce is still asking the question “who runs the world?” then you can tell her yes, it is the girls. Meet nineteen year old Nicole Joseph. At an age where most girls are either starting up as employee of a business, Nicole is running it. But her accomplishment has made her all but conceited. As a matter of fact she sees no big deal in her accomplishments and laments that fact every opportunity she got during our interview. Speaking of an interview, let’s get to know more about her, shall we.

1. Tell us a little about yourself, your name, schools you attended. Tell us about growing up, where did you grow up and how was it for you. Tell us about your family as well.

Ok. Well my name is Nicole Faye Joseph but everyone calls me Nixx even my mom! I went to Saint Joseph’s Convent Preschool, then to Ave Maria, S.J.C and S.A.L.C.C. at the Division of Arts, Science and General Studies. I grew up at Independence City, but I spent a lot of time with my dad in Gros Islet. I grew up with my twin brothers who are just a year younger than me. It was so much fun! We were like the little triplets. We loved throwing over baskets of clothes all over the house or just playing in the back yard. A lot of people may not know but I have 6 siblings; 4 brothers and 2 sisters. Me being the second child, it’s ridiculous how people still think that I’m the only child though.

2. What subjects did you enjoy and excel at while at S.J.C and S.A.L.C.C? What extra curricular activities did you enjoy at school and how did you balance time to study with time to socialize? We also understood that you are bilingual, is that true? How many languages do you speak and do you plan to add more in the near future?

At S.J.C Spanish was my baby, but I loved the business subjects, Principles of Business but especially Economics. It’s amazing how it was my favourite subject but I hardly paid attention to my tutor. I remember me telling him all the time “Don’t worry sir I have it on lock!” I wasn’t a big study person. I’d go through 5 chapters in 1 hour because I realised that I had good visual memory and I got good grades regardless, so I spent every weekend going out with my friends even before exams when everyone would stay home I’d be out . The thing was I KNEW MY WORK. In school, I participated in track until form 2 where I completely stopped jus because I got tired of it. My new love was swimming! I represented my school at a few swim meets, with backstroke being my favourite!

3. What did you picture yourself doing at 18 years old?

At 18 years old, I pictured myself working in some office. There are not many choices for people my age that just left school in St.Lucia. You basically take what you get, but I refused to! I am the manager of Pink Lingerie at Baywalk Mall. For some strange reason, I look at my job as not being a big deal; however I am aware that it is a great accomplishment for someone my age, considering the fact that the other managers are a lot older than I am! It really wasn’t hard getting the job. I knew that I didn’t want to send out applications randomly to business places, all I wanted was a definite vacancy and then I would apply. Luckily, my mom saw this advert in the newspaper calling for a manager and sales clerks, so I jumped right on it and typed up an application for the manager’s post. I was just really confident. Why should I not get the job was my mentality and my mom strengthened my confidence all the way. It didn’t even take a week for me to get a call along with an interview. I was introduced to my coworkers on training and not surprisingly they were older than me. No one was told I was the manager, but some how they realised then the big question came up. They could not believe that I was only 18 but somehow it was never a problem. All of us worked together and everyone respects me as being the person in authority despite of my age.

4. Managing a business is a major accomplishment and not everyone can put that title to their name. How did you become a manger and how did your co-workers take to being managed by someone a lot younger than them?

I am bi-lingual apart from speaking English, me gusta espanol!! I think it’s because of the vibrant and exciting culture and the little sexiness it adds to me. I’ve been to Margarita, Venezuela 3 times and I just want to go back every consecutive year. Learning a foreign language is so beneficial especially in a business environment where you deal with customers who can’t speak English. Most of my Spanish I learnt from my boyfriend who is Latino and at S.A.L.C.C. where I also studied business management and accounting. In the future I’d love to learn Latin. It’s not far from Spanish so it would probably not be as difficult as French!

5. Other than your current job, what is your life long dream job and why do want to pursue a career in that industry?

Growing up I always knew that I wanted to be the one in charge. Sounds like I’m there already however this is just a starting point for me. Being a manager of a larger company whether it be a finance or marketing manager is my ultimate dream. This probably came from my dad who now owns his own business, but was a Manager for as long as I could remember. However I can’t speak without my love for fashion and makeup artistry. I would definitely love to do freelancing as well. I’m no beauty or makeup guru but I definitely know how to style what looks great and what’s not. Makeup and fashion is a way of expressing my love for art. I can’t carry around a drawing everywhere I go, so makeup is one of the best ways to show people my creativity.

6. What are you doing at the moment to make this dream a reality?

At this moment I’m just learning all the responsibilities that are associated with managing a business. It’s not difficult at all considering that it’s a small business however it’s a stepping stone towards achieving my ultimate dream. Concerning makeup and fashion, I’m practicing a lot on M.A.C face charts which I print off the internet. Furthermore I watch a lot of makeup videos over and over again. I visit many blogspots from professional makeup artists and I must say that I’ve learnt so much that I’m confident that I could work at a MAC Counter. I get so many compliments daily on my makeup and recently I’ve been getting a lot of messages from girls about helping them with theirs.

7. Do you plan on going back to school at any time and since we are on furthering your education, how important do you thing education is to a young person especially now?

Of course! I definitely want to go back to school. However, I need the working experience. I’m not sure which university I will attend but I know in about 2 years I will be somewhere studying. I cannot stress on how much education is important. It’s ridiculously hard especially in these economic times to get or even keep a job without some sort of education. School may seem stressful however all the hard work pays off. There are too many people without jobs because of lack of education all around the world and I know things will get even more difficult than it already is, hence why I think that every young person in St.Lucia should take any chance that they have or should be given the opportunity to further their studies.

8. You have a little modeling thing going for you and we saw that at the photo shoot, is that something you may look into, modeling I mean?

Honestly, I’m more of a singer than a model. Modeling isn’t something that I’m passionate about as yet. However, I love being doing photo shoots, so I don’t mind at all. However being a model in St.Lucia doesn’t bring you as far as modeling in other countries might take you! It’s time a St.Lucia beauty strut the runways around the world, modeling for Louboutin and making spreads in magazines! Even for the musicians and singers in St.Lucia, it’s so sad to see that they’re not being pushed enough.

9. Who is your biggest inspiration and supporter in life?

There are so many people who inspire me to be successful. Makeup and fashion guru Dulce Candy who worked her way into the social media from posting her makeup looks on YouTube, the now famous Adele who doesn’t fancy the celebrity spotlight, she inspires me so much to be humble with success and shows that not because you’ve gained it all means you should forget where you’re from; your personality or the ones who care about you most. Finally, my mother, she’s a strong individual which is why we have such an amazing relationship. She’s my main supporter and keeps reminding me of how creative and intelligent I am. She instilled in me so much confidence and supports me in every way possible to be successful.

10. Three fun questions for us to end. What would you never leave home without?

What won’t you be caught dead wearing? What song is currently playing on your mp3 player?

While everyone else wouldn’t dare leave behind their phones or iPods, I would never leave without my lip-gloss I can’t stand licking my lips! I love to take weird pieces and put them together to make something hot but one thing you’d never find me wearing is fishnet stockings!
“Settle down little lady” just kidding, this is my club track! At home I’m listening to Chasing Pavements by Adele.

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