Multi-faceted Brandon Allwood focuses on communication

Garfene Grandison, Gleaner Writer

Brandon Allwood tells The Gleaner, "I was born and raised in Kingston and went to Vaz Preparatory School and Kingston College. My interests have always been eclectic and varied. Outside of communications, I'm heavily involved with child rights and youth advocacy, something that has taken me as far as the United Nations in Switzerland to represent Jamaican children. I'm also a recipient of the Prime Minister's National Award for Excellence in Journalism and I used to host a positive values TV show that was aired on TVJ, as well as a radio show on HOT102 FM."

The Gleaner: How long have you been in this field?

Brandon Allwood: I've been in media and communications for about six years. I started out as a youth writer, became a reporter, and now I am a communications consultant.

G: Where have you studied?

BA: I went to Kingston College and finished there as deputy head boy in 2007. I migrated for about three months and returned to start a political science degree at UWI (Mona). My interest and heartbeat has always been communications and law, however, and so I decided to stop the political science degree and now, at age 20, I'm in second-year law.

G: Why this career path?

BA: The simple answer would be because of my personality and because I talk a lot (laughs). But seriously, communication is important to the human existence. As simple as it may seem, many people forget that communication is more than just a sentence or words, but it is an intricate process. I've always had a good grasp of the concept of communication - both in importance and in practice -- and I am a very creative person. I was built for this kind of stuff.

G: How was the process when you first started in this career field?

BA: It was very interesting and it all started with a phone call to Laura Jenoure and Karl Angell. It wasn't at all hard - but it was challenging, because mediocrity was never really an option. Karl especially had a great influence on my decision to really engorge myself in communications. I never knew it, but I was always building my name and, eventually, my name became a mini-brand.

G: What are you currently doing to further develop your ambitions or career path?

BA: Currently, I'm expanding myself and my client list. I'm doing a lot of reading on overseas markets and comparing our local media and communication industry to North America, the Middle East, Europe, and the English-speaking Caribbean. I'm also looking at the best practices for the field across the markets. Also on the agenda is to launch in Trinidad and Tobago very soon and using that as a starting point for expansion to the Eastern Caribbean.

G: What do you hope to achieve in 10 years?

BA: In 10 years ... Wow! I hope to then have established my group of companies, which would include a corporate communications company, an entertainment company and a law firm. By then, I would have completed also my law degree and my two master's degrees.

G: What inspires your career path?

BA: It has been postulated that a mind is a terrible thing to waste and I have found that I do have a creative mind. That creativity is what has driven me from day one and continues to be the main reason why I love this field. I certainly couldn't let my mind sit idly by and, apparently, it's a good thing I didn't, because I keep getting clients.

G: What do you have to offer as the future of the next generation?

BA: As part of the next generation, I will always remember what it was like being underrated, underestimated and rejected because of my age and not my aptitude. That has been, and continues to be, one of the greatest lessons I've learnt in every sphere of my life. I will be one of the first persons to offer the generation after mine a chance to show their worth.

G: Do you consider yourself to be revolutionary, and how do you plan to change the game/your field?

BA: Not necessarily - at least, not in this part of my life. What I am is great at what I do and cognisant of the fact that no two projects, clients, releases, articles, interviews, features, or anything at all to do with my practice are the same, and I take each item in its own glory - which is not usually the norm. I'll change the game with ideas, with my ideas. Well, I suppose then I might be a revolutionary force in this field. We'll see.

G: Besides access to education, what do you think needs to be done in order to transform youth in Jamaica?

BA: Jamaican youth need an identity. The society is designed in such a way that when young persons think and speak they are frowned upon and often viewed as passing their place, as if we're meant to be sheep. Now, many will say we already have an identity, but we don't. We merely adapt - or try to - in a world where decisions are made on behalf of us and for us without our consultation or input. It's time that Jamaica (and other places in the world) realise the resource pool that exists in our age group.

G: Distinguish yourself from your peers.

BA: Easily, I'm Jamaica's youngest communications consultant - not just a press-release-writing and Facebook-managing person, which is, unfortunately, what many persons think a publicist is. I'm much more than just a 'publicist', I'm the full package. Outside of that, and my national award in journalism, my style is unmistakable and remarkably effective in achieving the goals and targets they are meant to.

G: Old men rule the world. True or false?

BA: False, but it is not far in our past. If old men ruled the world, this feature would not be happening. There are people like me that exist, ready to challenge the status quo that only 'old men' have abilities but that is exactly what it is. It is a challenge. Not all the vestiges of the theory that people are unable to work efficiently or effectively in certain fields until they pass 35 have disappeared, and so young people must be prepared to fight an uphill battle with garnering respect in professional life.