Lady Rennae keeps going

Krista Henry, Staff Reporter

Rennae Garrel hit it big last year when she became the new host of popular reality show, 'Digicel Rising Stars'.

In the first-ever national competition to choose the new host for the programme, Garrel - better known as Lady Rennae - bettered countless hopefuls vying for the spot.

Taking over from beauty queen Yendi Phillipps, Garrel has put her own mark on the show with her bubbly and friendly personality. Though she has a commitment to returning as host of 'Rising Stars' this year, the 26-year-old recently nabbed a spot on morning radio at FAME FM with 'Rise and Blaze'.

Speaking with The Sunday Gleaner recently, Rennae said,"I started on FAME's 'Rise and Blaze', the 5-9 a.m. talk show last week, which I co-host with DJ Nicco. The show is extreme entertainment, excitement and energy. It's a high-tempo show. Nicco provides the musical element while I blaze personality wise. It's a big role to fill. We're taking over from Francois St Juste and Danae Ramgolam and it's one of the prime times on radio, so we have to find creative ways to wake people up and then to keep their attention."

Good experience

While it has been an adjustment for Garrel, changing her schedule to early morning hours, it has been a good experience trying to keep it real for her radio fans.

Garrel isn't new to radio. In fact, she spent three years at FAME FM as the 'E Zone's' entertainment host.

Prior to that, Garrel worked on Roots FM for three years.

Even with all that, hosting the Digicel Rising Stars has brought new challenges.

"It's been nice as the host. In the beginning, the main focus was showcasing my personality and not lose myself, while being as comfortable as possible. I'm getting used to that experience and, this year, I'm more abreast of what needs to be done," she explained.

Building future

Landing the host position on 'Rising Stars' has made Garrel a household face and she plans to keep it that way. In 2009, she formed Yaad Corporation, an entertainment and production company.

"Once I put my talent and personality out there, I had to find a way to get my future plans out there, and build the Yaad Corp brand," she said.

Garrel has many plans in the process, including the 'Edith Foundation', which is named after her grandmother who lost a battle with cancer at 82 years old.

"The Edith Foundation is the humanitarian element of Yaad Corp, my grandmother was a philanthropist so I want to follow in her footsteps. The focus is to build a facility for the elderly and disabled youth. I've registered the foundation so right now it's to find the right location to house it."

Another arm of Yaad Corp will be a performing group called 'Jamaican, Empowerment and Expression Krew'.

At six years old, she was already a member of the 'Little People and Team Players', and that experience has convinced her that Jamaica needs more of such movements to help foster the talent of the Jamaican youth.

After all these endeavours achieve what she wants them to, Rennae still wouldn't have seen all her dreams come true.

She wants to, one day, have her own television talk show.