Hazel Maragh rises through the ranks at GraceKennedy

Garfene Grandison, Assistant Lifestyle Coordinator

Starting out in the GraceKennedy Foods division in 1984, fresh out of high school, Hazel Maragh has continuously worked her way up the ranks to becoming a marketing community consultant. She was a part of the Foods Division for over 20 years, ending in 1999, until she joined the Grace Kennedy Remittance Services team in 2003.

Maragh has professed her love for the company by stating, "I love this company. I am a protégé of GraceKennedy and if you cut me, ketchup flows from my vein," she laughed.

Maragh has admitted that it wasn't an easy road climbing the ranks in the GraceKennedy organisation. She tells Outlook, "I worked my way through the ranks of GraceKennedy, from a sales hostess, to order department clerk, sales representative, area manager, sales and marketing manager to export manager for JABEXCO and now here, community consultant."

She continued, "I was determined to prove myself in GK at the time when sales in general in all companies was a male-dominated field. And I did it. I have won the Sales Representative of the Year award two years in a row. So management now is reward for hard work," she ended.

Maragh's main role is to represent GraceKennedy Money Services (GKMS) in the Caribbean diaspora in Florida. She is charged with the task of maintaining a positive relationship with the community and their brands, to ensure that when Caribbean people have remittance, foreign currency or bill payment needs, they choose one of their services.

Armed with a warm but stern personality and standing at only 4 feet and 11 inches Maragh has taken on her role with much anticipation and commitment. According to her, "the physical aspects of my job are perhaps the most difficult challenges I face on a daily basis. I am a one-woman army repre-senting Western Union, FX Trader and Bill Express in Florida, Washington State, and Atlanta. I love most of all working
with migrant workers especially the farm workers in Washington State."
She went on, "My job requires me to be flexible and adjust to
dignitaries, various Caribbean ethnic groups, and business partners. So
that's another aspect of what I do," she ended.

Maragh
studied at "the best university ever, UWI Mona School of Business",
according to her, where she received her BSc in Management Studies, and
her EMBA in advanced marketing. That was part of her journey that she
really enjoyed and continues to tell/inspire others about the
significance of obtaining a higher level education. This is something
that she has passed down to her son. She tells us, "Everything I have
done and achieved is because I wanted to be the best role model for him.
As a parent, I want to lead by example, I didn't just tell him you have
to get a university education, because I say so but as a single mother
at the time, I went to university to show him the benefits and to give
him a better life," she ended.

FEAR OF
POVERTY

As she continued to unveil more about her
professional and family life, Maragh revealed that she often questions
herself about why she is so driven. "I came from very humble beginnings
and the fear of poverty has motivated me a lot. I am driven by faith and
a very strong belief in God. I grew up in Seivright Gardens off Hagley
Park Road, and I love the area. My childhood is no different than the
many children that grew up in an impoverished inner city," she says.
However, according to her, "ignorance can be bliss while growing up",
because it doesn't allow an individual to focus on the hardships and
negativity that surround them, but rather it forces or allows someone to
live life as a child does in a mischievous, playful manner, loving the
outdoors with no fear or sense of danger.

An alum of
the Holy Childhood High School in St Andrew, Maragh credits Sister Marie
Gorretti for being a saint that helped to mould her into the person
that she is today. Even during high school, her lifelong dream was to be
a doctor, but she later found out that, "I was unsafe around chemicals
(or the other way around) as I blew holes in my uniform in chemistry
class. There went that dream. Even if I had the capabilities, blood
would make me faint every time.

My dream then became
just a deep desire to succeed at whatever life would throw at me," she
ended.

Although she is a hard and astute worker,
Maragh admitted to Outlook that she manages to fit
family time into her schedule ever so often even though it seems
impossible sometimes. "It is difficult at times because the majority of
work is done in the community and weekends are extremely busy. However,
my Husband and I use the opportunity to do things together. We do also
find time to spend family time together and to do charity work." She
went on, "Me time is curling up with my tablet and reading and going to
the movies with my sisters. I go shopping occasionally, not often
enough, but when I do get the chance, it is a great feeling," she
ended.

KNOWLEDGE TO PASS ON

The next
big step for Hazel Maragh is to obtain her PhD so that she can lecture.
"I know I have a wealth of knowledge and experience to pass on to
upcoming marketers and managers, and I want to be a role model and
mentor to them," she says. As it relates to upcoming marketers or
persons who might want to fill her role, Maragh's simple advice is, "you
have to work hard, get a solid education, have high morals, values, and
integrity and recognise that God is the beginning and end all of your
life successes. Have a passion and love for people as they are the most
important."

Recently, Maragh was recognised by the
consulate general and the diaspora community as a Service Luminary
Awardee 2013. According to her, "It feels good to be connected to and
appreciated by the community in which I live and work. I enjoy the work I
do with my church's feeding programme at the Broward Outreach Centre
and, every chance I get, I do work with organisations that give back to
Jamaica. No matter how far I move from Jamaica, my beloved island is
always home and I will do what I can to help, wherever I may be," she
ended.

grandison.garfene@gleanerjm.com