Beyond Beauty
Published:Sunday | March 9, 2014 | 12:00 AM
Natalia Oh, Contributor
'It was clear that I was being called home. Home isn't necessarily where your navel string is buried. More often, home is where your soul is at peace. For me, that is Jamaica.' - LaRonda Robinson
From the south in the culturally rich state of Alabama, LaRonda Robinson, born in a family of five siblings, explains her youth as one of need, desperation, anger, and abuse.
The family moved around the southern United States then finally anchored its roots in Florida. After being married at the tender age of 16, and having her son, Joseph, Robinson ended her 11-year marriage. Being a single mother led to her working two jobs in order to make ends meet, and after years of reinventing herself, she ventured out into the trepidatious world of dating once more.
While out dancing with her girlfriends, she met her future husband - she blushes as she reminisces that it was 'love at first sight'. After three years of dating, they tied the knot, he adopted her son and, together, they have two children, completing a perfectly blended family.
He was a welder at the sugar mill and she was a manager of a Fortune 500 phone company, and their family vacations were always spent in Jamaica. It was always their dream to move to Jamaica. After a near-fatal construction accident, her husband was convinced that he no longer wanted to be anyone's employee. After back surgery and months of painful rehab learning to walk again, 'King Man', as she affectionately calls him, began blending roots drinks in their kitchen, selling it to friends and West Indian grocery stores.
In 1997, the family sold their roots-drinks business and packed up their life into a 40-foot container and moved to Jamaica. They built their dream home on family land in rural southeast St Elizabeth. In her words, Robinson shares that "a career filled with 60-hour work-weeks will eventually burn you out. The tranquility of the slower pace of rural life has been a boon for my soul. After a nomadic, disconnected, unattached childhood, I've finally found home here in St Elizabeth," she tells Outlook.
Here's getting to know LaRonda Robinson and what makes her a lady that is 'beyond beauty'.
How do you spend your weekends?
I am blessed to spend weekends with my boyfriend, who is also my best friend and also my husband. We both enjoy dining by the water, listening to the waves.
What is your favourite Jamaican vacation spot?
For a serene getaway weekend, I choose Taino Cove, Old Wharf, Treasure Beach. The owner, Winnie Hylton, infuses her warmth into every aspect of Taino Cove's hospitality. For unadulterated pampering, we indulge in a week at Sandals Grande Riviera in Ochi.
What is your dream vacation spot?
One summer, I will cruise to Alaska with my three sisters, in memory of our late mother.
Who is your favourite author?
Florence Scovel Shinn, who wrote The Game of Life and How To Play It (1925) and Your Word is Your Wand (1928).
What is the best advice that you have ever received?
'All it takes is one foot in front of the other. Even baby steps make progress.'
The advice came from my mother, a teacher for more than 30 years. When I would be frustrated by my inability to see progress in any area, she would encourage me with the reminder that I only need to keep at the task, persevere, just put one foot in front of the other, and remain faithful to the journey. I didn't have to make great strides every day, because even baby steps make progress.
What charity do you support?
Vision for Jamaica, Inc is an all-volunteer initiative established to ensure Jamaican high-school graduates are computer-coding literate; coding is the new literacy. We have begun by going into primary schools and showing the students, via game playing, how easy it is to learn computer coding. We have begun today to equip our children to be successful tomorrow.