In spite of the mid-day humidity last Saturday, 25-year-old Shakeeda Castello seemed oblivious to the heat as she sat beneath a tree on the Sea Cows Bay highway, adjacent to the Ebenezer Thomas Primary.

On this day she was off from her regular job at the BVI Electricity 'to hustle' for the bright future she has envisaged for herself and family.

She offers a wide array of fruits and ground provisions, including plantains, avocadoes, pineapples, golden apple, star fruit, tania, passion fruit, figs, green bananas, plantain and pumpkin, as well as cocoa bars and cinnamon sticks to the public.

“This is an additional income for me,” said the Customer Service Representative and the part-owner of Green Thrive.

She added, “because I have goals I have set, so financially, it would be very helpful for me. I would like to major in Finance and Accounts; I have set goals to achieve my career. I would like to purchase my own land so I could build my own house. I would love to have a store; that is one of my goals. That you come in, select what you want, I would be able to employ BVIslanders.”

Castello said it was her desire to achieve her dreams that has pushed her to team up with another individual, whom she did not name, to import fresh fruits and vegetables from Dominica and St. Vincent to resell.

“I love being independent. It [setting up the business] was a little ticklish at first, but with the help of my customers and the encouragement from them, I’ll keep coming.”

The young entrepreneur who has only been in business for a month said she had another reason for venturing into that particular business.

“I would love for everyone to have a healthier lifestyle instead of eating junk. So we are bringing in stuff to aid in a healthier BVI.”

She added: “I will be selling across from Ebenezer Thomas Primary every other Saturday for right now. Once I get the supplier up and running in the countries that we ordered from, it would be every Saturday.”

Along with Castello were her family members who provide support in helping her achieve her targets.

Advice

In the meantime, the young entrepreneur offered some words of advice to other aspiring entrepreneurs.

“My advice to anyone who would love to start a business is you would have a lot of people discouraging you and a lot of obstacles in your way but don’t give up. Once you put your mind to it, everything is possible; no matter what anyone try, you will achieve your goals,” she said as she returned to her customers who were eager to exchange pocket change for freshly grown food.