FROM POVERTY TO THE HEIGHTS OF HOSPITALITY TRAINING AND MANAGEMENT
RUNAWAY BAY, St Ann; Jan 27, 2025
By Yisroel R. Lawrence-Ali
(Exclusive to the North Coast Times)
In our journeys through life, there are often defining figures, moments, and decisions that carve out the paths we eventually walk. This narrative is about perseverance, grit, and transformation. It captures the essence of overcoming adversity. It’s a true story that should resonate deeply in a society where so many of us must rise above challenges to seize success.
Dr Janet Dyer, Director Principal of the HEART College of Hospitality Services and the Cardiff Hotel and Spa, Runaway Bay, St Ann, is a living embodiment of resilience and purpose. She has given 38 years of service to HEART/NSTA Trust.
(Dr Janet Dyer at Cardiff Hotel/HEART Runaway Bay)
Janet’s journey is as inspiring as it is extraordinary. From humble beginnings in Burnt Savannah, rural St. Elizabeth, to the pinnacle of leadership in Jamaica’s hospitality training sector, her life proves that education can truly carve a path out of poverty.
Growing up, Janet navigated a life defined by economic hardship but abundant in love and lessons. “I have no fear of telling people that I grew up poor,” she says.
With the Governor General’s Award ––
Yet, as a child, she never wore her poverty as a label. It wasn’t until high school, when disparities became glaringly obvious, that she realized the weight of her circumstances. Still, she clung to the belief instilled in her during her formative years:
“Labour for learning before you grow old/,
For learning is better than silver and gold.”
These words of the memory gem, imparted by her beloved basic schoolteacher, Miss Anne, shaped Janet’s mindset.
Her primary school teachers were instrumental in shaping her early education, helping her navigate the challenges of the Common Entrance Examination. She passed for St. Hilda’s High School in Brown’s Town, St Ann. The geographic distance between the school and her home in St Elizabeth posed a significant barrier, with costs a major hurdle.
(First in a series)
She had to stand down from that coveted place in one of Jamaica’s best secondary schools. Instead, she continued her education at Santa Cruz All-Age. From there, she won a place at St Elizabeth Technical High (STETHS) through the ‘Overage’ or Technical Examinations.
High school brought its own turning points, one of which was the profound influence of Audrey Reid, a former Jamaican high jumper and a Physical Education teacher at STETHS.
Her struggles were financial and emotional. She recalls sitting out lunch periods because she had no money to buy food. Friends often stepped in as also did Ms. Reid. Ms. Reid’s mentorship extended beyond the classroom and athletics field –she provided emotional and financial support. “She paid my exam fees and told me that the only thing she wanted was for me to succeed,” Janet shares.
“A major defining moment for me, when I realized that I wanted to change my circumstances was in high school. As a member of the school’s Girl’s Guides, I was asked to attend a graduation. So, I was all decked out in my Girl’s Guides uniform, because the school provides the uniforms. Then one of my classmates said to me, ‘So why do you have to wear your Girl’s Guides uniform?’ And I replied, ‘Aren’t Girl Guides expected to wear our uniform?’ Aand she said with a look of disdain ‘Is poor you so poor?’ At that moment it hit me like a ton of bricks, the sudden realization that I am poor. I didn’t answer her, but I said to myself, this will never happen again.”
“Growing up, my environment was hard, and I think it gave me that drive and determination that I now have. I had a made-up mind that I was not going to be in that statistic [as] one of the young ladies in my community who would go out daily and pick peanuts, weave baskets, and ended up doing it for a living.”
She said her resolve to make something much better of herself was strengthened by an incident when she was a teen.
“I painfully remember one day I was washing some clothes; I was tired and weary from this overwhelming task. Just then, my aunt came around and saw me resting and asked, ‘Why haven’t you finished washing?’ With all the weight of the world on my shoulders and the looming abyss of gloom and doom, summoning all the hope that I could find I said to her, ‘I’m tired’.
She said her aunt responded in a fit of laughter and said Janet would be condemned to scrubbing people’s dirty clothes and having a lot of children. Janet’s response was that she was going to have a PhD before she turned 40 and would do well in life.
TERTIARY LEVEL PROSPECTS
“There and then I repeated my affirmation to myself ‘I am going to be somebody in life because I have to help my mother, my queen I have to make it in life.’”
Her mother Esmerilda Dennis, Miss Vadnie or Mama V is her bedrock, her confidante, and her queen.
After graduating from STETHS Janet was accepted by several tertiary institutions, including the University of the West Indies and Church Teachers’ College. However financial limitations prevented her from attending any, at the time.
The transition to adulthood was accompanied by challenges, including motherhood, with the arrival of her first child, Dwayne. He became her responsibility and fresh motivation.
(National recognition for voluntary services)
In addition to family, teachers, and friends, Janet Dyer attributes her success to public servants such as the late Prime Minister Edwards Seaga. He founded the HEART Trust. He thought of her as the little train that could. Member of Parliament J.C. Hutchinson is also credited with helping to open doors for her.
It was he who introduced her to the HEART Trust, Jamaica’s flagship institution for technical and vocational education. With a renewed sense of purpose, she enrolled at the Runaway Bay HEART Academy. She excelled, graduating as class valedictorian, the most professional trainee, and a high achiever in mathematics and tourism.
Her entry into the professional world was humbling. Armed with certificates and accolades, she accepted a position as a dishwasher at Boscobel Beach Hotel, St Mary.
What might have seemed like an underutilization of her skills was, in her words, simply “starting somewhere.” Within three months, her determination and work ethic propelled her to the post of assistant cook.
After a year at Boscobel Beach, she won a scholarship to study at Hocking College where she earned an associate degree and copped the Presidential Award for scholastic achievement.
A period of work and study shaped her activities at this time as she gained a Bachelor of Science Degree in Professional Management and a Master’s degree in Business Administration from Nova University
In the wake of those academic and professional achievements, she was promoted to Food and Beverage Manager at Boscobel Beach.
BACK TO HEART
Then she thought it was time to go back to HEART where it all started for her. She returned to Runaway Bay HEART Hotel & Training Institute as Head of Section, teaching Culinary Arts, in 1998. Soon she was promoted to deputy manager, in 2001 and became the manager of the training institute in 2003
Three years later, in 2006, Janet Dyer was made General Manager combining both portfolios of training and hotel operations, at Runaway Bay HEART.
Her professional advancement continued, as in the same year, 2006, the woman who years earlier had refused to accept that she would wash clothes for a living became the first female Certified Hotel Administrator on the island.
Janet Dyer remained in the Government Service and in training as in 2009 she transferred to the Ministry of Education as Technical Director for the Career Advancement Programme (CAP)
Soon she was to return to HEART Runaway Bay, in 2013, as the Director (for the hotel) and Principal (of the college) with the title of Director Principal.
She relaunched the hotel and school as the Cardiff Hotel and Spa and the HEART College of Hospitality Services in March 2013 and February 2014 respectively.
Despite the responsibility she has had to shoulder in her career, along the way of her service in education and training and hospitality management, Janet Dyer also achieved academic and professional certification from a range of institutions including her PhD in Hotel and Tourism Management from Washington University.
Yet another big move for Dr Dyer came when, in November 2017 she went to HEART NSTA Corporate as Managing Director. Over those three years of structural and philosophical development in HEART/NSTA and the system of vocational training she oversaw the merger of HEART and three other entities – Jamaica Foundation for Lifelong Learning, the Apprenticeship Board and the National Youth Service. That experience also included the amendment of the HEART Trust Act that was passed in the House of Parliament in December 2019.
“At the end of my three-year contract I returned to my substantive post at Runaway Bay in March 2021,” Dr Dyer stated.
Her focus in going back to her substantive position of Director Principal of the HEART College of Hospitality Services/Cardiff Hotel & Spa is the continued development of the college, building out the Center of Excellence in Culinary Arts and Gastronomy, that she established in 2021 upon her return.
She has moved the institution to become a member of the World Association of Chefs, achieving programme Approved status with the American Culinary Federation, and the Cardiff Hotel & Spa achieving Green Globe Gold Status for their Environmental Sustainability.
She says she is giving back for so much given to her by HEART, especially where it started for the St Elizabeth girl, at Runaway Bay, St Ann. She is also living a promise she made to the late Edward Seaga in one of their many discourses, that she would remain with HEART and ensure that young boys and girls, like herself get the opportunity to earn certification and become the best version of themselves.
Her work has not gone unnoticed. Janet Dyer was in 2009 a recipient of the Governor General’s Achievement Award and was appointed a Justice of the Peace in that same year. Even higher recognition came when she received the Governor General’s Medal of Honor in 2023.
Janet is mother to Dwane, Roshane, and Xavier.
Today, as Director Principal, she continues to nurture future generations of hospitality professionals, ensuring they, too, can write their own stories of triumph.
Yisroel R. Lawrence-Ali
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