An accomplished managing director with a track record of performance in tourism, Althea Dawkins is driven by a passion geared towards helping others.
Not only is her life centered on being the managing director for the world renowned, Blue Mountain Bicycle Tours Limited, but she is a loving mother and wife, Justice of the Peace (JP), a Rotarian and a humanitarian.
With all these responsibilities, the Trelawny-born woman who overcame poverty, has not lost focus and has remained a humble quiet and reserved person.
Her current and former employees, as well as her family members describe her as being a “phenomenal woman,” “kind,” “compassionate,” “ambitious,” “firm-yet-gentle,” “honest,” “no-nonsense,” “empowering” and “unparalleled.”
“I am humbled by my achievements and one of the things I do is I pray to God every day for more humility. That is what makes me the person I am today,” Mrs Dawkins explained in an interview with The Times.
THE TRELAWNY YEARS
Born Althea Dennis, her life began in the predominantly farming community of Troy in Trelawny, where she spent her young days with her doting parents, Winston and Veronica Dennis and six other siblings.
While yellow yam was the community’s main staple, Althea recognized quite early that the required staple for her becoming successful was simple — a passion for hard work, dedication to realistic goals, underpinned by quality education.
Her mother was a dressmaker, while her father was a farmer.
“I grew up extremely poor, so challenges were like your parents couldn’t afford to send you to school. I’ve been to school on many days without lunch. We were living in walking distance from school so we would go to get something for lunch and we would go back,” Mrs Dawkins reminisced.
She said it was these conditions that aided her in becoming the woman she is today.
“There was just a part of me that didn’t want to live this way. It’s too hard. You know that seeing yourself going to school without the necessary textbooks and it’s not because your parents weren’t trying. It’s really because they couldn’t afford it… I told myself I had to come out of this,” Mrs Dawkins said.
Armed with this determination to rise from living in poverty, she successfully pursued her education.
EDUCATION
Althea attended the Troy Primary School where she completed grades one to five. Afterwards, she moved onto grade six at the Albert Town Primary School, where she was successful at the Common Entrance Examination, which secured her a place at the Albert Town High School where she rose to the most coveted position of head girl. This experience left an indelible mark on her life.
“It (being Head Girl) is a role that you take on and you have to be an example to every other student. It molded you and from then on I knew I had to be on top of the rest.”
And that is what Althea Dawkins has certainly done in her life; rising from poverty in Trelawny to being at the helm of a renowned tourism entity.
Upon her final year in high school, Mrs Dawkins copped six O’Level subjects including her favorite, Mathematics, for which she was awarded the prestigious 1st place all island trophy.
This was only the starting block of Althea’s race to success as she journeyed to Kingston, Jamaica, where she successfully pursued a diploma course in Accounting at Duff’s Business College, before graduating in 1991.
Later she did a diploma in business administration at the Jamaica Institute of Management and also a diploma in financial decision making with the University of New Orleans.
THE WORLD OF WORK
With her guiding principles founded in Christ and her favorite quote by Anne Frank, “The weak die out and the strong will survive, and will live on forever,” Mrs Dawkins entered the world of work in 1993.
She landed a job at National Meats Distributors Limited, where she worked as an accounting clerk for two years. She credited her former boss there, Ian Jarrett for giving her “guidance” and helping her to be “the best manager” that she could be.
THE BLUE MOUNTAIN BICYCLE TOURS STORY
In 1995, Mrs Dawkins would embark on an amazing adventure into the business of tourism, when she began working as an administrative assistant at Blue Mountain Bicycle Tours.
With her exceptional work attitude and passion for her job, Mrs Dawkins was elevated to the position of office manager and later in 1998 to general manager. Five years later, she was further promoted by the company’s shareholders to the position of managing director, where she has remained to date.
HER LEADERSHIP
Under her leadership, Mrs Dawkins explained that the company’s operations have been revolutionized, including the cadre of staff which has increased by more than 50 percent since its inception in 1991 to meet the increasing demand of travelers to experience the one of a kind “downhill bicycle tour”.
She was also instrumental in spearheading the international presence of the bicycle tour and under her leadership, the tour became the highlight at many all-inclusive brands across the island. She however never stopped there, as she worked with her directors to broaden the company’s portfolio by delving into other businesses and tourist attractions.
In recognizing the growing success of the company, Blue Mountain Bicycle Tours Limited was awarded by the Tourism Product Development Company (TPDCo) in November 2006 for “Consistency in Operational Standards (2001 to 2006).” Again in May 2011, the company was represented with the “Tourism Award” by the St. Ann Chamber of Commerce in recognition for “Dedicated Contribution to the Field of Tourism.”
STRATEGIES
Throughout the years, Mrs Dawkins portfolio as managing director has remained relevant as she has employed a multiplicity of strategies to survive the rapid forces of change that have impacted the tourism sector and by extension her company.
“We wanted to essentially grow the business. We use to operate four days per week from Tuesday to Friday and then I extended the days from Mondays through to Saturdays. With this being done, we had to increase the number of employees by about 50 percent. We increased our fleet, so the company had grown drastically in the period I had made the changes,” Mrs Dawkins pointed out.
PASSION TO HELP YOUNG PEOPLE
Her passion for assisting young people has also been evident through her managing Blue Mountain Bicycle Tours as she has employed young persons, who are without experience in order to train them.
“We are one such company that has employed young people without experience… For me, your attitude comes first and everybody has to start somewhere and who will give these people the opportunity for getting the experience. So what I did when we had our interviews, we make sure that the people had the right attitude and all the requirements that they need for the job…” Mrs Dawkins explained.
She added that it is also fulfilling to see those who have been employed at the company in other organizations such as Sandals, knowing that they have been trained at Blue Mountain Bicycle Tours.
Not only has Mrs Dawkins revolutionized the Blue Mountain Bicycle Tours Limited, but she has equally made strides of her own, which was evident when she walked away in 2006, the winner of the Boss of the Year competition, hosted by the Jamaica Association of Administrative Professionals (JAAP), St. Ann Chapter. Equally, she was awarded in 2013, the regional winner for NCB’s Nation Builder Award for Women in Business.
HUMANITARIAN AT HEART
Being the managing director of a company that sees her working sometimes all weekend, has not stopped Mrs Dawkins in being the humanitarian she is.
She has dedicated her time to serve as vicepresident and also past director and treasurer for the Association of Jamaica Attractions Ltd (AJAL), which is a non-profit organization made up of members of various attractions who lobby for other attractions, especially small attractions to the government.
Mrs Dawkins also serves Rotary Club of Ocho Rios East in the capacity as club administrative director and she is the president elect for the 2017-2018 year. She is also a member of the St. Ann Chamber of Commerce.
Last year she was appointed a justice of the peace.
Her voluntary work has also seen her contributing to ensure that over 50 unsung heroes employed to the North Eastern Parks and Markets (NEPM) in the parish of St Ann were honored at a function in March 2000 for their dedication to maintaining civic pride.
Mrs Dawkins also has spearheaded several other outreach projects under her now defunct, Yield to Kindness Club, where many Jamaicans, especially in the St. Ann community have benefited.
“I grew up from very humble beginnings and I know what it is when you don’t have and you are in need. Sometimes there is just the pain of not having. I told myself that if there is anybody who I can prevent from going through that want, that need and I can contribute in any way I can, I will make myself available,” she added.
FAMILY LIFE
Although quite busy with work and community development, Mrs Dawkins is extremely dedicated to family and is very involved in the lives of her three sons; Clozen Ellis, Donovan Bryan and Ajani Bryan, despite two being adults, as well as, her two step-sons; Leon and Alec Dawkins.
Her business partner, who is also employed to Blue Mountain Bicycle Tours, Orlando Dawkins, is her husband. Mrs Dawkins credits him for being a super husband.
“He is a super, super husband. He is just my friend and he makes things easier. Managing the kids is very easy with him being around,” she said proudly.
Mrs Dawkins said that when she is not busy at work, she enjoys decorating at home and shopping.
Her husband, Orlando described her as an “extraordinary woman and excellent mother.” He said that although she works so hard, she placed her children first. He noted that working together with his wife was “exceptional for the business.”
Mrs Dawkins’ son, Clozen Ellis, who is also employed at Blue Mountain Bicycle Tours said that his mother was “one in ten million.”
“Working in a family business has its challenges. She is in my life in two capacities as my mom and my boss, but I wouldn’t trade it for anything else,” he said, humbly.
MESSAGE TO WOMEN
With several of Jamaica’s women suffering abuse by men and some even being killed, Mrs Dawkins’ message to these women is for them to be careful of the type of men that they chose to be in their life.
“One thing I can say to women is that we need to be careful about the persons we are choosing to be our partners. Try not to rush into a relationship. Try to also know the person as much as you can, because people can only pretend for a while, but their true colours will eventually come out,” Mrs Dawkins advised.
