By Timecka James
Norma Bailey-Moore is simply the personification of success and personal achievement and fulfillment. And with this sentence her story would be told.
However, there is much more to the life of the bubbly and sophisticated Norma Bailey-Moore. Her story, its beginning even, might be clichéd but powerful and inspiring nonetheless. She is a quiet and interesting force.
Norma is the middle child of three girls. She grew up in Guys Hill, St. Catherine with her sisters and parents. She lived a typical Jamaican child’s life until her mother passed away when she was only 15 years old. But as is sometimes the case with a tragic incident in an individual’s life, this was the beginning of a wonderful journey.
She lived with family members until she finished her education. She taught herself to be self-sufficient and independent. These were lessons that she carried with her throughout her career and eventually passed on to her children.
She eventually moved to the parish of St. Ann, where she has been living for the past 30 years.
Her first job saw her working as an operations and office administrator at Chukka Cove in Richmond, St. Ann. At the time the post was not much but under Mrs Bailey-Moore’s tenure it became a significant one. Chukka Cove during this period mostly offered a horseback riding excursion. Mrs Bailey-Moore was instrumental in establishing several of the tours now enjoyed by tourists and other visitors at the Chukka Cove Creations (Chukka Blue in Sandy Bay and Chukka Belize in Belize).
In the early years working at Chukka Cove, she met a cruise executive from one of the largest cruise lines in that period that visited the island regularly. It was then Norma built a business relationship with her and initiated new business with the cruise line which ultimately grew faster than expected and afforded Mrs Bailey Moore many trips to neighboring Caribbean islands and the USA, forming partnerships with other cruise lines at the various conferences.
She laughs as she remembered the kind compensation by her boss, as he was so impressed by the initiative she took. “I was overwhelmed by his generosity,” Mrs Bailer Moore added. This new proposal would see Chukka Cove adding tour packages to the already established horseback riding. These experiences include ziplining, a bicycle tour, jeep safari and river tubing.
Mrs Bailey-Moore now in her adult years, transitioned from walking many miles to school as a young girl, to travelling to many countries via airplane and cruise ships. Her experience grew in leaps and bounds and her knowledge of the business became phenomenal. With this new growth in business, transportation services were required to move the many visitors from the pier to the attraction sites as well as from the various hotel properties in and around the Ocho Rios region.
This growth, and her success, inspired her to invest in the purchase of several buses which she developed into her current company, Jamaica Flip Flop Adventures. Flip Flop Adventures came about as a result of sensible saving on her part and a desire to have a personal investment in the field she loves so much. “I was able to afford and thought it was a great idea to invest personal finances in the venture,” she says. Jamaica Flip Flop Adventures is a member of the JUTA Ocho Rios Chapter and currently is the main transportation provider for Mystic Mountain. The drivers are TPDCo trained and have been working with Jamaica Flip Flop Adventures for many years.
After being at Chukka Cove for over 25 years and serving in the additional capacities as sales and marketing manager and manager of Cruise and Hotel Operations, Mrs Bailey-Moore’s circumstances became such that she had to make a tough decision. She felt at this point there was a need to take a step back and do a life/career evaluation. She decided to take a hiatus from her first experience and life’s love.While at home she was invited by the owner/s of Mystic Mountain to come aboard. Little did she know another great adventure would unfold.The early inception of Mystic Mountain saw Mrs. Bailey-Moore serving as the sales and logistics manager, a position which she occupied for seven years.
In addition to her years of service in the tourism industry, Mrs. Bailey-Moore has served her community and Jamaica at large. Some of her achievements lie in a weekly monetary and household assistance for an individual of unsound mind and her family in the Brown’s Town area, and financial sponsorships to young people and community feeding project. She was also a sponsor for the Empowerment Camp for Boys at Risk.
Mrs Moore serves in the Social Service Welfare Ministry at her church Brown’s Town Tabernacle. She also served as director on the Board of Association of Jamaica Attractions Limited (AJAL) for approximately two years.
Mrs. Bailey-Moore was also nominated for the 2013 National Commercial Bank Nation Builders award.
She resides in the Richmond Estates. One of her daughters, Jodianne Murdock, operates her own wedding and event company, Zedoj Events & Weddings. The younger daughter, Judeane Moore works with the Scotia Bank Group.
Mrs. Moore enjoys her time at home with her family and her two grand-daughters Myah-Lee and Morgahn. She operates Jamaica Flip Flop Adventures from home and keeps active with the day to day activities of the business and gardening.
For Mrs. Moore, her journey has been a remarkable one. She set out on a course of survival. There was no concrete goals or girlish dreams; no plans of grandeur. But she went, conquered and revelled in her work in the tourism industry immensely. She enjoyed and still enjoys what she believes she was born to do — to serve people. For her, the whole Chukka Cove and Mystic Mountain experience is invaluable. She sees a bright future for tourism. “Considering the development of the country’s roads, growth in hotel market and frequent cruise ship business I see a very positive future for Jamaica and the Tourism Industry.”
She is indeed grateful and surprised to be nominated as a WOW.
