This humble, friendly and achieving Christian woman of the North Coast incorporates her love of God into her daily routine. These character traits have been vital in directing Sherrice Lyons’ career from being once a director and manager with the Jamaica Public Service (JPS) to now serving as the director of the Eastern Regional campus of Northern Caribbean University (NCU).
Mrs Lyons balances being a leader and a woman of substance, with her family life, as she is a mother of twins, Ravon and Rodney Lyons and is married to Robert Lyons, a financial advisor with the Sagicor Group in Ocho Rios, St. Ann.
Sherrice Lyons hails from the outskirts of Spanish Town, Catherine. She is one of three children for Noel and Olive Williams, who were both Adventists. Growing up with a Christian background influenced her significantly.
“My love for service definitely comes from that and seeing my parents exemplify those values as well, because my father was a public servant for all his life. He was the chief radiographer for Jamaica and my mother was an administrative assistant. So, I lived all my life with service and we were not permitted not to serve. The needs of others were always more important than ours,” Mrs Lyons explained.
Along with her husband, Mrs Lyons is a member of the Ocho Rios street people feeding committee of the Ocho Rios Seventh Day Adventist Church where they worship.
She attended Willodene Preparatory School and then St. Jago High School. It was at the latter, that her leadership skills began to take shape as she assumed leadership roles in the Inter School Christian Fellowship (ISCF) and was a member of the debating club. She also played the piano at school devotions. This love for the piano continues into adulthood, as she plays the piano at church.
After Sherrice Lyons left high school, she enrolled at the College of Arts, Science and Technology (CAST), now University of Technology (UTECH), where she pursued a certificate and diploma in Business Administration.
It was at CAST that her association with the Jamaica Public Service (JPS) would commence. She did holiday jobs there and upon graduating, she was employed full time in July of 1993 as the accounts receivable employee clerk.
Her twenty-year association with JPS would see her transitioning and changing eleven positions, the latter two being regional director, North Western Business Unit (2009-2011) and director of Commercial Services (2011-2013). Her tenure with JPS ended in January of 2013 after her position was made redundant.
THE JPS EXPERIENCE
On reflection, Mrs Lyons found her tenure at JPS to have been impactful on her life. “It was an excellent training ground. I like to look at it as a university where I gained lots of exposure and learned alot,” she recalled.
Looking back, the hurricane recovery period was always dear to her heart as she saw persons being safely fully restored to power.
The job did come with its share of challenges, but it was the strength of God that was her main driving force that kept her on her stint. “It was the inner strength from God definitely that made a vast difference there. Also, the values that I had, the fairness, empathy and the love for persons allowed me to cope with it. I was able to empathize with the customers and go over and beyond to satisfy them. It was never about me trying to show how powerful I was there. It was always about service,” she argued.
While working at the JPS office in Trelawny, there was an encounter with a gun man, who held up the office. “It was very frightening, because it brought us face to face with something that persons experienced all along which I had never faced before… The very mere fact that that God brought me through without anyone being hurt reassured my faith,” she explained.
Regardless of the challenges, she gave true dedication and commitment to the job at hand.
When asked if she regretted having to leave JPS, she offered this response. “To some extent, but not significantly. I believe there is a time and place for everything and I had done my due with JPS. The time had come for me to move on with my life. But I am eternally grateful to all I gained during my time at JPS.”
LECTURER
Sherrice Lyons found the right balance while working at JPS. She managed to achieve her Bachelor of Science degree in 2002 and her Master’s degree in 2005, both in Business Administration from Northern Caribbean University (NCU).
She is on the final lap of completing her doctoral degree in Industrial/Organizational Psychology from Walden University. She has achieved a GPA of 4.0 and for that has been inducted in the Golden Key International and Psci Chi International Honors society in psychology, where she has lifetime membership.
During her period at JPS, she began lecturing in 2008 at the Salem Campus of NCU and also lectured with University College of the Caribbean (UCC) from 2011. She has now committed herself to lecturing and imparting knowledge to future generations.
“It has been very fulfilling to be able to impact lives and be able to really see progression and learning taking place. I always encourage my students to excel and don’t just settle with a Bachelors (degree),” Mrs Lyons said.
On January 11, 2013, she was ushered back into the managerial field as director of the Eastern Regional Campus of NCU in Kingston. Her job entails total administration of the eastern campus. “I was not looking for this position, but it was the intervention of God. I now have an opportunity to influence not just a single class at a time, but a larger number of persons.”
BALANCE
Sherrice Lyons resides in Claremont, St Ann with her husband, Robert. Despite her busy schedule over the years, she has balanced being a wife and a mother of twins. Her sons, who are both graduates of York Castle High School, are blazing their own path towards success as they are enrolled at NCU. Rodney is studying Psychology, while Ravon is studying Tourism and Hospitality Management.
Mrs Lyons expressed her sincere gratitude to several persons who were instrumental in her rise to become a successful woman. Among those are: her parents, Noel and Olive Williams; Derrick Tulloch, manager of Treasury and Tom Dorcey, who was senior vice president of Customer Operations, both of JPS; and her husband, Robert Lyons, who supported her and allowed her to pursue her goals.
“I’d say put God first and why I say put Him first is that, when that is done, everything else falls into place. It sets your moral compass and helps set what is important. I would say also dedicate yourself to your profession, but ensure you balance the time with your family,” was the message of Sherrice Lyons, a woman of substance from Jamaica’s North Coast.
