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~Creator of Happy Power Hour Ife Badejo gave key address~

SINT MAARTEN/ANGUILLA – The Governor’s Reception in Anguilla, hosted by Her Excellency Christina Scott, started last year as a way to bring the private and public sectors together, in an effort to better strengthen Anguilla’s economy.

In partnership with the Anguillan Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ACOCI), this year the reception took the form of Happy Power Hour, a premier networking event in St. Maarten. This is the first international Happy Power Hour, which to date has reached more than 1,000 entrepreneurs and professionals.

With the aim of expanding networks, growing businesses, and facilitating collaborative projects, the Happy Power Hour has had speakers like Chairman of Nagico Imran Amjad, Jean Arnell of Computech, and Forbes featured entrepreneur and #1 Leadership Life Trainer in the US Dr. Will Moreland.

Usually, behind the scenes and focused solely on facilitating the networking aspect of the Happy Power Hour, this is the first time that Ifelola Badejo has come to the forefront to share her knowledge on entrepreneurship.

The theme for the evening was “Building Entrepreneurs for the Future.” During the evening, ACOCI presented Bren Romney of the Department of Youth and Culture with a cheque for US $2,000 for the Business Plan Innovative Award of the GET SET program. This program works to remove four identified main barriers to entry for young entrepreneurs including financial and training barriers. Young entrepreneurs can get business plan training and up to $28,000 as seed funding if their business plan has been approved.

About 70 entrepreneurs and decision makers listened to creator of OH YEA (Organization of Hustlers, Young Entrepreneurs of Anguilla) Mirabelle West, and Managing Director of Leviticus Lifestyle Kenroy Herbert share their entrepreneurial journey and the importance of entrepreneurship.

West gave a lively presentation of why it important to work closer together. Herbert told the story of a man who started his business at 65 years old and in financial ruin. He later explained that in his eighties he was a billionaire and beloved for his business: KFC. The man he spoke about was Colonel Sanders.

Badejo did not hesitate to begin with facilitating the networking part of the evening. Before she spoke, she asked the audience to find at least 3 people they did not know, collect their business cards and find out how they can support each other in business. Under the evening’s theme, Badejo shared the 5C’s that are necessary for the 21st century entrepreneur. She explained how Character, Commitment, Communication, Community, and Collaboration are imperative to success in the 21st century.

Character, though self-explanatory, is necessary as people also want to do business with those they like and trust. She highlighted that commitment is absolute and thus can’t be provisional, “you either are or you aren’t.” On communication, she elaborated on the importance of listening to make better decisions. And for community, her claim was simple, “Success is a team sport” and to find out who can be a part of success team in order to best collaborate. She reiterated Greg Satell’s point, that Collaboration is the New Competitive Advantage and summed it up: “If you are not collaborating, then you are competing. If you are competing, then you are losing.”

Badejo invited the audience to the upcoming “entrepreneurial getaway,” DOMINATE 360. This 3-day experience (November 17-19) will provide entrepreneurs with in-depth, real time insights on how to achieve unparalleled success in their business. During this event, entrepreneurs will have fun and dynamic opportunities to connect with likeminded people from around the world on their business.

For more information on DOMINATE 360 or INFOBIZZ, contact foundation.infobizz@gmail.com.