STEPHENIE LUGG-LAWRENCE
Senior Corporate Manager, Marketing, JMMB Group Children: Joshua, 8 and Isabel, 3
Stephenie Lugg-lawrence is responsible for leading and coordinating the marketing initiatives for selected business lines and segments, namely: JMMB Investments, JMMB Fund Managers, JMMB Corporate Solutions, JMMB Capital Markets and the JMMB Group (Jamaica) digital services. This role sees her leading a team which has direct oversight for campaign development, sponsorship, events planning and execution, corporate communications and digital media management and content development in her capacity as a key brand champion, who also supports revenue generation for JMMB Group entities in Jamaica.
“Since March 2020 when COVID-19 hit Jamaica’s shores, I can describe the juggling act as mother and professional in two words — interesting and challenging,” she said in explaining how she has had to change the way she carries out her roles as a mother and a professional this year.
“I have had to learn to be more resilient on both fronts
— I have had to upskill as a marketer in an increasingly fastpaced, digital environment, as well as a mother, which means making the most out of every minute, planning ahead and quickly finding solutions that work for me in my home so that I can manage my environment; recognising everyone’s environment is different.
“Having two children, a full-time job and no additional external help, in a bid to limit my family to persons inside of our ‘bubble’, has been a steep hill that I have learnt to climb. The silver lining is that my children have learnt to be more independent and adaptable, because I cannot do everything and they understand that mommy has to balance between work and home.”
What is her motivation for giving her best both at home and at work?
“I am intrinsically motivated as naturally, I am a high achiever and set high targets for myself,” she said. “Additionally, I have always been a busy bee, I really don’t know how to relax... I guess following in my parents’ footsteps. My parents are very hard workers so I really don’t know anything else. My mother had five children and worked six days per week, 12 hours per day. Similarly, my father worked seven days per week, and so as children we too learnt to be independent and responsible very quickly.”
Regarding the attributes she wants her children to emulate, she said, “This is a difficult question, as I want them to be the best they can be and, of course, be better than me.
If I had to pick one attribute, I would say resilient. This life and the world can be a challenging place at times, and to overcome obstacles, you cannot give up, you have to keep pushing forward. To truly achieve what you want and to maximise your potential, you have to be resilient.”