The Distinguished

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8 THE GLEANER’S FLAIR MAGAZINE • MONDAY, MARCH 5, 2018
Distinguished
THE
Business
Yhordanka
Akwanza
Building an empire
YHORDANKA AKWANZA loves life
and has a passion to continuously
grow and develop as an entrepreneur.
The co-owner and COO of Eyeland
Eyewear, came to Jamaica
from Cuba in 2003, not
knowing the language. “At
first, I worked voluntarily at
Mona Preparatory as an
assistant dance teacher to
learn English. Back then, I
couldn’t even say hi,” she
told Flair.
Akwanza was introduced to the eyewear
world which was her husband’s family
business . In 2004, she decided to focus
entirely on the optical work which was her
husband Ketao’s passion. “In that same year,
we started Eyeland Eyewear with my
husband as the brains behind it all and me
at the front at customer service,” she
explained. When the company started, they
had three locations among the family.
Today, Eyeland Eyewear has 16 locations
and is no longer a shared
family business.
“When you have limited formal
education, and you are a self-proclaimed
entrepreneur, all you do day in and day out
is think about solutions to problems that
can also turn in a profit,”
said Akwanza who had
pursued a degree in Afro-
Cuban dance in Havana.
According to Akwanza,
the main challenge with
creating and building a
brand is human resources.
“When you don’t have qualified people to
achieve all tasks, then everything else will
fail. We find it very challenging to find
highly motivated individuals who look at
working at Eyeland Eyewear as a carrier and
not a trampoline in to other employments
or school,” she explained.
She has immense pride in the
transparency and growth of her company. “I
think it’s
safe
to say we were the first ones to advertise
our prices and place prescription lens
laboratories out in the open inside the store.
Before it was all a secret in a back room, but
for us, having the customers understand the
process is a priority,” she said, explaining
what makes Eyeland Eyewear different from
its competitors.
MOM OF TWO
The mother of two young boys admits
that running a business and balancing a
family is very messy and that sometimes one
will overpower the other. “I may have to
live with a dirty house for a week, so I
can focus on team building and
training,” said Akwanza. “The
important thing is to understand that
when you consider your business your
baby, you can’t expect to not treat it
as a member of the family. When you
are a business owner business is a big part of
your life,” she added.
To keep motivated and de-stress,
Akwanza loves to dance her worries away
and indulge in international cuisine. “I love
bands like Bat for Lashes and Björk – those
are my favourites. For fun, I love paddle
boarding even though it has been replaced
with nature walks lately,” she admits.
Her advice to all young entrepreneurs is
to do what you love with passion and listen
to your gut, the money will follow. “When I
fall off the motivation wagon, I
remind myself of where I am
coming from, and I look at all
we have done, and I thank
the universe for everything
I have,” said Akwanza.
CONTRIBUTED
PHOTO