By Barbara Ellington, Flair Co-ordinator 
Carlington Wilmot Photo
SHE IS the only woman heading a horse racing entity anywhere in the world. For that outstanding achievement, Rose Campbell recently received the inaugural Trailblazer Award for outstanding achievement in a male dominated field. Flair asked her the following questions.
FL: What is the Trailblazer Award and who started it?
R.C.: "A group of local women in the business and corporate sectors came together and decided to recognise outstanding women for their work. Prospective awardees have to meet these two as well as other criteria -- they have to be excelling in a male dominated field and their position has to be unique."
FL: In a recent article, CTL was described as, "...a rudderless ship" by trainer, Vin Edwards. Has there been any serious fallout with the departure of Danny Melville?
R.C.: "There is no fallout, there is a management team in place to carry out the organisation's plans and the team has been carrying out plans set prior to the departure of the board. Every month I provide the Minister of Finance with a report on the running of CTL so Government is kept abreast of what goes on."
FL: What do you love most about your job and what do you find most challenging?
R.C.: "It gives me the opportunity to reach out and touch various participants in the company by utilising the scarce resources to benefit all. I have no brief for any group, I am open to all suggestions and I am proudest of the turnaround in the staff morale. We launched a work literacy programme which is run by staff and over 30 persons are attending the classes that are held four times weekly. I am keen on training at all levels and our aim is to begin by teaching basic functional literacy and numeracy.
The result of staff morale is further reflected in the unaudited profits for the last year which show approximately 20 per cent increase over the previous year."
FL: Your preference for hiring and uplifting women is well known, why is this so?
R.C.: "Fundamentally, when you hire a woman you feed a family. I want to kill the notion that women cannot work well together. The three top posts at CTL are held by women. Women are not afraid to take decisions and stand on them and are more committed to family. I make no apologies, if I have two persons of equal competence, the woman will always get the edge."
FL: You have sometimes been described as having balls, give us an example of a time when you demonstrated this.
R.C.: "I am not afraid of tough decisions. Many thought I didn't know about the job but I have demonstrated my competence having helped to guide decisions for the eight years during which I was the only woman with all the men on the board and I always spoke my mind. When I didn't like hearing the men swear, I found a way to put a stop to it. I will disagree and let you know why. My detractors call me 'Iron Lady/Maggie'. I take it as a compliment because if I can attain just 15 per cent of her achievement, I'd be proud."
FL: What do you say to women in particular who continue to think that women who reach the top, do so on their backs?
R.C.: "It's unfortunate if people think this is the way. I know many women who work hard to reach their goals. We don't need to say things like this when a woman is four times as good as a man at making career advancements. Every opportunity I get I honour men. I did not apply for this job; one of the male directors of CTL saw my potential and I gave it a try."
FL: Do you have political ambitions?
R.C.: "I respect people who get involved in it but it is too harsh and unkind. Someone has to take the responsibility but I have no such ambitions."
FL: What of love, marriage and family?
R.C.: "I am very family conscious, I come from a close knit family and love my parents who taught us solid values. I'm single and available but I'm looking for a deeply spiritual man who is very financially independent and willing to be committed to one person.
Contrary to rumours, I am not involved with anyone."
FL: What is your vision for CTL?
R.C.: "My vision is twofold -- to utilise technology and human resources to move the company into the global economy, taking it from merely gambling to gaming and entertainment. We want to move CTL into the tourism market and in the process we will be promoting Jamaica as well, but we have to perfect the programme here first.
Secondly, we have a corporate responsibility to give back and so we have established a scholarship fund for schools in the area and are currently tracking six students to tertiary level."
FL: How do you relax and unwind?
R.C.: "I spend a day at the spa getting a massage, facial and the works. My greatest past time is reading and I'm currently working on my doctorate in international business. I would love to go back to UTech where I previously taught, to do some teaching as well."
