Latoya Grindley, Gleaner Reporter

Dianne Ashton-Smith has survived family tragedies but remains strong with the help of her mother's strength. - Norman Grindley/Acting Photography Editor

Having dedicated a fair number of her years to the education, hospitality and media industries, she is ready to take on the challenge and, of course, the rewards of the manufacturing sector. Meet recently appointed communications manager of Red Stripe, Dianne Ashton-Smith.

A proud country girl from Manchester, Ashton-Smith is enjoying her new job which she started three months ago at an organisation with which she feels proud to be associated. "I love the pace of Red Stripe. I am enjoying it. This job is new to me because it is not directly in the hospitality sector. It is about manufacturing which has the consumer side to it. It's a whole new world which encompasses sales and customer service."

The poised manager started in the work world as a playmaker at a hotel. She also did a stint as a teacher before later returning to hospitality.

Familiar name

If her name sounds familiar, it could be that she also worked as a radio announcer, when she took a break from the hospitality sector. "They fell in love with my voice and I subsequently got a job at KLAS. I spent seven years as an on-air announcer. I was also a producer of the mid-morning programme with Wilmot 'Mutty' Perkins. And a truly exciting period for me was 'The Afterglow', an evening programme, of which I was a part." Following this, she again returned to the hospitality field, but this time in management areas in public relations and communications.

She then turned to the The American Chamber of Commerce of Jamaica (AmCham) where she served as general manager from 2006 up until this year when she left to take up her new task.

With quite an impressive résumé and work success, Ashford-Smith says life was not always smooth sailing. "I am divorced and, as a matter of fact, I moved to New York to try and save my marriage at one point, but that didn't work. I also lost three of my siblings - two tragically and my father. My mother was also diagnosed with cancer. There was just so much happening." Thankfully, though, she says her family and friends stood by her in her time of distress. "Family and friends are extremely important to me; everything else can go or fall apart. And so, I think they are the angels God has put on this Earth for me."

Bond with mother

She has a special and strong bond with her mother whom she considers her hero, admiring her positive characteristics. "I come from a very tightly knit family. My mother is a cancer survivor who lost her husband and three children. But despite all of that, she sees the positive in everything and she has made me into who I am today."

To take a breather from a hectic life, Ashton-Smith regularly visits her 'foundation'. "I call Manchester my foundation. I go back home at least every other week because I like the quiet; it's like my getaway. And I especially love my mother's cooking. I can count on her preparing my codfish on a Saturday morning and my favourite - stew peas with yam and banana."

Petite in stature, the proud Manchesterian says her new capacity seems now to be the perfect fit after a previous disappointment at the same organisation. "I had applied for a position at Red Stripe but I wasn't successful.

What I liked though is that they called back and gave me feedback. So the next time I got the call for this position, I knew it was a fit. The company is very clear with fitting people based on their capabilities.

With a Master of Science degree in human resources management and a Bachelor of Arts degree in economics with language and literature, along with a wealth of experience in various areas, Ashton-Smith is anticipating great things. "I want to create an impact. I want to move the business to an even more super engaged workforce. I am here to make an input in achieving the organisation's 2011 goal."

latoya.grindley@gleanerjm.com

Dianne Ashton-Smith, communications manager of Red Stripe. - Norman Grindley/Acting Photography Editor

'I want to create an impact. I want to move the business to an even more super engaged workforce. I am here to make an input in achieving the organisation's 2011 goal.'