Carissa Daniel: The Business Radical

Born in Tobago, Carissa moved to Trinidad at the age of 20 to pursue her first degree in Psychology. She started her first business at the age of eight and over the span of her life founded six more, including a food retail business, virtual bookstore, an outdoor events company, a lifestyle management company and a coaching practice.

This personal knowledge of the inner workings of business lends to her passion for helping others on similar quests. Her clients hail from various industries including the Arts & Culture, children’s educational books, hospitality, beauty, and events management – and that’s the short list.

She works alongside clients to hone their confidence and focus, improve their bottom line, increase brand visibility and widen their networks of influence to achieve positive outcomes in their companies and personal lives. She says seeing great results keeps her motivated to continue her work.

“I am extremely fortunate to have been born into a family of entrepreneurs; one might say entrepreneurship is in my DNA,” she shares of her earliest inspiration to enter the sphere of business.

She continues that over the years she has born witness and experienced firsthand “the great highs and the many, many lows my family experienced while building and growing their businesses.” Coupled with her own familiarity of the field, these experiences further motivate her to assist entrepreneurs transform their businesses into thriving hubs of innovation and creativity.

“The name ‘The Business Radical’ was purposefully chosen as a measure of radicalizing and changing the distorted, self-serving, modern day viewpoint and purpose of entrepreneurship: that is, to make tons of money and to facilitate the lavish ‘lifestyle of the entrepreneur’,” Carissa explains the reasoning behind her business’ name and aim.

While she agrees that moneymaking is an integral element of any business she doesn’t believe it’s its only purpose. In her words, money is a small fraction of the reward and influence of being an entrepreneur; she says such misguided thinking attributes to the poor levels of customer service in the region as businesses are owner centric as opposed to customer centric.

Her belief is entrepreneurs are problem solvers, creators, disruptors, and providers and therefore integral puzzle pieces in society. “A true entrepreneur recognises and realises that their idea or business serves a need or desire that is not only self-satisfying but satisfies the needs and desires of others,” she voices, adding that society depends on entrepreneurs to make lives easier, improve standards of living, and enhance overall happiness.

Against this background, Carissa invokes The Business Radical was born to characterize and symbolize an iteration of the entrepreneur that is a fusion of purpose, passion and profit.

Knowing at a young age she wanted to help others through her profession, Carissa has studied formally and extensively to that end. Her academic achievements include accolades in Psychology, Human Resources, Mediation and Life Skills – all with a focus on elevating others. She doesn’t think self-mobilisation through formal education is the only path to a successful career, though.

“While my educational pursuits have resulted in academic achievements, I cannot honestly say [they] are high on my list of personal fulfillments.

“Education is not limited to [academic qualification] but can also be attained from life experiences, mentoring, books, and learning from others.” She highlights that passion, gumption, a willingness to learn, and determined and disciplined sights on ultimate goals are paramount to formal training – although she does acknowledge academic pursuit has its place in the world.

“There are many accounts of renowned entrepreneurs who did not have formal education … which shows that academic accomplishments do not determine entrepreneurial success. It was Mark Twain who said, ‘I have never let school interfere with my education’,” she quips.

Her services at The Business Radical focus on growth, in keeping with her vision. One-onone coaching sessions are tailored to the client’s specific needs, while group coaching sessions are designed for business owners who “need or want the accountability, along with the insight, training and support” to enhance their lives and businesses. She also appears as a speaker and workshop facilitator and offers small business consulting where she assists small business owners in creating intuitive and effective systems customized to their business type.

“Let your main reason for starting a business always be to serve others,” she begins, speaking of the key to success in entrepreneurship. She says the other keys are to follow your passion, never stop learning, growing, and developing both personally and professionally, keeping tight focus on goals, and maintaining customer centric business cultures.

As for being a woman in the world of enterprise, she boldly says she has never seen herself different to any man – or woman. In her opinion, we each have exclusive offerings to share with the world, something unique to only us. She does, however, note that women bring fresh perspectives and experiences to the party and deserve a seat at all tables toward the world’s advancement and development.

Finally, she speaks of the change she would like to bring. She hopes to empower and create a community dedicated to inspiring and uplifting entrepreneurs to make mindful decisions and profound developments in society through value-driven businesses. She describes her approach at The Business Radical as holistic, offering resources to help entrepreneurs develop both personally and professionally. “I recognise that synergy of both is essential to their success,” she urges of the manner in which the business owner and the business are intricately linked.

“We aim not only to help entrepreneurs excel in their current companies but also empower them to master their entrepreneurial art which can be applied in any business venture and throughout life.”