Dawn shows path to success

WHEN you consider how many times we question our ability or place boundaries on our potential, most times with good reason, it becomes a type of paradox to say that one can be both completely practical and 100 percent positive regarding dreams and aspirations. This paradox has a home in the form of Dawn Richards, someone who lives a life which failure fails to affect. Richards, the owner and manager of The World of Work Centre /DRA Consulting, has dedicated her life to helping people find their career calling, overcome their fears and maximise their potential in their respective occupations. “What fires me up is when I hear people say I can’t do this, or suppose I fail. Those negative words feed the spirit. We need to identify our goals, go out, and get the job done,” said the evidently confident but jovial Richards.

For the past eight years DRA Consulting has been training the staff of various prestigious organisations in the service and tourism sectors through a series of organisational and human resource development programmes. These programmes include team building, communication skills, and interaction with both individuals and management teams. The firm also assists companies in improving their administration systems. She continued, “I recognised a need for the development of service standards in the local service sector. The fact is that many people are stagnant in their occupation. Too many people have jobs, instead of careers which bring them satisfaction. They tend not to be aware of how to become unstuck. If your daily routine doesn’t bring you joy, you need another career path. So I decided to help people become more marketable. I made a promise to myself that if at any given time I woke up and didn’t feel to go to work, I would quit. People tend to get stuck and their jobs are just jobs and not careers.” The saddest of circumstances tend to yield great rewards. Such is the case with Richards who was forced to face the reality of losing her mother at the tender and impressionable age of five.

“As far back as my mind allows me to recall, I have been an empowered individual. When my mother died my dad was there and he was an absolutely wonderful influence on my life. He taught me to always be an individual. He used to say that I should follow the drumbeat in my head. This caused me to develop strong views regarding everything under the sun. I also followed every dream I ever conceived and have never failed.” Her academic dreams led her from her home in Belmont to the halls of Holy Name Convent and finally to the University of Toronto where she graduated with a degree in economics. Following her undergraduate studies Richards returned to Trinidad and entered the banking sector. “After one year of being a management trainee I was asked to join the human resource department of the bank. At that point I knew that this was my calling because I just loved it. I have a degree in economics but have never worked as an economist,” said Richards with a chuckle. “From age 16 I knew that I was going to be my own boss, it was just a matter of time. By the time I started the business I had developed the skill and had become known as a trainer. I also had knowledge of how to start and run a business from helping numerous people start their own and then the time came. I knew that I was destined to be in a service oriented environment, helping people to develop their abilities while moving to a better place in life.”

Richards refers to herself as, “positive but very pragmatic person who is opinionated with a warrior spirit. Failure doesn’t exist; it is a part of the learning process. When we don’t succeed it is an experience which we are meant to learn from.” Richards’s perfect English and flawless diction would strike anyone with whom she speaks. Regarding her speech she said with her customary smile, “I have always spoken in standard English, well, except for when I’m liming. As a child I was always teased for the manner in which I speak. I never paid attention to the taunts because it was my choice and now it benefits me in my everyday activities.”

Richards said that her work accounts for 80 per cent of her time on a daily basis. The question, is how does the proud mother of two get time for the other facets of her life? What does she do for recreation? “Firstly I must credit my children, one is 16 and the other 18, they are extremely self-sufficient so they reduce my load. The 80 per cent is filled with my work simply because I love what I do. It’s like a hobby to me. In fact, one of my greatest aspirations is to be able to work for as long as is possible. This energises me, this is my calling in life and I just have to do it,” said a passionate Richards. If she wasn’t the owner/manager of her own consultancy firm where would she be? Without hesitation Richards replied: “I would be a medical doctor or psychologist. I would enter the field simply to be of service to people and let them know how to get their lives together, anything to help people develop.”