Nefertiti Holas

The Egyptian name ‘Nefertiti’ means ‘beauty who has arrived’ and she was the most powerful queen to reign.  Possessing a name with such great valour is an honour.  I was told by my father that he only had boy names prepared, but, when he met me for the first time, he could not think of a better name. He named me Nefertiti Holas.  #IamGrenadian because Grenada, Carriacou and Petit Martinique will always be home to me and the culture runs through my blood.  I grew up just down the hill from the ‘Green Gates’ of St. Joseph’s Convent Secondary School on a street called Williamson Road.  I went to St. Louis R.C Girls School better known as ‘MotherRose’ and then to the most coveted school in St. George’s, St. Joseph’s Convent Secondary School.  My home life was not the best; plagued with physical abuse, neglect and deceit.  Be that as it may, education was always encouraged; damn near shoved down my throat.  My father was and still is a big advocate for education being one of the keys to success.  I sought school and my friends as a refuge from my home life and decided at an early age to turn the negativity into a positive. It was the fuel to my fire! I did not succumb to my circumstances, but, wanted to prove the opposite; mainly to myself.  I surrounded myself with girls who motivated me to push harder at school and we sometimes made it a competition such as Divya Amarnani, Ferdisha Snagg, Abigail Charles, just to name a few.  My graduating class at SJC, year 2000, was filled with highly educated ladies and I remember we were all thirsty to be at the top.  I am a proud alumni of SJC; as we would say, “ah Convent gyal”.

I sadly left home shortly after graduating to move to Norfolk, Virginia to be with my mother.  I wanted a chance to have a happy life and to be with my Mom again.   Since then, I have graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in Criminal Justice with a minor in Chemistry and I recently graduated with a dual Master’s degree in Accounting and Business Management.  The journey to this point in my life was filled with so many twists and turns and I experienced life, death, love, and heartbreak after heartbreak, motherhood, and dead-end jobs to self-employment, health scares and more.   I would say the three (3) most pivotal points in my life are when I had two mini-strokes at 24 years old, when I had my son July 4, 2012 and lastly, when I established my own financial firm in 2014.  The mini-strokes woke me up and helped me realized that I was not taking care of my body and I needed to start eating wisely, exercising and stop stressing over matters that could not be helped.  The pregnancy and birth of my son taught me my strength. The strength to be a single mother from day one and he motivates me to provide him a life better than I could imagine, while raising him to be an intelligent, independent and compassionate young man.  ChaNJe Money Matters LLC is the avenue I created for myself when I realized that I wanted to reach levels of accomplishment in my career without the red tape and hassle that comes with a private or public company.  This company that I am building is the legacy that I am leaving for my son.

I credit my background, upbringing, family and friends to my success.  Grenada is the essence of work hard, play hard and my upbringing was lemons, but, I chose to make lemonade.  My family and friends always say that I am very persistent and motivated and they believe in me.  My advice to the younger generation is to think of the best form of you and then try to do better than that.  Don’t rush to grow up; stop and smell the roses. There are so many memories, but, if I had to pick my favourite it would have to be break time rushing to see Ms. Murtle.  I love Grenada because she is home and she is so sweet; the Land of Spice! I am Nefertiti Holas and #IamGrenadian.

Share

Comments

comments

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *