Tara Ramnarine

I would say my dad, because he was a police officer, very strict, and his work ethics were amazing. This man would work 5 or 6 years without taking vacation - he had so much vacation at one time, he had a year off with vacation. That work ethic really pushed me to achieve my goals. When I came to America 40 years ago, I started as a teller even though I was a supervisor at Barclays Bank in Trinidad. I never went and asked for a raise - I just enjoyed what I did and gave it 200%. I kept creeping up the ladder little by little, and eventually I made it big. Work ethics has got to be within you. You've got to enjoy what you do to succeed. If you're in a job and you don't like it, you're never gonna succeed. You have to love what you do - that's 75% of your career right there. If you love what you do, you'll never work a day in your life.

The best career advice I've ever received is that actions speak more than words, and to be consistent. One of my leaders told me to take one step at a time, because achieving your goals doesn't happen overnight. I was pushing for a promotion and didn't get it - somebody else got it - and she told me, one step at a time, be consistent, prove yourself, don't quit, keep going. Within six months, I was later placed in the same position, but in a different area, and I did get the promotion.

Number one is to choose something that they love doing. Number two is stay with the business and grow with the business - experience means a lot. Having experience in something that you love to do is crucial. Don't give up. Keep going. Get as much advice as you can from people, influential people, or people that you admire within your workspace. Get as much advice from them as possible. And believe in yourself.

My biggest challenge right now is my health. In 2022, I had COVID and it was bad - I was hospitalized 12 times. I found that I had a very rare lung disease called Celomi, which there's no cure for, so I've been on steroids since then. I'm used to going to the gym and walking at least 4 or 5 miles a day, and I can't do that right now. Working in my business is also challenging because we are open every single day of the year - not closed one day - so it's a lot of work and sometimes it limits what you can do. My biggest opportunity is in gaining more customers through marketing. I don't do a lot of professional social media marketing, so that would be one of my biggest challenges right now - bringing in new customers. Once they get their feet in my door, I know I'll take good care of them. If you come in here and you don't find something you're looking for, you just tell me, and I would personally order it for you and call you when it comes in. The big stores don't do that.

Customer service is my number one priority. Being honest - I don't like liars. And helping other people grow. That was a big one for me in banking, because I trained and developed managers, and their success is my success, so helping one another grow is important. I like to see people grow. I also value loyalty and treating people with respect. When I managed over 400 employees and 42 banking centers, I treated everyone the same way - from my tellers all the way up to my managers, I treated them the same way. I never looked down on anybody, and they loved me for that.