Personal stories have a
powerful effect both corporately, to promote goods and services, or
personally, to drive change in the environment around us. Patrice
Donalds, Adjunct Marketing instructor, at the International College
of the Cayman Islands. Patrice was the lead faculty who assembled a
panel of Marketing Professionals to explore that very idea. The
Panel, which included Kaitlyn Elphinstone, Natalie Urquhart, Tanya
Wigmore and Felix Manzanares, shared their personal stories and
explored its impact on the trajectory of their own lives and how they
do business.

Tanya Wigmore, Co-Founder of
CRO: NYX Digital, an online marketing and web development agency,
took students on a hilarious journey of the on-going feud between her
and her brother to illustrate how statistics can be used support
divergent views. Ethics and morals play a key role in guiding
marketers in the use of statistics to tell important stories and
engage with clients. She also shared how her affinity group of
eco-warriors, a sense of Eco-justice and the protection or our
environment, has shaped her orientation and process on both the large
and small decisions.

Kaitlyn Elphinstone, Vice
President of Marketing and Public Engagement at Cayman Enterprise
City (CEC), grew up in a household where exploring ones creativity
was both valued and encouraged. Her art teacher mom provided art
supplies and placed no restrictions on what she could create. The
path to discovering what was possible, interesting and appealing is
an approach Kaitlyn employs in her life, even while furthering her
education. This principle is firmly woven into her own artistic
creations including a 30-ft installation of her work on display at
the Owen Roberts International Airport.

Natalie Urquhart, the
Director and Chief Curator of the National Gallery of the Cayman
Islands tells stories all day every day at the Gallery and in
published works by curating stories around objects and artifacts
showcasing Cayman’s heritage and culture. Engaging with the
community is the key to keeping the stories alive, ensuring that the
longevity of the artifacts’ historical significance is maintained
and shared with successive generations. But there is another
important aspect to that work: documenting how culture changes over
time. The conversations around how culture and heritage interact, and
at times collide, are as important and require the space to have
them. The national Gallery hopes to position itself as that space and
makes that space available to all through free admission.

The
impressive team of women was complemented by, Felix Manzanares, Lead
Pastor of Journey Ministries. Felix spoke to the students about how
we can use the personal stories of our past, whether negative or
positive, to push forward. We can chose to use them as places of
strength, and not allow them to break us down. Felix’s focused on
“authenticity”
and
spoke at length about why it is important to “own your story”.
Being authentic, or vulnerable can create a bridge, an important and
lasting connection with our audience.

Some
key takeaways for students were to “relate marketing concepts to
your everyday life,” “stick with your studies, the value will
reveal itself down the line,” “diversify your approach,” “know
your strengths and focus on them” as your platform to market
yourself, and your business. The common theme shared by all the
panelists’ center around using your personal story as a bridge to
connect and relate to your audience.