Guyana-born, Atlanta-based Samantha Maycock is currently on a brief visit to Guyana, keeping a promise she made to her sister to support her in the staging of this year’s Miss Summer Blaze Beauty Pageant.
However, the 35-year-old Pro Bikini Athlete and Fitness Trainer, who migrated to the United States as a teenager, has a far more significant long-term ambition. She wants to establish a Fitness Training Centre in Guyana to help locals become more intimately involved in the global fitness craze which she says can offer additional years of healthy living.
The holder of a Bachelor of Science Degree in Exercise and Health from the Kennesaw State University in Atlanta, Georgia, Maycock says she is readying herself to engage the authorities here on the issue of remigration to create her ‘dream’ business venture.
Her goal, she says, is to inspire others, “particularly women, to lead healthy lives, to follow their dreams and to embrace their bodies.”
On Wednesday evening she was Guest of Honour at the Miss Summer Blaze Talent and Fashion Show at the Malteenoes Sports Club. Tomorrow, she will make yet another guest appearance at the Miss Summer Blaze Pageant at the Theatre Guild. When Maycock spoke with Stabroek Business earlier this week she said she hoped her appearance at the two events would result in her leaving something behind from which the participants can benefit.
Maycock’s equally important mission during her stay here has been to walk the ground in pursuit of her ambition of investing in her own local fitness centre. She explained that while, as a child she was never involved in organized sport she was compelled to maintain a healthy diet. “Both of my grandmothers were diabetic and as a result my mom was insistent that I develop healthy eating habits at an early age,” Maycock says.
She is yet unsure as to the size of the investment that will get her to where she wants to go, but Maycock says she is aware that the fitness and beauty industry is one of the fastest growing sectors worldwide. She proposes to engage the Guyana Office for Investment (GO-Invest) to secure the details of regulations and concessions associated with re-migrating and establishing a business in Guyana.
Her university degree apart, Maycock is certified as a Personal Trainer by the American College of Sports Medicine. She has also been a regular competitor in the international Federation of Bodybuilding competitions.
