Three enthusiastic young women are looking to inspire others aspiring to balance the business, arts, relationships, and social issues (BARS) in their lives. They will launch ‘Balancing the BARS’ on September 27 at 5 pm.
Being young in no way makes them amateurs. In fact, they have had some experiences owing to their ambitious natures. They are Abeena Gomes, Jamicia Mc Calman, and Arian Dahlia Richmond.
Abeena is a content producer at E-Network, the owner of AGS Solutions (a company that provides social media marketing, content creation, graphics design services, and web design consultation), as well as the founder of Shine Your Light (a self-development initiative that seeks to empower youths). Jamicia is a freelance television producer at NCN, the owner of Anna Macc Media, and also the founder of the Heart to Art Foundation (an NGO that advocates against gender-based violence and looks at mental health and youth and sustainable development through art). Arian is the owner of a skincare and makeup unisex business called Dahlia L’artista, as well as a writer. She has represented Guyana on the local and international stage in pageantry.
Aside from being friends, the three women share another common connection as they are runway models.
Though it was never intended to be from the inception, Balancing the BARS is a podcast, but they are moving from audio to more visual platforms. Though a bit more challenging, the move is expected to attract more persons.
“…We’ve gotten feedback from persons who are saying that podcast is not popular in Guyana and are pushing for us to do it. Persons have high expectations of us,” Jamicia said.
While the feedback has mostly been great, some persons have turned their noses up at three young people giving guidance. “If we can help persons to not make the same mistakes we have made, then I feel that would be accomplishing something,” Jamicia said.
The first episode will feature business as they all have business experience and two of them are entrepreneurs. The programme will also provide the opportunity for professionals from other faculties to be involved and to share their knowledge.
The concept behind Balancing the BAR program first came about some time ago when Jamicia was considering starting a YouTube channel. She noted that there were some things she needed to put into place before she got started but kept putting it off. It was during this time that she reached out to Arian and then the idea was shared with Abeena. This was when Jamicia realized that Abeena was already into podcasting.
They talked among themselves on the areas they have worked in and realized that not only was there a wealth of information to share, but they had advocated for various causes in the past and this was nothing new.
Ethnically the women are of African descent but were excited to add that they have ties to four other ethnicities including Indigenous people, East Indian, European and Portuguese, a blend they are truly proud of and which they believe makes sharing and learning about themselves even better.
The women are currently looking into having their podcasts streamed live from one of the local radio stations.
Following the launch, Balancing the BAR will release a new episode, every Sunday at 5 pm.
“We would love for persons to follow us on all our media platforms especially on YouTube,” Jamicia said. Episodes will also be aired on other virtual platforms like Facebook and Spotify.
They women can be followed on Facebook and Instagram at Balancing the BAR.
