100 STRONG

Adanna Austin
Adanna Austin

KIERAN ANDREW KHAN

Adanna Austin is a business coach and entrepreneurial consultant who has leveraged social and digital channels to help people and businesses achieve their goals. This weekend, the coach and host of the Dynamic Business Strategist (DBS) Facebook group and creator behind Marketing Dynamics Business Solutions will take her message to the masses with 100 Strong, an event that goes beyond the usual networking-type function to help entrepreneurs tackle challenges and reach for their next level of their success through team building and simulated activities.

“We do networking events every year;” Austin pointed out, “We held a big one last year and three across 2016. We constantly try to change it up whether it’s a roundtable event or a picnic in the Botanical Gardens.” This week’s event was born out of an idea discussed with Creative Strategist Dexter Musgrave to create practical team building activities not just for DBS members but for 100 entrepreneurs and business people across Trinidad and Tobago to gather for one evening to discuss aspects of business, like team-building, mindset, marketing, branding, sales and online strategy.

“The intention for every attendee is to walk away with a new network and support system and not simply to have a one-day experience, but to have the knowledge and tools to build a business, brand and life that they love,” Austin added.

“The results will go far beyond just the day. Each person will be assigned to a team on the day as we plan to work through various challenges specific to the areas identified so they can apply our discussions to the challenges they face in their business every day,” she pointed out.

Participants in a team building event hosted by Marketing Dynamics Business Solutions.

“At the end of the event, each member will be paired with an accountability partner who will provide support, motivation and encouragement as they each work towards growing their businesses,” the coach and consultant further elaborated.

“The objective of the event, while it includes elements of networking, is more focused on the entrepreneurs having conversations, sharing stories, solving challenges together and recognising that two heads are better than one and that there is enough tools, resources and money for each of them to become successful in their line of business,” Austin emphasised. The overall format for the day planned would be a series of break-out sessions to discuss each topic, simulations and presentations by the entrepreneurs as well.

Austin officially began coaching in 2015, but had started working with businesses and personalities almost a decade before as a side-passion to her then full-time job at the Central Bank of Trinidad and Tobago.

“I worked in Corporate Communications for over seven years and also in the office of the Financial Services Ombudsman for one year, but at some point, I realised that I wasn’t as happy as I could be. I also consistently had health challenges which made me very depressed,” she recalled.

“So, I stopped and listened to myself and realised that I was loving what I was doing in terms of working with people and businesses and helping to make their lives better, so I jumped full time into that,” she explained.

Austin first worked as an entrepreneur in the marketing and PR space for the first five years – helping businesses implement successfully before pursuing a one-year program at Master Coach University, which she followed online. “I’ve worked with entrepreneurs from all backgrounds and helped companies channel strategies using a combination of online coaching, workshops, training sessions and through my business group on Facebook”.

Her Facebook group now boasts an active community of over 3,500 members from across the Caribbean, who ask opinions, seek answers to questions or generally engage in a support system like no other available locally.

100 Strong takes place on May 27 at the Couva Village Plaza. Interested registrants can visit the Facebook page 100 strong for further information, or email Austin at adanna@mkgdynamics.com.

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