Reading Jennifer Raffoul's CV, you can safely say the 29 year-old former St Joseph Convent Port-of-Spain "Head Girl" has accomplished quite a lot in her lifetime.
Now, to add to her list of achievements, Raffoul is celebrating the success of her recent involvement in the 2013 World Bank InfoDev competition. The video aspect of her proposal won the Viewer's Choice Award.
The competition was aimed at promoting Web-based and mobile entrepreneurship with development impacts.
Each team was required to submit a pitch deck–a ten-slide presentation outlining the major components of their product and their business model.
Luckily for Raffoul, her previous idea to create a Web site highlighting and promoting local producers online was quite appropriate for the pitch.
She and business partner Miles Abraham, proposed an e-commerce Web site titled MadeInTheCaribbean.com, similar to Amazon.com, but specifically supporting products Made in the Caribbean.
She said the key feature of the Web site was to have video profiles for every producer showcasing short interview clips on the producers, their products and their story.
"From Meiling and Anya to the Rasta craftsmen whose workshops are in the back of their homes in Mayaro. The video stories transform the appeal of the products, and truly personalise them," said Raffoul.
The Westmoorings native who also holds a BA (Honours) in Applied Economics and Political Science from Queen's University in Canada, and an MSc in Economics for Development from Oxford University in the UK, said she first learned about the programme when the World Bank hosted a seminar on the competition in T&T early last year.
"I had been contemplating the idea for a few months before the World Bank hosted a seminar here." Raffoul said.
"I was happy to learn that it was complementary to my own social entrepreneurship idea. I attended the seminar and spoke with the World Bank staff about the concept, they gave excellent constructive feedback and recommended some books that I studied thereafter."
She said, essentially, the Web site was being planned in the background for several months before the competition was announced.
The competition just served as a catalyst for bringing it to light much sooner.
Describing part one of the four-round competition, Raffoul said the whole thing was very short and intense.
"The competition details were announced on November 30 2012," she said.
"I was flying to the Middle East for the first time the week afterwards, so I spent that weekend completing the pitch deck.
"The deadline was January 7.
"On my return flight home on January 3, I drank endless coffee to help me stay awake to finish that one last expense table," laughed Raffoul.
The pitch
According to Raffoul, each competitor's pitch deck had to include an analysis of an existing problem in the market to be solved by their product; their solution; an elevator pitch; an analysis of competing products; the competitor's comparative advantage and details of what the product brings to the market; a marketing plan–projected expenses and revenues–and a description of the competitor's team and it's strengths.
Raffoul explained, the idea for MadeInTheCaribbean.com was sparked by the realisation that there was a huge international demand for Caribbean products but awareness of locally-made products was based only on word-of-mouth and the social networks of the producers. Nothing was available online.
"There are over 12 million google searches a month just for the term 'Caribbean,' and over nine million a month for the term Caribbean food," Raffoul said.
"That doesn't even include more specific phrases like Trinidadian food, pepper sauce or others; or similar search terms for Caribbean fashion or craft industries."
She added: "I would postulate that the demand for Caribbean products is even greater than the number of google searches would suggest; because the Caribbean is synonymous with exoticness, this translates to demand."
Raffoul and Abraham must have impressed the judges as they were named among the top ten finalists in the first round of the competition.
On February 5, they were informed of the detailed requirements for the finals.
"Results of the top ten finalists came out earlier than I was expecting, and with a much shorter span of time than I expected for the finals," Raffoul said.
"I was expecting about two months. We were given two weeks–with Carnival and Carnival visitors smack in the middle of it!
"Carnival Saturday I went to Upmarket to get some interview footage with local producers, they were wonderful and all very enthused about the idea."
Now in the finals, Raffoul and Abraham were assigned two mentors, co-ordinated by the World Bank, who gave constructive feedback and helped in reviewing their pitch deck in depth to improve it for the finals.
In addition, they were told that they would have to make a three to five minute video presenting their pitch to the judges. The same video would be put online for the Viewer's Choice component of the contest which they subsequently won. Raffoul said there was no monetary award for the winners.
Raffoul said: "There were two awards, a Viewer's Choice award, and a Grand Prize award.
"The Viewer's Choice award is purely symbolic. The Grand Prize winner won a trip to South Africa for a conference on equity financing carded for May 31, organised by the World Bank.
"Another Trinidadian, Rick Cooper, won that prize. He developed an app to complement or replace extra-curricular math lessons for students."
Experience
The competition wrapped almost three weeks ago and has left Raffoul even more inspired to push for the promotion of local producers.
She speaks of her experience saying it was absolutely phenomenal.
"I am still totally flabbergasted and blown away by the huge support this has received," she said.
"From producers, to consumers, to total strangers, the public validation of this idea has been totally overwhelming and astounding. I am truly humbled by it all.
Raffoul added: "The objective for entering the competition was to get that great mentorship (our mentors, Kirk Lashley and Caroline Howes, were excellent), to refine our plan, and the credibility factor for approaching sponsors afterwards."
The next steps Raffoul said, will be to fine-tune the logistics, specifically e-commerce, shipping, certification regulations (especially for food producers), and tax issues. And when the Web site is functioning they intend to promote it through local and international media to reach a wider community.
Asked if she believed corporate T&T and the Government should get more involved in the promotion of alternative market producers, Raffoul said she would certainly like to see more corporate Christmas gifts–whether it is local chocolates, pestos or other sauces, or other products.
"To their credit, both corporate T&T and the Government do a fair bit to promote locally-produced items, it is just now to bring greater awareness to the extent of locally-made products available," said Raffoul.
View Raffoul's video by visiting her Facebook page: Facebook@Jennifer Raffoul.
More info on Jennifer Raffoul:
Over the years as a consultant, she has lent her expertise in economics and finances to many companies.
They include T&T Coalition of Services Industries; Global Shapers Community T&T branch, of which she is also the founding curator; Inter-American Development Bank (IADB) Fiscal and Municipal Management Division; Ernst & Young and a host of others. Currently she holds the position of Fixed Income Trader at RBC Merchant Bank.
When she is not attending to her academic responsibilities, Raffoul can be your nutrition advisor or yoga instructor. After all, she is a certified health coach with the Institute for Integrative Nutrition and a certified Yoga teacher trained by Yogacharya Karen Stollmeyer (MA of Bliss Yoga, Trinidad).
Raffoul also gives back. She has rendered her time and services to many non-profit organisations and continues to do so. She made special mention of Cooks for a Cause. An organisation she founded in 2005 while attending Queen's University to raise money and awareness for AIDS and to fight tuberculosis and Malaria.