"Follow your dreams and never let anyone tell you what you cannot do." This was the advice from young Paralympic swimmer Shanntol Ince, when she addressed women managers and senior leaders of RBC, recently, at an International Women's Day (IWD) breakfast seminar.
The seminar, which took place at the Hilton Trinidad, Hotel and Conference Centre, on March 12, was hosted by Rob Johnston, CEO RBC Financial Caribbean Ltd and Darryl White, managing director, RBC Royal Bank (T&T) Ltd for more than 300 female managers and senior leaders, a release from the bank said.
In his remarks, White noted that with more than 65 per cent of the T&T bank comprising women, he fully expected to see rising to senior leadership positions in the Bank in the near future.
"I look out at this room and I am proud and in awe of the talented women who comprise our organisation and who contribute so significantly to the success and continued development of the Bank," White said.
Ince, who was the feature speaker, told the audience of her experiences as a child, growing up with a physical disability, and of her journey to become a Paralympic swimmer.
"My parents told me that when they were having me they prayed for a strong and healthy child. And when I was born and they realised I had a disability, they cried.
"My father cried. But they are deeply rooted in their faith, and that is how they raised me. They knew they had to provide me with the best opportunities they could."
"I first learnt to swim at my kindergarten because I wanted to learn with all the other children. Some people didn't think I could do it but I did," she said.
Ince's resume reads like that of an accomplished athlete, much older than her 19 years.
In 2010 she made the qualifying times to compete at the Commonwealth Games in Delhi, India and became the first para-athlete to represent T&T at the Commonwealth Games. She was then named Sports Personality of the Year for 2010 by the T&T Olympic Committee (TTOC) and was honoured as the Most Outstanding Paralympic Athlete for 2010.
In 2011, Shanntol competed at the Para Pan-American games held in Guadalajara, Mexico, as the lone athlete at this competition and returned home with the Bronze in the 100m freestyle and 100m backstroke events respectively.
Her greatest swimming moment came in 2012 at the Kia Open Water Swim, around Gasparee Island off Trinidad's mainland, where she competed and placed first among the women and fifth overall. This is an event that she only learnt of the day before.
As she shared her story, Ince brought tears to the eyes of many in the room and received a standing ovation when she was finished.
The release said that RBC also took the time during the breakfast to make donations to two non-governmental organisations (NGOs), The Rape Crisis Centre and the Women's Institute for Alternative Development (Winad), to further support them in their work in women's development.
The women's breakfast was the culmination of a series of activities hosted by RBC for its employees to mark the contribution of women to RBC.
The week of activities included roundtable discussions with senior leaders and female employees and the distribution of bookmarks and cupcakes to all female staff members, and to female clients who visited the branches.