Rosie – I am my own boss!

Rosie Williams does not see herself working for people. She thinks being one’s own boss is the way to go. And who can blame her?

Making her livelihood as a vendor for the past 15 years, Williams has seen her three children through school, and has even bought her own house and land – something she says she may not have achieved by working pay cheque to pay cheque.{{more}}

“I am my own boss, and I can go and come when I feel like. That’s the good thing about working with yourself,” Williams said with a chuckle, on buzzing Friday afternoon at her stall, just outside the central market in Kingstown.

With her table adorned with fresh fruits and vegetables, ranging from oranges, cabbages, bananas, tangerines to carrots and tomatoes, Williams took SEARCHLIGHT for a stroll down memory lane.

Williams, who now resides at Lowmans Windward, said from an early age growing up in Greiggs, she was taught to be an independent person. Williams said after finishing the Greiggs Primary School, she went straight to work, helping to box bananas. She said she would also work the land from time to time.

However, it was not until Rosie was given a piece of land by her grandfather that she began her vending. “I get the piece of land from my uncle with orange, and after me start to sell the orange dem, me just decide fo bring everything and come town fo sell,” Rosie explained, adding that she also buys produce from other farmers for resale.

She, however, admits that the business does not come without its fair share of ups and downs. “Right now things kinda slow, but it does have it time when things does be really bright,” stated Rosie. Examples of the seasons when the dollar is plentiful are Christmas and Easter; and with Independence just a few days away, Rosie says she knows things will pick up once more.

Plugging out eight dollars daily for her travels is just one of the many hurdles Rosie has to face each day. Sometimes she even pays close to $20, $30 or $40 to have minibuses carry her produce to Kingstown, in addition to the $5 she has to pay each day for her stall.

“It’s not easy at times, but I love vending. This is way you get the fastest money. Me ain’t working for nobody,” she reiterated.

Now that her children are all adults and she has much less responsibility on her hands, Rosie still doesn’t see herself closing up and calling it a day anytime soon. When asked if she sees herself doing anything other than vending, she immediately exclaimed “No!”

“I can’t see myself doing anything else. I go keep doing this until I can’t go anymore. I just don’t see myself doing anything else,” Rosie affirmed.