A HEART-TUGGING STORY OF JAMAICAN LAYTEN PRYCE, 27, FROM WORKING IN WHOLESALE TO BUILDING A MANSION!

BY SHARLENE HENDRICKS
Staff reporter—

WITH two children by age 19, and working in a wholesale establishment in downtown Kingston, Layten Pryce did not envision that eight years later, she would be building a mansion and shopping for her dream car.

Coming from the humble hills of Frankfield, Clarendon, the 27-year-old, who is now an internet marketer operating a lucrative online business, said her turnaround came when she quit her job.

When the Jamaica Observer met up with Layten, she was sharing her personal story as part of a wider presentation to Jamaica Observer staff about how to earn money online.

“I decided that I was going to quit my job. Back then I was working at a wholesale for seven years on Orange Street, downtown. You know, you come to Kingston in search of job and of course, I got a wholesale job which I thought was the best thing ever. But when I started having kids I was like, this money can’t work.

“With two kids at 19, the money just wasn’t working out. It couldn’t provide for me, and provide for them at the same time.”

To make matters worse, Layten said her prospects of getting anything better were pretty slim, having left high school without acquiring the “necessary” qualifications.

“I went to Edwin Allen High school. I was a brilliant student, but when you reach 11 grade, you know, you get rude and just nuh care. So I ended up leaving school in 11 grade without a certificate. After I left school, I went straight into the wholesale.

“And, you know, most persons would have given up because they’d be like, I don’t really have a skill, there is nothing out there in the world for me”.

The young mother also said that she was almost homeless when her brother, with whom she lived at the time, insisted she was coming home too late and put her out.

But not in the least deterred or put out by her adversities, Layten said that after she quit her job, she turned to the Internet for better job prospects. This was when she discovered Internet Income Jamaica, founded by business guru Alicia Lyttle.

“When I quit the job, I decided I was going to go online and find a way to make money. Then I came upon Internet Income Jamaica. I called them and they said come in; we will teach you according to your skill. I’m like, I don’t have any skills, I worked a wholesale, I don’t know nothing, I left school how many years ago. But I went and they taught be how to be a transcriber.”

And as the clichéd saying goes, the rest is history.

Layten said she started out making as little as US$5 per order, transcribing audio for clients on web-based platforms. But gradually, with much effort, her clientele grew and her earnings ascended into the thousands.

“When I just start earning online, I start making like five dollars. Over time, that five dollars build up. I moved from making $1,000 to $2,000, and now I’m making over US $3,000 a month.”

Now, the fledgling entrepreneur says she has built her business into a team of individuals whom she trains and hires.

“What happened now is that when I just started I used to work all day long and all night to build my business. Now I’ve built it to a point where I just work like one hour a day, because I get persons to work for me.”

“I have an online course where persons from all over the world can go and buy my course to learn how to get paid to type and earn online. So I have more freedom, I am able to travel more, I’m able to spend a lot of time with my kids because I have an agency as a transcriber and I hire a lot of Jamaicans as well. Now I have my classes where I teach other Jamaicans to be transcribers.”

The young businesswoman spoke soberly about the ups and downs of business, articulating what most life coaches would describe as the ‘why’ factor. Layten says that her children are her primary source of motivation to keep going.

“Of course, there are downtimes. In any business there are downtimes. But guess what, you have to have your why. And my kids are what push me to do more. Every time I look at them I just want to give them a good life. So they are my big WHY. “

Asked to elaborate about her children, Layten broke off, excusing herself for the tears.

“I have a daughter, she is going to be eight years old in August. Her name is Latina. I have a son, he is going to be 10, his name is Daneil, and I love them very much and I just want to give them the best life. So I push and I do whatever it takes to achieve what I need to give them the best life. And right now, I am giving it to them now. I bought my land, I’m building my house and it’s all thanks to Alicia and the Internet”.

Reflecting on her own upbringing, fraught with abandonment and hardship, Layten rejoices at the fact that she can now provide her children with all they will ever need.

“My mother had six of us and she couldn’t take care of us so, of course, she gave me away. The lady that she gave me away to, Ms Joylyn Bent, she took great care of me. We didn’t really have it, but she ensured that I went to school.”

Other than fulfilling their basic needs, Layten says that, the very least, “I want to be able to buy a bicycle for my kids when it’s their birthday. Right now, they don’t short of anything; they have tablet, they have IPhone, they have computer. I can afford everything and that makes me feel real good as a mom.

“The lady that grew me, I’m very close to her. She is so proud of me and I aim to make her proud of me as well because I’m not her child and she had taken the best care of me. Whatever I do, I always think like, well, I’m building a house, I make sure there is a room there for her. When I buy my car, I’m going to pick her up. She is my family.”

Sharing another success ‘secret’ ingredient — that’s perhaps not so secret, but often neglected — the freelance trainer says giving is a must.

“So, people ask me, how you do it, how are you successful? I say because I’m giving, I’m not only thinking about me. Sometimes I’m at home I’m like, I need a work because persons are depending on me to help them build their business. And the work come and I feel good. When I see it, I’m like, oh, I can give this person to help them. You have to realise that when you give, you get back.”

Asked especially about young women who, perhaps, are facing similar situations she went through, the online income trainer says she encourages those she meets to come to her class, where she helps them to build their own online business.

“I tell them once you have a computer and Internet connection come to my class. And the great thing about my class as well is, after I teach them I also help them to get started — that’s the great thing. That’s how they build. I don’t just teach them and that’s it. I have the agency model [with] which I’m able to give them jobs to help them start their business online.”

Layten’s story has inspired so many who show up to her classes. Individuals from varying backgrounds and education levels who have either given up on scraping by on a 9-5 salary or are seeking to expand their earning capabilities; the latter being a worthwhile venture, given Jamaica’s harsh economic climate.

Having skipped the higher education rung of the ladder, Layten underscored a key lesson from her journey.

“I can tell people: It’s not where you’re coming from, it’s who you want to be. That’s what you should strive for. It’s not what people say about you, it’s what you want for yourself and what you think can become of you. So I tell anybody, if I can do it, then you can do it too, definitely.

“Three years ago, I would not have envisioned this, but guess what, it’s persistence. And I’ve been told that I have inspired a lot of persons. A lot of persons come to me and say they have been inspired by me. And it all started out with me wanting more for my kids.”

Excited about her future, Layten outlined a long list of goals when asked about her plans five years from now, some of which she says she has already begun to implement.

“My aim now is to keep building on what I have. I have created my website, I do blogging now, I do affiliate marketing, and these I learned on my own. So it’s about pushing and teaching yourself stuff to make more money.

“But five years down the road — well, this year I’m buying a car. Five years down the line I’m building a mansion, so probably the house will still be building because it’s a big house I’m building. Of course, I will be having a lot of online businesses. I’ll be travelling more because I do a lot of travelling around Jamaica now. Even for the weekend I was in Montego Bay teaching persons to earn online.

“I plan to start travelling overseas next year, teaching persons about this earning online as well. So in the next five years, I’ll be a big businesswoman, entrepreneur!”

These days Layten spends her time travelling and teaching classes, which she hosts every other month, training as many as 50 people in one session.

She also attends speaking engagements with the Internet Income Jamaica team, sharing her story.

“I go around and do speeches as well. So, I’m a speaker now, coming from the bottom up. It’s been a journey,” Layten concluded, laughing