YVETTE ARMSTRONG-BRATHWAITE stands over a hot pot stirring late nights. The heat from the saucepan causes her to sweat. Her right hand gets weary from a tight spoon grip and constant rotation, but Yvette persists.
While her household is fast asleep, Yvette is like the shoemaker’s elves, busily making nut cakes, sugar cakes and tamarind balls to earn extra income. Tiredness cannot stand in the way of her goals as she is determined to make a better life for her two children.
Yvette explained to EASY magazine that she learnt how to make the confectionaries when she was a teenager and on evenings she would sell tamarind balls in a tray at the side of the road in her district.
In her older years she became a sales clerk at Thani’s Shoe Shop and in no time her customer service was recognised and she was placed at a new location, Town and Country Fashions. For Yvette this was like a promotion as she earned a higher wage and she received more off days during the month to spend time with her children.
But Yvette, more commonly known as Ann, wanted to climb even higher. She accepted a job offer at Planet Fashions boutique, where she now works full-time, but this is just another rung on her ladder of success.
However, it was during her time with Thani’s that she revived the trade of her teenage years as a side business. And orders started pouring in.
She got jobs to cater for weddings, anniversaries, parties and even business functions. She was fortunate to gain an agreement with Lucky Horseshoe to supply them with Bajan confectionaries for special occasions. She also made the same arrangement with her former workplace to sell tamarind balls and nut cakes at some of their branches and she is able to sell her treats at Dole Sailmakers, thanks to church friend Lynell. Yvette said she is extremely grateful for these opportunities because they are pivotal in the development of her small business.
Yvette is most happy and overjoyed when she gets feedback. She said one of her most rewarding memories was in 2011 when she supplied Lucky Horseshoe with a huge order of bite-sized yellow and blue sugar cakes for a special Independence gala at the Lloyd Erskine Sandiford Centre for diplomats and delegates from across the world who attended a convention and gave positive feedback.
“When I was a child I grew up really poor and I lost my father to an accident at the age of five,” she said.
“My sister Fay had to raise seven of my mother’s children because my mother needed the extra help and because of that she missed out on school. My mother worked hard as a domestic worker to support us. There were days when we did not have anything to eat and people who respected her in the community sent for us and fed us.
“There were people who looked down at us, scorned us and laughed at us because we were poor and did not live in the best conditions. Our living conditions were rough but my siblings and I had each other and watching our mother and elder sister toil for us made us develop a hard-working work ethic.”
Ann said she is proud of how far she and her siblings have come.
“My sisters are managers for thriving businesses in the island; a brother Ricky is an electrician and he has built a house for his family from scratch. Brother Keren is self employed and has been able to do the same and my other brother Sean has worked his way up in the company he works for and was able to fulfil his childhood dream of building a house for our mother. My sister Fay was able to go to school and now is a qualified nurse and my other sister Linda is a respected postwoman and justice of the peace. The youngest of the nine, Anita, is a herbalist and supervisor.
“And although my story is not as great as theirs my biggest accomplishments in life is sending my daughter to college and university, paying for my son to travel on his cricket tours and building my own house.”
Ann is also proud of her children’s accomplishments.
“My daughter is the first on her husband’s side to graduate from university and the second on mine. My son has received a cricket scholarship and is off for trials next month to train for the West Indies Uner-19 cricket team. I am happy to give them the opportunities I did not have.”
After all her struggles in life, Yvette said that it felt extra special.
“At my job at I am able to sell the Bajan treats as well. My boss has been really accommodating to me and I am grateful to her. So far I have added another product to the table, chutney. I make it in a variety of flavours such as tamarind, golden apple and mango. These sell year-round, especially at Christmas, but during the month of November the confectionaries really pick up. My children pitch in and help me when they can . . . . I hope someday they would continue in my footsteps and carry on the family business, Vette’s Preservatives.
“ . . . . I want them to never forget what God has done for them and I do not want them to shy away from helping others,” she said.
Yvette is not only known for sweet treats and condiments but also for her unorthodox sewing skills. Though she cannot make clothes, the 44-year-old is adept when it comes to alterations.
She told EASY that people often query why she can do one and not the other. She said she is happy she only knows how to alter because if she added anything else to the amount of work she has to do on a daily basis after her job, she would probably end up overworked and burnt out.
