SHAQUILLE DRAYTON has defied the odds to make a difference.
His life hasn’t been easy, as he has gone from being a youngster on the block to being a successful entrepreneur.
Shaquille, 22 years old, is the owner of Zone 5, a clothing boutique in Wotton, Christ Church that supplies the latest brands in men’s clothing and accessories.
Shaquille saw a number of young men in his neighbourhood travel a path filled with crime and violence. So the Kingsland Terrace, Christ Church resident decided he would try to make a difference.
While a student of Deighton Griffith Secondary School, at age 15 he gave into peer pressure and started to spend hours liming on the block every chance he got.
“The block is a chill spot in the community, but sometimes bad things happen there,” he said.
“Although you can drive down the road and something bad can happen to you on the block there is always tension. You always have to think about your next move because you do not know what the person sitting next to you is thinking or have done. You may be chilling with them and they could be planning to kill someone or killed someone last night and you do not know.
“I realised the block does not have anything positive to offer. Everybody is for themselves. You may think you have a sense of security that if you go out you have somebody to back you up but at the end of the day if anything happens the people are individualistic. At the first hint of trouble people run and leave you or call your name for something you did not do.”
Shaquille, also called 5 Cents, said he ended up on the block because it was the social spot to be.
“When you grow up in an environment where you going outside on evenings to play football and the block is right there across from the football field, you end up chatting and chilling with the fellows. But after seeing people getting shoot and stab I was like if I die I do not want to leave the earth and not do anything positive. I want people remember me for doing good. I want to make my mother proud and that drove me to focus on my dreams and aspirations,” he said.
He got the nickname 5 Cents from his social studies teacher Mrs Brewster because he would rap [US artiste] 50 Cent‘s songs before her class started.
Shaquille said he lived in a entrepreneurial household as his dad and mum own their own businesses.
“From my old schooldays I would hustle. Although it was wrong, I would bring to school snacks like gummy bears or puffs, fry fishcakes or bring to school shirts and sell. Some people would look down at me but I knew I could make extra money. Plus I always like a lot of clothes and in order to afford them I had to make cash,” he explained.
After leaving school and working at a hotel, he was ready to chase after his dreams.
“When I left school everybody in my school year had signed up to go to the Samuel Jackman Prescod Polytechnic or Barbados Community College but I went to the skills training and did bar and restaurant when I was 18 years old. Then I worked at Divi Southwinds for a while. After a year I decided it was time for me to quit. I went to New York and spent time with family and friends and further developed ideas I had for opening the store.
“I was hustling from a teenager and I felt it was the right time to explore my ideas. So while I was in New York, I decided what brands I wanted for the store and I took my time and gathered stock.”
The name for his business is based on his nickname.
“When I was playing around with names I said it would either name 5 Zone or Zone 5. I got a lot of good feedback from my friends who preferred Zone 5,” he said.
For the past two years business has been good at the Wotton boutique.
“I would like it to be better but I am satisfied. However, in the near future I would like to have more than one branch. When I first opened the store it was in Gall Hill, Christ Church, and I used to sell some female garments as well but then I realised females are too picky so I only sell female accessories now. I stick with the males.
“When I was in Gall Hill I started small . . . . I did not have the variety of stuff I have here now. But something is better than nothing. My friends were telling me that they did not like the location either and I agreed, so I moved here.
Even though he got support from his mother to start his business, the initial stages were tough.
“When I told my mum I wanted to open a store she was very supportive but not my dad. When I was a bartender he thought of it as a regular job and said he preferred me to have a skill but at that time he did not know I was in the process of building up myself. I knew I had big dreams and I wanted to make sure that I was ready for the ups and downs of owning your own business,’ he said.
He also encourages his 15-year-old sister not to underestimate her capabilities.
Shaquille eventually wants to have his own clothing line.
“My dream is to have my own brand. I am currently working to make that a reality.”
Drayton dresses professionally and looks polished when he is at work.
“This is my work style,” he said. “I want that when people come in they see I am serious about what I do. I want them to respect me.”
