Brand Manager, Bad Dawg Sausages

How did you land the job?

Over the years I've been actively involved in a number of social and community programmes. The majority of these programmes have been geared towards providing opportunities for the younger generation throughout the inner city and rural Jamaica.

A very good friend at the CB Group was aware of the work I did and out of the blue, he approached me with an opportunity to lead a job creation programme that was being worked on.

Admittedly, with zero experience in sales and marketing in the food and beverage industry, initially, I was very reluctant. But it was refreshing to see a big corporate entity playing their role in nation-building, giving back, and I admired and believed in the cause. It didn't take too much convincing after that. So, here I am. I took a leap of faith, jumped in head first, ready for the challenge, and have not regretted it for one minute!

How long have you been in the job?

One extremely busy, overactive,

highly educational and thoroughly rewarding year!

It feels like it was just last week we were at UWI Integration (shout out to the Student's Union!!) introducing Bad Dawg to Jamaica. It really is crazy that in just under one month Bad Dawg turns one: on February 7!

What do you love most about your job?

I'm not sure how much time you have, but allow me to give you the short version (chuckles).

I really genuinely love that what I do impacts and makes a difference in people's lives, no matter how great or small.

Yes, naturally I'm trying to sell sausages and make a profit, but I work for a company that shares my views on family, community development and building Jamaica, so it matches my own personal goals. So, yes, I have early mornings, late nights and sometimes I'm in a "van back" lifting coolers and boxes and what not, or travelling to the other end of the island for a promo. But I fully believe in the vision -- creating jobs!

And then to top it off, when I get that call from a Bad Dawg entrepreneur (cart owner) who says "Alicia, thank you so much for helping me make this work, I'm now a business owner." I can see their smile through the phone and there's an overwhelming sense of achievement I feel.

What's great about your job?

What's great are the Bad Dawg Facebook fans. In less than a year we've created somewhat of a cult following through social media. Our fans are wild! They are extremely loyal and truly love Bad Dawg sausages. They help to keep us in check; the tell us when we're good, when we're not so good and and exactly what their expectations are. This definitely helps to keep us on our A game all the time.

On the other hand, every time they endorse our product, they make my job a whole lot easier and they've been awesome. Thanks, guys!!

Tell us something we might not know about the Bad Dawg sausage brand.

All the Bad Dawg carts are independently owned and operated; we simply help them with training and marketing. Unfortunately, many of the cart owners have had challenges finding permanent homes, securing permits, etc.

So if you are a business owner, property owner, or have access to a venue you, too, can help create jobs by allowing a budding entrepreneur to put a cart on your property. If you're interested, please give us a shout.

Where can consumers find out more about Bad Dawg sausages?

If you want to know what's the latest with us, join our devoted 6,200 fans and counting, who have all confirmed that Bad Dawg is indeed the Bigga, Betta, Badda sausage @ www.facebook/baddawgsausages