Mélange Travel & Lifestyle Magazine October 2019 | Page 170

Jo-Annah Richards
Fenyx Creations
Pageant Development and Female Empowerment
in Montserrat
The middle child of seven,
Jo-Annah was born on
Montserrat but relocated to
the United Kingdom in 1997
due to the volcanic crisis
on the island. She returned
to Montserrat in 2012,
with a desire to live a more
relaxed life and to make a
contribution to her island in
some way.
She is the owner of Fenyx
Creations, whose focus is
on the development and
empowerment of females on
the island.
Academically, Jo-Annah
holds an LLB Law Degree,
a Certification in Internal
Auditing and a Certification
in Risk Management
Assurance. Her vocational
background includes various
roles in Finance, Strategic
Management, Internal
Auditing, Banking and Risk
Management, however, her
passion has always been with
the Creative and Performing
Arts.
Creative writing, especially
poetry, has been one of
her passions from a young
age, and she later in love
with drama, dance and
pageantry. With a passion
for using words to create
vivid and dramatic imagery,
Jo-Annah was first published
in an anthology of poetry
called “Out Of The Mouth Of
Babes”, at the tender age of
10.
In 2011, she published her
first book, “The Ill Concepts
of the Caribbean Woman”
which dealt with stigmas of
Caribbean women, such as
skin bleaching and sexual
abuse. She is currently
working on a collection
of poetry called “Beautiful
Chaos”, which she intends
to publish before the end of
2019.
Fenyx Creations was
born out of Jo-Annah’s
experience with pageants,
having seen first-hand
the positive impact it had
on her own life. Winning
the very first pageant
she participated in, Miss
Montserrat UK, was a
positive experience for
her. It forced her to come
out of her shell and from
this, related skills were
developed allowing her to
be more comfortable with
taking risks. It was also a
catalyst moving her to take
her writing talent more
seriously, as she wrote her
pageant introduction and
performance skit, winning
in both those segments.
From her participation in
that pageant, Jo-Annah
developed confidence
to write her first book.
She also realized that
many opportunities were
presented to her after her
win.
Jo-Annah wanted to
bring the lessons she
learned in that pageant
to Montserrat for the
empowerment of females
on the island. With most
pageants being focused
more on the production of
a good show, she wanted
to take that up a notch
by having the emphasis
being on the individual
contestants, ensuring they
realize benefits upon event
completion, not merely
acting as entertainment
to patrons but having the
opportunity to develop
themselves during the
pageant process.
Jo-Annah’s mission upon
her return to Montserrat,
was to embark on the
development of pageantry
in a manner that would
also help with the holistic
development of young
women. Her Fenyx
Creations does this and
more. Charitable initiatives
are also undertaken,
the first of which is a
scholarship program,
the Aspire Award, which
she started two years
ago in collaboration with
the Lookout Primary
school on the island. One
scholarship is awarded
to a graduating student,
who, though affected by
socio-economic challenges,
performs well academically
and remains motivated
and driven. The selected
student receives uniform,
stationery and bus tickets
for one year. The aim is to
uplift women, by relieving
some of their financial
burdens and also making a
child feel appreciated.
Currently, Jo-Annah’s
focus is on Montserrat,
coaching, writing and
guiding. However, the aim
is to expand regionally and