At 31, Shelly-Ann Dinnall is a third-generation poultry farmer, who has supplied chickens for Jamaica Broilers for 11 years. She started earning an income from age 17, selling mangoes from the farm, buying and selling electronics, and buying-repairing-selling crashed cars. Having started studying business at university and moved by an entrepreneurial spirit, her initial plan was to launch her own business. However, at age 20, Shelly-Anne was asked to help manage the farm when her mother Claudette Williams fell ill and faced financial problems. Within a year, she was fully entrusted with financial and operational decisions.
Shelly-Ann started with the farm producing 300,000 birds per year and 80% of the debt remaining on investment but was able to increase production rapidly to one million birds per year. She also constructed a one acre hydroponics shade house system and invested in solar panels which reduced the electricity bill by 55%. Her vision is to expand even further and have a diverse farm with poultry being the mainstay, and invest in more solar panels to further reduce production costs.
(More about Shelly-Ann: video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mxo1GTI84p4)
