Dominique Hodge proudly displaying the St. Maarten flag.
PHILIPSBURG--St. Maarten’s YLAI fellow for 2023, Dominique Hodge returned home last Friday after five weeks in the United States, motivated and eager to enhance her business Tropsical and share the knowledge gained with other entrepreneurs or persons wanting to become entrepreneurs.
Chosen from over 1,400 applicants, Hodge was one of 280 entrepreneurs from Latin America, the Caribbean and Canada who travelled to the United States to complete a four-week fellowship at an organisation in one of over 15 cities in the US.
Some YLAI fellows for 2023.
Hodge was paired with a company in Miami, Florida, and although things did not go as planned, she was able to make the most of the experience. “At first, I was disappointed with my placement organisation, but I was determined to be productive and learn as much as I could. I was able to accomplish a lot through networking events, collaborating with Mana Common to introduce some boozy pop flavours and meeting the owner of Paletas Morelia.” Mana Common is a co-working space owned by Moishe Mana, the developer for Wynwood Miami, and Paletas Morelia is the leading paleta business in Miami. Mr. Arismendi of Paletas Morelia was very open and willing to share his expertise with Hodge.
Besides the knowledge gained from meeting with successful entrepreneurs in Miami, Hodge mentioned that being a part of a group of dynamic leaders from the region was inspiring.
“There are so many talented persons from Latin America, the Caribbean and Canada who are making big changes in their communities. There is no such thing as a small business,” she said.
Tropsical is a local frozen fruit pop business made with locally grown fruits. It started as a hobby for Hodge and after the pandemic, she decided to take it more seriously.
Currently, her goal is to seek funding to expand her production capacity to continue to meet the demand for the product. “Tropsical will be a household name in the coming years. I am proud to say it is locally owned and made,” said Hodge, who also took courses to enhance her social media management skills.
