How Joan Duncan Went From Being A Dressmaker To Starting JMMB
The story of a true champion and role model.
Do you have a business idea? Are you always putting it off because you fear failure? Are you being discouraged by those around you?
All that doesn’t matter. You have one life to live. Only you can live for yourself and make your dreams a reality. That’s exactly what Joan Duncan did.
Joan Duncan grew up in Sunnyside Clarendon. Like many, she came from a humble background. She was homeschooled at the primary level and then later attended Clarendon College. She had the drive to make the most of life and so she decided to study medicine at Mcgill University in Canada.
While at university, she met Donald Keith Duncan and they got married. She later got pregnant and decided that it was in the best interest of her kids over the years to stay at home and give them the best care possible. It was in those days that she started to test her entrepreneurial abilities. She was a dressmaker as well as the operator of a bar called Cool Room.
Joan worked for over two decades in the financial sector, starting as a teller at the now defunct Workers Savings and Loan Bank and moving through the ranks and holding several positions in operations, credit, and financial control. It was while working as an investment manager at Workers Savings and Loan Bank, that Joan recognized the need for the development of the money market in Jamaica.
At the end of the 1970s, Joan decided to once again pursue further education; receiving a Bachelor of Science in Commerce at Concordia University in Canada, where she received a Gold Medal Award in Finance. Later at the age of 50, this mother of five children also went on to earn a Master of Science degree in Accounting at The University of the West Indies, Mona. Joan saw no boundaries!
She joined NCB Investments in the late 1980s. She saw the money market as an opportunity for the firm but others at the company had no interest at the time.
She had a simple but solid idea. That idea was to create a path for the average Jamaican to gain access to investment opportunities with very little money. She wanted to achieve this goal by creating a loving and respectful environment for staff to work in.
She was introduced to Dr. Noel Lyon of Jamaica Venture Fund and within six weeks they had the road map for JMMB figured out.
Facts about Joan as shared by some of her children
She really enjoyed playing video games and dominoes.
She had a green thumb when it came on to farming.
She wrote many of the computer codes for JMMB in the early stages.
She loved animals.
Joan Duncan died at the age of 58. At that time, JMMB had four branches and over 20,000 accounts.
How is JMMB Today?
I would say they have done very well in keeping and perhaps exceeding the expectations of Joan Duncan.
JMMB is now in 3 Caribbean countries
Over 352,000 clients
They are listed on the Jamaican Stock Exchange
JMMB is led by her son Keith Duncan
They have added new investment and insurance products
They have kept her loving and respectful environment across branches.
Clients are treated with care and appreciation
My JMMB Experience
I have been a client of JMMB for about 10 years. I started out in high school when I decided with a group of friends to start buying stocks.
Mrs. Karlene Kelly Reid at the Mandeville branch was very accomodating and helpful in getting us started. We chose JMMB because they felt familiar and at the time they were the only broker with an online platform for individual investors to log in and buy and sell stocks.
Today, whenever I walk into a branch I am always greeted with smiles and welcomes. And that’s what matters at the end of the day. You want your clients to feel respected, known, and appreciated.
Just like when you buy food from a reputable franchise and you know the taste will always be the same, that’s how you feel about any JMMB branch you walk in. The experience is going to be similar.
So let me say this to you… if you have a business idea that you have been sitting on just go out and make it a reality.
Keep this thought in mind. No amount of marketing budget can provide the value that satisfied clients can. They will climb to the highest mountain for you and tell the world of your quality product and service.
How do I know this? because that’s what I do for JMMB. I have served as a referee for 10s of friends who I have encouraged to open investment and savings accounts there.
Joan was blessed but still had her battles. She admitted in an interview that her life really got better when she decided to focus on the real her. Her spirituality. She made it her New Year’s resolution for around seven years to get closer to God. She also started meditating.
Serve with love and respect as Joan Duncan did. Get closer to God. And it will only be a matter of time before you achieve success.
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