Growth & Jobs | Young entrepreneur Jevaughn Whyte making a difference

“IT’S LITERALLY a dream come true, as I was actually a photographer at this event about 10 years ago, and I remember saying that I was one day gonna truly focus and grow a business deserving of national recognition; and I am so happy that I was able to accomplish same,” Jevaughn Whyte told The Gleaner about his receiving the Prime Minister’s National Youth Award for Excellence in Entrepreneurship.

“I feel extremely humbled and grateful for the recognition. So happy to be able to provide opportunities for some of the island’s greatest talents as we continue to forge ahead in providing exceptional service to our local and regional clients,” said Whyte.

But, what exactly did the young man who was born at Andrews Memorial Hospital in St Andrew, and attended Kingsway Preparatory School, Jamaica College, the University of Technology, Jamaica, and the International University of the Caribbean get the recognition for?

He is managing director at Number One Media, a full-service agency that offers marketing, advertising and promotional services for “companies looking to increase their sales, leads, awareness and/or website traffic”. Their services range from social media management, website development, mobile app development, content creation, billboards (over 183 islandwide), digital boards, branding, et cetera.

CONSULTATIVE APPROACH

“We have garnered a reputation of not believing in ‘nice to haves’ when it comes to marketing, as we offer a consultative approach that allows us to create unique strategies aimed at getting sustainable results for our clients. This approach has allowed us to secure long-term contracts with a number of local and regional brands, such as Victoria Mutual; Advantage General; Digicel; Select Brands; Facey Commodity; Creative Building Finishes; bMobile, Trinidad; First Citizen’s Bank, Trinidad; Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Guyana; Cheddi Jagan International Airport, Guyana; et cetera,” he said.

Number One Media, in terms of timeline, is a baby on the competitive Jamaica media landscape, and Whyte is very much aware of that; yet it seems as if it is a giant baby, living up to its name, since its official opening in March last year.

“My team and I have accomplished a great deal in a short space of time, and we are just getting started. Some of our plans are to continue our local and regional expansion efforts in acquiring new clients, continue our billboards and digital board expansion efforts, create a foundation where we give back to the community on a regular basis, and continue to stay positive and focused in cementing Number One Media as the premier 360 marketing agency on a global scale,” he said.

ENTREPRENEURSHIP JOURNEY

Whyte has been an entrepreneur from 2011 while he was at university, where he offered graphic design, photography and videography services to assist his mother in offsetting university expenses. After graduating with his first degree, he worked in a nine-to-five job “for a couple years”, but he had always known that he would be a full-time entrepreneur. He is now providing employment for several local creatives.

He is an alumnus of the Sir Richard Branson’s School of Entrepreneurship, Caribbean – Business Accelerator Programme. He is also the holder of a postgraduate diploma in business administration from the University of Roehampton, London, England, and a BA (Honours) in media and communication from the International University of the Caribbean, where he was a top student. At Jamaica College, he was on the Principal Awards List for Academic Performance.

Whyte has the papers, the ambition, and the entrepreneurial zeal, and now, he has got national recognition. Yet, he is a businessman who is mindful of what is happening to the environment, and is playing his part in preserving it.

“At Number One Media we care about the environment, and as such, we want to play our part in reducing our carbon footprint. It is for this reason why we made a conscious decision to have a paperless operation. What this means is that our workplace has absolutely no paper-based processes and relies heavily on digitised operations. In addition to helping the environment, we have found that this has also boosted productivity, lowered operational costs and has increased customer satisfaction which is definitely a plus,” he explained.