Twenty-four-year-old Annastaysha Marcano, a high school teacher attached to the New Amsterdam Practical Centre, now sits at the helm of two businesses.
She has been an educator for about 7 years and is also a full-time University student, reading for a Bachelor’s Degree in International Relations.
Marcano is an entrepreneur and will be graduating from the University of Guyana this year with an Associate Degree in Social Work.
Wanting to be her own boss, realising there was a lack of academic services being offered in Guyana, are some of the reasons why she opted to start a business.
Due to the lack of academic services, she founded Mushlam Academic Services, which provided services in that area.
As well as understanding the needs of her client(s), there was also a need to create employment or an opportunity for people (especially youths) to earn a few more dollars. Those are also other reasons why Marcano opted for business.”
“I have younger siblings and cousins that look up to me, I want to be another positive role model for them,” she further added.
When asked about why she chose the names ‘CultureFix Artistry’ and ‘Mushlam Academic Services’, Marcano said, “Besides the fact that I wanted it to be unique, I also wanted the names to carry the value of the business on its shoulders.
For CultureFix Artistry, the name was chosen to highlight the fixture in the context of African culture and beliefs. As an African woman, I wanted to create a platform of artwork, not just mine but also for other African Guyanese artists.”
She further added, “I have had a passion for painting and sketching since I was a little girl, so this was just a way of putting my work out there. My mentor, the late Mr. Winston Strick M.S. (one of Guyana’s notable artists) who was well known for his leather artistry and painting was a great source of inspiration for the start up of this platform.”
“As it relates to Mushlam Academic Services, this name was selected to represent perfection since the word ”Mushlam” means ”perfect” in Hebrew”, the Chief Executive Officer and Co-founder stated.
She added that this institution (Mushlam Academic Services) represented just that, with the main objective of putting our clients first.
Mushlam Academic Services was launched in January 2021, with its main focus being heavily on academic-based services such as writing, proofreading, private tutoring and academic advisory for Guyanese and Caribbean students.
“We are a growing company with a highly qualified team of 15. We take pride in the services that we offer. The culture of this company starts at the top, from the founders to the executive team,” said Annastaysha.
When asked how she juggles her job, studies and her business she said, “I would say that having priorities is important and should not be taken lightly. How you choose to allocate your time should be impelled by your study plans, business outcome and work duties, trying not to neglect either one. I make full use of my schedule book, so that I can focus on either task at one given time. Being an A student, a good employee and a thriving entrepreneur did not just happen just by scheduling but with the help of my family who is always supportive, my business partners, and my close friends.”
When Marcano and her business partners first founded this business, they had to learn to be more consistent and often remembered why they started in the first place.
As such, Marcano conducted surveys with other business owners and sometimes even her grandmother would assist her in doing so. The feedback and advice she received would assist her in putting things into perspective and pave the way for her.
One of her biggest challenges though was trying to juggle a large amount of work,
She noted, “being a student, a teacher and an entrepreneur can be exhausting. However, whenever I noticed myself feeling burnout, I would work on finding time to recharge myself.”
“Surround yourself with people that are smarter and talented than you are. Build a tribe of genuine trustworthy people,” is her advice to budding entrepreneurs.
Persons interested in purchasing art pieces, can connect with CultureFix Artistry on Facebook and Mushlam Academic Services for academic services.
