Audrey Tugwell could have held down an evening or night job as a radio announcer among some of the finest female voices to have graced Jamaican radio in the early 1980s. The alluring voice was, still is, as captivating as it is convincing.
Instead, the pretty teenager with the perfect dark skin tone and ready-made broad smile entered Church Teachers’ College (CTC) in September 1982 with the sole intention of becoming a teacher. She did just that, majoring in English (Language and Literature) and Physical Education.
At CTC, she would become part of the college’s debating team, played netball (a sport she loves dearly) and volleyball. After graduation, her entry and stay in the profession would be brief, however, as she could not secure a permanent position. She worked for a teacher on leave for a year and when that ended, she was asked to work for a teacher on maternity leave for three months.
But fate intervened.
With the need for permanent employment, a friend told Tugwell that a bank in Montego Bay, St James, needed tellers. With no business subjects, experience or godfather in the industry, and on her way to the teaching job, she made a bold move.
Tugwell stopped to make enquiries at the bank, which turned into an interview and job offer. She was now in a small dilemma, as she was committed to her teaching but with a permanent job now in hand, she made the only choice she could – take the banking job. Despite her love for teaching, from the moment she began working as a teller, she knew this was where she wanted to be.
This would not be the only bold move she would make.
“The whole energy, the professionalism, the whole deportment, the way they delivered the service, how they managed the business, the whole environment – I just absolutely fell in love with the job,” she told The Sunday Gleaner.
That was 1987.
Fast-forward nearly 35 years later in 2020 when international banking corporation Scotiabank announced the appointment of Audrey Tugwell-Henry as president and chief executive officer (CEO) of its Jamaican group operations, effective January 1, 2021.
Her responsibility in the North and Central regions also covers the islands of The Bahamas, Cayman and Turks and Caicos.
This is how the Canada-based multinational banking and financial organisation described Tugwell-Henry when it announced her appointment:
“A seasoned executive with over 30 years of financial services experience in Jamaica, Tugwell-Henry has been responsible for retail banking since 2017. Audrey is uniquely suited to lead Scotiabank Jamaica. She is a transformational leader who has consistently demonstrated that she is a catalyst for our performance culture and customer focus,” said Ignacio ‘Nacho’ Deschamps, group head of International Banking and Digital Transformation, Scotiabank.
Early Years
The road between 1987 and today was paved towards an upward trajectory for Tugwell-Henry, and she grabbed it with both hands. Hurricane Gilbert would intervene shortly after her tenure in banking and the decision to do further studies at The University of the West Indies (UWI). Her university acceptance necessitated a transfer to a Kingston branch of the then Mutual Security Bank. With plans in motion for the move, not even the devastation caused by the Category 5 hurricane stopped them.
Article & Photo from: The Gleaner