http://www.tntentrepreneurs.com/

Tobago Entrepreneurs Business Network, Wrightson Road, Port of Spain (2026)

22/05/2026

Time to DEMAND that MEN do better 🚩

Recently, the entire nation was shocked to learn that a guardian of this beautiful baby was responsible for his death.

The comments rolled in by the thousands as the country stood still in disbelief.

And while everyone shared their opinions, a particular narrative began to surface , one also echoed recently by our Minister of Security:

“Women need to choose their men wisely.”

First of all let us say that we actually like this Minister 🙂
We think he is a good example of a responsible man. We also want to make a note to say that we do agree that choosing partners wisely is important.

But this post is about something else.
Something that NEEDS to be highlighted if we expect to see real change.

Have you noticed how everytime a horrific crime is committed by a man, somehow the blame still circles back to a woman.

A man murders a child:
Yet people ask:
“What kind of woman chose him?”

A woman gets abused:
“What did she do to provoke him?”

A female gets assaulted:
“What was she wearing?”

A man abandons his children…
“She should’ve picked better.”

Meanwhile, despite men being the overwhelming perpetrators of violent crimes globally....murder, r**e, gang violence, domestic abuse, there is still very little DIRECT public pressure on men as a group to do better.

That is a serious problem.

Because a society cannot improve if it constantly redirects accountability away from the people committing the harm.

It is time we start having honest conversations about masculinity, emotional dysfunction, irresponsibility and the culture among SOME men that protects harmful behavior instead of confronting it.

And the truth is, speaking on these issues often comes with backlash, because apparently we operate within a patriarchal society as they call it, where the agenda is to protect men by shoving issues with masculinity under the rug.

So when a good man tries to hold other men accountable, he gets labeled a “simp.” Or when a woman bravely speaks up to bring awareness about male issues, she is often perceived to be a “man-hater.”

So the silence continues.
The excuses continue.
And society continues to decay.

If we truly want safer homes, safer women, safer children, and safer communities, then accountability cannot only fall on women.

Men are overwhelmingly the ones involved in gangs, violent crimes, armed robberies, sexual violence, and family abandonment.

Therefore it is time we address MEN.

Men must also be challenged to raise their standards, control their violence, heal emotionally, take responsibility for their children, and hold each other accountable.

And this effort also has to begin with men.

15/05/2026

Do not be afraid to claim our 🇹🇹🇹🇹🇹🇹

Our recent post about Caribbean islands duplicating and rebranding & culture reached nearly half a million people worldwide. People from other Caribbean islands, and those that live in the metropolitan diaspora.
And as expected, many in the comment section totally missed the point, and instead rushed to defend acts of cultural plagiarism, under the facade of “unity.”

“We are one ,” they say.
“We are all Africans, we need to come together.”

Okay.

So since the topic is African history, then understand that this exact mindset is why so much of African history is filled with exploitation.

For generations, we were taught that peace, passivity, and togetherness mattered more than protecting what belonged to us. So outsiders entered Africa, extracted resources and erased identities, and many of our forefathers merely accepted it for the sake of “harmony.”

Pshhhh.
Time passed. But nothing changed.
Today, the same thing happens culturally.
Black people create. Others rebrand and profit from it. ZERO CREDIT.
Then when we try to speak up for ourselves, it is misbranded as "causing trouble" or stimulating division.

Nope.

This is 2026.
Let the blind stay at the back of the class, please.

Trinidad & Tobago created something.
Therefore Trinbagonians have EVERY right to protect it ‼️‼️‼️‼️

There is no debate there.

The only conversation now is, how do we go about doing that?
And the answer is:
BIG. BRAVE. BOLD 🔥🔥🔥🔥

Where we shut down criticism and gaslighting attempts meant to discourage us from claiming what is ours, regardless of demographic proximity, race, or colour.

Because this is not personal.
It is not an attack or dislike for any particular island.
This is about US.
And our progress.
It is also not about race.
Trinidad & Tobago is a multicultural society.
This is nationalism, not Pan Africanism.
There is a time and place for everything.

Culture is also business.
And we are a business network.
Culture has economic value.
Culture drives tourism.
It creates industries and jobs.

This is the focus.
The motive and motivation for these posts should be crystal clear.

Other fragmented comments include....
That we, in Trinidad and Tobago should focus on more important things, like crime, instead of trying to claim our culture.
Well for one, it should not be either or.
And two, these individuals did not consider that social problems require economic strength to solve.

🗣 Crime is often linked to poverty, underdevelopment, and lack of opportunity.
When we promote OUR country and properly brand OUR inventions, that will boost tourism, investment, and economic activity for Trinidad & Tobago.

🗣Those funds can then be used to develop and strengthen social programs in struggling and crime-ridden communities.

🗣🗣 And who lives in many of those communities? African people.
Light bulb moment 🤏🔥😉

So to the people who are pretending to be all black conscious, but steadily pushing AGAINST this, against efforts to give credit to black inventors that could bring in income for black communities, and help and support black families, it just means that you are confused and not actually empowered.

We need to start thinking deeper before making shallow comments.

08/05/2026

: ORIGIN TRINIDAD & TOBAGO

To understand this properly, you have to start where "Caribbean Carnival" itself first took shape, in Trinidad and Tobago in the late 1700s.

In 1783, the island of Trinidad was underpopulated. As a result it was also struggling economically. It was ruled by Spain at the time. A French planter called Phillipe Rose Roume de Saint-Laurent had an idea. He approached the Spanish crown to partner with France to invite French planters to come settle in Trinidad to increase the population. This initiative was called "The Cedula of Population." Jose Maria Chacon, a Spanish governor in Trinidad agreed and as a result Trinidad's French influence developed.

The French brought with them, their culture, which included a pre-lenten masquerade ball.

The enslaved Africans were not allowed to take part in this. They would observe the French who were new to their island. The slaves found French traditions to be peculiar and amusing. As a result they would mock them in secret. They would dress up like the French, creating "costumes" to mock and tease their traditions. But when Emancipation came in 1834, everything changed. The Afro-Trinbagonoans were now free to take their expression to the streets. However, now they did not need to merely copy what they saw. They transformed it into something bold, loud, and real. Out of that moment is where many characters such as the "Jab Jab" was born.

The word "Jab Jab" is short for "Jab Molassie" a name that was coined in Trinidad and Tobago. “Jab” means 'devil' in French Creole, a language the slaves adopted and adapted, from their new owners. “Molassie” means molasses, which is a thick black substance that was produced in the sugar plantations in Trinidad at the time. The freed Africans in Trinidad wanted to embody a character that represented everything they despised on the plantantion - a molasses devil which personified the evils that existed on the sugar plantations. They also wanted to mock their nick names that they were given by plantation owners - the "black devils". So they covered themselves in molasses, wore chains and horns, and took to the streets, amongst several other "traditional" characters. By the 1800s, the Jab Jab was already rooted in Trinidad Carnival. It was part of the street, part of the sound, part of the rebellion that even showed itself during moments like the Canboulay Riots. .

Then the 1900s came, and Trinidad's economy began to shift. Sugar declined. Trinidad became more industrial with the rise and discovery of more oil deposits. Oil became accessible, and was growing to become part of the island's identity. As a result, oil rather than molasses became the prefered substance for the Jab Jab. Oil was readily available in Trinidad, and also easier to manage than molasses. It was black, raw, practical but also cultural. The molasses once reflected the sugar plantation era, but oil reflected Trinidad’s new identity as an oil producing nation. The Jab Jab character did not die, it just evolved with the environment. This was not random. It came from the land, the work, and the history of Trinidad itself. Grenada do not have oil. Therefore it is pretty clear that a character drenched in oil, could never originate in Grenada.

It was brought to the spice island because Trinidad Carnival traditions did not stay in one place. Caribbean people moved. Trinidad became a place where people from other islands came for work, especially in cocoa and oil. Among them were people from Grenada. They lived in Trinidad, worked in Trinidad, and experienced Carnival in Trinidad. They saw Jab Molassie in the streets, not as a performance, but as something alive. And adopted that experience into Grenada. The Jab Jab and The Grenada Carnival developed much later in the 1970s, more than a century later than Trinidad. Whether you call it Jab Molassie or Jab Jab, the point is, this character had already existed and witnessed in Trinidad for generations.

This is not folklore. Hear say. Or favoritism.
This is documented history.
If you don't know, know you know 🇹🇹💪

(Look out for part-two: How TRINBAGONIANS developed most trini-styled Carnival in Barbados, Jamaica, Canada, Nottinghill, Miami and the rest of the Caribbean).

05/05/2026

In 2006, I remember crying 😭😭 in UWI admissions office. I missed the law deadline.

My lifelong dream, to be a lawyer felt like it was gone. I did not know that at the time, law had an earlier application deadline than all other disciplines. So when I came to drop off my application, it was too late.

I remember the lady in admissions feeling sorry for me. I was the perfect candidate.
A combined total of 11 ones, including History and Literature, and 7 twos (CXC and Cape).

"Still apply," the admissions clerk said.
"With those grades you will surely get a transfer".

Here I had spent my entire life prepping to be a lawyer, but fate had it that I had to pick a different degree "meanwhile".

Despondent, I agreed and took a blank application form home. I remember sitting in our living room, going back and forth with my mom.

👧Me: "Okay how about Business management?"

👵Mom: "Everyone's doing a degree in business but they have no business" she said.
👵"What's the point of doing business if you are just going to use it to run someone else's company".

An argument erupted.

Call it 6th sense, but the young potential entrepreneur in me, argued that the richest people are business people so why not study how to be like them?
I was idealistic and naive.
This was the early 2000s.
My sister was already enrolled in UWI for medicine.
And my brother was in law enforcement.
Working for someone and traditional careers ruled the day.
It was laughable to think back now, that I actually tried so hard to convince my family that you can build a comfortable life working for yourself.

BEt they are not laughing now.......as I write this article, on my 20th day staying at the Hyatt Hotel.....just chilling on what should be a work day, about to devour my favourite rack of ribs!

Bwahahahahaha 😈

Anyway, back to the story....

👵 "Do Carnival Studies!"
My mom blurted out as she looked up from the list of options.

👧"Carnival Studies? Is that a real thing?"
I asked puzzled.

It was right there.
On the application form.

Apparently for the first time, the University of the West Indies developed a comprehensive and future driven program that was aimed to transform Carnival into a lucrative global based industry. To achieve that goal, they would first need to create a generation of educated professionals in order to make it sustainable.
So they brought together a team of lecturers, the best of the best, Caribbean historians and cultural ambassadors to teach this degree.

I did not know that at the time.

All I saw was a degree that seemed "fun" to do while I awaited my transfer to do Hugh Wooding's Law. So I applied.

I soon learned that reading 12 books just to be able to write a single article on "Trinidad Carnival and the spread in the Diaspora" was not exactly my definition of fun. I did not know that I had set myself up to do a degree that was extremely literary. No numbers, strictly reading and writing. Sometimes 5000 words essays that would not be awarded proper grading, unless the opinion shared was strong, original, structured and backed by evidence.

If you follow this page, you will see the evidence. You will realize that I am literally incapable of writing short form content.
Blame the "Mighty Chalkdust".
He was one of our Carnival Studies lecturers.

Blame the fact that we did not have Chat GBT back then. Even the internet was not as reliable as it is now. Very few things about the Caribbean, were documented online. We had to be able to read and dissect the complex language found in books....written by brilliant authors AND to do well, we had to also be able to write like one.

But almost 2 decades later, I now understand that everything happens for a reason. I would often wonder why God allowed me to miss that deadline.
And now it is kristal clear.

Had I not enrolled as a Carnival Studies studies, and read possibly a total of 90+ books, cover to cover, I would not have been able to correct the gross misinformation that is spreading across the Caribbean pertaining to the origin of TRINIDAD Carnival, the steelpan and soca.

I would not have the correct information, nor the ability to communicate that information, for this three part series, dedicated to re-educate our following on the history and development of our Carnival, detailing its spread throughout the diaspora.

In the next few days we will publish three pieces:

1. The History of Trinidad Jab Jab (yes Trinidad, we started it)

2. The History and Spread of Trinidad Carnival into the Caribbean & World

3. Steps we can take to brand & patent our Trinbagonian Cultural Creations (yes it is possible)

Thankfully, we have also built platform that is liked and followed by all the right authorities and affluent folks who reads our content - those in a position to be the change we want to see. A platform that reaches half a million people from all over the world in a single post.

Life.
Somehow everything always falls into place.

If you are going through a phase right now where it seems like you are not getting exactly what you wished for, know that God is still in control.

There is purpose and goodness in every redirection 🙏

29/04/2026

So is now visiting other Caribbean islands, and something became painfully clear 🚩

The story of the origins our Trinbago culture, our own inventions is changing before our very eyes.

Other islanders proudly told him about “their” soca, “their” Carnival, “their” steelpan. A Bajan, on a live feed with the world tuning in, looked Speed in the eye and said, “We have something called Calypso" implying that it was indigenous to Barbados. This cultural plagiarism is not just happening in Barbados, it is happening everywhere.

Because we in Trinidad and Tobago, made one massive mistake: we exported the culture, but never protected the ownership. We allowed our entertainers and Trinidad based committees to carry mas, soca, pan, and calypso across the world, but removed our own name from it ⛔️⛔️⛔️

So instead of branding it as “Trinidad Carnival in London,” the world knows Notting Hill Carnival.
Instead of “Trinidad Carnival in Jamaica,” it became “Jamaica Carnival.”

Look at it like this, from a different perspective:
Imagine you are a restaurant owner.
And you invented a winning dish that drives customers through your door, because only you offer this unique and tasty dish.
Instead of securing and protecting your recipe as any wise business owner would, instead, you went and shared all your secrets with other restaurant owners.
That's what we did.

But this is a big, big problem. Every time our culture spread without our identity attached to it, Trinidad & Tobago, disappears a little more from the narrative. The thing about stories is, when you gas light or tell a lie long enough, after a while it becomes a form of truth.

For example, in the story, what do you think the other restaurant owners will do?
At first they will be appreciative.
Because you helped them create an opportunity to increase their own revenues.
But eventually, they will want to compete, by removing your existence from their story, just so that they can say they did it. That they started it, so they can divert people from your restaurant to theirs, to claim more of the revenues.

We see this happening to us.
The world is performing our culture, profiting from our inventions whilst forgetting who created it. It's there is the chat, as islanders argue against Trinis that Carnival is "Caribbean" not Trinidadian. Some have blatantly denied that steelpan or Soca was even invented in T&T.

If we do not do something now, it will get worse.
We need to correct the mistakes that we made.
This has nothing to do with pride.
Or promoting division amongst Caribbean islands.
It is about claiming OUR identity.
Something WE created.
Our Carnival and our culture is more than vibes.
It is tourism. It is influence. It is what make us unique from the rest, the one thing that can generate billions in revenue for our people and for our country.

If we don’t reclaim the narrative now, sooner than later future generations won’t know Trinidad and Tobago built one of the greatest cultural movements on Earth 💯💯

27/04/2026

So came to Trinidad 🇹🇹🫠 but 😩...the slowest moment of the ultimate action-packed live event was when the trini YouTube went up to ...

And asked him to repeat to his viewers, that:
"Education is the key to success".

This, is an example of the failure of the global education.
Where people continue to merely regurgitate something they heard or read, without actually thinking, if it makes sense or not.

When the term was originally coined, "education" meant formal schooling.
The process of enrolling into an institution, to learn subjects to get a certificate, in order to qualify for a job.
This specific form of academic education can indeed, help you with alot of things.
It can help you source a job.
But merely having a job is definitely not the definition of "success."
Even in 2026, we are failing to grasp that you CAN be successful without SEA, CXC passes or university degrees.
Yet we continue to repeat outdated info without really paying attention.

👉 did not want to finish high school.
He did not further his formal education at all.
Yet at 21, he makes more money than all of us with degrees and masters combined 📌📌📌

You know why?
It's because academic education is NOT the "key" to success.
Creativity and Innovation is 👌💯🤏🌟

25/03/2026

This one is for the WOMEN 💯
There is something that we don't talk about enough 🤫

Did you know that if you want to be a successful female entrepreneur, with some peace of mind, that there are two types of people you need to stay far away from:

⚠️1.The threatened man.

Not the one who is building.
But one who is obsessed with appearing like he is.
He wants success, but refuses self awareness.
He wants wealth, but lacks integrity.
He always thinks that he’s the brightest person in the room, so he is never truly willing to learn.
He demands respect but cuts corners, and then wonders why doors don’t open.
And when he sees a woman winning in a so called "man's world" that he believes was built for him?
He doesn’t reflect. He gets angry and develops resentment.
Stay far away from this type of man.
Professionally and also personally.
His broken ego will punish you for your ability to accomplish things that he wishes he could.

⚠️ 2. The conditioned woman.

The one who traded authenticity for acceptance.
She wants to be bold, but chooses comfort.
She wants to be seen, but hides who she is.
She is terrified of judgment and confrontation.
So she lives her life shrinking herself.
She conforms and performs, in order to be more likeable to her peers, colleagues and partners.
She may have a career, but she "wins" through charm, her looks or kissing 🍑
Never by being true to herself.
When this type of woman sees another woman who is free…
One who speaks bravely, one who is not afraid to lead or live unapologetically...
She doesn’t get inspired. She gets very triggered.
Because your courage exposes her fears.
Also stay far away from a woman like that.
Her insecurity will try to find ways to demean and discredit your personality.

Because the truth is...
Powerful women are not accidents.
They are bold.
Self assured. Intentional.
And fearless about being misunderstood.
They don’t wait to be accepted.
They decide who they are and move accordingly.

That creates discomfort in so many because we have been wrongly conditioned to believe that feminine energy is passive, unsure, indecisive, incapable therefore always in need of "help".

Don't keep individuals like that close.
People who seek to put you in a box.
Learn to protect your energy, vision and your uniqueness.
Because you don't need to have the biggest circle to win or be happy.
You just need the right ones 💯

13/03/2026

DO YOU KNOW WHEN TO LEAVE? 😩😩😩

Last weekend, I met a Billionaire from The Netherlands 💸🔥👽✨💥🙊💸🔥👽✨🙊💥
For a long while, I've been manifesting the expansion of my network.
For both personal and professional growth.
It's a strategy.
I strongly believe that you should never spend all your time with people who are in the same class or income bracket as yourself.
You won't grow. Or be great.
Because 99% of people just want to be comfortable.
That's all.
If you want to really prosper, you NEED to position yourself in rooms and places with people who are doing SIGNIFICANTLY better in life, than you.
So as part of my 2026, networking hack, I've been meeting and learning from the top guns.
The ballers.
Not shot callers 😆😩
Just million and billionaires.
This particular individual I mentioned, got their wealth selling ships. And make a billion, sometimes in just one day. That surprised me. Because here I was thinking that I was a G, doing well in real estate.
But he showed me that while real estate is a great industry, there are other industries that I could make three times as much using the same energy and skills in sales.

When I think about that, there was a lesson in there for all of us:

Here is the truth 📌
We each have the same 24 hours in the day.
All of us.
But some of us make $400TT at the end of the day.
While some make $400,000 USD.
Because it is always about choices.
The quality of life that you live is directly dependent on the day to day decisions WE make.
Some of us choose to stay in crappy jobs, making crappy money.
And then the years past, and we are in the exact same financial position that we were 5 years ago.
Only because we don't know when to LEAVE or walk away.
Quitting is not always a bad thing.
Staying is not always good.
When you view "staying" as some noble feat, you end up stuck in situations, unable to take chances that could improve your life.
Learn to LEAVE.
Learn to try new things.
Learn to take risks.
Leave dead end jobs.
Leave careers that do not fulfill you.
Leave businesses that hardly make any profits for you.
Because sometimes, just sometimes.....the grass IS greener on the other side 💸💚💸💚💸

08/03/2026

I remember when my father passed away 🫶🙏♥️

One of my relatives on his side of the family, made a snide remark implying that my dad worked all his life for nothing because he “died and left it behind.”

This phrase is so common in T&T.
"Doh fight up"....they say.
"Yuh will dead and leave it" 😄😄

It sorta discourages ambition, as if building something in this life is pointless.

At the time I didn’t respond to the individual.
Because yes, my had father died.
But I also knew that he left his huge estate for his wife and children.
And that changes everything.

When my father passed, his death was never in vain. Because dying and leaving assets that would improve the quality of life of the people you leave behind is EXACTLY how you are supposed to live 📌

That's called good, responsible parenting.

Meanwhile sometime later, the same relative lost her mother. She died as well.
Instead of leaving something, she left behind funeral bills and debt. Instead of leaving betterment, her children had to use their already limited money, to cover medical bills and burial expenses.

Both parents died.
But the outcomes their children faced were completely different.

Never let anyone shame you for working hard or spending your life building wealth or assets......ESPECIALLY if you have children.

Yes, you may die.
Yes, you won't be buried with your land or material possessions.
But guess what?
That's Exactly what you want!
As a loving parent, your goal is to intentionally leave behind things that would improve the quality of your children's life in your passing.

Good parents leave inheritances.
Good parents focus on building legacy.

Because unfortunately we are ALL going to die.

But everyday I focus, not just on merely "enjoying life"..... but working to ensure that I accumulate even more financial and material possessions than my dad did, for my boys.....so that whenever I am called to leave this earth, I can go in PEACE knowing that their life, their children's and their children's life, will be not just be good, but great.

That’s not greed.
That's not "missing out".
That’s just love in its most practical and sensible form ♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️

03/03/2026

When I was younger, I would meet a lot of rich, successful entrepreneurs from the network. And almost all of them would say the same thing:

👉That they can tell who’s going to make it in life....
👉And they can also tell who will not.

Sometimes I felt like it was a bit arrogant.
But the more I achieved, the more I realized that success requires certain qualities to be present in your life…and certain qualities to be completely absent.

It’s not luck.
Not only hard work.
It’s also patterns and personality.

‼️ Traits That Must Be Present

⭐Consistency
If you say you’re going to do something, always do it. Even the little things. People who make it are the ones that show up when they say they are going to. If you want to win in this world, your word has to mean something.

⭐Execution
Everybody has ideas. People always have a dream. The difference? Some people actually move and build and finish. Just because you desire something, does not mean you are going to get it. Because talk does not create results, only action does.

⭐Problem Solver Mentality
Life is hard for everybody. The ones who make it don't have fewer problems. They simply never feel sorry for themselves or look for sympathy from others. Instead they use their energies to hyper focus on how they can fix and move on from their problems.

❌ Traits That Must Be Absent

🚩Stubbornness
Have you ever met a person who consistently rejects and refutes good advice. Even when they are prone to making mistakes? People who refuse to watch, listen and learn, seldom reach where they want to be in life. If you want to make it, you need to be humble enough to take counsel from people who are doing better than you.

🚩Unrealistic
There are alot of people with potential but potential means nothing without results. Being intelligent or having knowledge is useless without ex*****on. If the person you think you are in your head doesn’t match what you’re producing in real life, that’s not confidence, that’s delusion.

🚩Excuse Making
Some people love the victim position. Nothing is ever their fault. But successful people take responsibility for everything in their life. Accountability is personal power. The moment you say “this is on me,” you can take control back and change your circumstances.

18/02/2026

Voice represented talent 🫶
Machel represented talent + hard work 💪
In the end, that's what gives him the edge.
The haters try to downplay Machel's victories.
But the wise will always watch and take notes 📌📌📌
Congratulations Machel Montano
Front Page is where Legends belong!

Tobago Entrepreneurs Business Network

22/05/2026

15/05/2026

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05/05/2026

29/04/2026

27/04/2026

25/03/2026

13/03/2026

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18/02/2026

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