This Week We Feature Young Professional Mr Kyle I. Harrigan. Photo: Provided

Mr Kyle I. Harrigan is the Senior Tourism Development Officer at the BVI Tourist Board. He knows what it means to start from the bottom and work his way to the top. Some seven years ago he joined the BVITB at the entry point as an Information Officer. Photo: Provided

One of Kyle's pastime activities is dancing with the CADA Players. Photo: Facebook

Mr Harrigan will be among the group of persons selected as part of the Social Development Mentorship Programme when it gets underway sometime soon in Virgin Gorda. Photo: Provided

Mr Kyle I. Harrigan enjoys dancing and engaging in other activities that are constructive and influential. The CADA Playesr which he is a part of, continues to raise monies for children of Haiti. Photo: Facebook

Commendable for Mr Harrigan, however, is that he has never allowed those stumbling blocks to keep him in a crawling position but always finds the courage to pick himself up, dust off, take a mental picture of where he came from and what it would take to continue pursuing his ultimate dream.

“I am a young man striving for professional growth and personal growth as well. I am doing a lot of different things to build character and build my career,” he told Virgin Islands News Online with the usual pleasant smile that embraces almost everyone who may come into contact with him on a daily basis on or off the job.

He has adopted the principle of never staying down and learning from every bad experience. Today, Mr Kyle I. Harrigan is the Senior Tourism Development Officer with the BVI Tourist Board (BVITB). He knows what it means to start from the bottom and work his way to the top. Some seven years ago he joined the BVITB at the entry point as an Information Officer.

“It’s a matter of learning as you go. My job is very challenging but it is also very rewarding from a professional point of view of course because I am always learning new things every day, meeting new interesting people who I can build from, who I can take certain characteristics from,” said Mr Harrigan.

Getting to where he is today has its roots in a challenging, yet humbling beginning. He has not had the privilege like many children to grow up with either mother or father. Circumstances beyond his control also did not allow him to complete a tertiary education but yet today he shines.

He said while in high school his mother moved to live in the USA and while his father continued to live in the Virgin Islands, they never lived together. He told this news site that for his mother he is the second of three children and for his dad he is the second of four.

Growing up with grandmothers, cousins and aunts who were mainly women, he learnt the value of how to treat people, especially women, with pride and dignity. That also allowed him to peek into the life and experiences of others around him and to learn from their experiences.

And although he did not get to a complete college that did not mean that he had to become a street boy doing things to make a fast dollar. He worked at elevating himself to the point that today he is reading for his degree in Marketing and Sales at Ashworth University.

At the tender age of 18, himself and a group of friends ventured out into the entrepreneurial arena. “We started a company named ‘Island Rydes’. It was a scooter rental company. Of course being teenagers we were very inexperienced. We were very blind to the whole business approach so we tried something and we failed.”

To fail didn’t mean to give up for Kyle I. Harrigan. “We took all the lessons we learnt from that and then we started Island Rydes Charter Company, which has been running now for the last four years and that has proven to be a bit successful so far.”

Ultimately, he wants to be a private entrepreneur and with what he does today is allowing him to, as said in his own words, “learning as I go” to the extent that he sees the company Island Rydes as a popular brand and name internationally and in the charter business within another five years time.

When he is not at work you can bet your bottom dollar that you can find him dancing. If not with the CADA Players, he might just be in a club or maybe in his bedroom. You most have seen him some time, especially during the Christmas season, with the CADA players and hands on volunteers as they put on an annual show to raise funds for children in Haiti.

“I can also dance the meringue, the salsa, the tango. I know how to dance these and more so when we go out it does not matter where we are we just dance.”

The other thing he loves doing is working as a basketball referee for the Summer Jam Basketball Tournament on Virgin Gorda. “I am currently training to be a soccer official so that’s some of the things I have going on,” he said.

Mr Harrigan also mentioned that he is single but would love to have a family of his own one day. For now though his newest found love is reading and has taken much liking to the writings of the author Paulo Coehlo.

His key words to youth would be to take every opportunity to grasp at their education and stay in school. “I would definitely stress the importance of education and that’s simply because education is vital in the world that we live in today.”

Mr Harrigan further stated that while he has had quite a few ‘mishaps’ in life he has not given up at succeeding and encourages youth to be determined and value a good education. “That is why I have to be with an online university. So that is why young people should stay in school and take advantage of every opportunity in the academic setting. Jump on it, go through the system, learn as much as possible and never stop learning so you can have one up and a step in the right direction.”

Our young professional Mr Kyle I. Harrigan will be among the group of persons selected for the Social Development Mentorship Programme when it gets underway sometime soon in Virgin Gorda. This, he said, would be another way for him to be an inspiration to youth in his community.