Businesswoman

Is Ruqqayah Boyer a household name in Guyana as yet? If not, then in the not too distant future, it is sure to be.

Here is a woman who continues to steadily rise in a variety of artistic pursuits. She is perhaps most well-known for representing Guyana at various pageants and she is also an actress who has appeared in plays and is currently pursuing studies in Theatre at the National School of Theatre Arts and Drama (NSTAD). Ruqqayah is also known as a singer, with her first single, “Sunshine”, currently doing the rounds on social media and local radio stations.
In spite of the varying artistic activities that Ruqqayah is involved in, there is also a strong entrepreneurial streak that runs through her which, like her artistic streak, manifests itself in many ways through several different projects. The balance between being an artist and a business person is a difficult one, but it is one that this young woman seems entirely capable of handling. With such focus on her song and upcoming theatrical performances in NSTAD’s “Performance 6” on August 20th at the National Cultural Centre, it is necessary to also showcase the business side of Ruqqayah, so her ability to manage both of those important areas of her life can become all the more obvious and, therefore, much more appreciated.
Ruqqayah says that she has always had an interest in business, which probably grew out her observing her father who is a businessman, and that she particularly likes the idea of using business as a way of being more self-reliant while being able to provide for those close to her. She describes her style of business as “eccentric” and maintains that, in terms of business models, she does not follow any single structure but, instead, chooses “a combination of things fueled by some logic and market research” but she admits that most of it is purely instinctive.

Her eccentric business strategies have contributed to her business initiative known as Provotique, launched about one year ago, which is an umbrella term that hosts two businesses. The first of these is the Provotique Walking Tours – “Leh We Tek a Walk”, which is perhaps now a fixture in local pop culture due to the catchphrase appearing in Poonam Singh’s popular song, “Guyana” – where Ruqqayah is partnered with her friend, Candasy Tuanna Layne. Ruqqayah obviously believes in establishing business partnerships with people close to her, as the second business under Provotique, the Provotique Image and Beauty Pageant Consultancy, is helmed by herself and her friend, and former Ms. Guyana Universe, Niketa Barker.
The Walking Tours is the first business of its kind in Guyana and Ruqqayah highlights the importance of such an initiative when she notes how many people in Guyana only experience the various sites in Georgetown via transportation and how it becomes a whole different experience when one has to physically walk and experience the city, all while bonding with different people, some of whom may come from cultural backgrounds that are entirely different to your own. She also says that the tours are “a great way for Guyanese to reconnect with their surroundings and build on their national pride through the knowledge gained” from the Walking Tours. Although, the Walking Tours is a business venture, Ruqqayah and Candasy were concerned about the young people from their generation not knowing much of, and, therefore, not benefitting from a cultural and heritage-based education – as evidenced in some people’s lack of knowledge about local folklore and architecture – and catering to this need for such

knowledge was one of the foundational stones upon which the Walking Tours was built. Ruqqayah is fully aware of the importance of knowledge, and the ability of her business to pass on and ingrain such knowledge, to the Guyanese people as seen when she strongly notes that “Our story has a right to be retold and understood” and that the business targets the restoration of something that unites us as a people. Ruqqayah’s artistic side emerges even in her business initiatives, as the Walking Tours are guided by young adults who are passionate storytellers and entertainers, ensuring that the business remains informative and serves its purpose while still being fun and entertaining.

The second business that falls under Provotique is called the Provotique Image and Pageant Consultancy, where Ruqqayah has partnered with Ms. Guyana Universe 2014, Niketa Barker. The Consultancy, despite being in existence for only a short time has been working with several prominent entities and corporate clients and has already helped to create one winner at an international pageant. On partnering with Ms. Barker, Ruqqayah opined that this was an excellent partnership because of their combined experiences and knowledge in the area of pageantry. This venture is important for Ruqqayah because of its unique focus, not only on training for pageants, but also on what the team considers to be three core areas of each individual: the physical appearance, communication skills and behavior or attitude. In her own words, Ruqqayah highlights the value being brought to the public through her business when she says that “Our aim is to enrich a person’s life with confidence because that is essentially one of the main contributors to a person’s overall success.”

On her singing career and its relationship to music, which she prefers to refer to as the Business of Music rather than simply the Music Business, Ruqqayah is fully aware that such a path can be a slippery slope. She does note that she learned quite a lot from her friends who are in the music industry and from studying certain aspects of the industry herself. Unlike many artistes who compromise their art for the sake of financial gain, Ruqqayah says that for her, the integrity of the art is what is most important and that she did not choose to pursue music for accolades or earnings. Ruqqayah has much more to come, in terms of her singing career, and will be releasing other songs in the upcoming months.

On the experience of artists, and entrepreneurs with art-based businesses, such as herself, Ruqqayah is aware of the trend in creatives from Guyana having to leave home and go to other countries in order to pursue their dreams. The lack of copyright legislation in Guyana, something that is crucial to the success of arts-based businesses, and the country’s inability to protect the work of artists from copyright infringement has been described by Ruqqayah as a “monstrosity.” She went on to comment on the importance of copyright laws by stressing its roles in protecting practitioners of various forms of art and their work, while also simultaneously helping to encourage those artists and arts-based business people to continue their work, to raise their standards and the ways in which such laws would contribute to securing a secure life for the country’s creative citizens.
As a woman who is quite young herself, Ruqqayah champions the form of youth entrepreneurship which advocates that young people should invest their time and energy into whatever they are most passionate about, whatever makes them happy, and then use that to make a contribution to society. She notes that she herself is still learning much about business, but so far she is cognizant of the benefits of entrepreneurship on the young business person in how business ventures can help the individual to “build character, skills, develop responsibility and help foster relationships that can enable you in the future.” Her advice to young people interested in getting involved in business is to do extensive research, to never stop asking questions and to never lose sight of your service standards and that which inspired the venture in the first place.