DOMINIC Remar Weekes couldn’t be happier at his life choices so far and feels tremendously proud, blessed and privileged to be able to start up and run an impressive consultancy agency even in the face of a raging pandemic.
With a deep inner drive for success that was present with him since childhood, Dominic, 29, celebrated the first anniversary of his creative consultancy agency called ‘Meridian Concepts’ last Saturday.
“It goes without saying that taking a leap of faith to start a new venture during a global pandemic, where most businesses were taking measures to downsize and cut costs, was a daunting task,” Dominic told Buzz this week.
However, reflecting on his accomplishments one year later, he is pleased to see how things turned out. Meridian Concepts now has several notable clients which it has serviced including Exxon Mobil, GT&T, Beepat’s, Modern Optical Service and most recently, the Ministry Of Human Services and Social Security.
“In a more structured and corporate setting, I feel blessed and privileged to earn from what I love and have a burning passion to do, which is create,” Dominic expressed, adding, “I was especially happy at being able to start a business and doing something that I love and that is right up my alley.”
Dominic worked at Republic Bank for a while and so feels like he has garnered enough experience to deal with the corporate aspect of things. “I feel like I am able to combine the creative aspect and the corporate aspect. A lot of times people aren’t able to speak both languages. Bridging that gap is very important because a lot of businesses have ideas but putting them out to the world is where the challenge comes.”
So being able to speak both the creative and corporate languages fluently is definitely something that he believes sets him apart.
His agency provides a host of services including creating television and radio ads, voiceovers, writing jingles, conceptualizing ideas for billboards, posters and other printed marketing material, public relations and brand image consultancy. “Listening to, translating, supporting, and ultimately executing the creative ideas of brands and businesses is what we do.”
Being a true creative, Dominic has a strong and incessant need to create whether it has to do with writing songs for himself or others and mapping out video treatments or brainstorming ideas.
At the age of seven, he had an inclination to poetry and by age nine, he was exposed to Hip Hop through TV and fell in love with the music, attire, and the lifestyle. Despite certain challenges in his childhood, he managed to secure a place at the prestigious Queen’s College.
Realising that his ‘calling’ was music, he began pursuing the field even though he knew that doing so would be high risk. “Many would consider a decision to pursue music in Guyana high risk as there are no copyright laws protecting music, or a stable industry, but sometimes one cannot stop passion and its pursuit.”
Dominic had the opportunity to open for Rick Ross as well as Dancehall superstar Konshens on their visits to Guyana and his reputation as a rapper and versed writer gained him the recognition of the US embassy in Guyana where he was requested to create a song for the then US Ambassador to promote the efforts of the embassy in Guyana.
Today, Dominic said his experiences and culture have blended to make the perfect brew of Hip Hop Dancehall and Reggae music for his fans.