Jewels of the Virgin Isles is a feature series profiling Virgin Islanders in the diaspora who are excelling in their respective fields and/or positively representing the USVI abroad.
He is a man on a mission with a vision for change, one idea at a time, and he’s well on his way to making a difference. Shomari Moorehead might be labeled a “techie” because of his work as an information technology consultant, but he’s also a people person who appreciates the value of a strong human network.
How is this possible you might ask? Chalk it up to his love for his community, his culture and his family.
Driven by a curious mind, Moorehead first recognized his affinity for computers in the fourth grade after using his first Apple computer, and he admits that his career has enabled him to combine his two passions of working with computers and helping people find solutions.
“I love working with people and using technology to help them succeed,” Moorehead says. The St. Croix native got his start in the public and parochial school systems on the big island, graduating in 1995 from St. Joseph High School to then further his undergraduate and graduate studies at Boston University.
A series of professional opportunities over a 12-year span led him to IBM, where he worked for seven years, but he says, after a while he could not resist the call of entrepreneurship. Moorehead’s mother was self-employed for most of his life so he learned early on of the flexibility that could be gained as an entrepreneur.
This insight would prove handy decades later once he launched his company, CrucianPoint Consulting and became a husband and father. In retrospect, Moorehead said his mother’s ability to still carve out all-important family time to travel and play with him and his siblings was the foundation on which he modeled his own life.
“My mother worked for herself … and that gave her the opportunity to spend a lot of time with her kids and take us places. Quite a few of my family members are entrepreneurs,” Moorehead shares.
With such a legacy there could be a sense of pressure to succeed, but for Moorehead, it comes down to three simple factors – be patient, work smartly (not hard), and do it all with a smile. He tries to adhere to these premises because he believes that success, especially in the Virgin Islands, does not come quickly; it’s important to keep a good network of people who can help you accomplish your goals so you don’t burn yourself out.
Moorehead also says smiling helps you to feel better even when you’re disappointed or feel like giving up. “You never know who is looking at you for inspiration or who may be willing to lend a hand, so your interactions with others during difficult times matters,” he says.
Although the path to entrepreneurship could have been a genetic one, Moorehead ultimately sees it as an avenue to help make the Virgin Islands a better place. He seems to instantly gain momentum when discussing ways that he can lend his expertise to build up the territory. In fact, as the president of the Virgin Islands Association of Georgia, he often has to draw on his ability to build partnerships and his vision for a more unified Virgin Islands community to lead the organization.
His passion for his home is evident when he starts to discuss how technology could help to make things flow more smoothly or how Virgin Islanders could team up to gain a stronger foothold in the industries that drive the V.I. economy.
Beyond the business aspect and opportunities for growth, Moorehead is committed to giving back to the Virgin Islands youth and expressed his desire to establish a mentoring and scholarship program that centers on entrepreneurship. “A lot of people are waiting for jobs to become available, not realizing that they have the opportunity to create those jobs,” he states.
An avid traveler, Moorehead has seen enough of the Caribbean to appreciate the virtues of his home and he is excited about the opportunities that are there for the taking, sharing that in his travels to other islands, residents still seemed content despite high costs of living. “I think it comes down to appreciating what we have here in the V.I. and not comparing it to others, namely the U.S. mainland, all the time.”
He says, “Perhaps if we shift our perspective and understand that this is part of island life, we could focus on the things that make life in the Caribbean enjoyable, like time with family.” These are very wise words from a visionary man.
A Nugget for V.I. Youth: “Find someone who does what you would like to do and stay in touch so that you learn what path to take to get where you want to go. If you don’t know what you want to do or where you want to go, take chances and make mistakes. The pain is temporary and eventually you’ll find something you love.”
Little Known Fact: “If I was not in the Information Technology field, I would be doing either music or psychology. As a teen I played keyboards in a band on St. Croix. I own just about every Violators and Jam Band album starting with the 1988 Violators album "For The People" and 1987 Jam Band "We Run Things." I have toyed with going back to school for a PhD in cognitive and social psychology. Most of my work has to do with cognitive psychology and how people learn to use computers and software. In fact, my managers at IBM were all psychology majors.
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Loán Sewer is a marketing and tourism consultant and proud Virgin Islander who resides in Washington, D.C. She is also a founding member of the USVI Alliance Inc., an organization focused on reconnecting the Virgin Islands diaspora with the local community and host of the USVI Economic Development Summit on the U.S. mainland. Follow her on Twitter @LoTalksTourism or e-mail her at [email protected].