The Tribune

By ALESHA CADET

Features Reporter

acadet@tribunemedia.net

Two young Bahamians are taking what they believe to be their God-given gifts to help other’s fulfil their dreams in business.

Last weekend, Darren Sears and Sharique Dill invited fellow Christians to attend their first annual “Unleash Your Potential” business conference”.

The response, they said, was overwhelming.

The duo created and designed the conference to motivate, inspire, educate and equip people with the knowledge they need to start their own business and then take it from good to great.

Highlights of the conference included speakers like Apostle Paul J Butler, who spoke on practical application and foundation; Lorenzo Strachan, CEO of Elegant Creations, who took on the topic of guerrilla marketing; Derek Kelly, CEO of Total Services Bahamas, who was chosen to speak on networking, and Nathaniel Butler, who has years of experience in finance and business management.

Mr Sears himself spoke on the topic of “Acquire the fire – motivation and emotional intelligence.”

Collage Entertainment was chosen to be the ice breaker for the conference, adding some humour to the challenges persons face in business.

Mr Sears shared with Tribune Religion that the inspiration for the event came from God, whom he said has given all people great potential to be a blessing on earth.

“The conception of this vision started years ago working on a job that had nothing to do with my calling. I knew it was not my calling due to the fact that I felt a burning passion to do something more with my life. I had many dreams and aspirations to aid people and start nonprofit organisations and help the poor and needy; to help build other people’s dreams and inspire many to fulfil them. One day I looked at the size of my dream compared to the size of my pay cheque and it did not add up,” he said.

Mr Sears said he felt God was calling him to the field of entrepreneurship, a call he likes to describe as “the pull to purpose”.

“Many people commit what I like to call soul suicide. Instead of being honest with ourselves, knowing that there is more we are called to and pushing toward that direction, we take the easy way out and kill the burden by pretending it does not exist,” said Mr Sears.

Quoting the late Dr Myles Munroe, Mr Sears said the richest place in the world is the graveyard; it’s full of inventions that were never made, songs that have never been sung, books that were never written and businesses that were never started.

“After pursuing my passion I have found who I am and landed in territory that is limitless without a ceiling. After arriving to this destination through hard work and dedication I felt a push to the duty of helping others realise their potential. I later met Sharique Dill, the author of ‘Standing Out Not Fitting In’. She too shared the same passion with me to teach others about purpose. After a few meetings together we began to plan the event,” he said.

The conference last Saturday, Mr Sears said, brought light to many of the truths about purpose and business that are not taught in traditional school programmes. It brought to light practical information and principles that many are blind to.

Organising the conference has been a great blessing for the entrepreneur, teaching him that it is always better to give than receive. It encouraged him to push harder and to never give up during the tough times of life.

“Many business events out there locally and internationally only motivate you to fulfil purpose, however, they do not provide a clear road map of instructions of what to do, especially if you are a person with little resources and little experience who wants to do something great with their life. The ‘Unleash Your Potential’ business conference was built strategically to bridge that gap. The more Bahamians tap into their potential, the richer the Bahamas will become,” he said.

Mr Sears said many Christians live their lives only with faith that God can do something for them. However, they forget the Scripture that says faith without works is dead.

“This is why most Christian people find themselves the borrowers and not the lenders. We as Bahamians must turn that around; for when the wicked are in power the people will mourn, but when the righteous bare rule the people rejoice,” he said.