Mommy Gen: A legacy of empowerment

Pauline “Mommy Gen” Francis was a woman who dedicated her life to pushing gender stereotypes.

 She was the first female in the country to obtain a bus driver’s licence and operate heavy duty machinery like backhoes.

 In 1962, she and her husband opened a small bar in Liberta. 

While being the mother of nine, she helped create Kennedy’s, today a parent company for several different businesses ranging from hardware to hospitality. 

She also raised an additional 34 adopted children, 22 grandchildren and five great-grands over the course of her life.

Mommy Gen came from entrepreneurs. Her parents owned the only grocery store and bakery in their village of Newfield – which is why she instilled the same spirit of business into all of her children who then passed it on to theirs. 

She encouraged and assisted in the niche interests they all honed by insisting that they further their studies because she believed in self-empowerment and placed a high value on education.

She was often heard saying, “Do the best you can to be the best you can.”

Jahkaydah Isaac is one such grandchild she inspired to follow her dreams. 

She described Mommy Gen, who died in 2017, as a “fearless woman”. “She really inspired me to break boundaries and to push myself to do what I’m passionate about…because that’s what she always did,” Jahkaydah said.

  Jahkaydah always had a love for cooking and being her own boss. At 16, her entrepreneurial spirit became evident as she began selling cookies she baked herself in secondary school.

Now, after being classically trained as a chef in London, and completing an internship in Dubai, Jahkaydah is the proud owner of her own local pastry business called The Flaky Crust based in Coolidge.

When asked what keeps her in Antigua, she answered, “I think I’d only want to go abroad to learn more. Maybe have some periodic moments where I go just to study. But to live and set up my own business? I’ve always wanted to do that at home.”  

She admitted that sometimes she battles with self-doubt because the kitchen can be a cutthroat environment.

 “As a woman, you have to work twice as hard to make a name for yourself in the industry because it’s so male dominated and they openly doubt you,” she explained.

She told Observer however, “You have to hype yourself up, and remember what you’re capable of. Not to be a brag, but to walk in there with confidence and stand up for yourself.”

She also explained that she gained much inspiration from seeing Mommy Gen branch out in so many predominately male industries. 

It gave her the drive to stand her ground in the face of adversity. 

Jahkaydah is seemingly following in Mommy Gen’s footsteps, by living one of her famous mantras, “Anywhere you go, leave it better than how you found it.”