Jamaica’s Oprah on Facebook- Lisa O’Gilvie

This the story of how a single person can leverage the power of social media to promote products, make money and change lives. Lisa O’Gilvie, an entrepreneur, events planner chose the latter, she’s fast becoming Jamaica’s Oprah on Facebook. She started the online charity called Well Heeled Jamaican-Are you one of them? SiliconCaribe.com in our second in the series of one-on-one Wednesdays, talks to Lisa.

SC:You started a charity online inside Facebook, what the heck possessed you? 

LO: Hmm. Possessed is an accurate adjective I have been told. Well several reasons.I had been considering the idea about doing a number of projects that engaged a large group of people around a common cause or idea, and how to do it, without the media driven drama. The FaceBook technology provided the ideal route. 

It’s entirely up to you whether or not to enroll. It’s viral so an idea can gain immediate traction with a large group of like minded people or open up new possibilities for others. In regaining tenuous links with friends and buddies it seemed a good way to reconnect with people a bit more than the “hi what you up to now” or a trout slap. (By the way, tossing a sheep is my favorite but I digress….)

The Jamaican network is huge and diverse. There is much focus on the “Rae” which is great, but very little attention on initiatives that could embrace new ways of positive thinking, doing and interactions in your cyber world. Rather than complaining about the application invites and stalkers, what can you do to change your experience….time allowing? What resonates with people and making a connection I realize now, is a never ending quest.Not to mention the people you meet from all over and the connections it fosters. FB really is what you make it…it’s a choice.

SC: The name of your charity is Well Heeled Jamaicans are you one ? Why this angle? 

LO: Well heeled..er..well…I love word play and ‘well heeled’ has so many meanings. It just seemed perfect, based on the nature of the project, and the focus on sharing your largess with someone else, specifically Jamaicans. You will always have more than another person. Seemed to click with folks. 

SC: You had an initial goal of 500 pairs of shoes and a couple hundred people joining …but tell us what happened at the end of the collection days? 

LO: The group swelled to nearly 1,000 members over the approximately seven (7) week period, and by last count the Jamaica network had nearly 40,000 members, so we thought this was a pretty neat representation of the FB Jamaican population. This really bolstered the energy of the committee. 

By our setup day (Friday) we were close to our target as some group members had run with their own sub-centres for early collections whether at their school or office. 

The next day, we more than tripled our target. It was a fun, rewarding experience for all involved. Even now, we are still getting calls. The logistics are a little involved with the sorting, packing and institutional arrangements, so we have asked persons to “hold strain” till the next drive in a few months.

SC: How many charities, how many lives have you touched with this?

LO: We gave 1400 pairs of beautiful, new or slightly worn shoes to 23 charities / institutions for kids, adults and the elderly. It was a pretty awesome team effort. The core committee of old and new friends were so engaged in the process and the feedback from the FB group members near and far was very encouraging. Not to mention the driven volunteers on the collection day. 

It helped that members near and far, were a little bombarded with commentator styled updates, to keep them in the loop. Their input was also important in collating our preliminary master list of charities. Alas, we had to narrow down to the number of institutions, to ensure the operation was manageable and well delivered. Prep and a learning experience for the future. The team effort was spot on in very way imaginable.So overall we have had feedback that the recipients were very happy to receive their gifts, and the Well Heeled Jamaicans whatever role they played, large or small felt a great sense of achievement. Kudos to everyone for making it happen. 

SC: What’s next for Well Heeled Jamaicans?

LO: Well we are registering the charity, and have established a chapter in Florida which will support our logistics planning for the US & Canada. Unfortunately we couldn’t finalize the legalities and freight arrangements for the gifts from our overseas members, but that’s being sorted out now and we are now about to lease essential storage in Miami for our upcoming activities and consistent collections, or as needed.

We have started making Well Heeled operational plans in Boston, Atlanta and Philadelphia as well, with three really engaged individuals (two of them members, so rather quickly, we are moving the project towards the envisioned scope. Also we have now decided to do a Back to School drive for August, so we will be doing 3 drives this year, the final one in December. Possibilities are endless Ingrid.

SC: You’re not only a success in launching this charity..what do you with your 40hr work week? 

LO: Thanks for the plug, but geez….are you inferring I am a workaholic??? Moving on…well I am in the business of events, which are really at their core, intangible ideas fueled by a concept or vision and made tangible with the physical setup on a given date and the persons in attendance. Yes? Just proves, that in our cyber driven world, engaging people, developing an idea and applying the core tenets of planning, need not be limited to a physical space or a pre defined category. Whether philanthropic in nature or business oriented, I plan to harness this vision fully as the possibilities are wide open.

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