fp Turks and Caicos

Veronica Clare certainly knows what she is talking about when she gives career advice to the more than 240 employees she mentors as the Human Resources Manager at the Grace Bay Club.

A South Caicos native, Clare studied dental technology in Florida before returning to the TCI to find her field was not in high demand. “I had to revert to the administrative skills I had learned in high school,” Clare said of her return to South Caicos in the 1980s.

Putting her dental skills aside, she took an administrative job with an affiliate of the energy company on South Caicos where she worked for several years until she was transferred to Providenciales. “On Provo I worked for what was then PPC for another few years.”

But a very enthusiastic people person, Clare wanted to try something different, and hospitality was the growing industry at that time. She jumped with both feet into a position at the Bay Hotel, which was eventually bought out and changed to Beaches Resort.

“I started in accounting, then public relations, I was a wedding coordinator, sales manager and eventually landed in training,” she said.

After working her way around and up the ranks, she finally left Beaches to become the Training and Concierge Manager at the Turks and Caicos Sporting Club on Ambergris Cay. After two years she was offered the position as Human Resource Manager at the Grace Bay Club, where she found herself not only a job, but the right career.

“It is my passion, I like people, and I like to see people be the best they can be,” she said, admitting that it’s not an easy job.

“There is never a dull moment in human resources. People are coming in and out all day,” but she says she never refuses anyone. “People come to me as someone they can trust, and I give them wise council on what to do or not to do.”

As for her famous advice, she says makes it real for the employees, offering guidance on how to set realistic goals and work towards a path that gets them where they want to be. “The good thing with this company is there is room for growth, but you have to want it and work for it,” she explains.

False expectations can set many up for failure, “The only place you begin at the top is when you are digging a hole,” she says.

Having worked her way to the top, Clare is certainly practicing what she preaches.

Her second passion is giving back to the community. A dedicated member of the Grace Bay Resorts Community Foundation, Clare represents the two government schools on South Caicos for the foundation.

“I love going back to South Caicos,” she says. “Working six days a week, I don’t have the time to go back as much as I would like, so even when we get to go for a few hours, I love it.”

The foundation visits the schools several times a year to donate much needed supplies. “Just to see the joy on the children’s faces is priceless,” she said.