When Dennis Hawthorne, founder and chief executive officer of Dennis Shipping, walks across King’s House lawn on Monday, October 20 – National Heroes Day – to be invested with the insignia of Order of Jamaica (OD) his journey from a small town photographer to successful international businessman would have come full circle.
But Hawthorne says that his journey could not have been made possible without the support of his staff, his family and his community
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Hawthorne rose from humble beginnings to becoming a pioneering entrepreneur along the way demonstrating that business can be a powerful force for social transformation.
Hawthorne said that growing up in Westmoreland, he learnt the values of perseverance, hard work and service.
Today, Dennis Shipping is a household name in the Diaspora, Jamaica and as far away as England. But it almost never happened.
Outlining the many obstacles that he encountered on his journey to success, Hawthorne recalled his living in a warehouse, sleeping on cardboard boxes on the floor and getting a once a week showers when his friend allowed him to visit his apartment on the weekends as well as having meals consisting only of an apple, a banana and drinking a can of supplement for meals.
During his sojourn in the United States, he worked three jobs, as a photographer, handyman cleaning apartments and emptying garbage, all to make his dream come through.
“Many nights I cried and wondered why I left my home in Jamaica to come to the United States,” he said in an interview.
These are just some of the obstacles faced by Dennis Hawthorne, head of Dennis Shipping, Jamaica’s largest shipping company in the United States, on his journey from a small town photographer to successful businessman.
Hawthorne’s journey began in the parish of Westmoreland where he was born. He attended Grange Hill Primary School and later Grange Hill Secondary School. At school he was very good at art being rated as the second best artist in the school.
He was selected to attend Jamaica School of Art but had to forego that opportunity as his parents was unable to afford the tuition for him to attend.
Hawthorne began doing graphic art in and around Grange Hill and Savanna-La-Mar doing odd jobs to make ends meet. He would engrave graphic art on jackets while also doing animated craft.
According to Hawthorne, business was slow but he made enough money to take care of himself.
Later he switched careers going into photography with a Mr. Daley who had a photography business in Savanna La Mar.
“He taught me the fundamentals and I did very good. He had a photograph and record shop and I did the photograph part,” he said.
Hawthorne, telling how he came to migrate to the United States, said that one afternoon some people came into the photo shop and say that the United States embassy was giving away visas.
“I took some passport/visa pictures and with my photographic equipment went to the United States embassy to get a visa. As it turned out the embassy was not giving away visas as two of the people who traveled with me got turned down,” he said.
When it was his turn to be interviewed he was asked why he wanted to go to the United States and Hawthorne told the interviewer that he wanted to go and purchase photo equipment as he could not depend on others to get him the right equipment when he asked them to purchase the equipment.
“I was given a B1/B2 (visitor) visa in 1984 but I could not travel for months as I had no one in the United States with whom I could stay,” he said.
Eventually, a lady whom he had photographed on a number of occasions was traveling to New York and she encouraged him to come along.
“By then I had saved around $4,000 so I purchased my ticket and traveled with her to New York,” he said
On arrival, she left him at the airport and he had to take a taxi to a motel, a place where he was very uncomfortable.
Hawthorne said that he reached out to a friend living in the Bronx but the friend could not accommodate him.
He ultimately hooked up with a friend in the Bronx who allowed him to stay at his place for two weeks.
He later reached out to another friend in Brooklyn who also allowed him to stay with him but he said that after two weeks was made to feel uncomfortable.
During this time, he developed a relationship with the owner of a studio that developed films.
“I had taken some pictures to have then clean and he asked me who took them. I told him that I did and he asked if I could work in a dark room developing films and I told him yes. He gave me odd jobs allowing me to earn money,” he said.
Hawthorne said that he had to leave where he was staying and the owner of the photo shop allowed him to stay in a warehouse that he had.
“The place was located on Rogers Avenue in Brooklyn and I lived there for sometime. I slept on cardboard boxes on the floor and was unable to take a shower. I had to visit a friend’s home on weekends where I could take a shower that lasted me for a week.
He said that during that time he did three jobs, photography, pick up boxes and clean out the place.
“I could still smell the stench of the place and wondered why I left Jamaica for this suffering,” he said.
He said that many nights he cried.
Eventually he was able to rent a basement studio apartment but things did not get any better.
“I had to walk everywhere I was going because I had to save money. I had a son in Jamaica who I had to take care off. I also had to take care of my mother,” he said
Hawthorne said that his meals mostly consisted of an apple, a banana and a can of supplement.
Pointing out that the owner of the photo studio also had a shipping business, Dennis said that he allowed him to pick up the boxes.
“I later purchased a Dodge van that he had for sale. I would pay him weekly out of the money I earned with him,” he said.
Hawthorne was to branch out renting a garage space where he would store the goods he got from people to ship to Jamaica.
“I loaded my first 20-foot container at that location,” he said
In 1988 he opened Dennis Photograph and Shipping at a place he rented in Brooklyn located at Rogers Avenue between Church and Snyder Avenues.
But even then his dream almost got derailed.
“The government put into insurance that we as shippers had to get to cover the transporting of goods. I did not have the money or collateral to secure the insurance and gave serious though to closing but I was encouraged by several people not to give up,” he said.
He was to secure the insurance through a broker but what should have been a cost of around $350 ended up costing him over $3,500.
He expanded renting additional space at the location at Rogers Avenue. But by them he had dropped the word photography from the sign to become Dennis Shipping
And has they say, the rest is history.
Today Dennis Shipping has locations in New York, Florida, London and Jamaica. It is the largest Jamaican-owned shipping company in the United States, sending goods not only to Jamaica but to many countries in the Caribbean.
A37-year old company Dennis Shipping has supported thousands of families with affordable shipping solutions, created sustainable economic opportunities in Jamaica and the diaspora as well as strengthened economic ties between Jamaica and its overseas communities.
He has invested heavily in education, infrastructure and youth empowerment. He involvement in education not only span his alma mater but other educational institutions in Jamaica. He has also assisted Jamaica’s healthcare sector by shipping medical supplies, sometimes free of cost, from the Diaspora to Jamaica.
He has earned many citations and awards for his philanthropic outreach from diverse organizations and institutions across the Diaspora.
