On any given day, you might find Shelly-Ann Aqui Solomon at home rocking her grandson to sleep on her lap. That is exactly how our interview began. It reflects her life as a mother and grandmother, one where her career is built around her family, rather than squeezing them into the margins of a workspace. An award-winning business strategist, speaker, and mentor with over 27 years of experience, her mission is to give others - particularly women - that same sense of freedom.
Through Shelly Coaching & Consulting, she helps Caribbean entrepreneurs build structured, profitable businesses through better systems, marketing and personal development so their brands can operate and scale with clarity using AI tools and digital systems. “I accomplish this with my Life By Design Method and Positioned To Propel Framework,” she tells WE. “My perspective is, entrepreneurs should prioritise protecting our Clan, not just our Capital by responsibly guarding against the infiltration of Trojan horses, opportunists and selfish people whose intention is to dismantle the family unit, legacy and generational stability.”
Shelly-Ann’s brand is distinctly West Indian. Her refusal to mask her heritage shapes how she presents herself in a world where many professionals feel the need to mimic international accents to be taken seriously. “It shows up in the way I communicate, the stories I share, the language I use, and how I connect with my audience,” she says proudly. “It creates a sense of familiarity and trust, especially within the diaspora. Your background, experiences, history and perspective are what set you apart and become a powerful advantage.”
When she isn’t busy in the comfort of her own space, she seeks out the peace of the ocean or enjoys a quiet cup of coffee. Sometimes, the real work is slowing down to see things clearly. She sees a recurring issue in Caribbean entrepreneurship: strong products often fail because working harder doesn’t mean working smarter. That’s where she comes in. “There is a tendency to confuse visibility with strategy. Posting frequently is not the same as communicating effectively. Without understanding buyer behaviour, messaging, and the customer journey, marketing efforts often become inconsistent and ineffective. This is often why we have so many frustrated entrepreneurs quitting or struggling with burnout.”
She recently hosted a conference called Visibility to Velocity: Business and Lifestyle, aimed at guiding attendees beyond inspiration into measurable results, helping them identify gaps in their marketing and sales funnel. Her determination to succeed has a lot to do with her childhood. In her immediate household, money was hard to come by, but as a grandchild, she was exposed to the finer things money can buy; seeing both sides completely changed her perspective—and her goals. “When you do not have access to many resources, you learn to maximise what is available to you. It teaches you discipline, problem-solving, creativity and persistence. It also gives you a deep understanding of what it means to want more—not just financially, but in terms of opportunity and quality of life. They instilled in me a strong sense of responsibility to move others beyond survival and into a space where they can thrive.”
When she first started her entrepreneurial journey, driven by a desire to be at home with her then young daughter while earning income, she flipped her $40 idea into a seven-figure business in four years. It was a grind that took discipline and a refusal to chase immediate rewards. She reinvested every cent and prioritised customer experience.
“Now I teach clients to do that in 12-24 months,” she says, adding that empowering couples is top priority as she believes that aligned partnership is better positioned to create generational wealth, something she wants to see more Caribbean households achieve.
While she understands that not everyone wants to own a business, she has a message for traditionalists who still believe a “stable” job only exists in a bank or law firm: “The global economy has evolved significantly. I encourage parents to shift from discouraging entrepreneurship to guiding it. With the right structure and guidance, it can be just as stable, if not more so, than traditional careers.”
Shelly-Ann is passionate about what she does because she knows what it feels like to start from zero. She believes that if she can do it, others can to
