ZAWDIE BUSINESS VENTURES :: History & Profile of Zawdie

BRANSON
CENTRE OFFICIAL ENTREPRENEUR
+ CREATIVE PROFESSIONAL

As a lifelong entrepreneur with a hands-on approach to business development and a fair sense of humor, Mr. Tarik Zawdie Kiddoe, brings experience gained in business adventures spanning over 21 years. His first sojourn into business was at the age of 16, starting a t-shirt business while still in high school, initially selling over 115 t-shirts in one week in a school population of only about 1000 students. Not surprisingly, he later failed all his GCE 'A' Level exams.

Zawdie was well on his way to being recognized as a die-hard creative, arts and entertainment 'doer'. While enrolled as an architecture student at the University of Technology Jamaica, he produced campus events and design projects, intermittently doing artwork for top reggae industry names outside that university circle. He also managed a few entertainment acts, 'picked up' a scholarship and a Private Pilots' License (and yes he flew for it....didnt 'buy' his license). In the midst of all this business he still got the degree.

FIRST BREAKTHROUGH
He first came to wider prominence in 2002 as an architecture school graduate, stepping into formal business operations as a design guru, creative mind and an early innovator in the field of animation, owning and operating one of the most recognizable animation studios of that time in Jamaica – Zawdie Visual Art Studio — producing animated works to include the TechColonyJA short film for the Heart Trust NTA. He received formal training in entrepreneurship as a founding tenant at the Technology Innovation Centre, Jamaica – the Caribbean's first business incubator.

In the years since that break, he has provided advertising, post-production and other creative services to clientele throughout corporate Jamaica, providing service to many top brands such as Red Stripe, Guinness, Appleton Jamaica Rum, National Commercial Bank, Sagicor, and VP Records. At different times he has served as a creative consultant/contractor to three Ministries of the Government of Jamaica and also has been a design consultant of UNICEF Jamaica on several projects.

ENTERTAINMENT AFFILIATIONS
Zawdie developed working relationships throughout the entertainment industry, later utilizing those connections to develop Reggae Rocket – a promotional digital media distribution company delivering music video content to over 80 countries worldwide since 2006.

THE 'FAST' LANE
From 2008 to 2012, Mr. Kiddoe served as a consultant to the management team of the number one track & field athlete in the world, discreetly working on design, events, e-commerce, merchandising and other special projects. He also evaluated prospective film proposals and other deals and opportunities of a value close to US$6m. He directly helped to realize deals leading to the development of one of Kingston's most popular restaurants – Usain Bolt's Tracks & Records — by itself an investment valued at over US$1.5m.

THE B-FACTOR
Early in 2013, this Zawdie began the journey towards the launch of his next and possibly his most ambitious business endeavor - Zealioz Adventure Energy. In June 2015, after a rigorous evaluation process, Tarik Zawdie Kiddoe acheived Branson Official Entrepreneur status from the Branson Centre of Entrepreneurship - Caribbean as a part of this new goal.

The journey continues.