She grew up an island girl, but today Danika Bayard is very much a global woman.
Sitting in her snug, shared office at Seachest Ace Hardware in Subbase, she recalled growing up on St. Thomas, her journey stateside for an education and career, and her decision to return – if only temporarily – to the Virgin Islands three years ago.
“I wanted to learn the family business,” she said. Parents Patrick and Yanick Bayard have operated Seachest since 1996 and they needed help when the company’s long-time comptroller retired. Bayard said she doesn’t have the background to take on that title, but she has taken on much of the work. Her extensive education and work experience are paying off in her current role.
Bayard attended Sibilly School until fifth grade, then switched to Antilles. When she graduated, she went to the University of Tampa in Florida where she earned a degree in international relations.
She said she originally thought she would pursue a masters in a field related to education, but a trip to Italy as a young woman changed all that. She met a family who operated a bed and breakfast and decided she’d like to get into tourism.
So after working for several years for Tropical Shipping, she went back to school and got her graduate degree in hospitality management from Florida International University. Next came positions with Carnival Cruise Lines and with Starwood’s Westin Hotel.
Much of her job centered on customer relations, including complaints.
“I learned how to turn a negative into a positive,” she said. “All you had to do was really listen” to the other person.
“First seek to understand,” she added, paraphrasing from Stephen Covey’s self-help book, "The 7 Habits of Effective People," which she said has greatly influenced her.
Bayard has also worked in human resources, with Management Sciences for Health, an international foundation based in Cambridge. She was first lured to Massachusetts by her brother Dax, who settled in the area, and has since grown to love Boston.
The Management Sciences for Health Foundation has programs throughout the world, especially in Africa and also in Haiti.
Both her parents are from Haiti, and Bayard can trace her ancestry there for generations.
“I identify as a Haitian American,” she said, but acknowledged that with her blue eyes and fair skin, “people find it hard to believe, but the world at large is very diverse and so is Haiti.”
Laughing, she said she sometimes convinces the skeptics “when I burst out in Creole.”
Besides Creole, Bayard is fluent in English, French and Spanish, “and I’m learning Italian because I love Italy.” She’s using free online language lessons, and says she already can understand spoken Italian pretty well, but is still working on speaking it.
There’s no reason to question her determination. This is a woman who has been on the Medifast diet since January and has lost 40 pounds. She plans to lose another 20.
Her five-to-10 year goal is to open her own bed and breakfast in New England – a dream she’s nurtured ever since that first trip to Italy. While she has enjoyed her work at Seachest, she said, “Once hospitality gets in your blood, it kind of stays there.” The first step toward the B&B will be her return this fall to Massachusetts.
“I’m going to miss friends that I’ve made here,” she said. “I’m going to miss my family. I’m going to miss my co-workers, and – in winter – I’m going to miss the weather.”
But she said “I plan to visit St. Thomas a lot.” And every time she flies back to the States, she’ll be traveling with a companion.
“I bring puppies every time I go to Boston” through the Pets with Wings program organized by the Human Society. “That’s really close to my heart.”
