PATRICIA WALTERS CREATED HISTORY when she took over the reins of Cable and Wireless (C&W) in St Kitts and Nevis, becoming the first female Chief Executive Officer (CEO) in the Federation, and the first woman at the helm of the traditionally male-dominated telecommunications sector. “Pat,” as she is affectionately called, is gifted with foresight and insight, and maximised those in tandem with her considerable marketing, communication and management skills to put her company on firm footing for future competition with later entrants to the Caribbean market.
With her brand there was an ‘open door’ policy: she embraced regular interviews and ensured that the press and media were kept up-to-date with issues about the firm. Community outreach programmes saw C&W sponsor a number of projects which enhanced human capacity, burnished participants’ personalities, and forged holistic development while enhancing the pool of skills and talents in participating communities. “What impressed me and continued to impress me over the years is that she was always reaching out to everyone and ventured into supporting organisations and institutions while they were making profits,” one customer remembered.
The rivalry from Digicel helped ‘Pat’ come up with novel ideas including the ‘Double Bubble Top Up,’ under which customers received twice the amount of credit they put in their mobile phones — a major hit that helped wipe away ill-will against C&W at the time. Dubbed a highly transformational leader with over a quarter of a century of international experience, Walters held positions including CEO of C&W (St. Kitts and Nevis) Ltd., Chief Financial Officer at Telecommunications Services of Trinidad and Tobago, Regional Executive Vice President C&W West Indies Ltd., and Senior Vice President of Bahamas Telecommunications Company Ltd. Walters now holds the post of CEO of St Kitts-Nevis Cable Communications Ltd, ‘Thee Cable,’ a privately owned company.