Agnes George has spent 35 years as a clinical nurse working in the medical field. Educated in the beautiful country of Grenada, she became a certified teacher. But her passion led to nursing, midwifery, and helping preterm babies born to mothers of gestational diabetes mellitus.
As a diabetes specialist, she feels it’s her duty to educate, help, and support individuals in preventing type 2 diabetes. Agnes holds workshops, webinars and more to enable a healthy lifestyle for all individuals.
“The moment we stop fighting for our health and wellness is the moment we lose our humanity.”
How would you describe your Grenadian childhood, and how has your upbringing impacted your life?
I was born on the beautiful island of Grenada in the Caribbean, known as the isle of spice; brought up by the principal to be kind, thoughtful and respectful to your seniors. I was always willing to learn new things and to help the ones who are less fortunate than myself. This is my island home, which I would like to share with you – Grenada Isle of Spice of the Caribbean.
Coming from humble beginnings, a strict Christian family where there was much love, affection, and happiness, there was lots of fun growing up. I was taught music and learnt to play cricket, marbles, rounders, and hopscotch with my older cousins.
I was enrolled at a very young age in private school before attending mainstream education. I had a wonderful childhood; education was instilled into me at a very early age. I established a burning desire for sports, became a well-known sports enthusiast competing at National levels, won a few medals in the Eastern Caribbean games and was privileged to be presented by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II during her Caribbean tour. The media described me as the ‘fastest gazelle’ in the Caribbean.
This led to me successfully making a great impact on children, and adults globally via coaching, speaking engagements, workshops, and networking. I also had the opportunity to speak at many events, including the International Women’s Day Conference in Antigua & Barbuda, where I was interviewed by the Governor-General His Excellency Sir Rodney Williams & Lady Williams on diabetes. I was also invited by Antigua Observer Radio to discuss the issue of diabetes, which is very prevalent in Antigua & Barbuda.
My childhood taught me to be the best that I can be, always be willing to help without expecting anything in return, and follow my dreams no matter what obstacles come my way.
What drives you to success?
Growing up was a real journey. I grew up to be resilient, focused, determined, hardworking, disciplined, and consistent in the pursuit of my dreams. Getting into higher education was easy, the big challenge was when my real journey began. I decided to succeed no matter what!
I watched my hard-working mother, despite the financial challenges, helping other families. This instilled us with core values. Sometimes I wonder how she was able to achieve all that. Later I realised you really don’t have to be rich to make a positive impact on other people’s lives.
When experiencing difficulties with my passion, motivation is my driving force for success, one must want to produce and practice even when they’re not happy and things are not perfect. I take time out for myself when things in my life are failing, and I get back on my path. Having a work-life balance helps steer the course.
My biggest motivation is my family – my mother has been my biggest source of inspiration and support . From childhood, she has always been my cheerleader, my motivator, her famous words are “you must try”. She always instilled school work, sports and exams in me from a noticeably young age.
Being the first in my family to attend university made my mother enormously proud, reflecting on those moments, motivated me to succeed.
That’s my secret sauce, and where I get inspiration. It does not matter how many times I’ve been knocked down, when I cannot see my way through, I think of my family.
When you want something so bad,you put out all the stops, and climb the highest mountain to reach that peak of success. Learning from my mother’s demanding work and self-motivation gives me the drive and the conviction to be like her, learn from her work ethic, face tough decisions and never give up when it gets tough. I have gone through the grind and taken the time to understand the clients’ needs, aligning and building their vision and values with mine to achieve that burning desire for success.
The source of calm confidence, knowing where to push hard, and slow down is something I inherited from her. Knowing that my work is demanding, perseverance will help me achieve greater professional success.
What is your mission with your business and why the strong passion for it?
I started my entrepreneurial journey by educating individuals and raising awareness about type 2 diabetes . My passion is improving the health and mental well-being of individuals, enabling them to live a healthy and happy lifestyle. I founded preventingdiabeteswithagnes.com and became a bestselling author, nurse, midwife manager, health strategist, diabetes expert, speaker, and health coach with this passion in mind. Speaking internationally and raising awareness is remarkably close to my heart.
My mission is always to inspire, educate, transform lives globally, and make a difference, one at a time. Diabetes is a chronic illness, a condition for life, there is no cure, but it can be prevented. Global Woman Club allows me to reach bigger audiences, and I invite you to take that journey with me. The moment we stop fighting for our health and wellness is the moment we lose our humanity.
What motivated your desire as an entrepreneur to help individuals in the prevention of type 2 diabetes?
As an entrepreneur, the opportunity to make a global impact by speaking and coaching on diabetes awareness has turned into my purpose in life. This is something I love, and I can save lives!
Did you know that ninety per cent of people have diabetes type 2? Which comes on slowly over the years. ‘The silent ticking time bomb’ as we know it! Current research shows over three million people in the UK with diabetes, and some people have the disease and are not aware of it.
Many people do not experience symptoms until ten years later; that is too late. Ethnicity and race play a significant role in the development of type 2 diabetes.
Every eight seconds, somewhere in the world, someone dies as a consequence of diabetes. The life expectancy of someone with diabetes is about six years less than someone without the disease.
This is what happens when you do not act – life slips between your fingers.
The excitement of entrepreneurship was motivated primarily by my desire to help others live a legacy in the form of a profitable long-lasting business; leaving an indelible mark on the sands of time. I speak to influence, educate, and change lives.
When working with clients, what are some vital things that you need to take into consideration?
I work with serious clients who want to maintain a good healthy living lifestyle. First, I discuss whole-body health, like a doctor’s yearly health examination.
Clients must have the right mindset; the problem needs to be tackled with the outcome in mind. You may need to design a program that is relevant to each individual because clients must be treated appropriately, not one size fits all.
What else would you like to achieve in life?
I would like to continue being a driving force for children’s health education, and others. This is what’s important for me.
With two young grandchildren, my focus is family first, then business. I want to take the rough with the smooth, be prepared for any emergencies, and learn.
I want to become a great leader with remarkable skills, helping inspire others. I want to also be a successful speaker sharing the global stage with Leslie Brown, Lisa Nicholls, Mirela Sula and more.
I want to financially set up funding for education awareness to help the underprivileged prevent type 2 diabetes globally. I’d like to be an ambassador for women, and a speaker on healthy lifestyle living, and preventing type 2 diabetes to people who are at an elevated risk.
Having financial freedom is key to making an impact in the world. I want to do audiobooks to help my business because people have fast lives and may be too busy to sit and read.
The global pandemic led to people attending virtual training etc. Learning virtually can help relaxation, gain new skills and be a new form of networking. It also helps prevent costly mistakes. As a member of the Professional Speaking Association, I want to have the advantage of speaking to a wider audience virtually.
I want to live a healthy lifestyle so that in thirty years I am vibrant and capable. Life has no guarantees.
Having achieved my present status through dedication, and arduous work. In the future, I want to achieve more. I’d like to be a great influencer amongst the best; with decades of experience, specific expertise, and knowledge consulting the world of health and wellness.
