Pam Ebanks Small - Inspiring Journey | Coffee with Q Podcast Host Jaci Patrick

Hello and welcome to another episode of Coffee with Q, where we amplify and discover the stories that often go unheard. I'm your host, JC Patrick, a news reporter by day and a passionate storyteller by night. Today, I have the immense honor of interviewing someone very special to me. Not just as a guest, but as a mentor and an inspiration. Pamela E. Banks Small is a name that resonates deeply within the Cayman Islands community. She's a former Miss Cayman and a competitor in the Miss World and Miss Universe competition, whose grace and determination have made her a beacon of hope and empowerment. Beyond the glitz and glamour, Pam is a founder of Girl Power Limited, a nonprofit organization dedicated to helping young Caymanian women find their purpose and achieve their dreams. Today, we will dive into Pam's incredible journey from her humble beginning to the international stage and her unwavering commitment to empowering the next generation. So grab your coffee, Sit back and join us as we explore the life and legacy of Pamela Ebank Small. Pam, welcome to Coffee with Q. It's an absolute pleasure to have you here.

Thank you. Hi, JC. It's great to be here.

So Pam, we are going to start from the absolute beginning. Can you tell us about your origin story and what was your childhood like?

So yeah, so I grew up really in the— in Tampa, Florida. I was born in Cayman, but my father was working in the US at the time, so I grew up in Tampa. I did all my schooling there in Florida and had his side of the family migrated there, but my mom stayed here. So for summers, we would come back to Cayman and we would spend the summers in Cayman, and it was amazing. I loved it. I mean, every summer I wanted to come back to Cayman and stay with my aunt and my cousins and hang out with them. Um, so yeah, I had a fun childhood. I had parents who Um, were very loving and supportive. Um, they didn't finish high school, so I was the first really to go to university. Um, and I did that at a later age. I didn't go to university until I was about 23.

Mm-hmm.

Um, so I waited a few years. I did my Miss Cayman stuff, and then I went off to university. I grew up, um, in the church. I loved to sing, and I sang in my choir, and I had a great time in youth group. I think youth group really molded me into who I am, and Helped me understand that, you know, you got to feel guilty for bad things that you do and that there's a lot of people out there that need help. And, um, I really enjoyed my, my, my days as a child. Um, I guess I was blessed. Um, I come from humble beginnings. I mean, my parents, like I said, they didn't finish high school, so we didn't have much, but I still had a great time and a great childhood. So very thankful for that.

That's amazing. It's so good to hear more about your childhood in the Cayman Islands. So growing up in the Cayman Islands, you're often faced with some challenges because of our island being so small. So what were some of the significant struggles that you faced on your path of becoming Miss Cayman Islands and eventually competing in Miss World and Miss Universe?

Well, I, like I said, I was born in Cayman, grew up part of my life as a child in, in Florida, and then would visit here. So when I came back here, my father, he retired when I was 18. So he decided to move back to Cayman. So he retired back in Cayman. I was 18. Me and my brother came back and, you know, I wanted to come back. Like, it was funny because, you know, all my high school friends were going off to college and my dad's like, oh, let's go back to Cayman. And I'm ready because every summer we'd come here and I loved it and all my family was here. So yeah, I came back at 18 and at 19 I was asked to enter Miss Cayman. And so I didn't feel like I knew enough about, you know, being in pageants and about my country at that time because I just moved back and I was young. So that was a bit of a challenge. So I really got into kind of understanding where Cayman comes from and who our people are and our origins. And I learned about my family coming from Ireland and migrating over, and I thought that was very interesting. And yeah, I, you know, I think for me, because I was so young and I hadn't gone to university, I was one of those Miss Caymans who was probably one of the youngest. Most Miss Caymans are over 20 and I was only 19. Um, I, I think, I think for me it was, it was just challenging just because I didn't know a lot about pageantry. It was my first big pageant. I actually won and went off and, and represented Cayman. It was an amazing year, best year of my life, I must say. I'll always say that. Um, just, it was amazing. Um, but yeah, just not knowing what I'm getting into at that age, at that young age, and what I'm going to be faced with and all the training that comes with it. So yeah, that was— it was challenging but so rewarding.

And I think that any girl that goes into pageantry will see that. I mean, at least for me, pageantry has given me a purpose. It's given me a platform. And it really is amazing to see what you've been doing for the young Qemaniyan ladies. Thank you.

You're welcome.

So, Miss Qam, what is some of the moments in your journey that contributed to your growth, both personal and professional?

I think, you know, having that year as Miss Cayman really allowed me to network. You know, I met so many people. I think every job that I actually got in Cayman was because they knew me when I was Miss Cayman, you know, which sounds crazy. But I met so many people that year who I still talk to, you know, all the time. And I still see— and luckily Cayman is small, so you see the people that you meet. Yeah. And that year just really— it really helped me grow. It helped me with my knowledge and with understanding the world around me. I think as a 19-year-old at that time, I only knew about Cayman and the US. I hadn't been anywhere else.

Yes.

And for me to be able to go off to South Africa during the apartheid in 1992, I mean, that's crazy, right? And being with over 100 women from all over the world, you know, and them talking and teaching me about their countries and their cultures. It really— after that year, I was just like, wow, it's a real big world out there. You know, it's not just about Qaymaan in the US. There's a bigger world, a bigger picture. And it's important to understand that as a 19-year-old, right? And as a young person, that it's not all about you and your country, right? There's a lot of other challenges going on. And so, yeah, I think I took that networking and that confidence that I learned, and that got me into my career and got me into university.

Right.

And then later on to my career. And eventually in my career, I became an executive. was responsible for half the staff. And, you know, it, it, it really taught me those leadership skills, right? And that confidence to speak in front of people and, and feel that I know what I'm doing and that I, you know, that I can handle all these people. You know, it teaches you, you know, all those, you know, dealing with people we do every day, right?

Yes.

And so, so, so that year, you know, I dealt with many different people from all over the world. And I think that really helped me in my career and even where I am today.

Thank you, Miss Sam. Thank you for shining light on how pageantry can actually advance you in your career. So you founded Girl Power Limited, a not-for-profit organization aimed to empower young women in the Cayman Islands. So what really inspired you to start this organization and what are its core objectives?

Yes, that's a good question. So in 2017, I became the franchise holder for the Cayman Islands for the Miss World pageant. And so we did our first local pageant in Cayman in 2018, and we realized right away that many of the girls that were entering or that were interested or that came to me and said, one day I'm going to enter, they, they weren't really ready for an international pageant. They may have been ready for a local pageant, but to go overseas and compete with women that have been training for 5 years or 10 years or that have been in the spotlight, they've been on stage. So One thing about me, like I said earlier, me being on stage, um, when, when I was in church, I was on stage a lot. Like, I did a lot of singing and acting and plays, and that really prepares you, right, for, for pageantry.

Yeah.

I mean, that did— that helped me. Um, and a lot of the girls that we were meeting in 2017, 2018 were girls that hadn't been on stage. They hadn't sang in their choir, you know, they hadn't done things that would have helped them in that path to becoming a pageant winner and going on and representing our country. So we realized we were missing something. There wasn't a girl group, you know, Girl Power Cayman. There wasn't anything to help these young girls, to give them that knowledge and those skills that they needed so they could win a pageant locally and then go overseas and do very well and feel like they're competing. We don't want our Caymanian girls going overseas. You know, JC, you competed overseas.

Yeah.

We don't want our girls going overseas and feeling like they can't compete with the girl next to them, right? We want them to feel good about themselves and feel confident. So in 2018, we decided, let's start this Girl Power Qaymaan group. And it was really at that time, it was really for pageantry. Like, we really wanted to train girls in pageantry, but it became so much more than that. You know, it became networking with these young girls, and maybe some don't want to do pageants, but helping them in their careers, helping them to get university, get into university and get scholarships. You know, we teach them about how do you get a scholarship? How do you apply?

Yeah.

You know, resume writing, career paths, you know, our last session, or one of our most recent sessions, was, um, you know, male-dominated careers. And it was women who are in these male-dominated careers and how, and how they got through and how difficult it was and challenging, but they made it, right? Um, so yeah, we, we saw that gap in 2018 and we decided to fill it in this way and to say, listen, let's, let's mentor and train these young women. Um, you know, just, it's really life skills. Let's train them in life skills because that's what pageantry is. People think that pageantry is—

Yeah.

walking or glam. It's really life skills. You're learning how to walk into a room and own that room, right? You're learning to be confident. You're learning resume writing and interview skills and how to talk to people. You know, if you can get on stage and be in front of 200 people and answer a question, you can walk into any interview and you can blow it away, you know? And you know that from your training, JC. So, so yeah, that's why we started it. Our mission is just to train and mentor young women. With lifelong skills so that they can compete in our society. And they can, you know, they can grow from being this young adult, this young woman, to a woman who's ready to compete in any job or career or university or pageant, you know, whatever comes their way.

Thank you, Pam. And what were some of the challenges that you had when starting this organization? And what support did you get from the Qaymaan community?

I mean, I still have challenges. And those challenges, I think, are the same. I think, especially now, because I'm doing it full-time, I find— I found back then, and I still find now, that people look at a nonprofit as not really a business. And I mean, it's a business, and it's a business and a half. Like, it's loads of work.

Yeah.

Right? So every day I'm doing HR, I'm managing people, I'm doing marketing, I'm doing business development. You know, I'm trying to get out and go out and get sponsors and get networking and letting people understand who we are and what we do, you know, and, and why it's a good thing to believe in us and to help us, you know, on, on our mission to help our young ladies. Um, so I think that's always been the biggest challenge. Um, we have a lot of volunteers who, um, who have done so much for us, and I really appreciate them.

Yeah.

Um, and, you know, it's, it's really about just getting the help and the resources that we need and letting people understand that. So That's an everyday job for me. I'm always networking. I'm always out there, you know, trying to let people understand what we do, trying to do positive things in our community to help our young women. And yeah, I mean, that's, that's always been the challenge. We've, we've done well in the last few years. We have some partners that have come on since 2018, and they're still with us. They believe in our mission and our values and who we are. And that's the kind of people we want. We want people who align with who we are.

Mm-hmm. So thank you, Pam. That's really amazing. And I mean, working with you and working with Girl Power for the last 5 years, I can really see how it's impacted our girls. And we're always seeking to get new girls in, always seeking to have that sisterhood in that community.

Yeah.

And I've seen a lot of our girls really grow. And I want you to kind of touch on maybe one or two girls that you've seen really flourish within this community? Yeah.

So every year we nominate a Girl Power of the Year and we announce the winner at our pageant, at our annual pageant, and we actually give them an award. And many of our girls are probably deserving of it, but we only do one a year. So yeah, so they haven't all gotten it. We've had a few who have gotten scholarships to go to university and they're doing like medicine. They've come back and started working in our community. I'm very proud of them. Yeah, there's some that have gotten awards. awards for environmental work and work that they're doing, you know, even in the UK and also in Cayman. You know, there's been girls that I've mentored that took me a year to get them out the house. And when they finally got out of the house, you know, one girl finally did a fashion show and she was someone that had kind of had— she kind of had like some discouragement. She had a close friend, you know, give her some— Tell her something negative. Tell her something negative and it kind of kept her in the house and she didn't want to come to any events. And we did a fashion show and she came and she's always wanted to model. And after that day in that fashion show, She's everywhere. She's modeling all over.

Yeah.

It took me a year to get her out of the house and get her to one of our events, but it worked, right? So there's a lot of mentoring that goes into it. And yeah, I mean, our girls are doing great things. They're all in different fields. We have some in marketing, some in medicine, some doing environmental. And I think, I mean, that's our platform is really just to preserve and protect our environment. So really proud of them. Yeah, we've had many come through and we're hoping for many more.

Yeah, I mean, I've— from working with the organization, I've seen the growth within the girls. And I mean, being able to actually be there with them and, you know, witness their journey and see their growth is truly amazing. And I think Girl Power really offers that support and that, you know, group that a lot of girls really need at that age.

Yeah, it's so funny because I think my calling was supposed to be a teacher. I don't know if I told you this before, but I think my calling— because I love kids and I love young people and I I just love children. I'm just, I'm just a magnet for them. And sometimes my daughters say to me, Mom, like, because I'll just talk to any child and, you know, have them in my lap, you know. And, and it's funny, and I, I look at Girl Power, and I think in the past I looked at it more kind of outside of teaching. But lately I've thought about what Girl Power does, and we are an educator, you know, we are teachers. So in a way, I've kind of found my purpose and my passion.

Yeah.

Because I think I was supposed to be a teacher, and for some reason I didn't get in that career path. But now I'm here and I'm helping to mold and, you know, just mentor these young girls and these young people. And so I think I'm in the right space. I just think it, you know, it's challenging with, you know, getting resources and so forth, but we're getting there. So I'm happy. I think I'm where I'm supposed to be.

So, Ms. Pam, we are coming to the end of our episode, so I just want Wanted to ask maybe one or two more questions, and I just wanted to find out if Melinda Gates was, you know, if she was able to listen to this episode, how would you capture her attention in terms of women empowerment?

Well, first of all, Melinda Gates, um, is a very powerful woman, and I commend her for always putting women empowerment in, in the forefront. Um, yeah, and in the limelight. She's always, um, supporting women groups and women empowerment, and she's always putting it out there. And because her platform is so large, you know, millions of people are listening. Um, I think she's very powerful, and I think that she's using her voice, her very powerful voice, in a very good way. I commend her for that. She doesn't have to use it in that way. She could use it any way she wishes.

Yeah.

Um, so I commend her for being positive and for giving, you know, for letting the women of the world you know, feel important and feel special, like she really is looking at us, right?

Yeah.

And really, I guess, if I got to speak to her, I would just say I'm trying to do what she's doing just on a smaller scale. And, you know, I would love to have her support. I would love for her to, you know, come speak to our girls, right? Tell us how she made it into that powerful space and how, you know, and how she delivers, you know, all of this to these beautiful women out there who need, you know, we all need help. We all need encouragement and confidence. And She gives that, you know, and I'd love to learn from her and I'd love to hear her stories and understand, you know, how does she get the funding? How does she get that support? Or how did she get that? And yeah, I really commend her and I want her to know that we're just trying to help young ladies really find their purpose and then be able to become successful women with that purpose in mind, you know, using that purpose to become successful.

Yeah.

So, um, so yeah, if she's out there, hi! Hopefully she will listen to this podcast. Hopefully, yeah, fingers crossed.

Yeah, so Miss Pam, what is your message to everyone in the Cayman Islands and globally, and what is your advice to young women that want to enter pageantry or want to have a supportive group like Girl Power?

Yeah. So I guess to the world, it would be just, there's a lot of women and young girls, especially I would say young girls who really need support and mentoring. You know, they need someone to say to them, you're doing a good job. I remember my 3rd grade teacher saying to my mom in front of me, your daughter's very smart. And I mean, that was the first time I heard someone say I was smart, which is crazy.

Yeah.

Right. And it was in 3rd grade. She had a significant influence on my life. Right, up to this day. And I remember her name and, you know, those little things, encouraging women and young girls and just saying those little things really help us, right? And you know, JC, as a woman yourself, that I'm sure you have those stories, right? So I think giving some encouragement, helping young women and women, helping young women and of course women feel like we're equal to our men out there, you know, feel like we're empowered just like they are, right? And we're no different.

Yes.

And I think, you know, girls who want to, to get involved in Girl Power or pageantry, you know, you really have to go for it. You got to take that step, right? Because you're not going to know what it would have been like if you don't even try, you know? And like I said earlier, getting on stage in front of 200 people and being able to talk and get a sentence out, right?

Yeah.

It's just a crazy thing. Because if you're able to do that, you can do that in any setting, in any interview, anytime you go on stage. You know, so what I would say to our young ladies is get on stage as a child as much as you can and as a young person, right? Sing in your church choir, right? Sing in your school choir. Go play a team sport, right? You might not think that's a stage, but it's a stage. People are watching you, right? You know, whatever you can do, you know, get into your Key Club groups or whatever groups are out there in school and become a part, you know, become the president, you know, take a board position.

Yeah.

And that will really help you to develop and then you'll feel more confident. confident so that when you enter a pageant, you're a little bit more ready, right?

Yeah.

And again, pageantry, JC, like, you know, it's all about life skills. It just trains you in life skills, right? It's nothing negative. So, so coming into— so why not do a pageant? You know, why not just do it just for the sake of doing it so that to develop yourself, right? So I mean, that's, that's really what I have to say. I just, you know, thank you to all those partners out there that we've had for many years and for those out there who've supported us and the public. And I just, you know, we're just, we're always needing help and resources and support. So if you If you can help us, let us know, you know.

And Miss Pam, where would girls or their parents be able to find more information on Girl Power and the Miss World platform?

Yeah, so Miss World Cayman website, missworldcayman.com, as well as, you know, sending us a message on Instagram or an email, girlpowercayman@gmail.com. Again, Girl Power Send us a message on Instagram. We have a Girl Power Cayman handle. You can find us on Instagram and learn more about us and the pageants. Of course, Miss World Cayman, Miss Supranational Cayman. Yeah, just reach out to us. We'll be willing to talk to you and to just get you involved.

Thank you, Miss Pam, and thank you for joining this episode of Coffee with Q. I think there's a lot of young women, not just in the Cayman Islands but globally, that could really benefit from a group like Girl Power, and not just having a group but being able to present them as their own personal brand. Yeah, so thank you, Miss Pam, and thank you for all of the amazing work that you've been doing with Girl Power.

Thank you.

In the Miss World franchise. So we will be tuning in in another day for another episode, and thank you for joining me on Coffee with Q. Sure.

Thank you so much for having me.