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TEDx Wilmington brings first speaker from British Virgin Islands to First State

Megan Pauly
/
Delaware Public Media
The 5th annual TEDx Wilmington event was held Wednesday August 24th.

Both younger speakers - including a 12-year-old from Delaware - and those from overseas made their debut on the TEDx Wilmington stage Wednesday.

There was a Caribbean flair at Wednesday’s TEDx event with the first TED speaker from the British Virgin Islands.

He goes by Gumption, and he shared his story of starting with humble beginnings, detailing his journey from a high school dropout to a successful entrepreneur.

He says the goal of his TED talk was to inspire others to dream big, but also realistically, to think purposefully and act productively.

“Knowing that I can be more, I can be more if I remain positive, place myself around positive people because it’s like a sailboat on the water," he said. "If the sail is down and the wind is blowing, it’s no use to the sailboat. But if the sail is down, you can sail right into the sunrise or the sunset."

One of those positive people he surrounded himself with was Sir Richard Branson, who gave him a $50,000 loan almost four years ago to buy a boat and start a tourist business after four banks had told him no.

Within six months, Gumption had paid Branson back. Branson rewarded him by granting him sole rights to lead tours on Necker Islands, Branson’s private island.

“The tour is a nature conservation site, we don’t go inside of the house, we don’t check to see how Richard Branson started," he said. "We get familiar with the species, there’s 174 species on the island and know why they’re there and how we can help them.”  

Branson – as well as some other special guest including Kate Winslet – helped Gumption prepare for his TED talk.

Gumption says his business isn’t booming right now because of a tropical storm passing through, but he was excited to put the Virgin Islands and his last name – Creque -  on the map.