Shanan Smart’s journey to becoming a leading Jamaican entrepreneur defies conventional career paths, blending a lifelong passion for science, years of groundbreaking work in media production, and a commitment to solving pressing local business challenges. Long before she navigated corporate boardrooms and coordinated complex logistics for her distribution company, Smart honed her creative instincts as a core team member behind one of Jamaica’s most beloved television institutions: *The Ity and Fancy Cat Show*. As a key creative force for the iconic program, she helped craft its signature humor, cultural resonance, and narrative rhythm that captivated audiences across the island and the Jamaican diaspora worldwide. Following the show’s widespread success, the creative duo behind it returned to television in 2019 with a new sitcom titled *Bigger Boss*, and brought Smart onto their growing team.
The fast-paced, often unpredictable environment of television production taught Smart a foundational skill: how to build something impactful from limited resources. That experience refined her storytelling discipline and showed her how creative thinking can turn a simple concept into a powerful connection between diverse groups of people. Today, that same innovative spirit is directed toward solving a critical gap in Jamaica’s business ecosystem: after years of writing television scripts, Smart is now writing a new story for Jamaican enterprise through targeted supply chain solutions.
As Chief Operating Officer of Smart Haves Distributors, Smart leads the company alongside her husband George, who serves as Chief Executive Officer. The couple founded the firm together in 2020, anchored by a clear mission: to improve lives across Jamaica by delivering high-quality essential goods and unmatched customer service. This mission has positioned the company to support local manufacturers and micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) as they navigate skyrocketing operational costs and persistent supply chain disruptions that threaten long-term business stability.
Smart Haves fills a long-unaddressed need in Jamaica’s industrial market by connecting local businesses with consistent access to essential supplies, cutting indirect procurement costs by as much as 20 percent, and delivering the operational stability that local firms have long lacked. The company’s core client base is Jamaica’s manufacturing sector, the largest contributor to the country’s goods-producing industries, accounting for 8.9 percent of Jamaica’s total gross domestic product. Between 2020 and 2024, the sector expanded by more than J$6.7 billion, creating growing demand for reliable supply chain support.
“Many managers and business owners do not realise how critical operational supplies are until they can’t get them,” Smart noted. “Local tax increases, international tariffs, and broader economic volatility make it extremely difficult for businesses to plan and budget accurately, since prices are constantly fluctuating. What we offer to businesses across the country is stability: reliability in pricing, on-time delivery, and customer service you can count on.”
Smart’s winding career path before entrepreneurship included stints across seemingly disconnected sectors, each of which prepared her for her current role. She studied environmental biology, drawn to science from a young age by a deep curiosity about how natural and man-made systems work. She later transitioned into media production, where she wrote and produced content for television, before moving into a role in sales, operations, and training at iCreate.
Looking back on her career, Smart now recognizes how every step built the skill set she needed to launch and run Smart Haves. “Science teaches you to ask questions and understand how systems function,” she explained. “Television production teaches you how to create something meaningful with limited resources. When you run a business, you need both of those skill sets.”
George Smart credits much of the company’s rapid growth to his wife’s leadership and disciplined approach to operations. “Shanan has an incredible ability to see both the big picture and the small daily details that make a business run,” he said. “She’s an amazing mother, a trusted partner, and a business leader who approaches every challenge with patience and focus. Building both our family and our company together has been one of the most rewarding experiences of my life. Seeing the level of commitment and discipline it took for her to do both has been truly inspiring.”
The couple’s professional partnership is built on a foundation of balanced trust and shared responsibility. While George leads business development and logistics strategy, Shanan oversees client relationships, inventory monitoring, and the operational systems that keep orders moving smoothly to clients across the country.
Their business model prioritizes building long-term collaborative relationships with clients over one-off transactional sales. “We see our clients as partners,” Smart explained. “When their operations run efficiently, it means their employees keep working, their customers receive products on time, Jamaicans get better prices when they shop, and the entire country benefits.”
While Smart Haves has already established a strong foothold in Jamaica’s distribution sector, Smart is already planning the company’s next phase of growth. Her long-term vision is to expand into a broader Smart Haves Group of Companies, with a new line of sustainable products that aligns with growing consumer and business demand for naturally derived ingredients.
“We’re watching the market change in real time,” she said. “People are paying closer attention to what they use every day, and businesses have to keep up with that shift. For us, it aligns perfectly with one of our core values: sustainability. We pride ourselves on thinking ahead and being innovative. So we are excited to provide products that support healthier choices while still delivering the reliability our clients depend on.”
When asked about navigating the overwhelmingly male-dominated business landscape, Smart gives an unfiltered, straightforward answer. She has had countless experiences where she has had to assert her expertise, prove her capabilities, and refuse to be dismissed or talked over by male colleagues. What makes her approach unique is that she never tried to conform to masculine norms to fit in.
“My approach has always been to show up as myself. I am confident, capable, and clear. And I don’t take anything personally,” she said.
Where many other women in male-led industries have altered their approach or tried to fit in as “one of the boys”, Smart has built her career on her own terms. Her advice to young women entering the workforce is clear: “Be yourself. If you think about it, most industries are male-dominated. You don’t need to be like the men. Learn your role, know your industry, and be disciplined. The road rises to meet the woman who walks it as herself.”
