By Tangerine Clarke
When life gives you lemons,
make lemonade. This proverbial
phrase has proven true for Guyanese
born, Christine Latchana,
CEO of All Purpose Electric
Corp, who, despite adversity,
built her company from the
ground up.
Latchana, who is celebrating
the company’s fifteenth year
with husband, Kevin, migrated
to the U.S. at a young age with
her mother. Fortunately for her,
after being forced to return to
her Berbice village in Guyana to
live with her grandmother due
to hardships she experienced
with her single parent, she
returned to Queens to attain
the success she had envisioned.
“I was always an all around
pleasant personality and jack of
all trades,” said Latchana who
had an undaunted spirit.
She told Caribbean Life, as
first generation immigrants she
and her high school sweetheart
struggled with strict parents
whose Guyanese mentality and
fear of living in a new country
was a hurdle they had to jump
over.
After graduating High
School, the duo became teenage
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parents, but continued with
their goals.
“At this point, Kevin was
already introduced to the electrical
trade at his summer job,
but I had aspirations beyond
what my parents thought I
wanted for myself.”
“After the birth of our second
child in 2005, we decided
to take life into our own hands
for the benefit of our children. I
dropped out of college a second
time, got married, and started
our business.”
“While this was to be a
temporary situation for me, I
quickly realized that we made
a good team. And our business
took off.”
“I remember when we first
started, I went on service calls
with my husband, and I carried
ladders and fetched his tools. I
put on cover plates and picked
up materials,” she shared.
The ambitious, and hardworking
young woman, learned
to identify equipment and parts,
and how they were installed.
However, after the company
developed, she decided to move
to the office to manage the
financial and human resource
departments, while writing proposals
for prospective clients.
With superwoman the helm,
the company took on jobs in
large housing construction,
gyms, restaurants, and supermarkets,
across the five boroughs.
When the coronavirus pandemic
hit, Latchana made a valiant
effort to keep the business
operational. Once the company
was allowed to stay open, she
provided a safe environment for
her staff. She started carpooling
and provided PPE to motivate
staff, willing to work.
Everyone felt a sense of
purpose, as essential workers,
whom she paid out of her pocket
for the first three weeks.
“It was difficult, but I was
determined to keep working
once we had the opportunity
to do so,” said Latchana, whose
workforce is skilled in commercial
electrical installation, Low
CEO of All Purpose Electric Corp. Christine Latchana left,
backrow, husband, Kevin Latchana, eldest daughter, Jasmine,
younger daughter, Summer Lily, and son, Bill. Latchana
voltage, fire alarm, intercom,
and security system.
She said her husband knew
the sacrifices she made to pursue
his dreams. But she wanted
to have a sense of identity and
individuality for herself. With
this in mind, the phenomenal
woman became an activist and
philanthropist.
family
Guyanese national driving force
behind All Purpose Electric Corp
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