Rexy Rolle is far more than your conventional musical talent. When she’s not in the studio recording potential hit records, she serves her family busines as vice-president of operations Western Air, a Black-owned and operated airline brand.
Being a successful airline executive who rose from being a baggage handler, where did you find your inspiration? Did you always aspire to be the power player you’ve become?
I definitely was inspired by my parents. I say that probably all of the time. I basically grew up in the aviation business so I realize I had to contribute more than they were bringing to the table and add upon what they had already started. It was my goal and still is my goal going forward, is basically to fine-tune the products and services that we have and carry it to the next step.
Tell us about what separates your airline brand from others.
Western Air definitely operates as a family. Our trademarks are that we do on-demand flights, meaning although we have scheduled individual flights that leave a certain time every day, we also have our ears to the ground where we are aware of seasonal events and other things. Let’s say that there is a Rick Ross concert going on in Freeport, we would put on additional flights. That has separated us from our competition because we are able to immediately put flights as needed.
Familiarity is our second trademark. Because we are a family business, we like to treat our passengers like family and they get really used to us knowing their names, their occupations, and where they are going. It makes the experience more intimate and more comfortable.
The third trademark for us is that we opened up a private passenger terminal, which means that we are operating like a small airport on an airport. It’s the first of its kind in the Bahamas. We have our own security screeners, our departure lounge, and we just wanted to separate ourselves from everybody else. Our aircrafts taxi into our own little airport on a larger airport.
You graduated with honors from the University of Ottawa and you have several degrees including one in law, was your plan always to pursue all of these different courses of study and return to your family’s business?
Yes, there are two sides to me, there are my personal interests along the lines of communication and entertainment, but also on the other side, I also have an interest in business and aviation. I knew that those worlds had to intersect. I made an effort to try to mix my interests with interests I knew that were critical to what we need going forward.
Not only are you accomplished in business, you are expanding into music as well. Has wanting to perform musically always been a part of your life?
Music has always been something that I’ve been interested in since I was a child. I was four or five-years-old, dragging everybody into the living room just so that I could dance, sing or act out part of a play. I’m going to be really honest with you. It is still something I am pursuing, but I am cautiously pursuing it because I do understand that my professional career cannot be affected in a way that it diminishes what I am trying to do businesswise. But, I also feel that sometimes we put ourselves into boxes, and it’s okay to step outside that box. I believe 100% that this is the time of leading women who can do whatever they want to do.
How would you describe your own unique approach to music?
I want my music not to be taken so seriously. I want it to be fun, something that you are able to dance to wherever it’s played. My music will definitely incorporate a bit of my culture in terms of me being from the islands, but it has to have elements that really work along the dance theme. I know that sounds a bit cliche, but I am attracted to pop sounds. I’d like to think of it as a fusion.
