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Lead Editor-Newsgathering
“I’ve shed many tears, but I’ve climbed many stairs.”
With that single lyric in her debut song, Dr Karrian Hepburn-Malcom captures a journey marked by resilience and quiet triumph. It’s more than a personal testimony—it echoes the quiet battles and victories we all know too well and can relate to.
Hepburn-Malcom, who has spent all of her professional life in the corporate world, took her colleagues by surprise on June 27 when she released her debut song—a deeply personal anthem that speaks not only to her own path but to anyone who has ever overcome.
Titled, Purpose, Jamaican-born Hepburn-Malcom retraces her struggles of growing up in East Kingston to holding several high-profile portfolios in Trinidad and Tobago where she lived for 12-and-a-half years.
“Trinidad was a very rich experience,” she told WE magazine last week in an interview about her newly released song. She shared that parts of that “rich experience” influenced the journey behind the music.
When her former colleagues at Guardian Media heard she had recorded a song, they were eager to support her new endeavour. Purpose was launched on TBC radio station, Sky 99.5FM in Trinidad.
During her time in T&T, Hepburn-Malcom held several senior roles, including General Manager of Scotia Investments, Vice President of Sales and Service at the Unit Trust Corporation, and Managing Director at Guardian Media Limited.
Despite her professional success, Hepburn-Malcom quietly held on to her first love—singing—a path her parents had once steered her away from.
She explained, “Singing was my first love. I wanted to be a singer, but my parents steered me towards getting a formal education, and their advice to me was to get into the corporate world. I think it’s because they didn’t have the luxury of getting an advanced formal education; they wanted that for me. Also, because they were entrepreneurs, they saw the struggles of making an income when you don’t have an education on a certificate.”
They urged Hepburn-Malcom to try her best “not to deviate into the creative sector”.
She took their advice, but never let go of her passion. Instead, she sang in her school choir and participated in her church choir. Later in life, Hepburn-Malcom performed in local theatrical productions in Jamaica. Today, she also continues to sing with her praise and worship team at church.
Though her career took a different path, singing was never far from Hepburn-Malcom’s heart. Eventually, she felt inspired to write and perform a song of her own.
The song was penned in one afternoon with the help of famous Jamaican music producer, composer, musician and singer Mikey Bennett. Two other friends were in the studio at the time, and together they traded lyrics to refine the song.
From the onset, Hepburn-Malcom knew she wanted to inspire other people by singing about her rocky journey.
“I really felt a burning desire to sing something that I felt would inspire people and would share a little bit about me because I know many people don’t get the opportunity to speak to me intimately. I get many questions like: How did you do it? How were you able to achieve certain things at such a young age? How were you able to thrive in another country? I get lots of questions, and I have many, many mentees.”
She starts the song by singing about her upbringing, “This little young thing from East Kingston no one expected to win, the odds seemed always against me, but I found the strength within. I’ve shed many tears, but I’ve climbed many stairs. You’ve guided my steps and my journey, guide me in my purpose …”
Hepburn-Malcom said of the lyrics, “Mikey teaches us that when you’re writing a song, you must be sure about who it is speaking to. I wanted to speak to people who have had dreams, goals, aspirations, but might feel daunted or overwhelmed by the fact that they weren’t from ideal circumstances. They were from the wrong socioeconomic conditions. They’re from the wrong parts of town. They might feel at a disadvantage.”
She sings to a cross-section of youth who feel disadvantaged and left behind. Hepburn-Malcom said it was an inspirational song.
She added, “I’m hoping that people take away the fact that they shouldn’t let where they were born, the hand they were dealt, be the sole determinant of what they achieve. They shouldn’t feel doomed because, in their minds, they weren’t dealt the hand that other people were dealt, which seems more advantageous.
“I want to let them know that it’s okay to have doubts and fears. It’s okay to go through the times when you feel hopeless, when you feel despair, but I also want to let them know that they can be hopeful, that they can aspire to more. I want them to know that faith is a powerful ingredient and that God, the Most High, is a powerful source.”
Her song has a message that can cross borders, and from her time in T&T, Hepburn-Malcom feels there are striking similarities with Jamaica.
“I realise Trinidad is very similar to Jamaica, having lived there. Some of the challenges, depending on where you’re from and depending on your background and depending on the access, people still fight against the grain, depending on the hand you were dealt. Trinidad absolutely inspired me.”
Now, having worked at the highest levels of corporate jobs in the Caribbean and having released her first song, Hepburn-Malcom will aim to marry the two.
On her hopes for the future, Hepburn-Malcom said, “My hope is that I find a way to marry or to use all my talents and giftings, including singing. I would love to marry singing with mentorship. Let’s say it’s mentorship through music. I would love to be able to leverage my unique experiences, or not so unique, with my giftings and talents. I want to die empty, as they say. I want to make sure that for every talent, every gift that I’ve been given, I find a meaningful, purposeful way to use it. So, I am absolutely open to doing other songs.”
The journey of writing and ultimately singing this song has also been a meaningful one for her. She explained, “It’s helped me find more depth to my purpose. So, while I get to add value every day to my job, I’m also happy that I can add value to society, not just through entertainment, but through words of inspiration and encouragement, through singing and through this song. It reminded me that I don’t need to box myself in.”
Since releasing the song, she has received overwhelming feedback. While the song is aimed at helping inspire listeners to find their purpose, it has given this well-accomplished corporate professional a renewed purpose in life, one she insists she must share with the world.
English (US) ·