Staff WriterJeffrey ‘Agent Sasco’ Campbell headed a lineup of actors, entertainers and other industry professionals who came out to support his wife, Nicole McLaren Campbell at the launch of her self help book Make It Count at the Jamaican Consulate in Manhattan, on Thursday, March 15.
The launch was presented by Washington Publishing, publishers of the book, and organized by New York based Sure Thing PR.
Master of Ceremonies for the evening was McLaren Campbell’s uncle- award winning Jamaican actor, playwright and CEO of Sure Thing PR David Heron.
Award winning Jamaican born actress Dianne Dixon – last seen in the Off Broadway premiere of the musical Falling in Love with Mr. Dellamort– kicked off the proceedings with an inspiring performance of Maya Angelou’s Phenomenal Woman.
Following Dixon’s rendition, Heron took the appreciative audience on an often amusing journey through McLaren Campbell’s life and accomplishments. High points included her outstanding academic achievements at the St Hugh’s Preparatory and St Andrew High School for Girls in Jamaica, followed by her full scholarship admittance to the prestigious Phillips Academy ‘Andover’ in Massachusetts and her subsequent college years at Princeton University and the University of London .
Emmy Award winning television producer Linda Schaffer, who featured McLaren Campbell in a Nickelodeon documentary she produced on gifted teenagers entitled Nickelennium in 1998, presented the 20th Anniversary screening of the feature at the event and also read passages from Make It Count.
However the high point of the evening was undoubtedly the second reading from the book, which was rendered by Sasco himself. In speaking of his wife’s talent for inspiring others and transforming lives, Sasco delighted the gathering with his recollection of their first meeting, when they were introduced by a mutual friend at a screening of the blockbuster film The Transformers, after which, he revealed, “I was myself transformed.”
In her own remarks, McLaren Campbell stated that although she had felt the calling from God to be an author, she allowed fear and insecurity to keep her from pursuing this dream.
She told the capacity audience that “To hold myself accountable, I took the bold and really unorthodox step of announcing a date for the release of the book to my instagram followers, even before I had finished writing it-which was how I was able to overcome my fears and complete it. Because people started purchasing pre orders immediately, I had no choice but to complete it.”
An Educator, Social Media Influencer and Motivational Speaker, McLaren Campbell founded AIM Educational Services in Jamaica in 2010. She has guided hundreds of students to placement in all of America’s Ivy League Universities as well as to the Oxford and Cambridge Universities in Britain, and many others across the globe.
Other industry guests at the event included Ward 21 musical artist Rumblood, actor and Playwright Rafael Moreno, Producer and actress Janel C Scarborough, IRIE Jam radio personality Irwin Clare and Brian Roach of BET Television.
Sponsors for the evening included Fontana Pharmacy, Jamaica National Money, Golden Krust, Voga Wines, Flow Jamaica , Kerry Man Woman Home and Vonessa’s Spa.
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