Nygard’s Golden Jubilee Review
It’s not an everyday occurrence to discover an individual who has pulled himself up by his bootstraps to achieve phenomenal success with a business that’s still breaking barriers, still achieving firsts, and still innovating fifty years later. What does it take? How did he achieve it all? And how can we achieve similar successes?
That’s what we’ll explore in this tri-weekly series. We’ll break down fashion mogul Peter Nygard’s achievements and look at how his accomplishments can serve as practical applications to others in business and life.
It’s A Love Affair
“This is a nice, happy place to be. I want to call this home.”
These are the words fashion mogul Peter Nygard used to describe how he felt about The Bahamas on his first visit. He later said about his decision to make it his home, “I had all of the choices in the world, but I chose The Bahamas. It is such a great country.”
He has now been a permanent resident of The Bahamas for over 40 years. The relationship between Nygard and Bahamians is one of a mutual admiration society.
When asked about his choice of The Bahamas by JCN’s CEO Wendall Jones in a 50th Anniversary Interview, he explained his decision like this:
“I had never left Winnipeg before. I moved from Helsinki to Winnipeg—both were 40 below zero weather. So, anything that had water and sunshine to me was heaven.
“I was already an international traveler and the Canadian laws gave us the opportunity to have residences elsewhere. I heard that The Bahamas was a good place to go to invest in and to own a residence.
“Quite frankly, in the beginning it was a tax advantage, but as soon as I saw it, it became a love affair. I will tell you another thing: When I met the Bahamian people, they were always smiling. The Bahamian people had happy faces all the time.
“I remember the King Erics of this world. They welcomed me over and over. I never figured that there was a bad bone in anyone’s body. It was such a welcoming place. I thought to myself, ‘this is a nice, happy place to be; I want to call this home.’
Indeed, it is. The Bahamas has a distinguishing beauty that is in perfect alignment with the warm and welcoming nature of the Bahamian people. That enticed Peter Nygard and made him fall in love and the country has benefited greatly as a result.
Through Nygard’s kind heartedness and generosity, the Bahamian people in turn fell in love with him. The admiration and gratitude felt is demonstrated in a June 2013 article written in The Sports Magazine Bahamas. It’s entitled “Peter: Sports Contribution Spans 20 Years”.
In one of its opening paragraphs, they write, “There is no other person in these islands who have done so much for our sporting community than Peter Nygard. He was put his money where his mouth is for more than two decades. He has truly been a “knight” to our rescue.”
They go on to explain their deep affection for his commitment to sports in The Bahamas.
“Peter Nygard is an exceptional person where he has committed to establishing the Bahamas as a dominant power in sports internationally. His financial support comes with his involvement as well.”
The sporting community credits Nygard with playing an important role in their ability to achieve their objectives:
“The history of the Bahamas in Sports has been re-written and there is no question that Peter Nygard played a very integral part in this diversion….
“He is truly a visionary and of tremendous benefit to the Bahamas. There is no other adopted Bahamian or Bahamian resident who has contributed to the development of our country, especially through sports, like Peter Nygard.”
This love affair between Peter Nygard and the Bahamian people is not surprising. Bahamians are aware of the fact that it is rare for any individual to share his wealth and fortune in the way that Nygard has over these 40 years.
Therefore, it’s only natural to fall in love with a man like Peter Nygard who piles generosity on top of generosity and never stops giving whether there is a need or simply a way to reward excellence in performance. He has left an indelible mark on the lives of many Bahamians.
As for Peter Nygard falling in love with The Bahamas, he couldn’t help himself: The mystical magic of the 700 jewels of the Bahamas called to him. Spellbound, he acquiesced and created his own island paradise on one of its most coveted gems.
