When Sherine Mungal decided to leave a directorship position at a prestigious advertising agency to start her own business, she never dreamed that today she would be using her small company as a platform through which she would be advocating for health and wellness in the TT.
The managing director of the Freeport-based communication and marketing company Eidetic Ltd found herself at the helm of the U The Caribbean Health Digest – a publication she said was conceived in 2008 out of a personal need for credible information on medical issues relating to family members of both herself and her business and life partner, Stuart Fraser. The magazine then paved the way for her and the Eidetic team to plan and host the U Health and Wellness Exposition at the Hyatt Regency, Port of Spain, two years later.
[caption id="attachment_1067411" align="alignnone" width="806"] Managing director of Eidetic and co-founder of U The Caribbean Health Digest. -[/caption]
"Back then we didn't have as much easy access to health information as we do now, and Stuart and I recognised that we needed to fill a gap, so the magazine came out of our own needs," Mungal told WMN.
But, she said, their motivation went beyond just merely gathering the information and disseminating it.
“It stemmed from a deeper desire to contribute to creating healthier people and communities…So we pulled together the most dedicated team of researchers, writers, and editors…This team extended beyond TT, reaching several other Caribbean territories. We engaged a medical team who meticulously reviewed every article, ensuring our content adhered to the highest standards of good publishing practices.”
[caption id="attachment_1067412" align="alignnone" width="768"] Eidetic's managing director Sherine Mungal, centre, with members of her staff Samantha Dhoon, left, and Lorraine Biran. -[/caption]
But for Mungal, though the articles and editorials on the extensive list of health-related topics U covered were important, they were not as engaging or interactive as she would have liked. In 2010, her company took it a step further by planning and hosting the first U Health and Wellness Exposition.
“It grew exponentially in five years, not only through public participation, but with organisations that sought...to engage and understand its end consumers. It couldn't come fast enough; we grew from 25 exhibitors in 2010 to 76 in 2015.”
Unfortunately, for a number of reasons, among them a dip in the country’s economy, she said other projects became a priority for her company, and the expo temporarily fell off its annual agenda.
But Mungal made sure the magazine and its objectives remained a priority – a commitment that led to the magazine's winning several Caribbean and international awards for creativity and content. In 2021, it extended its reach to a global audience with its transition from hard copy to a digital format, now with over 25,000 subscriptions. It is hosted on Magzter, the world’s largest digital newsstand.
“This allowed us to extend our reach and ca
