TINA MCBRIDE

The year was 1989, I was working independently as a teacher teaching English as a Foreign Language, but during the crisis in Panama that year, business came to a standstill and I was forced to look for other options of work, so I applied to work for the U.S. government being a U.S. citizen. I was accepted to work for the Navy at the Tropic Times. It was the local military newspaper, which at the time was the only paper that was not controlled by ruling military junta. I also worked at the helicopter logistics department and finally Protocol. My stint as a civilian working for the military ended shortly after the invasion of Panama by U.S. forces. The U.S. military was closing its bases and diminishing its presence in Panama. Besides that, I was convinced working for the U.S. military as a civilian was not something I wanted to do forever.

I was not looking forward to working as an English teacher again, since the work and pay was not stable. After being unemployed for three months, with a young child and mounting bills, I was invited to a violin concert by a friend. We snaked our way
through the narrow streets of Casco Viejo, to the Teatro Nacional. My friend introduced me to three Americans who were visiting Panama. The conversation
veered to the inevitable “What do you do?” I was embarrassed to admit I had been unemployed for three months. I met a lot of people I knew at the concert and gawked at the “in” crowd including the U.S. Ambassador. He remembered me and so did many officers of the Southern Command where I had worked last. It was fun to listen to beautiful music, munch on good cheese and drink wine. The American who was my escort for the night mentioned that he knew of a job I would do well in and that he would call me in three weeks.

The rest is history…

1. Meets Panama Canal pilot Paul Jennings, who trains her as an agent for yachts year 1990.
2. Works as an apprentice yacht agent for Panama Canal pilot Paul Jennings. 1991-1992.
3. Paul Jennings decides to quit the business and pursue other interests.
4. Tina McBride asks Paul Jennings if she can start her own business with the clients she has worked in the past and for marketing of business.
5. 1995. Being the only woman working as an agent for the Panama Canal, begins to provide agency services for yachts transiting the Panama Canal.
6. 2005. Becomes first woman to be a “bona fide” agent for the Panama Canal.