{"id":1652,"date":"2012-09-06T08:00:04","date_gmt":"2012-09-06T13:00:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.americanbusinessmag.com\/?p=1652"},"modified":"2016-10-11T14:35:53","modified_gmt":"2016-10-11T19:35:53","slug":"finding-herself-in-aruba","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.americanbusinessmag.com\/2012\/09\/finding-herself-in-aruba\/","title":{"rendered":"Finding Herself In Aruba"},"content":{"rendered":"<h3>Networking to island success<\/h3>\n<p>When Tina Causey-Bislick moved to Aruba in 1999, she never dreamed she\u2019d be a restaurant owner. Then again, she never imagined starting a prominent Aruba magazine, launching a public relations firm and becoming the top-ranked female beach tennis player on the island.<\/p>\n<p>To say the 45-year-old Causey-Bislick is a multitasker is an understatement. Today, the North Carolina transplant juggles three businesses and maintains her lofty beach tennis perch in a sunrise to sunset calendar that still leaves time for family.<\/p>\n<p>Causey-Bislick\u2019s journey to Aruba and entrepreneurial success began with a start rarely endorsed by any business \u201chow-to\u201d publications. \u201cBefore coming here to Aruba, I was a single mom working my way through college as an event caterer in Greensboro, NC,\u201d Causey- Bislick said. \u201cI remember that period of my life as being pretty hard.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong>Romantic beginnings<\/strong><br \/>\nRomance was the motivator behind her initial trips to Aruba. Treks to this Caribbean island drenched in Dutch ancestry were a way to spend time with a boyfriend who was working at the Radisson hotel as an executive chef. \u201cI would visit two to three times per year and eventually landed a job as a writer for Aruba Today, the island\u2019s English-speaking newspaper,\u201d Causey-Bislick said.<\/p>\n<p>Much to the chagrin of family and friends back in Greensboro, Causey-Bislick sold everything she owned and moved to Aruba for keeps in 1999. She began making connections in the Aruba tourism industry and her business network began to flourish.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Sporting an island network<\/strong><br \/>\nSince the very beginning, Causey-Bislick found Aruba to be an encouraging environment, especially from a business standpoint. She began generating business start-ups through the sheer will of her personality and burgeoning public relations talent. Causey-Bislick credits networking as one of the main reasons she was able to thrive in Aruba rather than heading back home like many best intentioned expats.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDuring my first couple of years here, I became very involved in some of the activities the island has to offer,\u201d she said. \u201cI started windsurfing, scuba diving and playing beach tennis. I developed a circle of friends from each of these activities. These people not only became great friends, they also expanded my business circle.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>While working for the Aruba Today newspaper, Causey-Bislick became acquainted with Ann Brown, the managing director of Tierra Del Sol, one of Aruba\u2019s most exclusive real estate developments and golf courses. Brown not only developed into Causey-Bislick\u2019s first public relations client, but she also encouraged her to become the creative inspiration for a new Aruba magazine.<\/p>\n<p>Three times a business In 2001, Island Temptations magazine was born. The glossy publication, featuring fashion, music, dining and art, has grown into Aruba\u2019s most highly distributed magazine. Whereas Causey-Bislick enjoys watching her family restaurant grow in popularity, Island Temptations has been an opportunity for Causey-Bislick to tap her creative juices. &#8220;Each edition has its own personality,&#8221; she said. &#8220;I love the anticipation of seeing how each new issue evolves into print. The whole process of interviewing for features, doing photo shoots and working with the layout is very satisfying.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Causey-Bislick\u2019s ability to network has also resulted in a healthy client list for Oasis Creative Group, her public relations business. The Westin Hotel, Aruba Tourism &amp; Convention Bureau,and a half dozen of the island\u2019s top restaurants all utilize Causey-Bislick\u2019s flair for promotion. Through her PR firm, she\u2019s able to keep in touch with what\u2019s happening in two of Aruba\u2019s greatest resources: the tourism and hospitality industries.<\/p>\n<p>Causey-Bislick\u2019s penchant for trying new things not only reignited a spark in her social life, it also played a role in her desire to become a restaurant owner. The romantic interest that first drew Causey-Bislick to Aruba ended after a 14-year run. In 2009, she told a friend she\u2019d like to take a ride on a Harley Davidson. A friend suggested that Mike Bislick, a native of Aruba, be her Harley chauffeur.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Carolina-style cooking in Aruba<\/strong><br \/>\nSomething clicked on that first ride and in April of 2011, the couple wed at the oceanfront home of a friend Causey-Bislick met through her public relations business. Shortly thereafter, the Hollywood Smokehouse Diner, featuring southern-style barbecue, opened for business. The restaurant is housed in a building Bislick\u2019s grandfather has owned since 1941 and is located in the rustic Aruba city of San Nicolas.<\/p>\n<p>The husband and wife team thought great southern barbecue would be a natural for the 200-plus Texas and Oklahoma natives working a block away at Aruba\u2019s Valero Refinery. Causey- Bislick developed a low and slow recipe for barbecue that instantly drew a following.<\/p>\n<p>The restaurant has not only been embraced by the nearby refinery clientele, but tourists vacationing 30 minutes away in Aruba\u2019s capital city of Oranjestad also flock to the restaurant seeking an authentic barbecue experience. The old saying, \u201cIf the food is good, customers will find you,\u201d has translated into the Hollywood Smokehouse garnering a TripAdvisor number-two ranking out of 180 restaurants in Aruba.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Tennis queen<\/strong><br \/>\nLife isn\u2019t all work and no play for Causey- Bislick. She somehow finds a way to squeeze competitive beach tennis into her non-stop schedule. The sport, originating in Italy 30 years ago, is the perfect activity for Aruba\u2019s white sand beaches. Like her business ventures, Causey-Bislick takes the sport featuring a tennis net, racquetball-type rackets and beach sand floor very seriously.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHere in Aruba, the number-one ranked male player is called the Beach Tennis King,\u201d Causey-Bislick said. \u201cIn 2010, I became the number-one female player or the Beach Tennis Queen.\u201d She has taken her game internationally, playing in Florida, New York, R\u00e9union and Bermuda.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Amazing pace<\/strong><br \/>\nA typical day for Causey-Bislick starts the night before. The process of cooking the Hollywood Smokehouse ribs begins in the evening after the last customer has gone home. Low and slow is how ribs are cooked in North Carolina and now very successfully in Aruba.<\/p>\n<p>Causey-Bislick shared with a visitor how \u201ctoday\u201d was going. \u201cI started my morning by sending out press releases,\u201d she said. \u201cThen, the Westin Aruba called to let me know they were planning a big wedding event and they needed photographers. After sorting that out, I participated in a 30-minute conference call with a PR client. Next, I worked in the restaurant kitchen in the early afternoon. After meeting with a journalist, I\u2019m planning on driving to Moomba Beach to work with my beach tennis trainer. At 7:30 this evening I\u2019m attending the Grand Opening of a new restaurant. By the way, Island Temptations magazine completed publishing a new coffee-table book covering 50 years of Aruba tourism today,\u201d Causey-Bislick said calmly.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Sharing, Survivor, and a surprise<\/strong><br \/>\nLooking back, did Causey-Bislick ever envision the kind of fulfillment she\u2019s enjoyed in Aruba? \u201cI came here because of a guy, but deep down I think there was something else that drew me here,\u201d she reflected.<\/p>\n<p>An unconventional approach to business, as well as life, has resulted in her trans-continental path to success. \u201cI\u2019ve never been one to follow the rules,\u201d Causey-Bislick said. \u201cI\u2019ve often wondered why I always needed to find a more difficult or tougher path. I guess it\u2019s okay not to do what everyone else does or follow a normal route.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Family can sometimes suffer in the wake of an entrepreneur who is driven. Years after charting her course in Aruba, Causey-Bislick has managed to win over family members by sharing in her success.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBoth my daughter and my son are involved in my businesses,\u201d she said. \u201cMy daughter Brianna has written articles for Island Temptations and she also works at the Hollywood Smokehouse when she\u2019s on the island. My son, Taylor, has worked at the restaurant since we opened. He\u2019s also writing his college thesis on how we\u2019re marketing the restaurant. It\u2019s rewarding to have your kids working with you and watch them grow as adults.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Causey-Bislick received a surprise letter a few years back reinforcing that she must have done something right in her life\u2019s work. \u201cI\u2019ve always admired my older sister Anita,\u201d she said. \u201cShe\u2019s such a good person and has lived the kind of life you hoped for growing up. A lot of times, when I was at a crossroads in my life, I would say to myself, \u2018What would Anita do?\u2019\u201d Causey-Bislick said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFive years ago, I was one of the semifinalists for the television show Survivor,\u201d she said. \u201cAt the last moment, I was told I wasn\u2019t going to be on the show. I was pretty disappointed. Shortly after that, I received a letter from Anita that really caught me off guard. She wrote about admiring how I would try things, fall down and get back up. She finished the letter by saying she looked up to me. I never knew that,\u201d Causey-Bislick said while shaking her head.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Savored is favored<\/strong><br \/>\nSuccess in business, or success in life, doesn\u2019t always go to the fastest. Sometimes it\u2019s the tortoise that crosses the finish line well ahead of the hare. Like the best barbecue in Aruba, Tina Causey-Bislick will tell you that what\u2019s often savored most is what happens low and slow.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<div class=\"mh-excerpt\"><p>Networking to island success When Tina Causey-Bislick moved to Aruba in 1999, she never dreamed she\u2019d be a restaurant owner. Then again, she never imagined starting a prominent Aruba magazine, launching a public relations firm <a class=\"mh-excerpt-more\" href=\"https:\/\/www.americanbusinessmag.com\/2012\/09\/finding-herself-in-aruba\/\" title=\"Finding Herself In Aruba\">[&#8230;]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":3563,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[505,504,503],"class_list":{"0":"post-1652","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-travel","8":"tag-aruba","9":"tag-san-nicolas","10":"tag-tina-causey-bislick"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.americanbusinessmag.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1652","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.americanbusinessmag.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.americanbusinessmag.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.americanbusinessmag.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/14"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.americanbusinessmag.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1652"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.americanbusinessmag.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1652\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3565,"href":"https:\/\/www.americanbusinessmag.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1652\/revisions\/3565"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.americanbusinessmag.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3563"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.americanbusinessmag.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1652"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.americanbusinessmag.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1652"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.americanbusinessmag.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1652"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}