Denese Palmer grew up on very humble beginnings in a single parent home in Jamaica.
She made several sacrifices from she was a young girl; namely, when her parents were not able to provide lunch money or breakfast she would still go to school without because she understood and valued the importance of education and upward mobility. Despite the many challenges she had to endure, she dreamt of becoming a nurse in her adult years but that was not in the cards. At 18 she got pregnant with her first child and though at time it was challenging, she credits this responsibility as one that helped her mature and gave her life purpose.
Eventually those sacrifices paid off, Denese now holds a Certificate in Women Entrepreneurship from Cornell University 2021, Diploma in Business Administration from the University College of the Caribbean with certificates to including: Thermal Processing from University of West Indies, HACCP Internal Audit, Counseling, Common Additives used in Food Processing and Food Safety Modernization.
At 19 years old Palmer started her career as a Quality Control Technician at Southern Fruits in 1995. She carried that spirit and drive to Santa Cruz Processors from 1996 through to 2008 where she served as Quality Control Technician and worked her way up to Operations Manager and finally General Manager before departing and putting all her energy to her brainchild Southside Distributors Ltd. Southside begun because Denese was suggesting that her directors include Jerk Seasoning to their product line to which they refused continuously. With her determination, she went ahead and bought a formulation and sent it to prospective customers who loved the sample and immediately made an order and that’s where it all begun. Soon thereafter she acquired a small, rented shop in Ballard’s valley St. Elizabeth Jamaica. Denese continued her trend of immense sacrifice and dedication to use her salary to compensate Southside’s employees for the first three months when Southside couldn’t sustain its overhead cost. She is the epitome of a true Entrepreneur, one of resilience, determination and purpose.