Founder of Tortuga Imports named a Top 100 influential leader

Monique Hamaty-Simmonds ’96, entrepreneur and founder of Tortuga Imports, is one of 100 Influential Leaders recognized by the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB).

AACSB is the global accrediting body and membership association for business schools. Hamaty-Simmonds, a College of Business alumna, and fellow honorees are from 20 countries and more than 20 industry sectors – including consumer products, healthcare and nonprofits.

“It is my honor to recognize Monique Hamaty-Simmonds for her contributions as an Influential Leader, and to thank Florida International University for its dedication to providing a business education environment based on engagement, innovation and impact,” said Thomas R. Robinson, president and chief executive officer of AACSB International.

“AACSB is honored to celebrate Monique and the collective 100 Influential Leaders as a representation of how business school alumni have positively influenced society, as well as the management education industry’s, past, present and promising future.”

Under her leadership, the company opened new markets and developed its international business. Today, Tortuga Caribbean Rum Cakes is the No. 1 export of the Cayman Islands and has been named Best Cruise Souvenir for the 15 consecutive years by Porthole Cruise magazine.

“I am deeply appreciative of the recognition of the AACSB and honored to be among such a prestigious group,” said Hamaty-Simmonds.

Founded in 1916, AACSB is an association of more than 1,450 educational institutions, businesses and other organizations in 89 countries and territories. The inaugural class of 100 Influential Leaders is marking the 100th anniversary of the association.

“We congratulate Monique on this distinction,” said Jose M. Aldrich, acting dean of the College of Business. “As we continue to educate and empower entrepreneurs through our business programs, Monique serves as an outstanding example of the heights to which a graduate can soar.”

When Hamaty-Simmonds came to the College of Business, she had already participated in her family’s small retail business of selling rum cakes based on her mother’s secret recipe. She was operating the company’s mail order operation using a fax machine in her grandparent’s garage.

“My education at FIU in the entrepreneurship program drove me to discover the possibilities for this company,” she said. “I started to realize what Tortuga Rum Cakes could become.”

Hamaty-Simmonds pointed out that even having an entrepreneurship program at a university was unusual in the early 1990s.

“Nobody in education was thinking much about the small business person and how to turn an idea into a success, but the leaders at FIU had the vision,” she said. “I learned everything from business plans to marketing skills at FIU. My instructor, Martin Luytjes, was phenomenally important to my success. So many of the business skills I use today were acquired during my FIU education.”

With her new degree, Hamaty-Simmonds opened Tortuga Imports/Tortuga Rum Cake Company in Miami, Florida, to handle worldwide distribution, mail order and online sales. Under her leadership, Tortuga products began to be sold in gift and specialty food departments and gourmet stores throughout the Caribbean and North America, in onboard gift shops of nearly 100 cruise ships, and shipped to 70 countries around the world.

Hamaty-Simmonds is an active alumna and FIU has recognized her many achievements. In 2011, she was named to the College of Business Hall of Fame and she received the Charles E. Perry Young Alumni Visionary award from the FIU Alumni Association.