Well, if you ask Judette Coward, she would definitely say the move is nail-biting, gut-wrenching and yet one of the most rewarding things she has ever done.

Coward, a well-respected PR consultant and owner of the digital brand Forward Forty, took the decision in 2016, to put her PR company on the back burner so she could focus on establishing – a digital life + style media platform that serves the interest of women by creating online products and services (through Forward Forty’s social media content studio) as well as branded content for businesses whose core audience comprises women.

Coward, who always had a gift of using the Internet to open up ways for people to interact with her and get glimpses of her life and those of others says her business was severely impacted as the Corona virus. Ten projects were either cancelled or postponed, including a Digital Conference in Antigua. However, in spite of her devastation also saw opportunity.

“ I always use to say if I had the time, I’d become a full time digital entrepreneur, creating porducts and services to be sold online, while building out my blog and Facebook channel for monetization. Well the pandemic gave me something. It gave me time.”


As she sat in her living room, comfortably clad in her workout sweats and sneakers and seated on the crisp off-white sofa, Coward beams her trademark smile as she talks about the genesis of her digtial business and how faith led her on a new path.

Anyone who knows Judette Coward knows that smile. It’s the smile of confidence, of warmth and openness. It’s the smile that greets you when you meet her and the one that bids you goodbye when you’re departing. It’s the smile she beamed a coffee drinker like this writer when she was only able to offer tea, and I, knowing the smile, happily acquiesced!

Coward would be the first to admit that for some people she may come across as uncharacteristically optimistic maybe even naive, but that optimism is part of the essence of who she is and that perceived naivete hides a razor blade sharpness for business and a speed to adapt new ideas that often leaves many wondering, “how did that happen so fast.”

“I started Forward Forty in the first place. I really love people and I’ve always had a fascination with storytelling. It led me to media - television, especially where I could tell those stories. That’s where my career began and its interesting to me that in a way I’m right back where I started – telling stories - just on a different platform.” she laughed.

When news of Corona Virus hit and with project cancellations happening around her Coward took a salary cut and dipped into savings to keep her team fully employed. She credits her pivot to her team and the fact she already had digital projects in the pipeline. In 2018 Coward released her first published work, a Social Media Planner - a detailed How To book that helps businesses and entrepreneurs connect better on their social media platforms by using proper planning techniques for the stories they share on their digital channels.

It was easy to then recreate 12 digital Social Media Training Workbooks at less expensive price points for those business who wanted to pivot and market their business online. She also launched the 8 step Guide To Finding Your Social Media Voice and placed her social media consulting services online and is now putting finishing touches on another e-book to that focuses on women gaining confidence on camera to tell better stories online.

According to Coward: "There has been been a paradigm shift is the way customers behave. People are emotionally purchasing products and services in ways they have not before. As small business owners we cannot let the time pass us by. it's about reimagining our businesses and opening new doors. We cant look back and grieve too long for what was left behind."


Through the Web, Instagram, Facebook, and Forward Forty TV, digtial products and services Coward has used this period to enters the lives of her viewers and readers, sharing stories of how they can live their best life and pursue their own dreams while selling them the tools to do so.

In the pandemic Forward Forty's facebook page grew by 3,000 new flowers, her email databased surpassed 4,000 and her newly hired SEO stratgist has been working on their combined plan to draw more viewer to her site, a 9 month project in the making. More page view equates with more sales. Coward and her team are also working oh the Forward Forty Digital Membership subscription site a paid for social media tool kit that empowers formal entrepreneurs and arrives to their Inbox every month.


Forward Forty’s online presence is sleek, bold and engaging. You are instantly drawn in by the openness, the way Coward shares her own story and invites you to explore the platform.

“There is a feeling of authenticity on forwardforty.com but its also full of pizzazz and has enormous depth” said Jennice Price, Marketing Manager at The Falls West Mall

For Coward and her five person team, it is important that Forward Forty produces such quality content in ways that are connecting and cohesive. It’s stylish, fun and wonderfully informative whether they are telling an entrepreneurial story, taking you to South Africa or cooking in Coward’s kitchen.

“It’s always something you want to see and then share with your best girlfriend because it is so good,” says Tisha Lee, Republic Bank’s corporate communications manager.


“I’ve invested heavily in designing a digital media company that suits where I am in life. My team works from home, long before pandemic was a word that frequented our daily conversation. I am still connected to their work and have meetings with partners. We use apps and social media platforms to stay in touch
As she builds out the next steps, Coward says she thinks constantly about balance, something which she finally admitted learning only late last year.

In pivoting her career to a full-time content creator in a digital era, Coward may not have strayed too far from her roots, but taking further business risks is something to which she harbours no illusions.

“I am building something from scratch, it's still tough and it's scary. I would be lying it wasnt'

At the end of the day, she says: “I am an entrepreneur and this has been a tremendous journey and opportunity, a new way of being and creating a legacy that I can share with others”