before deciding she wanted to own an ice cream parlour.

She started out 15 years ago behind the counter of Mr. Twist when it was located on the South Shore in Warwick.

But that was not her first job. The ambitious, hard working mother of one, got a job as a babysitter in Tucker's Town at the age of 11 and was soon highly in demand by residents in the affluent neighbourhood.

The enterprising youngster moved on to start her own mobile hairdressing and pressing service while a student at Prospect Secondary School for Girls, and also worked as a pantry girl at the old Breakers Club in Smith's Parish.

After graduating Mrs. Brooks went to Shaw Business College in the United States where she achieved honours in bookkeeping and typing.

When she returned to the Island, Mrs. Brooks got a job in the fire department at Bermuda Fire and Marine, where her enterprising initiative surfaced again.

BF&M employees were forbidden by management to go across the road to the Buttercrust bakery during work hours, prompting Mrs. Brooks to spend her evenings baking and packaging cookies to sell to co-workers with a sweet tooth.

"It got to the point where I was baking 14-16 dozen cookies a night and then going to work early, before work, to sell them,'' she said.

Lunch hours at BF&M were not for relaxing or shopping. Mrs. Brooks would head down to Fairylands where she would walk dogs for businessmen.

Mrs. Brooks left BF&M after eight years when she married a Jamaican lawyer and moved to Jamaica with him.

But she returned a year later and bided her time for six months pondering what she wanted to get back into.

"I had lost interest in insurance, so I decided to drive a taxi,'' she said.

She eventually got a job in the credit department of Trimingham's, moving up to credit manager, a position she has held for the past 22 years, having resigned in April to start up The Double Dip.

"With my other store, Jelatos, it got to be too much -- even for me,'' she admitted.

The entire time she worked at Trimingham's Mrs. Brooks worked evenings at Mr.

Twist. She became so interested in the business she began learning how to make ice cream and to this day continues to make about 60 percent of the ice cream for Mr. Twist plus all the ice cream for her two stores.

"Making ice cream is a relaxing time for me. It's a chance to get away from all the pressure of running two stores,'' she says, adding it also keeps her informed about the content of the ice creams.

"You get tourists who will ask a million questions before buying an ice cream cone,'' she says.

Mrs. Brooks opened Jelatos upstairs of the Annex on Reid Street two years ago and she reports business has been going great but "a little slow for her pace.'' The grand opening of the Double Dip is this Saturday. There will be a private opening at 11 a.m. "for all those that made it possible for me to be where I am today.'' Then, from 1 p.m. to midnight the public are invited to bring the kids and sample the Double Dip's ice cream all day and take advantage of buy one get one free specials.

There will also be free helium balloons, Double Dip stickers, pens and pencils and an appearance by a clown.

Special guest at the opening will be Mr. John Panza, the president of AF Panza and Sons, the New Jersey company where Mrs. Brooks buys her ingredients.

WHAT A MOUTHFUL! -- Owner of The Double Dip Mrs. Doris Brooks shows off her ice cream parlour's speciality -- the double header cone which can be filled with two scoops of any of the 40 flavours of ice cream she makes herself.