by rossanahead | Mar 7, 2017 | Existing Business
While the term “millennial” is oftentimes broadly equated with words like “entitled“ “spoiled,” and “narcissistic,” many millennials are in fact bucking this stereotype—they are showing in their own special and pioneering way that they’re doing more than their fair share in helping shape a better tomorrow for humankind.
Let’s meet three young Filipinas who are proving critics of millennials wrong as they strive to make their mark as social entrepreneurs in their chosen fields of endeavor.
When she was 13, Mica Tan started trading stocks and at 19, she formed her own distribution business. At 21, she established MFT Group of Companies, a financial holdings firm that provides financial assistance to other companies.
“In just a span of a year and a half, MFT has already undergone a whole lot of changes,” Mica says. “We started with two companies under our belt and now we have expanded to nine and are still growing. Our company focuses on angel investing which provides tailor-made funding to empower, as of the moment, nine businesses (some of them as old as forty years) to achieve their goals. These firms are engaged in diverse businesses and fields including manufacturing, publishing, film production, agriculture, and soon, pharmaceuticals.”
Mica adds that “with every company that joins or opens up to a young group like us, we see it as a way for us to also grow personally and professionally.”
In her first year in high school, Alexandra “Alex” Eduque got involved with Habitat for Humanity through a school project in which she was assigned to volunteer her services in helping to build homes for the underprivileged in a community in Amadeo, Cavite.
The weeklong experience made a huge impression on her, she recalls. “I remember enjoying it so much and finding so much fulfillment in what I was able to accomplish that week, and thought to myself that if I got involved even more and shared more of my time, I would be able to help out even more than I already had.”
“That summer, I took it upon myself to contact the Habitat for Humanity headquarters in the Philippines and a few weeks later, I found myself building homes in Baseco, Tondo, Manila. For two months, I went there every day and engaged in a multitude of construction tasks, alongside making friends with the community.”
From there, Alex has moved on to found her own organizations, such as Move.org Foundation, Inc., also known as MovEd (Molding Optimism and Values through Education), an offshoot of her undergraduate thesis work at Barnard College in New York. MovEd provides early childhood care and development programs in underserved communities through holistic education, providing children with the foundation to succeed in school.
When Tal de Guzman of Risqué Designs by Tal was studying fashion and accessories design, she realized that most Filipino designers were focused on apparel, bags, or jewelry. She noted that Filipino shoe designers were rare, and even rarer were those who used local materials in their creations. She found this scarcity to be an opportunity worth exploring.
And so Risqué Designs by Tal, her first business venture, was formed. “Most brands are content with using conventional materials such as leather, suede, canvas and lace,” she says. “But the Philippines has a rich array of textiles. Risqué uses handwoven fabrics from different parts of the country, but now mostly focuses on the traditional art of hablon-making in Valladolid, Negros Occidental. We not only use this fabric in our designs, but we also help our hablon weavers improve their income—this is part of our advocacy.”
Tal adds that many of her shoe designs are outrageous enough to make people do a double take and question if they are wearable or not (they are). “I like pushing boundaries with my designs, making use of materials in ways that haven’t been used before for shoes,” she says.
Because of her unique designs, Tal has been the recipient of different recognitions and awards. “Somehow it feels like a sort of validation, in terms of the concept and the business,” she says. “It propels me to move forward and do more.”
Photo by Brooke Cagle on Unsplash
by rossanahead | Feb 26, 2017 | Existing Business, Recent Posts
For a Physical Therapy graduate to go into the culinary school business may seem unlikely, but as proven by Maggie Uy, it’s not impossible—if you believe in what you are doing and are willing to learn.
Maggie and husband Jan have successfully turned their Monster Kitchen Academy (MKA) from a kitchen studio within a retail baking store back in 2008 into one of today’s leading culinary and pastry schools in Northern Mindanao.
MKA may have been initially established to create a market for their existing Monster Kitchen Store, a retail outlet for baking supplies, but MKA’s eventual growth was driven more by a mission to improve lives.
“We noticed that the home bakers in Cagayan de Oro were so few and there was a need to develop a new breed of bakers,” Maggie explains.
Over the years, MKA has produced thousands of students and changed the landscape for the baking industry in CDO and in nearby towns.
“You will see how home-based baking businesses have evolved—there are pastry shops opening in every corner not just in the city but in nearby cities too and even as far as Davao, Zamboanga, and Tawi-Tawi. We also have students from Manila flying to Cagayan de Oro to study our baking and pastry arts programs,” shares Maggie.
Monster Kitchen Academy has two studio kitchens in CDO, one for baking and one for culinary, and in December 2016, it opened a new branch in Davao City.
Lessons and Challenges
Maggie, who handles the finance and course planning side of the business, admits she has had to learn along the way.
“With little background in handling a school, I was faced with so many challenges like handling the day-to-day nitty-gritty to dealing with different kinds of personalities,” she says.
Initially, company standards and systems were not yet set, making the learning curve very long, she continues. “It was only in the last few years that we started seeking help and hired consultants to guide us in systematizing things and up until now, we are still continuing to innovate and upgrade our standards so that our institution will be far advanced than the rest.”
Her lack of background in baking and cooking also posed challenges which she later overcame. “I had a hard time understanding the system flow of the school. I was familiar with ingredients but I didn’t have any idea about the school’s functions and all.”
To equip herself with enough knowledge, she enrolled with the first batch of their culinary school’s Baking & Cooking Program.
“It was then that I realized three things—what it’s like to be in this kind of industry, how the kitchen dynamics flows, and that there are a lot of things needed to be analyzed and given priority to in the operations,” says Maggie. “With all these, I decided to further enhance my skills and knowledge abroad to better equip me with the things I needed to sustain the business.”
Maggie enrolled in the Wilton Master Course in Chicago and had her Wilton Instructors training in Korea in 2015 and is now a Wilton-certified instructor, a distinction held by only a few in the Philippines.
Over the years, Monster Kitchen Academy has had its share of ups and downs. According to Maggie, growing the business requires being focused on what they’re doing and aligning their operations with the mission, vision, and values of the company. This enables MKA to continuously produce quality graduates, among them some of the biggest names in the country’s food industry.
Partners in Life and Business
Maggie shares the achievements of MKA with husband Jan, who oversees the academy’s direction and growth. “He is the brains behind the academy. He is the one that gives direction to the company. His insights are endless,” she says.
Having your life partner as your business partner has advantages and disadvantages, she states. “We can easily resolve business concerns by quickly addressing the problem without having to get the approval of any party. I can count on him anytime, especially when I encounter difficulty in handling a situation such as manpower and employee concerns.”
As for the downside, Maggie points to the tendency to bring work home and discuss it, which can be very draining and can sometimes lead to misunderstandings and arguments.
According to Maggie, their partnership works because they complement each other. “My weakness is his strength and vice versa.”
She also acknowledges Jan’s steadfast support. “He would always encourage me to attend trainings that are related to the business. He brainstorms with me on how to go about things, like bringing them to the next level.”
Expansion Plans
In the next five years, MKA is looking to continue expanding in order to “monsterize” more people and live up to its mission to improve lives.
Its core products are the Fundamentals in Baking and Pastry Arts and the Fundamentals in Culinary Arts. Also offered are the 12-day baking intensive program, the 12-day culinary intensive program, and a wide array of one-day or half-day lifestyle classes for hobbyists and first-time bakers.
At the helm of these programs are 16 chef instructors who Maggie says were mostly trained by international mentors and who are getting awards in various competitions.
“Running a school is an ongoing process. I give credit to our staff, instructors, and heads who have been working tremendously hard to pursue our mission. Hiring the right people and aligning them with our direction is the key factor in managing a culinary school,” says Maggie.
Asked for her advice to culinary arts students who plan to enter the food business, Maggie shares five tips that could well be the very guidelines she follows—love your craft, be ready to embrace failure, stay hungry for learning, stay grounded, and dare to explore.
by rossanahead | Feb 15, 2017 | business, career, Existing Business, family, parenting
Every woman’s situation is unique, but all women, whatever path they take, can always find opportunities for personal, professional, or business growth. The secret is to look for the opportunities that are present everywhere, whether in the home, in the office, even in your hobby room.
Here, meet three women who did just that: They mined their personal circumstances, passion, and creativity to bring their game to the next level and score financial success.
Mommy Problems—Solved!
When Janice Villanueva became a mom, she had to deal with all kinds of motherhood issues. One time, while breast-feeding her child at the mall, her chest was accidentally exposed. This unfortunate experience, however, drove her to launch her first venture, a clothing line she called Mommy Matters.
“These look like regular clothes but they have a panel that opens up,” she says of the nursing wear she produces. “There’s a hidden slip that you just lift up so that when you are breast-feeding, you don’t look like you are.”
As her child grew older, Janice started to realize how much mommies need specific information relating to practical parenting. And since she was also in the industry of publishing, she decided to publish a book entitled Mommy Pages, a directory for moms containing relevant information such as useful listings and details on party planners and child-friendly restaurants, among others.
Meanwhile as she continued to give seminars to other mothers about proper breast-feeding, a friend suggested that she do events as well. Hesitant at first, Janice took the plunge after her friend promised to place ads in her book if she would do an event for her.
Thus, Janice’s events company “Creative Juice” was born in 2000. She has since then been organizing all kinds of events, and several years ago, she re-branded her mommy events and launched Mommy Mundo, a go-to portal of resources for moms.
The Writer Who Won’t Quit
When she was still a student, author Marlene Legaspi-Munar loved to read. “In elementary I read the Nancy Drew detective series,” she says. “When I reached high school, I turned to reading romantic novels like Mills & Boon and Barbara Cartland. Because I loved romantic stories, I thought I’d write my own.”
At 16, she wrote her first story, and it was published in a magazine. Encouraged, she pitched more articles to magazines and sent book proposals to publishers. But unlike her first article, many of her drafts were rejected.
“Early in my career, I would feel so bad after receiving rejection letters from editors,” she says. “I found comfort in reading about other writers whose works had been rejected, too. I learned that, sometimes, it’s not that your material is bad, but maybe you just sent your material to the wrong publication, meaning, the publisher doesn’t publish your kind of story. So you have to find the right home for your manuscript.”
With this insight, she managed to get two of her works published in the same year—a textbook and a short romantic fiction. Several books likewise saw print later on, including Life in the Middle: The Search for a Satisfying and Significant Midlife and How to Keep Your Hubby Happy at iba pang Tips para kay Misis.
For budding writers who want to get published, here is Marlene’s advice: “Keep reading, keep writing, and keep rewriting. Don’t be afraid of criticism. Be humble and learn from your mistakes. Do your research. Be on the lookout for magazines or publications seeking contributions. Study carefully what publishers are looking for and craft your material accordingly. Follow submission guidelines carefully. Be patient while waiting for the right time.”
Wear Your Confidence
As far back as she can remember, fashion has always been one of the great loves of businesswoman Audrey Quitayen. But even back then, she believed that no matter how beautiful your clothes are, you’ll never stand out without self-confidence.
“A woman can still be sexy, glamorous and beautiful the way God has created her even without showing so much skin,” she says. “So I decided to start a business that is bent on giving women some confidence through pieces and accessories that stand out.”
Her venture, Pieces N’ Creations, sells handcrafted products, wedding accessories, art pieces, and souvenirs. The trademark of her business is the handcrafted satin flower found in the art and fashion products she and her partner sell.
Audrey explains that she came up with the name Pieces N’ Creations from the idea that by using creativity, “you can make some creations from scratch, using different pieces of available materials, to come out with unique creations.”
One of the best things about putting up this kind of business is that not only does it require relatively little capital, but it’s a social enterprise that creates job opportunities for women in many communities, adds Audrey.
Photo: Reynermedia
by rossanahead | Feb 12, 2017 | career, Education, Existing Business
By Rowena Diocton
There’s no denying it. Women have grown way beyond their traditional roles of housekeeping and child rearing. According to the April 2016 Philippine Labor Force Survey, nearly 17 million Filipino women are part of the country’s total labor force, nurturing careers in various industries, from agriculture and manufacturing to education and finance and insurance. These days, there really is nothing that Filipinas can’t do.
Still, there are major bumps on the road to career growth. Filipino career women remain at risk of the gender pay gap and stereotypes that come with being a driven, goal-oriented woman. As such, it pays to know where the Filipina careerist stands in the big picture. Here, we take a look at the facts surrounding Filipina workers and the challenges they continue to face.
1. Majority of Filipina workers are between 25 and 34.
The labor force survey mentioned earlier reveals that roughly one in 10 workers in the country is a woman between the ages of 25 and 34. Women in this age range have likely worked for at least four years after finishing a four-year college course.
2. Filipina workers dominate in several key industries.
According to 2014 data provided by JobStreet, an online job search site in the Philippines, Filipinas dominate in industries involved in the following:
- travel/tourism (81%)
- grooming/beauty/fitness (76%)
- gems/jewelry (75%)
- healthcare/medical field (72%)
- biotechnology/pharmaceuticals (71%)
- textiles/garments (70%)
- journalism, banking/financial (69%)
- agriculture (68%)
- wood/fiber/paper production (67%)
- property/real estate, accounting (65%)
3. More and more Pinays with high educational attainment are entering the workforce, contributing to positive economic growth.
In a 2015 survey of women workers in the Asia Pacific, the Asian Development Bank found that the Philippines is the only country in the region to close the gender gap in both education and health survival, owing to the country’s high female literacy and enrollment rate, survival rate, and life expectancy. Many Filipinas with higher education are helping bridge the employment gap between men and women, providing more opportunities for other women to get a higher pay and better positions.
4. More Filipino women are becoming major players in business and legislation.
Strong-willed Filipinas are increasingly exhibiting their capacity to take part in making big decisions that impact the business and legislative sectors. Data from the International Labor Organization showed that more than half (55%) of legislators, senior officials, and managers in the Philippines in 2008 were women. Women are typically underrepresented in decision-making processes, be it in state or business matters. As such, having more women get to top positions means greater opportunity for female representation in issues that affect them.
5. Despite their educational attainment, Filipino women are less likely to join the workforce than Filipino men.
Though they may be highly educated, Filipinas are less likely to join the labor force than their male peers, according to the latest MasterCard Index of Women’s Advancement. Often, socio-cultural factors deter them from doing so. The country’s history may have a hand in this, since Filipina workers have been predisposed to expect discrimination in the workplace.
These facts paint a picture of Filipino women as a resilient group that continue to find ways to prove their worth. There may be hurdles, but the rising number of women in the local workforce and in the top echelons of corporations and institutions shows that they are not going to let anything stop them from reaching their full potentials.
Photo: mUAr cHEe
by rossanahead | Feb 9, 2017 | career, children, Existing Business, family
By Aileen Carreon
As Rose Tanalgo-Meim of Bacolod Chicken Inasal (BCI) has realized, combining a career with motherhood is not an easy task but a juggling act that takes time to master. By making the necessary adjustments and designing effective systems, Rose has gotten better at performing the dual tasks of taking care of her brood of five and handling the marketing, communication, and customer care requirements of their family food business.
Bacolod Chicken Inasal, which Rose manages together with younger siblings JM and Bing, started as a take-out counter in EDSA Central in 1993. The initial eight-seater, open-air counter was eventually replaced with an air-conditioned restaurant upon the prodding of a growing clientele. In 1998, the siblings opened a second restaurant along Jupiter Street in Makati, which was soon followed by a string of new branches in Metro Manila, mostly located in major malls. In the early 2000s, a commissary was put up and systems were put in place as their operations continued to grow.
It was during this time that Rose got married to Paul and soon after became pregnant. “We were heavy on the Ysabella’s Chicken (a tie-up with TV network ABS-CBN) and opening several branches,” recalls Rose. Being young, energetic, and healthy, she didn’t take time out from work even as her family grew.
“When I had my first baby, I would bring her to the office. I even tried to breastfeed and bring the pump to work. But you don’t want babies to be in the car all the time or be in a building. So I studied how I could best manage.”
Rose concedes she was not good at it in the beginning. “I was still a workaholic. I wanted to cover so much and would lose track of time. You go home tired. My kids remember mom trying to read them a story then in the middle of it, falling asleep.”
As her kids got older, Rose made a conscious effort to change her work habits. “I can’t have late nights and come home after dinner or spend the whole day out. I can’t afford to just see my children in the morning before they leave for school.”
Establishing a Home Office
She now maintains a work station at home. “I target three times a week of physically being in the office. But there are times it’s less, and other times it’s more. It all depends on the schedule of the kids and the requirements at work.”
Technology has made it easier to manage the business from home, like dealing with suppliers for marketing and communication materials. Discussions and brainstorming are done through messenger.
On the days she reports to the office, Rose makes sure to be home by dinnertime at the latest. The same goes for her husband. In the morning, she wakes up early to get the kids ready for class and have breakfast together as a family. She then sends the kids off to school with words of encouragement.
Rose is also a committed parent volunteer in school, for which she gets to spend additional time with her children, four of whom are in grades six, five, four, and two, while the youngest is in kindergarten.
Setting Up Effective Systems
To keep track of the needs of her two daughters and three sons, Rose uses a white board system at home. She has a small board for plotting the activities of the kids for the whole month, like field trips, exams, and varsity practices, and scheduling in major family events like birthdays. A bigger one is used as a weekly calendar that details the daily activities of her kids each week.
“The ultimate goal is for each of them to be responsible for their own work. But at their ages you still have to remind them. If there’s a quiz scheduled for the week, we can remind them to review earlier. By knowing the kids’ activities, like violin lessons, varsity practice, or competition, we’re also guided as to the time they should be picked up from school,” shares Rose.
She has also implemented what she calls the four o’clock system. Each school day, at four in the afternoon, Rose checks her kids’ assignment notebooks, no matter where she is. “When I’m out, the yaya would take pictures of the assignment notebooks and send me via Viber. So I’m always informed.”
“I take a look at what needs to be done and gauge if they would need tutorial assistance, because I know my kids’ capabilities and weaknesses,” she adds. “That’s my system, to first check what is needed so I can support it. If they need to bring stuff to school, I can pick it up on my way home or give the necessary instructions to our help.”
Rose acknowledges the importance of a good team of helpers and reveals that she hires based on attitude rather than skills, which can be learned anyway. “You need a team that you can trust and that have values aligned with yours because they’re part of the family.”
At work, her dependable BCI staff makes things easier. “We have a very organic corporation. We have employees who are from Bacolod and who have been with us since the start. They are trustworthy and dependable. Each one has a specialization so we know whom to tap for specific requirements. It’s good to have a team to back you up.”
Importance of Family Support
The support of her family is also invaluable. “I’m on top of things, so much so that I know every detail in the menu, the posters. If you move the logo, I’ll know it,” she says. “I’m so thankful that in our family corporation, it’s OK to not be present in the office for as long as you are delivering your work.”
In two years’ time, Bacolod Chicken Inasal will be celebrating 25 years of operation. That’s quite an achievement for three siblings who were fresh out of college when they put up a food business that introduced to Metro Manila residents the chicken inasal and other dishes they loved while growing up in Bacolod.
“We are very blessed to have been able to maintain the business this long and to still be poised for future growth. I’m lucky to be in a family business because my work becomes an extension of my relationship with my family,” says Rose.
While her top priority is her family, she also highly values her work and thinks that no business will thrive if the owners are not involved. Besides, she believes that managing the business well today is ensuring that the next generation inherits a thriving family enterprise years from now.
Photo: Ramon FVelasquez
by rossanahead | Jan 19, 2017 | career, Education, Existing Business, feature
By Rowena Diocton
“Wala ka pang boyfriend? (You don’t have a boyfriend yet?)” and “Kailan ka magpapakasal? (When are you getting married?)” are only two of the typical questions Filipino women are asked during family reunions. Because of this, many Filipinas dread going to reunions or reading their aunts’ comments on social media.
Despite the hype on women’s empowerment, some Filipinas stay bound to self-limiting beliefs, such as that women should scramble to get married and have children. Their dreams are limited to boxes in the spectrum of “child rearing,” “budgeting,” and “housekeeping.”
They are also expected to marry earlier than men. On average, most Filipino women get married at 24, while men get married at 27, according to the World Economic Forum Gender Gap Index 2015. The report also reveals that five out of 100 women (5%) marry between 15 and 19 years of age.
Even societies abroad generally view Filipino women with less regard than they’re worth. “Dating,” “marriage,” and “scandals” are only a few of the top results when you type “Filipina,” “Filipino woman,” or “Pinay” on a quick Google search. It seems the world seeks Filipinas either to marry or to spend a good time with. Somehow, their other contributions to the world are buried.
It’s already 2017, so why are a number of Filipinas still stuck in this outdated box? Here are four ways to step up and join the ranks of the 21st-century Filipina superwomen this year.
Be Part of Positive Social Change
If Concepcion Felix-Calderon and Pura Villanueva Kalaw of Asociacion Femenista Filipina had sat idly by during the first half of the 20th century, Filipino women wouldn’t be enjoying the right to vote that we do today. We need to be part of something bigger than ourselves. So ask yourself: What can I offer to society to make it more just?
Rethink the Way You Treat Your Body
In Asia, social and economic growth has sadly coincided with the rise of eating disorders. Access to social media sites has allowed real-time body-shaming comments against celebrities like Jessy Mendiola and Ina Raymundo. This year, resolve to embrace a more positive body image and join body positive movements like plump.ph and #blackgirlmagic—and start something confidently beautiful within yourself.
Dip into the Wealth of Available Data
At least 4.66 billion Web pages were reportedly online as of mid-March 2016. Roughly 130 million books have been written as of 2010, according to Google. Anyone can now take massive open online courses at her own time, thanks to sites like Coursera, Edx, Khan Academy, TED-Ed, Udacity, Udemy, Lynda, and a lot more. Using available information, why not join important discourses that can affect the Filipina way of life and let your opinion be heard?
Sit at the Career Table
In several countries in the Asia Pacific, men often get 15% to 30% more in annual base pay than women, with females excluded in part due to the nature of the job, manager bias, and workforce policies. While it’s vital that organizations address the disparity, we can also play our part.
In 2010, Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg discussed the reasons why there are too few women leaders. Filipina career women should take Sandberg’s cue and learn to negotiate for ourselves at work, delegate equal tasks to our partners at home, and kick ass at work even as we plan for a family.
While one year may not be enough to produce a radical change in you or in society, this year is a good place to start taking gradual steps. Your elders may keep asking you about your single or family life, but this time you’ll have a fuller answer to give. Your male colleagues may still get paid more, but you’re already taking on the training needed to move up. Trying and not reaching your goals is not failure; what can set you up for failure is not having holistic and resilient goals toward self-empowerment.
Photo: Ali Edwards
