MANILA, PHILIPPINES — As adobo Magazine declared 2024 as the “Year of Creative Sustainability,” it’s only fitting to spotlight those who know perfectly well what it takes to build something from the grassroots and sustain it as a profitable and successful business. Hence, the latest adobo SheCreative session on September 19 at The Astbury, titled “From the Ground Up” and powered by the adobo SheCreative Network, set the stage for successful entrepreneurs — self-made women who built their businesses from scratch.
Entrepreneurship, after all, is a creative endeavor. Who better to learn about the business of creativity than from women who’ve made it?
Nala Ortiz, adobo Magazine Senior Content Manager, reflected on this in her welcoming remarks, acknowledging the women in her family who have also turned passion into business: “One key realization was that entrepreneurship is empowerment. Especially for women, who, for years were conditioned by years of sexism and misogyny, were made to think that their abilities, efforts, and achievements are far less compared to men — which we all know is gravely untrue.”
“Our past and present adobo SheCreative sessions simply prove this wrong. Everything that women and queer people worked hard for is something that deserves to be documented and celebrated. And empowerment is sparked through empathy, collaboration, and inclusion,” she stressed.
The event, moderated by the multi-talented Monica Tobias, a podcaster, restaurateur, and award-winning radio broadcaster, officially kicked off with Cecile Dominguez-Yujuico, President and CEO of Evident, leading the speaker sessions.
Tip #1: Practice creativity as a mindset.
Cecile is the proud founder of Evident, an integrated marketing communications firm that puts “purpose” in the center of all its efforts, may it be internal processes or external work for clients. In her presentation, she talked about forming the agency with the intention of filling in the gaps for communications in the NGO space, as an NGO worker herself at the time. She stressed that in making the jump, she had no business plan, long-term plan, or a vision on paper. She simply brought her background and goal together, and decided to give it a shot: “11 years later, we’re still here.”
“To me, creativity is not just about the outcome or product. But in my experience, especially if you’re an entrepreneur or starting something new, creativity is a mindset, a behavior, and how you look at things. For me, creativity means asking ‘what if?’ when others are asking ‘why?'”
“As an entrepreneur, the mindset of being creative is not just one event. It’s this continuous process of exploring new ideas, adapting, and seeing potential where others might see obstacles. That’s what creativity means to me: a lens in which we view every opportunity or challenge,” she shared.
Cecile also shared four main takeaways:
- Turn self-doubt into self-discovery.
- Leadership isn’t about being invincible. It’s about being real.
- Success isn’t an individual achievement, but a collective movement.
- Sometimes, to lead means stepping out of the way.
“No matter where you are on your own journey, I hope you remember that you have the power to shape the environment around you. Each of us can be a catalyst for change, a source of support, and an inspiration for other people. By lifting each other up, we can create this powerful web, a powerful network of strength that allows all of us to thrive and create something really magical and powerful,” she emphasized.
Tip #2: Be brave.
Following Cecile was Millie De Luna-Daluz, CEO of AliveCo Inc. and Ancient + Brave, a wellness brand that strives to provide high-quality products that are not only good for the body, but also for the environment. With her presentation entitled “Brave the Odds,” Millie stressed the power of saying “yes” despite not knowing exactly how things will pan out, and accepting the fact that for every one good thing that happens to you as a business-owner, there are at least nine other things that have gone wrong or did not go exactly as planned.
“The lessons I’m going to share with you are more than a plan of how you put up a business, but just three pieces of advice that I have personally learned and that might help you in the journey you’re going to go through,” Millie started, sharing that 90% of businesses close in their first year. “That’s because people give up, or maybe they don’t have the creative [mindset] to overcome what has to be overcome.”
With this, Millie’s presentation underlined three lessons in “braving the odds.”
- Brave the Journey: Money isn’t the most important; it’s energy that is the most vital currency of an entrepreneur. (“What I learned along the way is you get more energy and create more energy by leading with what you love to do, and are good at.”)
- Brave the Chaos. (“Make plans, but get ready to break them. Make plans, but be ready to be rejected.”)
- Brave the Day. (“Success comes when you seize opportunities that you’re ready for.”)
“My last reminder is to just ‘Brave the Odds,’ and bet on yourself. Again, 90% of businesses don’t make it. Not because they don’t have money, or the door was shut on them. [It is] simply because they didn’t keep going, they didn’t ask the right questions, and they didn’t build a good team around themselves. At the end of the day, this is really all you have to do. When you go into business, bet on yourself – find and keep finding the solutions to make your idea come to life.”
Tip #3: Cultivate your space in the industry by continuously learning.
The next speaker to grace the stage is a consistent partner of adobo SheCreative, with Jade’s Temple Brewery offering its delicious craft beer to the community every session. Jade’s Temple Brewery Owner & Founder Dea Suyosa joined the lineup with a presentation on the story behind her love for brewing craft beer, and how it led to opening up a business during the pandemic.
On top of sharing the behind-the-scenes journey of the brand, Dea also gave some valuable pieces of advice during the panel discussion on starting out in a male-dominated industry, and the importance of learning towards betterment to carve out and solidify her space.
“Before the pandemic, the beer community already existed. And I started my brand during the pandemic so nobody knew who I was, and I received a lot of backlash like ‘oh, that’s not craft beer’ or ‘why does this brand make funky beers?’ but I took it as a challenge. They didn’t know who I was yet and I wasn’t credible for being a craft beer brewer at the time. But when I engaged myself in that community, I educated myself and that’s actually where the power is: knowledge,” she noted.
Dea furthered, “I received a lot of mansplaining, but I took it as a challenge and used it to make myself better. Because at the end of the day, we all do the heavy lifting. We all do the same work. During that time, I received it as constructive criticism, but at the same time, I didn’t compromise my creativity just for me to belong.”
Tip #4: Running a business is a daily investment.
Karla Zulueta-Wildmore, Founder of Aperitif Cafes and Co-founder of Pizzulu Pizza and Sundowners Beach Villas, then took the adobo SheCreative stage to talk about the story on how she built all of her brands from scratch, dissecting the origin story behind popular brands Aperitif, Pizzulu, and Sundowners Beach Villas.
“I’m here to share the story of how I grew my brands ‘from the ground up.’ So I’m very proud to say that we really, really started everything from the ground up, and I want to show you how we evolved these businesses,” Karla started.
She then went on to go through her brands one by one, and how most of them started with a friend or family member asking for her assistance. For Aperitif, it was to cater a wedding even if she’s never done it before; for Sundowners, it was to rent out two vacation houses to her friends; and for Pizzulu, it was deciding to venture into the brick oven pizza category with her sisters over dinner. And in trying out these three ventures despite the unfamiliar territory, she has created and strengthened three different brands, now with several branches and millions-worth in value.
Karla went on to share her key tips for success:
- Say “yes” to opportunities. (“If I did not post that photo on Instagram, if I did not say yes to my ex’s mom to put up Sundowners on Instagram, I would have never been the founder of these brands.”)
- Daily hustle. (“It’s 20 hours of work; it’s talking to all your leaders, strategizing and constant self-growth. It’s not for the faint of heart.”)
- Delegate effectively. (“I hire people smarter than me, and I believe in people’s growth.”)
- Marketing matters. (“Use the power of social media right now to gain knowledge about your product. For me, it’s no longer [acceptable] to have your social media page be boring.”)
- Prioritize self-care. (“Being an entrepreneur, it’s a daily grind. So you yourself have to be healthy. Always invest in yourself.”)
- Your product is never perfect. (“There will always be a better version of your product, so if you want to create a premium brand and a brand that lasts – innovate.”)
Tip #5: The limit does not exist.
The last speaker to take the stage was Reese Fernandez-Ruiz, President and Co-founder of Intentionality Inc. and Rags2Riches, Inc., who started her presentation on a personal note – a voice memo back in 2017 which, she shared, was a very difficult year for her and the Rags2Riches brand. She opened up about using her and her husband’s savings to pay for payroll, going to corporations to sell their bags, announcing to her team of artisans the possibility of closing down, and more challenges that made her lose hope on some days as she took one step at a time towards the dream.
The dream started in 2007, hoping to become a life and livelihood partner for rug weavers across the Philippines – many of which are women and are mothers. “We wanted to create the best opportunity for them so that they can lift themselves and their families out of poverty, and we wanted to do that while also recycling scraps of fabric, which is so prevalent in the fashion industry.”
Back in 2017, 10 years since its founding, Reese shared that this was when she felt like an imposter. On the outside, Rags2Riches and herself were being recognized internationally, but internally – as her earlier voice memo revealed – she was struggling very much when it comes to the actual business. “Unlike other scammers who earns money from scams, I was losing money from this ‘scam.’ I wasn’t even a good scammer!” she joked.
Thus, Reese shared how Rags2Riches survived these tough time with a few learnings:
- Grit is a practice.
- Purpose comes with pain.
- You can change your mind.
Wrapping up, Reese ended with an incredibly moving testament to the statement: “The limit does not exist.” She shared, “When I look at my young self and go back to that time, I want to tell myself to not play small. Back then I was limited by my own beliefs. And there is a difference between ‘humility’ and just being ‘limited.’ You can be humble, but have growth in mind. Your smallness does not make you better, or anyone else better. If you grow, a lot of people will grow with you. I am a testament of that.”
Panel discussion: key takeaways
All the speakers linked up after the presentations for an engaging panel discussion, with Rachel Carrasco, Founder & CEO of Baken and RACHE, joining in on the fun. Rachel shared how Baken and RACHE came to be during the Q&A, underlining the challenge of bringing the brand abroad as a Philippines-based bacon snack brand. “Out of all the businesses I had to pick, I picked the most highly-regulated meat in the world. Of course, as we went through all the R&D process and the product development, all the compliances popped up – ‘You’re made in the Philippines, you can’t come to this country, it isn’t globally recognized.’ So the biggest challenge for us was one, product development; but the biggest of all is to get it outside of the Philippines.”
When asked to give some final words of encouragement for the audience, these are what the panelists had to say:
- Cecile Dominguez-Yujuico, President & CEO of Evident: “Lean into these places of discomfort. Instead of responding outwards, look inwards and ask: ‘why is this triggering me?'”
- Millie De Luna-Daluz, CEO of AliveCo Inc. and Ancient + Brave: “Give yourself a really good role model. And when you meet her, meet the people around her – you’ll learn so much.”
- Dea Suyosa, Owner & Founder of Jade’s Temple Brewery: “At the time when you feel lost, that is the perfect time to listen to yourself.”
- Rachel Carrasco, Founder & CEO of Baken and RACHE: “The only person you need to compare yourself to is the person you were yesterday.”
- Reese Fernandez-Ruiz, President and Co-founder of Intentionality Inc. and Rags2Riches, Inc.: “Everything can make you grow as a person.”
- Karla Zulueta-Wildmore, Founder of Aperitif Cafes and Co-founder of Pizzulu Pizza and Sundowners Zambales: “[Write down] I am enough, and see that every single day. And watch how miracles will happen in your life.”
The adobo SheCreative: From the Ground Up session was made possible thanks to:
- Co-presenter: Unilever
- Event Partner: The Astbury
- Agency Partner: Oddefy
- Food & Beverage Partners: Jade’s Temple Brewery, Aperitif, Angel’s Pizza, Goldilocks, The Brew Pod, and The Kind Cookie
- Swag Partners: Baken, Odd Cafe, Dewha, Victoria Home of Pearls, and QUICKFX
- Media Partners: When in Manila, Novice Magazine, Radio Mindanao NetworkOrganization Partners: the Philippine Association of National Advertisers (PANA), Asia Society Philippines, the Digital Marketing Association of the Philippines (DMAP), and RMN Marketing and Media Ventures.
