MANILA, PHILIPPINES — NYMA Talent Mayora Frances Lim Cabatuando of Home Buddies is expanding her online city. Home Buddies Hangouts is an expansion of the massively successful Home Buddies Facebook Community.
Home Buddies is a Facebook community born during the pandemic that was created with one goal in mind: to inspire and equip Filipinos with ideas on how they can live and work comfortably while stuck at home. Home Buddies has been and continues to be a massive success and is now the largest Facebook community in the Asia-Pacific region (excluding India), with a community of 3 million online neighbors. It has also been awarded over $80,000 in funding from Meta’s Facebook’s 2021 Community Accelerator Program.
Frances hopes to keep this momentum going with Home Buddies Hangouts, her newest Facebook Community. “From merely being a home enthusiasts group, Home Buddies has become one of Filipinos’ go-to sources for authentic finds and reviews. Since we’ve been successful in helping Filipinos navigate the pandemic home improvement era, we believe there’s a role for us to play in helping them enter this revenge travel phase. The goal of Home Buddies Hangouts is to inspire better vacations, with strong focus on better accommodations. Because we believe that the best trip is a well-rested one,” she said.
As a community leader for positive impact on society, Frances also sees how Home Buddies Hangouts can give the local tourism industry a boost. Home Buddies is known to be a hugely influential group, especially in the Metro where it has caused product shortages and trending hashtags like #TeamPuti and #TeamKahoy through its members. Home Buddies Hangouts aims to replicate the same success for travel and hangout spots.
“At the back of my mind, I always knew I’d expand because I enjoy traveling and I’m seeing the sentiments of people about missing travel. I just needed to find the perfect timing, and now seems to be it,” Frances said.
Home Buddies Hangouts soft-launched on April 17 while Cabatuando was finding a place to celebrate her brother’s 21st birthday. She was lucky to find a secret lake house in Pililia, Rizal that has not been listed on travel apps yet.
“I think people are seeing the merit of this little big travel group. In 2 months, we’re now at 20,000 members and over 300 posts,” she added. “We’ve actually already given out 2 overnight stays, one in Cavite and one in Quezon City. More to come as we continue to grow!”
Frances is one of the exclusive talents under NYMA, a talent agency focused on nurturing trailblazers to break through all media spaces. She currently posts regular vlogs on her YouTube and Facebook. She is also a TV host.
Watch her on Piesilog every morning from 7:00 am to 11:30 am only on the newest interactive channel, PIE. Follow @iampieofficial on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube, or tune in via their website.
