by Rea Gierran
Just like gardening, Echostore was originally meant to serve as a leisure activity for the three ladies, but after seven and a half years, Echostore grew and proved to be much more than a hobby.
A seed that was Echostore
Seven and a half years ago, three good-natured women planted a seed. They cultivated it with passion and made sure it was exposed to the right kind of people. As seeds take time to grow, they patiently sprinkled it everyday with motivation. After careful pruning of negativity and criticism, the seed started to branch out and the fruits it bore were given to help people live a sustainable life.
Chit Juan, Jeannie Javelosa and Reena Francisco saw that there was a gap in putting community products out in the market. This opened the opportunity for them to set up a space where people can buy environment-friendly goods. There were detractors along the way, saying the store wouldn’t thrive and eventually run out of goods to sell, but after seven and a half years, Echostore still continues to grow.
Their first store opened in 2008 in Serendra Bonifacio Global City. The following year, they started to go around the country to help product development. They were passionate in tracing the roots of the products they bring to the market. They had to make sure that everything is purely organic. “During our second year we got a little confused. I said, are we selling or are we helping? That’s when we decided to take a separate direction. Ours became more structured than focused,” Jeannie recalls.
The echo universe
The trio’s goal was to endorse consumers to a more healthy and sustainable lifestyle. Echostore Sustainable Lifestyle is the flagship store. As the organization evolved, the Echomarket and Echocafe were integrated to it, completing the tri-concept. Shortly after, Echosi Foundation was created to organize development programs they had been doing from 2009-2010.
Chit recalls how the Echosi Foundation started. “One day, a friend just came up to me and said, ‘I like what you are doing. I want to give you money.’ and I was like, we can’t really accept gifts like that, but we can form a foundation, and of course a foundation costs a million. Then he said, ‘Okay, I’ll give you the million.’ He then has become our Treasurer,” she said.
Echostore is all about having a product, honing the way it’s packaged and bringing it to the market. “Sometimes selling is 90% packaging. I always tell them that when you have a product, go to the grocery and place it there. If your product disappears or doesn’t stand out from the rest, your product won’t sell,” Reena says. The mission-business is supported by their three philosophies: to nurture and sustain the Self, Community, and Environment.
The power of three
Call it fate, call it serendipity, but adobo was able to get the trio together, which is a great feat as the three equally have many irons in the fire. Reena and Jeannie have known each other since fifth grade, while Chit and Jeannie met each other in college.
Jeannie Javelosa is a winning visual artist-designer, museum curator and a strategic brand-marketing communicator. Chit describes her as the Culture Vulture. “She always has the last say when it’s a culture-related topic. When she says that it’s a patadyong (skirt), it’s a patadyong. When she says it’s Maranao, it’s Maranao. When it comes to culture and arts, Reena and I are all hands up to her,” she says.
Pacita Juan, or Chit on the other hand is a multi-awarded entrepreneur, recognized by the business sector for her accolades. “She’s known for her entrepreneurial skills, of how she can see the capacity to bring people together for a business direction, but she’s also very green. She’s the farmer among the three of us. She loves to go to the grounds. She’s also our diplomat!” Jeannie giggles.
Regina Francisco or Reena is a graphic designer and a businessperson with an impressive career history which includes consulting for restaurant, food and café operations. “She’s the heart of operations, a very detail-oriented person. She does the things we wouldn’t want to do like store set up, packaging and HR. All these tasks which require great details,” Chit says. Chit and Jeannie would always get invited to speak at conventions and Reena would always end up sitting at the back, observing. “She’s always in the background, you would have to push her to the front,” Jeannie adds.
It is said that business partnerships, especially among friends, don’t survive. But Chit, Reena and Jeannie prove otherwise. “We already know the good and the bad side of each. Seven and a half years taught us to have a lot of tolerance and patience,” Chit says. “Being friends and being business partners are two very different things. There will always be emotional swings therefore it’s important to respect each other. We think that Echostore thrives because of the kind of spirit everybody brings,” Jeannie shares.
This article was first published in the November-December 2015 issue of adobo magazine.
