No business is too small for the Lyttles

Alta and Speedy Lyttle

A partnership that grows stronger thanks to a common entrepreneurial zeal—such is how husband and wife Speedy and Alta Lyttle, owners of restaurants Poke Poke Manila and Locavore Kitchen x Drinks, and Xtensions Salon, describe their productive relationship.

“Running a business together… makes you closer. We know each other’s strengths and weaknesses and we use that to our advantage as partners. We find that all the added challenges and responsibilities help toughen up not just us as individuals, bu t also as a couple,” said the two, who have been together for the past 18 years (married for the past 12).

Even before the pair’s love story and business partnership began, both Speedy and Alta say they already had that thirst to become entrepreneurs at a young age because they grew up around enterprising families.

Alta, for one, had guidance from her mother, who supplied clothes for SM Department Store. Even in grade school, Alta would sell small items to her classmates: stationery sets, Chinese jackstones, stickers.

Speedy, who completed his Master’s degree in Business Management at the Asian Institute of Management, was already selling imported perfume when he was 15 years old, products which, at the time, weren’t available yet locally.

“Speedy and I were very lucky to grow up in a very entrepreneurial environment,” says Alta, who took up certificate courses on Visual Communications, Marketing, and Food and Beverage Management at the University of the Philippines Diliman, Wharton University of Pennsylvania, and Universita Commerciale Luigi Bocconi in Italy, respectively. She also completed a diploma course on Marketing at La Salle College International.

The two, now both 37 years old and blessed with four children, began their business pursuits in 2008 with Xtensions Salon, which back then “catered to a very niche market,” providing eyelash, hair and nail extension services, Alta says.

“But now that eyebrows and lashes are major trends, we’ve had a new and bigger market to leverage on,” she adds. The salon, which is open for franchising, now has 11 branches and also does eyebrow cloning and lip embroidery.

As a couple “easily inspired” by the things they see and experience, Alta says it has become a habit of hers and Speedy’s to “envision all kinds of businesses”—and what followed was their entrepreneurial venture into food through Locavore Kitchen x Drinks in 2014.

Located in Kapitolyo, Pasig City, Locavore, as the term suggests, serves only “locally grown, locally produced and locally made” food.

“It was a trend at the time to level up home-cooked food with fancy techniques and quality ingredients, and we’ve never seen it in the Philippines in such an accessible scale before. So, when we and our friends saw the opportunity, we grabbed it,” Alta says. Locavore now has a second branch in Bonifacio Global City.

Last year, the Lyttles opened another dining establishment: Poke Poke Manila, which serves Asian-Hawaiian fusion food. The first store opened in Estancia Mall, Capitol Commons, also in Pasig.

“Through Poke Poke, our aim was to serve the freshest tasting ingredients to erase the stigma that healthy food is boring and bland,” says Speedy. “This inspired us to redefine the concept of fast food by providing proper nutrition to people on-the-go.”

Three more Poke Poke branches soon followed: in SM Aura, SM Megamall and 8 Missouri in Greenhills.

The couple plans to open the restaurant to franchisees in the near future, but have not yet settled on exactly when.

As they continue to grow their businesses together, the Lyttles say they are keen on exploring how new technology can help them. It’s something they haven’t really touched on, says Alta.

“Who knows, maybe we can get to invent a system that can download food,” she says with a laugh.

The couple says that while they enjoy their financial success, their sense of fulfillment is rooted in doing what they love and value.

“You can try and quantify success all you want by comparing income or popularity, but ultimately it’s about feeling content and happy,” Alta says. She adds that she and Speedy are happy that their children are showing “a natural interest in owning businesses.”

“We do play cooking, serving and selling, which could be part of their ‘training’ as future entrepreneurs. Kids are inherently creative and curious—you just have to encourage and advise them along the way,” Alta adds.

The Lyttles’ advice to those who want to follow in their footsteps: Stay humble and inspired, and find people you can truly trust to work with.

“No matter how big you dream or how hands-on you want to be, you have to accept your physical limits. Learn to delegate and never spread yourself too thinly. [We’re] also firm believers that if you take care of your employees, they will take care of your business,” Alta says.