Humility is indeed a virtue. And one of the ways to practice humility is to humble yourself not only before God, but before man or a woman. I have always believed that every successful entrepreneur I have met has or had a mentor. If not a mentor, an idol.
The Philippine SME landscape changed when the likes of GoNegosyo, PLDT SME Nation, Ernst and Young Entrepreneur of the Year Awards, and all these award-giving bodies started paying attention to successes of small and medium entrepreneurs.
Though one does not work merely for an award, having a successful enterprise automatically entitles you to a nomination. Then we started to know more about Tess NganTian of Lotsa Pizza, Joe Magsaysay of Potato Corner, Edgar Injap Sia for Mang Inasal, and all of a sudden, brands now have names. And the youth start to emulate these young people.
Or this woman entrepreneur. Or that micro-entrepreneur like Ehje’s Peanut Butter (I still have to ask her to consider using local peanuts).
I had a full course of idols during the last Women Connect: W2W Women to Women Mentoring Summit held just a few weeks ago. I sat and listened in awe as each woman told her story. Not about their companies, but about their transformation from ordinary career women to regional stalwarts in boardrooms like Mercy Corrales who has sat in international boards and ran businesses like Levi’s and Starbucks.
I listened to Myla Villanueva as she related the events in her IT and Innovation career because of the influence of Steve Jobs. And how she and her company are actually responsible for many products we see today from the telcos. She is a female Steve Jobs of the Philippines!
Fe Perez-Agudo of Hyundai told us how her male counterparts used to treat her until they heard her speak. Now, she is the Philippine CEO of one of the leading car companies in Asia if not the world. What used to be a male-dominated field is not anymore.
Did you know Filipinos eat the least vegetables per capita? I was shocked to hear this from Dr. Mary Ann Sayoc of East West Seeds. So her company started the “Oh My Gulay” project in public elementary schools which someday will increase our per capita consumption of greens and other vegetables. Dr. Sayoc got celebrities to endorse camote, pechay and other veggies. Our lunch guest Derek Ramsay proudly said he would love to endorse okra.
Another woman idol in ICT is Helen Macasaet, who is a self-proclaimed “nerd” and is dedicated to using ICT to improve the way the country is run. We hope to hear more from her and her peers in IT and Innovation.
The women’s toast of the day as far as fashion is concerned is Ann Tiukinhoy-Pamintuan of Gilded Expressions. We admire how Ann is so inspired by nature and all her designs are “proprietarily” organic. The women on my table went gaga over her neck pieces, bangles were going around being tried by each lady. The next thing I knew, they had set her up for a lunch cum sale of jewelry in Le Bistro Vert immediately after the Women Summit. Her work is truly admirable. All originally crafted, just inspired by nature.
Lawyer Ipat Luna is our idol when it comes to environment. She is a lawyer specializing in environmental protection and regaled us with many facts about what is happening to our physical world.
Marie Concepcion-Young idolizes her father Joe Concepcion, and she is proudly running the RFM Foundation, which he started. They also run the Ten Outstanding Students of the Philippines Program (TOSP) of which I have been a judge some years back. Early on, kids already show promise and when noticed such as what TOSP does, they too become more successful in later life.
And the last if not the least, is another WOW, Wise Old Woman Emily Abrer, who initially worked for free to get her first job in advertising (because they thought she could not do the job), but she stayed on and headed one of the most formidable advertising agencies in the country. Her speech was packed with wisdom and she revealed that her mentor was also her father.
I cannot help but mention that I also idolized my father. He was a mentor, teacher and idol, Dr Maximino D. “Doc” Juan (1910-1978), a dentist by education, entrepreneur by choice and a master of life. What I have become is partly because of who he was.
My other idols, of course, are the women who put this summit together –Chiqui Escareal-Go, Boots Garcia, Myren Garcia and Mylene Abiva. To put almost 300 women (and some men) in one venue on a weekday and let them sit for eight hours is a feat. But we did it.
Congratulations to all the women who choose to still have idols. And who live life with their wisdom and guidance.