I do remember a few years ago it was uh my my dad and I we traveled to the Philippines and we were coming back and he made a comment about you know he's getting older he's retired in his 70s and he just said you know very briefly like I don't know if if like the family members could still kind of chip in even though we we now feel like the school is very like an extension of our family and so with that comment I think that kind of sparked that desire to start a business to really think about a mechanism outside of my family of how can I make this operationally like even from like a funding perspective um not dependent on my family to create uh to provide the meals and then also to prepare them too right and as I was thinking about what we've done so far um a business just made made sense that um and And also because I knew about the EOC um economy of communion and and its
origins too. Um I think about the story of Kerala Lubik and she was flying into Brazil and she saw the disparity of the poorest of the poor and the wealthy living close to each other and you know the thought of businesses specifically being made to address a social issue. uh if that's economical material and I think that model was like an answer I just remembered it of my own personal desire to want to help to want to be of service and to continue uh just because you do something in life up to a period of time if that process if you need to adjust you adjust accordingly to continue on and so I didn't see it as like a barrier I thought of it as how can I be creative in a way to just think about making it more sustainable And so the business just felt like natural.
I mean I remember I was talking to my dad. I had this goal of 100 meals and I had no idea but um I had I had to think of a product and naturally I'm I'm very creative. I like to draw um portraits of I've always been very crafty and it's always been a hobby of mine. And then also I love the natural resources of the Philippines or whenever I travel internationally, I try to go to local like artisan markets and then get like a piece of jewelry or something small and really converse with somebody whoever I'm buying that product to as like a a token of my travels, you know, just something very very tiny.
I like to travel light. Uh and it's always great to hear the story the story behind the craftsmanship. I've always valued that um as an artist and I see like people be creative all over the world. So I thought this combines all my interests. Um it solves the problem or I shouldn't say problem like a a barrier a challenge of trying to continue to provide meals for children in the Philippines. Um, I also get to be creative in making jewelry, but then I also wanted to incorporate natural resources in the Philippines because I didn't see that in the jewelry industry market.
You don't really see that in stores marketed as like a specific um country. And so I thought, oh, that would be a great way to break the noise. Um, because I know craft shows is oversaturated with jewelry. And then it has that component where people who buy my items, they're not just customers to me. I feel like they are active participants in the mission. Uh because without them, I won't be able to continue what I do.
And whenever I meet people at these markets, I always hear different impressions like people are touched by the story or they're surprised that wow, you would create this business, you know, to do that. Um, I've even had vendors approach me and say, you know, I never thought to utilize my business as a way to do good for others or in my community. And then you just see it in their eyes, right? Like there's this idea that's like a the seed is planted.
And I think that's the culture of giving. That's the spirit of the economy of communion. It's not something meant to be kept. I mean, you can be inspired by all these different testimonies and my business is very personal to my story and um and I think it it has to start from there, right? Something that you're very passionate about. Um I started doing pop-up events uh because I think that was the natural way to go to sell my products.
I also wanted to see if my idea um was marketable. I think just like any other business, it sounds great to you. Your friends and family will always be supportive. But what about for complete strangers? How about people who have never been, you know, to a tropical place or who who may not have this um desire or interest in like food insecurity? Like where's the connection there? So at least for me, the first year I wanted to do as many markets as possible just to see if this idea would work. Um, beyond my small network.
