Go Negosyo’s 6th Filipina Entrepreneurship Summit begins today

MANILA, Philippines - Today is the big day for Filipina entrepreneurs. Women from different walks of life, different industries, and different fields of expertise will gather today at the World Trade Center, Pasay City. The Philippine Center for Entrepreneurship – Go Negosyo headed by Mr. Joey Concepcion in partnership with Sta. Elena Construction and Development Corp. and Co-chair of this year’s women summit Alice Eduardo made this big event possible.

Women nowadays are more assertive, goal-oriented, empowered, and are always on the go to keep abreast in this fast paced world that we have today. This year’s Summit will feature prominent Filipino women who have stepped up and achieved a high status in terms of their career and work that they do.

This one-day summit will showcase successful women who excelled in politics like Sen. Grace Poe who is set to deliver a very inspiring keynote address, and Sen. Cynthia Villar who will be sharing insights during the morning forum. Congresswoman Leni Robredo will join us in the morning. Media personalities like celebrity mompreneur and the queen of all media Kris Aquino will deliver a special message in the morning, renowned broadcast journalist and news presenter Karen Davila will moderate the morning forum, established broadcast journalist Korina Sanchez will give a plenary talk in the afternoon, and sought-after radio DJ Nicole Hyala is set to give an inspiring talk about her success story in the afternoon.

Aside from the forums and plenary talks, Go Negosyo will also recognize 10 inspiring Filipina Starpreneurs who exuded great passion, exerted effort and hardwork, improved their business thru research and innovation, and most especially inspired others because of their story. Today, Go Negosyo features the second batch of Go Negosyo’s Inspiring Filipina Awardees:

Donna Jiao, owner of XC manufacturing and Trading Corp., carried on and expanded her family’s jewellery business. She supplied jewellery shops, innovated designs, put up her own shop in Makati until she was able to establish a branch abroad. Having the experience, skills, and creativity on jewellery design, she was able to grow their business. Her business has had many of the country’s top socialites and members of the elite as its clientele. Today, her company is the top exporter in all of Bulacan and one of the top exporters of fine jewellery in the country. 

Monique Hilario founded Lay Bare, the first waxing boutique in the country. Together with her sister, she conceptualized a unique service that would cater to the needs of people with unwanted hair growing in some parts of the body offering a stress-free hair-removal experience. The unexpected idea became a hit. Today, they have more than 50 branches in the country and were also able to bring their company and service abroad.

Michelle Asence-Fontelera, president of Zen Zest Asia, pioneered a complete body and bath care product line. She saw the opportunity of developing this kind of product for then there was no local business that offers a complete line of body and bath care products. A local brand that was made available to the market, it eventually grew locally and was marketed abroad. Through her continuous research and product innovation, Zen Zest Asia has now more than 100 store outlets in the country.

Gwen Albarracin, president of Center for Pop, pursued and believed in her dreams that even a small speck of idea can become big given the time, hardwork, and passion to do so. What started as a small garage business has now become a three-story building complete with training facilities, music library and a concert hall. Center for Pop remains to be the country’s first and biggest training school in pop singing and has produced many outstanding contemporary performers in the country. The Center for Pop continues to aspire and help others fulfill their dreams by enhancing their respective core talents in singing and stage performance.

Judy Wong-Guevara, president of Leslie Corp., believes in providing healthy and quality snack among its consumers. Since 1983, her company has been producing quality products and operates on modern and fully-automated manufacturing plants. Her company exports to 29 countries and also owns Minute Burger that has over 170 franchisees and 400 stores nationwide.

Joey Concepcion said “we hope that like all other past awardees, these new set of inspiring Filipina entrepreneurs will join the fold of helping others who were once like them.”

These women serve as the paragon of success for young and aspiring entrepreneurs. Their stories will surely inspire a lot of Filipinos both men and women alike. It’s time to step up, get empowered, and move up in life. Let’s Go Negosyo! Dream, believe, achieve!