Women connect

Sooner or later, brides will discover that there is more to life than just receiving the symbolical arras from her groom on their wedding day. She would have psyched herself to assume the multiple roles of lover, wife, house manager and nurturer, but that’s because she has learned to balance her head and her heart.

However, she doesn’t stop there. Studies have proven that she is entrusted not only to guard the family coffers but can be adept at adding and multiplying its value, injecting innovative ideas if not starting new ones. In short, there is an entrepreneur or a potential businesswoman behind that proverbial matriarchal façade.

This was the impression I got when I stepped into a room filled with such women. No one was swaggering with pride or made to feel small or inferior. Instead, there was a sense of excitement combined with delight because these women were establishing a link with other women through the surest way known to all men: eating, breathing and relaxing. 

“Is there anything that women cannot do?” I asked. “Nope!” came the reply. “Except in one category but that would require a major biological alteration,” quipped another. 

Chit Juan, president of the Women’s Business Council of the Philippines (WBCP) started the ball rolling: “Ladies, if you haven’t studied the graph yet, many micro, small and medium industries today are owned by women. Not only is she the big boss but she’s making a heck of a success of it.”

Chit together with Jeannie Javelosa, her partner at the Echo Store at Serendra, shared their experience at the recent Women Vendors conference in Chonquing, China where women owners and entrepreneurs from different parts of the world were able to meet with fellow suppliers and buyers from the US and Europe. Not only that, they tapped their other global counterparts to allocate a certain portion of the budget for women-owned companies.

One company that was fully convinced by this network of enterprising women was Wal-mart, the biggest retailer worldwide. Wal-mart doubled its budget to buy from women-companies to the tune of $20 billion a year, globally. It also invested $100 million in projects that assert women, encouraging more women suppliers to come into its system through their new products and services.

“We hope to inspire more women to get into business or find a career they wish to shift to,” said Chit. For this, a whole-day summit called W2W Women Connect has been organized on Nov. 8 at the Philippine Trade and Training Center, where nine accomplished women will serve as resource speakers: Mercy Corrales, Fe Agudo, Mary Ann Sayoc, Myla Villanueva, Helen Macasaet, Ann Pamintuan, Ipat Luna, Marie Young, and Emily Abrera. These women have raised the standing of women with their impressive performance and their keen business sense. What’s more, they have drawn attention to the Filipina as a woman at par with man in the corporate world.  

“Women do not need to fight for gender equality. Men are in fact heading back home with the full realization that the women in their lives are the essence of their strength and inspiration.  Why shouldn’t we share the dynamic energy generated by such women?” said Chiqui Go. 

I spoke to Mercy Corrales whose name, I admit, didn’t ring a bell. “I’m retired,” she began. Mercy retired and retreated to a two-hectare farm in Laguna together with her husband, who has also retired from his profession. “How do you keep yourself occupied?” I asked. “I am discovering so many things about my new hometown that have kept my mind on overdrive. I discovered that Laguna has so many attractions, like the embroidery industry in Lucban, the footwear in Liliw, the numerous historical and beautiful churches in Pakil, Majayjay, Mabitac and Paete, and there’s even a rainforest that’s pure and undisturbed in Taytay Falls. The abundance of nature and home-based craft in Laguna has moved me to do something for the local  folk so that their life can be improved. It was also exciting to think that in a rural and quiet town in the Philippines, there is a rich heritage that we can showcase to the rest of the Philippines and the world.”

Mercy’s background showed that she was the first minority to become the country general manager of Levi Strauss in Southeast Asia, in South America and in Japan. From manufacturing jeans, she moved to the coffee business, heading Starbucks as its regional president in the Asia Pacific Division, which covered Japan, South Korea, Southeast Asia, Australia and New Zealand.

When I asked her what was the single driving force that made her stand out, she replied, “The fact that I was always outnumbered by men in any job I chose. It gave me grit that I wanted to make a difference.” 

Another was Ipat Luna. Her profession? Environmental law. She spoke of the acronym www in a different light. It stands for Wellness in terms of spirit, in the source of food, water and environment; Women taking responsibility for herself and harnessing her power to take care and not to destroy; World preservation and work in terms of success like hectares saved, water cleared, nature un-vandalized. I was struck by her counsel to avoid court cases because, to Ipat, if one is already in court, one has lost the battle. You are already in a fighting stance out to destroy or to save something.

While the air was buzzing with fervor, Cathy Turvill of Nurture Spa gave us some quick natural face-lift exercises to keep aging at bay. She emphasized the importance of eating healthy, sleeping enough (night owls take heed) and breathing properly to prevent body aches and stress. She also cited the feel-good effect of laughing, of “laughing all your fears away.”

Jeannie Javelosa took the floor to speak on the healthy benefits of yoga that aims to improve not only the body but also the spirit. She demonstrated some breathing techniques — breath like an infant, from the belly and not from the chest — to guard yourself from stress. “If your nervous system is all knotted up, you explode,” she cautioned.

Chit Juan said that when they were planning the W2W summit, Reena Francisco, her other partner at Echo Store, was dreaming of what food to serve and she translated this by preparing a rich but healthy spread of homemade humus, tahini paste, tapenade and other sustainable food from the Le Bistro Vert that she also manages.

The W2W Summit is connecting women with women as well as a mentoring and networking exercise.  It will be a full day packed with enthusiasm and camaraderie. As if that wasn’t enough, Chit Juan suddenly turned mysterious and dropped a teaser, “Ladies, we have also prepared a surprise for those who will be able to join us on Nov. 8. For sure, we did not ‘sexualize’ this surprise but our surprise is comfortable in the belief that it’s a woman’s world and only because it’s a better world.”

I whispered to Chit Juan, “Give me a hint. Is it who I think is the hottest ‘surprise,’ which no other woman could resist?”

Chit smiled a la Mona Lisa, “I won’t say.”