Pinay in Spain: From factory worker to business owner

MANILA, Philippines — "Kailangan sakripisyo, yung pakikibagay mo rin sa mga tao," says Joy de Asis, when asked about her secret to surviving Madrid.

Nothing warms the Filipino hearts more than an inspiring story of our very own kababayan. Take for example Joy's story, a Filipina who started as a factory worker in Spain to eventually becoming a successful owner of the mini restaurant "Fabiola."

According to Joy in her interview with RTVM, it has been 13 years since her mother brought her to Madrid. Over the course of that 13 years, she has worked for a Taiwanese factory and a restobar where she worked for four years, until she got pregnant with her first child.

She admitted that it was not easy for her to juggle the task of being a mother and a worker at the same time. Because of the urge to take care of her family, she decided to drop her job and look for a means of income that would best suit her schedule.

It was as if fate was playing with their luck, the economic crisis in Spain took place and her second child was born, making her family’s survival even more difficult to sustain.

The challenges did not stop her. With a determination to give her family a better life, she braved the challenges and decided to put up her small business. Given her background in baking, she chose to sell siopao, cassava cake and other Filipino delicacies.

After 10 years of hardwork, she managed to turn the bakeshop into a mini restaurant where she sells “lutong ulam” aside from cakes and pastries.

With enough word-of-mouth marketing by her friends at the Embassy and other regular customers, her business started to flourish. At present, her mini restaurant is now offering catering services.

Indeed, good things come to those who work for it, and not just to those who wait for it.

Watch Joy's interview below:

YouTube (RTVMalacanang)