10 Boss Babes We Look Up To
Women that inspire us come from many areas of life. Nothing is more vital in today's world than pushing one another up to achieve success, empower one another, and dare to lead by being fearless in the face of fear.
These 10 boss babes not only demonstrate how far the country has progressed in fostering gender equality in business and the workforce, but their work has also become a model for all aspiring women here in the Philippines.
1. Nikki Sevilla
Founder and president, EcoNest Philippines
Nikki Sevilla aims to provide everyone with the opportunity to adopt environmentally friendly packaging. Her startup, EcoNest Philippines, was founded in 2018 to reduce the use of plastic. It sells cassava bags, edible straws, and sugarcane food storage boxes, among other innovative, technologically advanced, and environmentally friendly packaging items.
2. Anna Melissa Nava
Co-founder and CEO, 1Export
Exporting can be intimidating for small businesses. They are concerned about prices or paperwork or simply do not know where to begin. But, Anna Melissa Nava, who co-founded 1Export, a one-stop, end-to-end platform for cross-border trading, says her psychology major helped her create trust with clients. As a result, the company now works with 450 companies that are export-ready and has a presence in 15 markets.
3. Cindy Burdette
Co-founder and CEO, Allcare
Cindy Burdette's goal with Allcare is to provide freelancers with the same employment benefits as full-time employees and empower SMEs to provide their employees with the same benefits as large corporations. Allcare, a membership-based marketplace that began in 2019, offers various worker benefits—from insurance to training to mental health checks—to employees who would otherwise be excluded. As a result, Allcare's client base rose tenfold from 2019 to 2020.
4. Angely Dub
Founder and CEO, Access Travel & Tours
Angely Dub owns a travel service that has become a favourite among well-known local musicians, travel bloggers, influencers, and those looking for well-planned itineraries to maximize their vacation time. Fate took Dub down a different road when she began her own business at 19. She had to deal with several challenges, including being betrayed by a business partner and losing all she had worked so hard for.
5. Jehanel Vidad Soriano
Founder, Jesla Integrated Farm
The farmers' unwavering commitment to learning and applying new knowledge to their crops encouraged Soriano to start and run a farm school. The PalayCheck primer is included in the farmers' major textbook for learning. In addition to running a farm school, Jehanel launched a Youtube channel. They began to document their everyday farm activities, which they described as their own way of promoting agriculture to their peers.
6. Katrina Chan
Co-founder and director, QBO
Katrina Chan hopes to strengthen the Philippines' tech startup ecosystem through her accelerator QBO, which she co-founded in 2016. The business is a public-private partnership that includes the Department of Science and Technology, the Department of Trade and Industry, JP Morgan, and the accelerator IdeaSpace. It hosts the annual Philippine Startup Week and has over 500 startup programs under its belt. In addition, it just started the Startup Pinay campaign to encourage women to pursue careers in technology.
7. Rissa Mananquil Trillo
Co-founder, Happy Skin
Rissa Mananquil Trillo was the co-founder of the successful cosmetics and beauty product line Happy Skin. The company is known for its innovative makeup products that cater to the Filipina skin. Though Rissa has recently announced her departure from the company, she was one of the key persons behind Happy Skin’s growth: 13 storefronts and around 100 beauty kiosks. It has also won 30 beauty accolades, including Watsons Philippines' Most Promising New Cosmetic Brand.
8. Alice Eduardo
CEO and Owner, Sta. Elena Construction and Development Corporation
Alice Eduardo is the owner and CEO of Sta. Elena Construction and Development Corporation, one of the Philippines' largest development corporations. She leads a large, profitable construction company and oversees a large number of employees, all while contributing to the development of our country in multiple ways. She continues to prove herself in this male-dominated industry day after day.
9. Mica Tan
Founder and CEO, MFT Group
Mica Tan chose to establish her own business when she was 19 years old. Fast forward eight years, and Tan, now 27, has accomplished just that: she co-founded and is the CEO of MFT Group, a private equity business with assets of more than US$61 million that operates in nine countries and 18 locations around the world. Tan also received the Filipina Women's Network's Most Influential Filipina Award in 2019.
10. Angeline Tham
Founder and CEO, Angkas
Angeline Tham is the founder and CEO of motorcycle taxi service app Angkas. It surprised everyone as the motor industry is usually considered a part of a man's world. Tham is working on expanding Angkas by offering free training to drivers and starting the Philippines' first motorcycle ambulance.
The fight for equality is far from over, but these women have demonstrated that they can care and empower everyone in whatever sector they choose. Their stories each teach a valuable lesson: be a dreamer, a doer, a thinker, and see possibility everywhere!