PH Consulate General Hosts Fil-Am Women’s Entrepreneurship Forum in NYC
From left: The Consulate General’s Margarita Manubay, Olivia Magpile, Filipino-American entrepreneurs Ivie Joy, MallyRoncal, Leddy Almadin, Carla Caramat, Jeanne Grey, and Consul Arman Talbo with the participants of the Fil-Am Women’s Entrepreneurship Forum held in new York. (Robby Manubay photo)
NEW YORK 08 May 2019 – The Philippine Consulate General in New York organized the first-ever Filipino-American Women’s Entrepreneurship Forum in New York on 27 April 2019 at the Philippine Center.
The forum served as a venue where aspiring Filipina entrepreneurs met, engaged, and networked with four inspiring Filipinas who have grown their businesses in design, events, social media, beauty products, and dental services on-demand start-ups.
In his welcome remarks, Deputy Consul General Kerwin Tate said that the Consulate General recognizes the myriad opportunities for improving lives in the Filipino American community, emphasizing that New York has a huge market where,“ with the right product and the right effort, success is just around the corner.”
The Forum’s resource speaker, Women Entrepreneurs (WE NYC) Director Diana Franco, informed the participants that WE NYC was created to address the entrepreneurship gender gap by offering a set of specialized business services to meet the needs of women entrepreneurs.
She delineated some of the curated programs that WE NYC offers to women entrepreneurs to connect them with available resources, education, and community.
Through WEConnect, women entrepreneurs are introduced to established professionals through mentoring, networking events, and the digital portal. The WEMasterprogram help these women connect with credit-building services, coach them on capital planning, preparing loan applications and managing debt, as well as build their leadership skills. The WEFund platform help them access affordable capital either through crowdfunding or from local lending institutions. Through WE Legal, these women receive legal advice from NYC’s top firms on a variety of crucial topics.
The panel discussion moderated by Ms. Ledy Almadin of the Philippine American Chamber of Commerce New York (PACC NY), and featured four successful Filipino-American women entrepreneurs: Dentist on Demand chief executive officer (CEO) and co-founder Carla Caramat, Ivie Joy Floral + Events CEO and founder Ivie Joy, Mally Beauty celebrity makeup artist and founder Mally Roncal, and GreyLayers CEO and founder Jeanne Grey.
Each shared their stories on what sparked their desire to venture into entrepreneurship, their driving force and motivation to become successful, and how they raise and sustain the capital funding for their businesses.
Ms. Mally said that “timing is everything,” recalling her decision to start her own makeup line after feeling the toll of the demands of being a celebrity makeup artist and with people constantly asking her “how do you make that look?” She admitted that she was not the best makeup artist, but she knows that “I could do makeup, I can communicate what I know, I can sell something like nobody’s business, and I can speak from my heart.” She pitched her products to QVC, a broadcast TV home shopping channel network, and her products were completely sold out in 36 minutes.
For her part, Ms. Joy, who was working as a production assistant and designer at a floral shop, realized that her floral designs were being sold at weddings and gave her the idea that “if her designs are making money for these people, then it should give her the level of confidence that she can do it on her own.”Speaking about managing her capital which started at US$2,000, she emphasized that she had to “choose the right people to work with and maintain good relations with owners of floral shops, vendors and clients she had worked with to deliver the highest quality of product.”
Ms. Grey, who was convinced by her family to pursue nursing, said she decided to find an outlet through blogging and social media. Remembering her first campaign paid her $10, Jeanne realized that blogging and social media could be something big and so GreyLayers.com came into fruition. It became one of the most influential blogs in the East Coast, amassing 180K+ Instagram fans and international blog subscriberships.
Meanwhile, Ms. Caramat, who has been in the dentistry field for over two decades, said that in 2012, she was fortunate to have worked with one of the founders who championed and sponsored her idea of starting Dentist on Demand in New York. From a start-up perspective, she asked herself “What value can I bring having a new business model?” She further added that “I needed to step back and look into what market can we tap into, making the product or services unique that can cater to the needs of the community.”
A networking event attended by more than 100 participants immediately followed after the program. The participants were able to interact with these entrepreneurs whose products were also on display at the Philippine Center Gallery lobby. END
WE NYC Director Diana Franco talks about New York City initiative and programs that support and empower women entrepreneurs. (Robby Manubay photo)
From left: Women entrepreneurs Carla Caramat, Jeanne Grey, Ivie Joy, and MallyRoncal during a panel discussion moderated by LedyAlmadin (rightmost) (New York PCG photo)
Carla Caramat of Dentist on Demand talks about finding the niche and right market to succeed as an entrepreneur. (Robby Manubay photo)
Ivie Joy (left) of Ivie Joy Floral +Events talks about choosing the right people to work with and maintaining good relations with vendors has kept her business successful. Mally Roncal shares how she transitioned from being a celebrity makeup artist to an entrepreneur with her own line of makeup, Mally Beauty. (Robby Manubay photo)
For more information, visit www.newyorkpcg.dfa.gov.ph, www.newyorkpcg.org or https://www.facebook.com/PHLinNY/.