SingleD and UnleasheD

By Nancy D. Galang, M.A. 

"The only person you are destined to become is the person you decide to be." - Ralph Waldo Emerson

This pandemic brought about by Covid 19 has made me discover that there are a LOT of things we can learn while in our stay-at-home, work-from-home set up.

Each one of us is good at something other than what we have been used to doing everyday.

For some, their daily routine may be going to work each day, then coming home at the end of the day. 

For some, it may be staying at home as housewives, doing daily chores and tending to their husbands and children. For others, it may be engaging in online businesses.

Indeed, our situation now has encouraged many to do the same.

I myself have started planning the launch of some online businesses that I think I want to do.

Noong hindi pa ganito ang sitwasyon, ang dami-dami kong business ideas. Ngayon ay unti-unti ko na itong naaasikaso at naiisingit sa work-from-home set-up ko, with the help of my G Skwad.

S'yempe, nauna muna ang business na sa tingin ko can help augment my production rakets, na on-hold lahat because we are unable to shoot.

I was thinking of an item that is needed and in demand right now. At first, what I had in mind was to sell disinfectant items, but then I figured, masks with trendy designs are easier to sell specially to my friends.

So I talked to a partner - and now here I am.

So far, I have shipped to Canada and I have inquiries to ship to the U.S.  Iba pa ang market ko dito sa atin.  More than the extra-income, I am happy that I have touched base with the entrepreneur side of me.

If I may share a little history, way back in kinder, I was selling magic wands made out of walis tingting and basag na alkansya. I molded the broken pieces into shapes like stars, tapos dinikit ko po sa walis tingting - and voila! - a magic wand!

I sold them for 5 pesos each, na noon ay overpricing na!  But more than anything, I had fun making them and watching my friends play and run around the classroom with their wands that came in different shapes!

S'yempre, dahil babasagin, when they drop it while running, may repeat orders ako! Haha!

My biggest order of washable face masks (300 pics.) shipped to Canada. 

Soon, I will also be launching my SingleD Servings food business as well as my SingleD and BottleD food items. 

Pag-iisip pa lang po ng mga pangalan ng items ko, I had so much fun already! I will be carrying items like Kimchi, Gourmet Tuyo (spicy and original), Sundried Kamias, and Achara. 

Here is a sample of the artwork for one of our SingleD and BottleD food products, made by my son Rocky:

Launching soon: Singled and Bottled food items from the G Skwad. 

So mga Nan-sis (Nanay-sisters), there you go! I think I have unleashed the entrepreneur side of me!

Then of course, there are my friends.

Natutuwa ako seeing my friends evolve into bakers, cooks, artists, entrepreneurs, handymen/handywomen, etc. We all have unleashed that side of us that has always been there. And this makes me happy specially when I see my friends on social media post their products.

Let me start with Grace Padilla, a good friend way back my college days in Maryknoll and a churchmate.  She was a flight attendant for the longest time in Cathay Pacific, then worked on-ground, and eventually made that brave decision to be a full time housewife.

She was into disciplined workout apart from being the designated cook and driver of their kids. And now, while in quarantine, she has decided to start baking "soft and chewy, ooey and gooey type mala-Levain type of chocolate chip cookies."

O di ba ang sosyal? Di ko nga po alam ano ang Levain, igu-google ko pa 'yan mamaya. Hanggang Chips Ahoy lang po ang alam ko.

Grace's business is soon to be launched as 
"Goodness Gracious". 

According to Grace: "I love sweets so much so when I started baking, I just thought of sharing my new found passion to my friends.  Nakaka-excite 'yung alam mo na magugustuhan din nila 'yung cookies because you made it out of love for your  new passion rather than you just wanting to earn some money."

What makes her cookies special? She uses only class A+ ingredients because her number 1 goal is for her friends to like them - and for friends, hindi siya nagtitipid! (kailan mo 'ko lilibre?)

Grace's soft and chewy, ooey and gooey, mala 
Levain type of chocolate chip cookies.

Jea Silva, also a singleD mom, resigned last February to go full time in her business, while totally unaware that barely a month after, we would all be in lockdown.

She has always wanted to put up her own business and her own brand out of her love for clothes and bags.

Flamngurl.ph offers original branded bags and watches from Canada at very affordable prices. (Prices are 50-70% off of mall prices and offers layaway and installment payment schemes.)

"Careless brownies", despite the name, are carefully made to make sure it  gives Jea's customers that crusty, chewy and fudgy brownies referred by her  customers as "pang-mayaman".

During the pandemic, Jea has unleashed the baker in her and started to specialize in fudgy and "not cakey" brownies.

What sets her products apart? According to Jea, "They are crusty but at the same time with chewy and fudgy textures altogether with a tangy, not too sweet taste."

The Custodios shifted their focus to their food business because the Covid 19 crisis "sabotaged" the Events industry.  

The Custodios, Janeire and Jeff, my inaanaks sa kasal, are a husband and wife tandem and were into special events before the pandemic hit us. We all know that social gatherings are not allowed now and so their business has been adversely affected.

Cravings Stories products by Janeire
and Jeff Custodio.

They have been selling their food products since 2019, but their bread and butter was still as events supplier. However, the crisis has led them to concentrate on pursuing selling their Chili Garlic Crunch and Yema Spreads.

I am so happy for them because right now, they already have a stable set of resellers. According to their loyal buyers, their products have the right amount of spice and savoury: "Parang Delimondo daw!"

Another friend and classmate from Maryknoll High School, is Pia Panlilio-Santiago, who unintentionally turned her love for art and cooking into business.

She and her husband have a stable business for years now. But when she posts food and painting on her FB wall, her friends would often ask her if they are for sale. So why not? According to Pia: "I once posted a painting and sold it within 15 minutes!"

Pia paints on anything she can get her hands on - canvases, walls, knives and hammers, and yes, even cars!

Incidentally, Pia also does eyebrow microblading because it's just like painting a face. 

The first painting Pia made during the lockdown
entitled, " Whooters: The Owls". 

What about you, mga Nan-sis? What is that side of you that is 

waiting to be unleashed?

THE TIME IS NOW to get on with it. We are all facing our fears and experiencing anxiety amidst the uncertainty of what is to come. And doing what we love while we have the time to stay at home (while earning) is really something that will help us get the mental and therapeutic exercise.

Perhaps it will give us that calm we are seeking, the self fulfillment that seemed elusive when we were bound by the eight-hour work at the office and caught in the daily traffic routine, or simply the self reinvention that we have always dreamed about.

Kaya game na! Do not waste any more time! Ako, I have discovered that I can write and inspire people through my blogs. I have unleashed that artist in me, and soon, maybe, the SingleD business woman in me. And malay natin, there are more things we can discover about ourselves.

Until then, mga Nan-sis! Catch you later!

Nancy Mommy