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From a housewife-turned-social media sensation to an athlete breaking records, these individuals are an inspiration to all of us that one can never give up on their dreams
They are the luminaries shaping Philippine society: these six men and women have broken boundaries to prove that the glass ceiling can be shattered. Regardless of age and sex, they have found themselves triumphing in different fields, from sports and beauty to social media and F&B. With lots of hard work, and a fantastic support system, each person on the list has managed to get themselves into a promising position, one that both inspires and impacts society today. Meet the talented individuals making their mark while staying true to their goals.
Read now: These young leaders are making lifelong learning accessible and fun
Small Laude
Above Small Laude (Photo: Franz Navarrete)
Small Laude (Photo: Franz Navarrete)
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Social Media
The social media sensation first started vlogging in 2019 and has captured an audience through no small feat. As of writing, she has amassed an impressive 1.88 million followers on YouTube and 695,000 on Instagram. Her community—made up of people from different backgrounds—from ordinary folks to high society socialites much like herself—all resonate with the same thing: her authenticity.
“It started organically,” Laude says of her Internet career. “My followers just kept increasing. The engagement was high. Then people started asking for more or asking me to do this or that. Show them this and that. Until it became a full-time career.”
For Laude, who spent much of her life dependent on her husband as a provider, this career came at an opportune time. In November 2022, when she graced Tatler Philippines’s cover, Laude shared, “I had never worked in my life. I depended on Phillip, my in-laws, my parents and Ate Alice. I [wanted] something I could do on my own. I [wanted] to do something meaningful.”
Fortunately, she was able to find it—in just being herself. In her many videos, Laude is seen acting without pretence: she reprises her offline role as a mum to her four children, a wife, and a sister. It’s evident that none of her content is scripted; her vivacious personality allows her to get away with plenty of cheeky jokes. She is entertaining, and this was something many people craved—especially during the pandemic.
So how can people follow in her successful footsteps? Laude’s advice seems paradoxical. She advises people to be who they are and to push the envelope regarding social media. “Have a clear platform. Know what your content will be and what your purpose for it. Mostly be authentic!”
Unsurprisingly, her success, while massive, was not something she sought out. “Maybe in the back of my head, it was there, a possibility [to be successful]. But it was something I stumbled upon, and the magnitude of it still surprises me at times.”
And though the entertainment industry is filled with troubles, Laude barely perceives them; perhaps this is because she’s just living life as it comes. “I can’t think of any [boundaries or difficulties] as it all came naturally. Memorising lines and repeatedly going over scenes for my big endorsements are still something I struggle with, but it outweighs the joy of vlogging and the joy I put out there.”
There are no limits to what Laude can achieve. On her platform, she’ll continue to share everything that makes her channel so enjoyable. Aside from the glitz behind her Crazy Rich Asians lifestyle, Laude will continue to feature her friends, her family, or the latest thing making her smile. What’s essential for her is simply “making sure the result will make others smile or laugh”.
John Michael Hilton
Above John Michael Hilton (Photo: Tatler Philippines)
John Michael Hilton (Photo: Tatler Philippines)
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Food and Beverage
He’s a Gen.T 2022 honouree and the man behind Visum Ventures. One of his most successful ventures is the Australian yoghourt drink brand, Koomi. “We took a risk with Koomi, as Filipinos tend to think yoghourt is traditionally sour and pricey. To attract milk tea fans to yoghourt, we created a Filipino Blend, a creamier and sweeter version of the original Australian Blend,” he explains.
Although it appeared as though Koomi came at an inopportune time—right before the pandemic— Hilton and his team took advantage of the circumstances, finding a silver lining in deliveries, takeout and even less foot traffic at malls. Then in 2022, Hilton announced a new milestone for the brand: they opened their 110th store. This adaptable thinking has led Hilton to take aggressive expansion successfully.
Aside from Koomi, Hilton is also known to be the man helming familiar food concepts such as the health food stand Zig, a Greek chain restaurant Oh My Greek, and an oyster bar, Salt and Ice. He is also dabbling into more high-end experiences, such as Gilbert by James Viles at Ayala Triangle Gardens. “I believe that the willingness to take calculated risks, passion and persistence has helped me grow my business,” Hilton shares.
Bela Gupta D'Souza
Above Bela Gupta D'Souza (Photo: Tatler Philippines)
Bela Gupta D'Souza (Photo: Tatler Philippines)
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Retail and Commerce
Family is among the most essential aspects of many people’s lives. For entrepreneur, mother and wife Bela Gupta D’Souza, it has also become paramount to her business ideology. The founder and CEO of the online shopping platform Edamama has managed to toe the delicate balance between work and family by staying true to important values. “Edamama today is the largest online-to-offline parenting platform in the Philippines. It provides various products and services to make parenting easier for families. My husband Nish and I run the venture together, so you could say we bring our family-orientedness to the workplace daily. While we cherish my role as startup founders, I believe being parents helps us lead the organisation better. One role empowers the other,” D’Souza shares.
They began operating during the pandemic, when businesses were constantly having to adapt to various circumstances. “I am grateful for that experience because it instilled a deep sense of resilience, grit, and [over time] comfort in managing through ambiguity, all of which are helpful qualities for any entrepreneur!”
Today, Edamama operates on both online and offline platforms. They have physical stores and continue to be a frontrunner in the digital space.
EJ Obiena
Above Ernest John Obiena (Photo: Foto Olimpik / NurPhoto via Getty Images)
Ernest John Obiena (Photo: Foto Olimpik / NurPhoto via Getty Images)
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Sports
He has had a fair number of reasons to quit but didn’t. Just recently, he got cleared of the accusations thrown at him by the sports area association he represents. He got injured before leaving for the 2017 Southeast Asian (SEA) Games.
In his attempt to qualify for the Palarong Pambansa in his high school years, he failed. “One minute, you are standing at the top of the world. One bad fall, and you can no longer walk. I’ve been through it. And if that’s not going to ground you as an athlete and make you realise how cruel the world of sport could be, I don’t know what will,” he shares. Today, 27-year-old Filipino pole vaulter Ernest John “EJ” Obiena is not only the country’s best but one of the world’s legendary young athletes.
EJ was born into a sports-inclined family. His father, Emerson, was a silver medallist at the 1993 Southeast Asian Games and coached him in his early years until he reached 18. Growing up on the track, it is no surprise that he would later fill in his parents’ shoes.
But the journey for him to becoming today’s third-best active men’s pole vaulter, according to World Athletics, was not free of obstacles. Obiena competed for his high school, Chiang Kai Shek College, at the 100- and 400-metre hurdles but failed to qualify for regional meets. With this, he never had a taste of a Palarong Pambansa medal.
“I would say that I was never a child prodigy,” Obiena says, admitting that he was a late bloomer. But it was from this failure that he jumped to greater heights, as it was when he started focusing on pole vaulting.
At first, sports was something personal to him, something that his family collectively enjoyed. Later, Obiena made it his entry point to college, which he achieved and led him to the University of Santo Tomas. By eventually breaking the national record and junior national record for pole vault in 2014 at 18 during the weekly relays of the Philippine Athletics Track and Field Association, his path to the 2015 SEA Games became clearer. He clinched the silver medal that year, and in 2017, made it to the Asian Athletics Championships, returning home with a bronze medal. Since then, he has been collecting gold medals left and right and beating his record each year. Last June 2023, he reached 6 metres as his personal best record, making him the first Asian athlete to do so. “When you reach your peak, you always aim for a higher one,” Obiena says.
Obiena is currently training for the 2024 Paris Olympics. “What excites me the most are the things I believe I can achieve,” he says. He has a lineup of projects including a magna carta for athletes with Senator Pia Cayetano and his dream of having a pole vaulting area with complete facilities open to aspiring athletes.
Nina Ellaine Dizon-Cabrera
Above Nina Ellaine Dizon-Cabrera
Nina Ellaine Dizon-Cabrera
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Beauty
The homegrown beauty brand, Colourette Cosmetics, is familiar to many, owing to its impressive online presence and being a mainstay in many local department stores. But the road to success has been challenging for Nina Dizon-Cabrera, who founded the company. As an entrepreneur, she has had to contend with the daunting, often recurring problem many businesswomen face: lack of support. “I started my business from scratch, without any network or financial backing to rely on,” Dizon-Cabrera shares. “This forced me to devise strategies to generate income and foster my brand’s growth independently. Additionally, I lacked the guidance of a mentor who could steer me through the challenges I encountered. I had to navigate my path through trial and error, extracting valuable lessons from the mistakes I made along the way.”
But what made such a steep learning curve worth it? Unsurprisingly, it is the customers. Colourette’s sincerity resonated with many of the brand’s loyal followers. The inclusive brand aimed to empower and resonate. “When we launched Colourette, we aimed to create a brand that truly connects with [everyone],” she explains. “Our ultimate objective was to challenge conventional beauty standards and empower individuals to embrace and express their beauty authentically and personally.”
It’s no surprise that the values of both the brand and CEO align seamlessly. “Colourette achieved success by embracing authenticity and advocacy as its foundational principles,” Dizon-Cabrera says. “ Our unwavering dedication to serving our customers authentically and meaningfully has been a key driver of our success story.”
Their most recent launch is the First Base skin tint, which has stayed true to this ethos. Packed with SPF30, healthy ingredients such as hyaluronic acid and niacinamide, packaged beauty and skincare in one accessible product. “The meticulous development of our First Base Skin Tint line spanned an extensive two-year period,” the CEO reveals. “Not only did we carefully select the shades, but we also invested time in formulating the product to withstand the unique challenges posed by the Philippine climate and cater to the preferences and lifestyles of Filipinos. We want them to understand that their needs and desires are at the forefront of our minds in every stage of our product development journey.”
Elwince Magbitang
Above Elwince Magbitang (Photo: Rosalie O’Connor)
Elwince Magbitang (Photo: Rosalie O’Connor)
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Dance
This American Ballet Theatre (ABT) company dancer was one of over 30 students who received scholarships from STEPS, a dance studio founded by Sofia Zobel Elizalde. Years of hard work led him to a fortuitous moment in 2018 when Stella Abrera and Sascha Radetsky, principal dancer of ABT and artistic director of ABT Studio Company, discovered his talent.
“Some of the beautiful dancers from ABT had a fundraising gala for CENTEX scholars of STEPS, and I was fortunate to be in that production,” recalls Elwince Magbitang. He danced as one of the toreadors in the Don Quixote suite of the said show. After that, Abrera granted him a full scholarship for Kaatsbaan Summer Intensive in New York and a spot in ABT Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis (JKO) School.
After a year at JKO, he joined the ABT Studio Company and later, in the fall of 2021, landed an apprentice spot in the main company of the prestigious ballet theatre.
But despite making waves globally, Magbitang remains humble. “It feels unreal,” he admits. “I wouldn’t have made it this far without the people that got my back since the beginning,” he continues. With his breathtaking jumps, precision and fearless attacks on bravura roles, Magbitang proves that he deserves the praise he has been receiving but still has a long way to go, as this is just the beginning of his journey.
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