Bacolod City – October 19, 2018 – Facebook, in partnership with Connected Women, a global community of women entrepreneurs, welcomed over 120 women Bacolodnon participants to the #SheMeansBusiness initiative. During the event, they learned about online marketing, and tools to help them start or grow their businesses.

#SheMeansBusiness has been launched in 21 markets around the world, including the Philippines, and is designed to reach both aspiring and established women entrepreneurs through a series of workshops and online resources that will arm them with the knowledge, skills, connections, and technology required to build and grow their business.

In the Philippines, over a thousand Filipino women entrepreneurs have participated in #SheMeansBusiness workshops in over 10 cities, since 2017. “When women do better, we all benefit. Filipino small business owners are resourceful and we want them to understand how going digital can expand their ventures. Through the #SheMeansBusiness program and our partnership with Connected Women, we aim to connect entrepreneurial women with empowering tools, peers and networks.” said Clair Deevy, Director of Community Affairs, APAC and Latin America, Facebook.

“Tools like Facebook has made it easier to grow your business and build better relationships with your customers. At Connected Women, we aim to educate women entrepreneurs and aspiring entrepreneurs on digital tools so they can scale their businesses, and reach a global market, even while staying close to home,” said Gina Romero, CEO and Co-Founder of Connected Women. “Today, we hope women entrepreneurs who attended our event here in Bacolod can take the lessons from the workshop to bring their business ideas to life.”

Inspiring Women Entrepreneurs

Beyond the workshops, participants also heard firsthand experiences from those who participated in previous #SheMeansBusiness workshops including, Rechilda Solina of Iriga City, who owns the online-based essential oil business Thank You Lord God Herbal Industry or TYLG Herbal Industry and Daisy Catague-Cababasay, chef and owner of Takuri Cafe in Iloilo.

Rechilda shared how she was able to rebuild her life when she learned how to create homemade vapor rub after a series of bad business investments. Still, it was not without its challenges.

“We offer different kinds of massage oils—aromatherapy oil, turmeric rub, and other kinds of oil. At first, it was difficult to sell the product especially since it was new to people, and most said that they don’t want it,” said Rechilda.

After attending a #SheMeansBusiness workshop in Albay, she learned more about using Facebook tools and saw her business grow. “Facebook greatly helped our business. Because of the training, I was able to improve our business page and since then, a lot of people have already inquired about how much and where they can buy my products,” added Rechilda.

^{Facebook communications manager in the Philippines Michelle Fojas, entrepreneur Daisy Catague-Cababasay, Connected Women CEO and co-founder Gina Romero, entrepreneur Richilda Solina, and Facebook public policy manager in the Philippines Christopher Kuzhuppilly.}

Daisy meanwhile, talked about how her age (she’s 58) and perceived disability (having had total hip replacement) didn’t deter her from putting up Takuri Café—which serves Asian fusion cuisine. She learned more on how to market her business online after attending a #SheMeansBusiness workshop in Zamboanga.

“It was truly amazing that at my age, I am continuously learning. In the workshop, I learned a lot about how to make the most out of Facebook—including the way we should post and how we should interact with our customers. These are things I never really thought about before, and they helped the business grow much more than expected,” Daisy said.

These are just two of the many success stories seen by Connected Women founder Gina Romero since her group started mounting the #SheMeansBusiness event together with Facebook, with support from the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT), Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), and Bayan Academy. She hopes to see more as they bring the workshop to other parts of the country.

Facebook’s mission is to give people the power to build community and bring the world closer together. Helping businesses connect with the people they care about is part of that mission and, to that end, the Facebook #SheMeansBusiness initiative is committed to helping female small business owners and entrepreneurs.

We are the leaders, activists, innovators, and visionaries – whether in the public eye or behind the scenes – who are revolutionizing the way people think and live. We are #ConnectedWomen.
Join the Connected Women community now, it’s free!

Join us at our next FREE #SheMeansBusiness event on June 21, 2019 in Alabang, Metro Manila, Philippines!
connectedwomen.co/metromanila