by MARY NICOLE MIRANDA
ASIDE FROM attending online classes and accomplishing academic requirements, students nowadays may struggle exploring new things without leaving their homes. In the case of Patricia Anne Holgado, her love for arts and crafts has kept her occupied during these times, eventually leading to her first business venture.
At a young age, Patricia has been fascinated with making artsy crafts. From drawing to scrapbooking, she used her spare time to hone her skills. However, that interest waned as she grew older—until she discovered resin making. For her, it was a challenging yet fun activity to do despite having to endure a meticulous process.
Aided with her fastidious hands and imaginative mind, Patricia has created a home to share her crafts: House of Aphrodite.
From dreams to start-ups
The name of the business is representative of the beauty and elegance of the Greek goddess, Aphrodite. As an avid Percy Jackson fan, Patricia drew inspiration from this and applied it to her business.
Hence, her products speak for themselves. From customized bookmarks, keychains, necklaces, and hair combs, she makes them with utmost care for her customers. With her growing interest to pursue arts and crafts once again, Patricia excitedly shares her preparations before entering into business.
She says, “Nag-research ako nang sobra, kasi ‘yung resin, hindi siya basic na material eh. [M]edyo complicated siya [gawin] kaya maraming factors na cinonsider muna kasi [s]ince hindi pa masyadong familiar sa ibang customers.”
Upon starting her business, Patricia also carefully researched all the factors she needed to consider to effectively start her business; researching the resin-making materials as well as determining her target customers and the relevance of her products. She planned everything with continuous support from her parents.
Patricia formally launched her business online last August 2020 through Facebook, Instagram, and Tiktok platforms. Since then, she has been happily making her artistic wonders in her home and solely manages her enterprise.
“‘Yung workplace ko po kasi sa garahe namin, hindi po siya pwedeng sa enclosed space kasi may fumes. Kapag gumagawa po ako, [I] need enough space para po sa materials, sa designs, ‘yung mga bottles, ‘yung tables. Medyo time-consuming din po siya kasi kailangan mahalong mabuti yung mixture and yung pagpapatigas po sa resin would take 12-24 hours,” she shares enthusiastically.
Thomasian entrepreneur
Currently a creative writing sophomore, Patricia juggles her time as a full-time student and entrepreneur. She found a new avenue of expressing herself through her business venture, aside from writing fantastical stories and heart-wrenching poems for her major subjects and while consistently striving to be a responsible seller to her customers despite the struggle of online classes.
In addition, she shares that she learned to manage her time well and it really helped her to accomplish her academic and business duties on time.
Explaining how she organizes her schedule, Patricia says, “Hindi po maiiwasan na ma-stress talaga [p]ero ang solution ko po doon ay time management. Ang priority ko naman po is studies muna siyempre (especially po kapag may exams). On normal school days, naglilista po ako ng mga gagawin ko kasi hindi ko po hinahayaan na ma-overwhelm po ako sa lahat mapa-business or academic-related.”
Just like any other college student right now, Patricia is not exempted from feeling burnout. Even during times of discouragement and exhaustion, she continues to remain professional with her customers. “[I] am trying my best to keep the aura na professional and friendly pa rin towards my customers kahit pagod na,” she says.
Patricia also ensures that she remains calm, cool, and collected in handling unprecedented conflicts. She once encountered a joy reserver—knowing that her products were for pre-order, she had a hard time settling the matter because the customer had already become unresponsive.
In solving the problem, she states, “After that, naka-tambay lang talaga sa akin ‘yung products, pero buti na lang nagkaroon ako ng customer na same design ‘yung order kaya ‘yun na lang ‘yung binigay ko and naubos rin naman.”
A true girl boss
From managing her business alone to handcrafting her products, Patricia is already living out the girl boss spirit.
She strives to be a girl boss, saying “Girl boss kasi means a confident, strong, independent woman diba. I aspire to be like that one-day kaya right now, I am starting to live [by] it. I want to be labeled as a girl boss someday.”
As an online seller, the positive and satisfied feedback of her customers on her pre-order products keeps her spirit lifted and moves her to be closer to her goal.
When it comes to expanding her business venture in the near future, she plans to expand the variety of her jewelry to earrings, bracelets, and rings. She aims to pursue it further and try to open her business on other social media websites and online shopping applications as well.
Being a girl boss that she is today, Patricia emphasizes the importance of exploring one’s abilities and trusting one’s instincts in business: “Kapag gusto mo ‘yung gagawin mo and you really want to handle a business then go for it. Kasi you will never know, baka lumago pala and may mau-unlock silang skills and knowledge by doing their passion. Actually, nakakatuwa mag-handle ng business na nae-enjoy mo.” F
Editor’s note: This article was originally published in Vol. 56, Issue No. 3 of the Flame. View the entire issue through this link: https://issuu.com/abtheflame/docs/the_flame_vol._56_issue_no._3
