I've been remiss. My last post was from January 16th. My life was turned upside down. I just lost my job and did my best to stay strong and optimistic. I had to break the news to my 7-year-old son since I was now going to be around more. Kids are observant. After a couple of days, Mateo asked, "Mommy, how come you're not dressed up for work and you're always home now?" How do I answer this honestly without getting him scared? How do I explain to a 7-year-old that I was no longer working for the company and didn't have a job? This was our conversation as I was getting my son ready for school:
I said, "Mateo, I'm going to be home more and can pick you up from school."
He asked, "How come Mommy?"
I said, "I lost my job so I don't have to go to work anymore."
Mateo, "How come?
I said, "I guess they don't need me anymore."
He asked, "Why not?"
I said, "I guess I did my job too well, and now they think my division can run well without me."
He said, "What's going to happen now? Do we have to move?"
I said, "No sweetie, we have some money so there's nothing to worry about and I'm going to get another job soon."
This exchange with my son was heartbreaking and I tried my best not to cry or appear scared in front of him. I gathered my composure and kept the routine going. I took him to school, dropped him off, and tried to figure out what to do next.
I found myself blowing off calls and emails from headhunters. I found myself doing a lot of research online. I started reaching out to friends and business contacts to explore what I should do next. With a few friends whose business expertise I valued, I bounced off ideas on what I wanted to do next. They gave me feedback and encouragement. One meeting led to another. Next thing I new, I started preparing a powerpoint of my ideas on what I wanted to do next and sharing them with people.
What I wanted to do was use my knowledge and experience to help emerging fashion designers make a better living. I have tremendous amount of respect and admiration for those who follow their hearts and pursue their dreams. Fashion designers go in this category. Working at multi-national fashion and luxury brands allowed me to get an inside look at the pros and cons of the business. I learned how disadvantaged designers were in getting their products seen by department store buyers and actually get floor space at stores. Then payment terms were against the designers once they actually got into department stores. After getting an order from a store, the designer has to pay for the raw materials and production of the merchandise. Even pay for producing excess inventory in order to meet production minimums. In four months after receiving an order, they deliver the goods to the stores. In six months they may get paid. In seven months, they get their unsold merchandise sent back to them. I thought there had to be a better, more efficient way to market designers and their products and enable customers to find them and buy their products. I always wanted to start an incubator of up and coming fashion companies and now I may have the ability to help hundreds of designers make a better and more profitable living.
In February, I spent my rent money acquiring the domain StyleTrek.com. I started to write the business concept and summary. The premise of StyleTrek is "Fueling Emerging Designers through Social Commerce." I recruited a friend to help me with the business plan and financials. By March, I had friends interested in investing in the company. I got a logo designed and had business cards made. I was able to get meetings with top VCs such as Accel in Silicon Valley and Bessemer in New York through introductions from friends and my own efforts. Former investors in my first start-up BoutiqueY3k agreed to invest in StyleTrek. I started building a team and designing the site. I started reaching out to designers. My team and I prepared an RFP and sent them out for developers to build the site for launch in July 2010.
As I'm writing this today, March 25th, I need to pinch myself. I honestly did not know what my future held for me on January 11th when I lost my job, or on January 16th when I wrote my last blog and had to disclose to my son that I was now out of work.
I am now CEO of a company currently valued over $2 million dollars (based on my angel investors who agreed on putting in money at this valuation). On April 9th, I will be flying to Amsterdam to speak at a conference for e-commerce developers. On April 14th, I'm going to Boston to meet with VCs, advisors, and developers. On April 21, I'll be flying to San Francisco to meet with more potential investors who like what they've learned about StyleTrek's business model from respected investors.
I feel very blessed and fortunate. I am eternally grateful to those who gave me their time and advice during the past 2 months. Every minute of the time they gave me took up empty space and pushed me to be more productive. Roll call to the following:
George Robb, Jennifer Johnson, Ben Sun, Helen Lais, Pritam Doshi, Phil Lam, Mark Dingle, Michael Cohen, Christina Hagopian, Jim Robinson IV, Milton Pedraza, Paul Raffin, Mike Hsieh, Bob Lessin, Ed Sim, Steve Klein, Sheilah Esguerra, Liz Ramos, Allison Stearns, Kecia Coby, Tanya Le-Bras Brown, Kristin Knapp, Ernabel Demillo, Garin Toren, Angelo Ragaza, Zach Sachen, Paco Sandejas, Dennis Mendiola, my brothers Ray, Antonio and Jovito, J.D. Heilprin, Shawn Gold, Craig Alberino, Nicholas Butterworth, Josh Felser, Seth Goldstein, Jeff Dachis, Doug Rushkoff, Sheryl Marshall, Theresia Ranzetta, Jim Marver, Jon Rubin, Jonathan Taqqu, Jeremy Levine, Sarah Tavel, William Wong, Tac Leung, Tisha Carzon Fontanilla, Mary Jo Velez Gervasoni, Bianca Zani, Jonathan Taqqu, John Cirigliano, Daniel Gossels, Will Kohler, Brian Kobus, Lisa Friedman, Sharon Harsa, Tess Lanza, Roni Marton, Gero Nagy, Mateo Pagkalinawan, Mom & Dad, Peter Rhoads, Bjorn Iooss, Ahmad Larnes, Andrew Dizon, Sandra Sandor, Grace Sun, Scott & Kathy Formby, David Tlale, Ale Martins, Melina Solnicki, Trina Albus, Joanne Ooi.
I don't know what the future holds. I'm taking things one day at a time. But with the advice and guidance of the people above, I feel empowered that I can accomplish anything. They believe and have faith in me. That's my fuel.
