These Women Entrepreneurs Share Their Tips

Being a mom and owning your own business can be tough, but these mompreneurs prove that it can be done! While there were definitely bumps and challenges along the way, these girl bosses have overcome them all to break the proverbial glass ceiling.

Learn more from these mompreneurs and the tips they have for female entrepreneurs.

Roxanne Ang-Farillas of Raffco International Trading Corporation (Plains & Prints) 

Roxanne Ang-Farillas was a wide-eyed 18-year-old when she opened the first Plains & Prints shop in Shoppesville, Greenhills in 1994. In an interview with Inquirer, she shares “Even before, I really liked to sell things. Though it had nothing to do with my course, but I found joy in selling things."

Roxanne took a leap of faith and despite not having a business background and found significant success with Plains & Prints. She didn’t do it alone, though. She worked closely with her husband and co-founder Erickson to build their clothing empire. “Successful women have good men behind them,” she tells Modern Parenting.

Roxanne and Erickson work together as a team, both in their business and at home, to maintain a healthy work-life balance.

However, it hasn’t always been smooth sailing for Plains & Prints. Just like with many other businesses, Plains & Prints was severely affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. “We had to make essential pieces for us to remain relevant. Like for example, we made matching masks for our dresses in some of our collections.”

Roxanne had to go through the same challenges women entrepreneurs had to go through. She shares, “being a working mom is never easy. The most important thing, and the hardest thing to achieve is to be an inspiration. At this point in my life, I really want to inspire people. I want to inspire my team. I want them to look at me and be inspired, so when they work, it’s not because they have to go to work. They want to go to work because they are inspired, and they are happy with their work.

Janice Crisostomo-Villanueva of Mommy Mundo 

Janice Crisostomo-Villanueva’s Mommy Mundo journey began because she wanted to address her own needs as well as others’. She started her business in 1999 because of lack in choices for maternity clothes and, of course, wanting to help other soon-to-be moms as well! 

She tells Modern Parenting, “I started out with Mommy Matters where I sourced maternity clothes from other countries and sold them from my cousin’s house. I felt sorry for moms like me who couldn’t find clothes that fit properly during the different stages of pregnancy and motherhood.” 

Janice then grew her website – starting from Mommy Matter to Fit at Home which offers house visits so expecting mothers could try on the clothes in their own homes. She soon realized that very few moms were breastfeeding, so to raise awareness, she partnered with different Pinay mompreneurs like Joanna Duarte of The Big & Small Co., Pia Cayetano of Maxi Bear, and Tessa Geronimo of Mommy Academy to create an event called “Moms in the New Millennium.” 

10 years later, Janice launched the first Expo Mom in 2008 at the Rockwell Tent. It had only 60 corporate vendors and 10 booths in what she called a “Mompreneur Corner” – a special area which highlighted mom-owned businesses.

In 2009, Janice officially changed her business name to Mommy Mundo. Since then, 80% of the vendors under her brand have all been mompreneurs! “Since the very beginning, we always treated mompreneurs as our partners. It was never just a matter of us selling them a booth. We actually encouraged them to use us as their platform to grow their businesses because this would mean success for us all.”

Her tip to those who want to be successful entrepreneurs? “My hashtag is #passionandpurpose because passion is good but if you put purpose into it, it really gives your life meaning.”

Your Own Road to Success

For moms who would like to see success just like Janice and Roxanne, you can expand your network by joining the Sheroes Digital Bazaar, Bida ang Pinay, or by sending us a message at www.inlifesheroes.com/connect-with-us!