The Art of Shutting Up

"Hypocrisy is the lubricant to society."

During my first day in fashion school, my professor Levinson Rodriguez quoted these words.  He asked us to remember them and later after the semester tell him if we agree or disagree.

I have a loose tongue. And I'm very opinionated. My ego and pride will not let me be defeated and there's a constant need to win every argument I get into.

What does any of it have to do with my blog? Being employed I am learning the art of shutting up. And not letting my temper get the best of me. Its not very professional to hear a co-worker going all Heneral Luna and flipping tables in anger. I think it was two "ay shet, putang ina" curses that woke me up. At that time I realized that it wasn't very nice to listen to. And put myself in the same position. I have cursed several times and never put myself in the position of the people around me listening.

Consider a client, arguing to have his way. You can be the best debater in the planet. You can win every argument there is. But at what expense? Honestly, I wouldn't mind losing an argument if it meant winning a client.

The phrase, "the customer is always right" holds some if not all truth to it. You wouldn't and shouldn't argue with the customer about anything. If the customer says the color yellow is too lonely for her. Offer a different color. Offer to make it into her favorite color even. If the customer says the soup is too salty, its salty. Its not as it should be. Its as the customer prefers it to be.

Strike a balance though because as an entrepreneur you have to know if your idea is worth pursuing if the client says it sucks but you feel in your gut that there's a gap in the market that you can fill, by all means go on and fill it.

Shut up when you need to, but don't be a push over. Strike the perfect balance between the two.

Xo,
Paula

Let's Talk About Sandy Lerner

Not a lot of people know Sandy Lerner. People don't know her as the other half of Leonard Bosack (at that time) and co-founder of Cisco Systems Inc. technology giant from the 1980s. People also probably don't know her to be the name behind brand Urban Decay cosmetics. And if you still don't know her by those two giant brands you probably haven't heard of her Ayreshire Farm.

The sad story about Sandy's co founding Cisco, then having been funded by venture capitalists, later voted out of her own company. (Okay that might be an exaggeration, but I would imagine feeling worse after having poured all of me into my first company and being asked to leave.)

You know how people are obsessed with labels and how you should stick to the assigned group? You have to really think about who you are? And make sure to find out what is your brand! Sandy is the girl who didn't fit the mold so she created one.

Who would have created a make up brand after being kicked out of a technology based company? I'd have done a Cisco 2.0 and got some revenge. I mean I am the brains of Cisco I can probably redo and do better.

Sandy is an inspiration for all the women out there that you dont need to fit a certain mold. You don't need to wear pencil skirts and high heels if it isn't you. She tells you that its okay to be smart and pretty and care about the environment. That you don't need to just focus on one thing to be successful. Or that having more than one passion can make you a failure.

There should be more Sandy Lerners in the world. Why? Because there's fewer women entrepreneur compared to men. And the women are often shut down when they have too many great ideas.

"I think at some point you have to believe in yourself and satisfy yourself that there's a market there. You just have to do it "- Sandy Lerner

Be amazing. Be beautiful.

Xo,
Paula

The Value of Planning

Planning to some people can mean a lot of over thinking, going over pieces of information, anticipating events that may or may not happen. It is for this same reason that people tend to forget it.

Let me tell you this, planning is the difference between getting off a plane and going somewhere specific versus getting off a plane, taking a while to come out of the toilet and seating on a stool in the airport lobby. It is bringing an umbrella because you checked the weather app and you know it will rain. It is packing sandals for when you can't wear sneakers. It is a lot of things considered to make the best of a circumstance.

If you were from my country you would understand what I was trying to avoid when I took the first flight out of the city. Originally I had a meeting scheduled for the most part of the day. I imagined the air traffic and the actual traffic on ground and felt the need to book a flight early.

It's a four day trip with nothing planned. Last night I couldn't sleep. Thinking about what I'm going to do. I have no meeting to go to. No people to see. Nobody I knew. I was in a new place all alone. Its like the perfect adventure.

And I aim to make it just that. In a bit. After coffee. When the sun comes out. Actually not even. I just need it to be 5am so that establishments start to open and I can start doing something.

I'm writing this with people staring at me. Mostly cause it's a ghost town and I'm literally the only one here. While they make necessary preparation to make the airport look decent. I can hear them murmuring a foreign language I can not understand. I blink in response when they seem to address me. I've been pointed towards the exit several times but I just can't leave the comfort of this stool, lighting, ventilation and Wi-Fi.

Is planning important you ask? Definitely it is most definitely important. Next trip I'm doing a full on itinerary with time stamp and everything else!

Its a lot of waste when you don't. Not having planned on transportation and accommodation I'm probably going to have to book a room right now unsure if there are rooms available. I'm going to eat again in any place open to pass time. For when the sun is out and I can sight see.

Happy Eid to all my muslim friends! Enjoying this long weekend cause of you guys.

Xo,
Paula

Go Homemade!

It probably won't come as a surprise that homemade meals are less cheaper than store bought.

Take for example, two weeks ago, in my hunger and almost being late I've decided to pick up (instead of getting it delivered) a chicken sandwich. Which cost me less than PhP 200 about USD 4. All it had was flat bread. Thinly sliced chicken meat, onions, cucumber, tomato, honey mustard sauce, mayonnaise, and catsup. I also added some potatoes for extra carbohydrates. So that brings my total cost to USD 5.

To first world countries USD 5 is a small amount but even in first world countries their meals cost less. I remember having bought a meal to share and have a drink to go with it on my USD. That said store bought food can cut your budget in half. 

Same principle homemade food can double your budget. Take a quick trip to the grocery later and buy a week's lunch. 

Grocery Tips:

1. Make a list- it helps to know what you need versus what looks good. The list also gives you an estimate on how much you're going to spend in the grocery.
2. Compare prices- in this country raw meat is sourced from different places. And those places vary in pricetag. Everytime you walk into a grocery there's at least 3 options. (There's the "generic" grocery label meat, there's the heavily advertised widely popular label meat, and then there's the somewhere in between the two brands label meat. You're going to notice that the lighting and the vendors look sometimes act differently from the other.)
3. Stick to your list- chances are youre

So there you have it folks! Stick to your budget and save to invest.

Xo,

Paula

Why I switched from EIP to Stocks

Before I continue, let's start with defining terms, what is EIP? And what is a stock?

EIP is a bank solution in the Philippines that means Easy Investment Plan. The product automatically get money from your savings account and invests it in stocks or funds depending on how aggressive an investor you are. They assess you like how they do when you purchase an investment linked insurance, asking you questions like how much can you invest and what is your risk tolerance?

Stock is a part or share of a company, usually being given to raise capital. Say for example I have a clothing company but little to no money to employ people to make clothes or to purchase raw materials. What I can do is offer part of my company for capital. And when the company starts earning money the profit will be divided equally based on the parts or shares that each person has.

If you're a young professional with little no knowledge in investing, or if you don't have enough savings to invest in Equity Stocks. EIP can be a really great product for you. You get to save the money in a bank and it gets returns higher than the bank's annual rate and chances are you're beating inflation. Truly I say that a hundred invested today is not the same as a hundred invested a year later.

Starting out my career as a young professional two years ago, with minimum living expenses (I live with my parents, and brown paper bag my lunches mostly cause the people I work with have toght schedules and are often too exhausted to drive out for lunch) and earning more than minimum wage, I've decided to brave the market and invest my money. EIP was a fairly new product, I had heard about in a financial seminar from college. (Yes I started working when I was in college.) Now Stock Exchange was really were the money is. Until now its still where the money is.

But there was a challenge to enter the market that EIP has made easy. At the time I have several savings account saved up. I was trained to save money. Being in business school they train you to handle your finances well. I paid attention to my accounting professors. And listened to their advice. I stayed an extra fifteen minutes and chatted with them. Its like getting a consultation, free from experts.

So I set up my EIP to draw momey (I really wanted to allocate as much as I can) each month and for it to be invested. I signed the papers for that money to be injected in my portfolio every month. And I was happy with the investment certificates that I got.

But after I resigned from my job, I had the chance to evaluate my portfolio. By that I meant compare fund performance with several people. And that's when I found out that the money I invested was only making 3%. I was looking at stock performance that was climbing at the time. EIP felt like a safe investment platform. Though it rises and falls like the stock market, it felt like having pooled investors to cushions you from the decline, and when it rises same principle it is still cushioned. You barely feel the ups and downs.

I withdrew my investment and transferred it in stocks. Although the stock market is more scary with its sudden rise and fall the rates are more competitive.

Of course with the recent decline of the stock market a lot of people are worried. But I'm not much worried. As long as I don't pull out my money its all paper loss. And I can make it up after it rises.

For people who are a bit on the safe side,  I would recommend sticking with EIP. You have a bank manager to discuss choices with. Its a lot safer than Stock market investing. But if you really want to maximize the returns middle to long term, go for stocks. Invest more than 50% of what you're making (if you can, if you're a young professional like me it would just take a lot of disciple to get you started but once you're in the habit of saving to invest it gets easier.)

Happy investing guys!

Xo,

Paula

4 Make Up Products I Trust and Recommend

This is my first beauty focused blog post. As a fashion student and a girl who works for a brand that communicates luxury, I have to make sure I look well put together. Although I feel like I have no time to bother. But, it is a material world and after all I'm carrying the company's name with my image.

You don't need to pile make up on your face like you're about to be crowned in a pageant. Not saying that pageant girls wear a load of make up. That is another one of my bad examples.

Gone are the days where you need to have strong eyebrows, contour your cheeks, line your nose, highlight half your face. Not only does it cost a lot to complete that make up look and the tools, but it's also too long to complete.

From a 9hr/day shift to 4hr/day shift

Hi again,

Please don't think I'm a lazy ass girl who is living large through my parents bank accounts and trust fund. Although I'm totally for parents who set up trust funds for their children. This is not the case. My parents are not politicians, they aren't in show business either. If you're Filipino you know that those are the top 2 groups that are wealthy in the country. You either have to have artista parents or politiko parents to be wealthy. Or you're Chinese.

We are not the Sys. I think anybody who knows me can say easy that I look more European than Chinese. Since I don't have Chinese businessmen, or show business personalities, or politicians for parents please don't say that I'm living off of their wealth.

Also please don't think I'm criticizing people who work more than 8 hours a day. Honestly I look up to them because I get easily tired and exhausted of what I do and people who are driven enough by need who can do it five times sometimes even six times a week should be someone who is admired not criticized.

I've tried that 9 hours a day shift before. And Lord knows it wasn't easy. You can get fuelled by money in the beginning but after a while you'll realize you're no longer alive and you've morphed into a workaholic zombie who functions on caffeine going from shift to shift until the weekend so you can sleep. I've grown all too familiar with this because i was maintaining a relationship (long distance) and studying at the same time. And boy this was no easy task. Especially when the guy you're with doesn't even know you're working. (I wanted to tell him, I did, but he kept saying "just focus on your studies.") What drove me was peer pressure and that need to earn money. Because when everyone you know starts rubbing it in your face that you're unemployed and early 20s, you really feel the need to start making cash so you can all shop designer clothes that you can't afford and drink expensive coffee and eat good food together while you talk about each other's weekend plans.

After getting my diploma in my 4.5 years in college, I immediately packed my office stuff, handed in my resignation, and went on a 3 month long vacation. (Don't worry I used the money I saved up for shopping to travel. Think Ferragamos converted into plane tickets.)

So, 3 months later I am now a Fashion student, still in between being broke and being well off. I work in a local bag company with a slightly famous designer. I make half of what I made when I was in a bigger firm where people are half ready to kill you when you don't meet what they need. I've transitioned from a 9 hour work day to a 4 hour work day with no requirement of days. I can come when I want.) and I've never felt as productive as I did before.

Knowing what needs to be done and being disciplined enough to get it done without having to be reminded and being forced to take on a 9 hour shift is something that I'm grateful for with my current job. It has taught me love of work (although in general I still think I'm not cut out for employment.) This job is flexible enough to meet my needs and still make sure the company didn't lose money by paying me a month's salary.

It's given me enough time to study, and work at the same time without feeling like i would die tomorrow because of exhaustion. It's giving me time to unwind when i feel too overwhelmed. And it's ensured that the quality of work I deliver is the best.

Working a 9 hour shift doesn't mean that you're working or doing more than a person who works 4 hours. I know a bunch of people who works double shifts getting paid for each minute but are not able to deliver the products or services that they are being paid for. Productivity's not about the hours.

Not everyone gets this opportunity at such young age. Maybe that is why I'm thankful for my job. Gratitude for my job makes me perform and do my best. Always deliver more than expected.

Xo,
Paula