Alumni Success Series
by Reena Llanilo
Manila, Philippines – Winston Churchill once said, “Success is walking from failure to failure with no loss of enthusiasm.”; True enough, success was a matter of determination amidst failures and risk- takings for Lauren Silverio, Matthew Lim, Francis Dolojan and Kristine Lotilla, who were welcomed back to their alma mater for a special event organized by Enderun Colleges’ Office of Career Services in collaboration with student-led organization, Enderun Entrepreneur Society.
Entrepreneurs Lauren, Kristine, Francis and Matthew were invited as guests to an event held last Friday, September 22 at Enderun’s McKinley campus entitled, ‘Alumni Success Series,’ who each shared their own journey to establishing their respective businesses today. One of the panelists, Francis Dolojan, Managing Director of Leverage.ph, shared how he started his microlending company in a small office space in Makati back in 2011 with a capital of PHP 5000 to now establishing his own building set to rise in 2018 to house his growing number of clientele.
(L-R) Ryan Muliloda and Celine Allarey (BS Entrepreneurship students), Lauren Silverio, Francis Dolojan, Matthew Lim and Kristine Lotilla
One of the questions asked pertained to the entrepreneurs’ first customer experiences. Lauren Silverio, Co-Owner and Chief Financial Officer of online floral arrangement company, Petalier fondly told the audience of aspiring entrepreneurs how she and her business partner rose to fame by sending a large bouquet of their luxury flowers to Dra. Vicky Belo, who later posted a snapshot of the bouquet on Instagram. The Instagram feature gave Lauren and her business partner instant recognition due to the sudden influx of inquiries from several customers. Fish and chips restaurant, CargoFish’s Managing Partner, Matthew Lim and French-Japanese restaurant, Le Petit Souffle’s Co-Owner, Kristine Lotilla laughed at the thought as they recall their fair share of interesting customers.
When asked about acquiring success, Matthew simply answered, “Most people associate success as destination which is wrong,” and Francis later added that one must undergo sacrifice before attaining paradise.
Contentment had been evident on their faces as the entrepreneurs sang in unison a resounding, ‘no’ when asked if regrets had been part of the result of their taking risks. Lauren’s statement on failure
and perseverance perfectly summarized Winston Churchill’s quote, “Taking risks help you see the result of the risk, sometimes we fail but you just have to accept the risk and it will fly off.”
Indeed, these successful entrepreneurs are an embodiment of Enderun Colleges’s Vision-Mission statement of, ‘Graduating students with the academic training, professional competencies, and character required for success in today’s complex world…’
Matthew, Lauren, Francis and Kristine all hope to expand their businesses internationally within the next five years.
The entrepreneurs along with the audience of students.
