How do I #liveastoryworthtelling? I continuously strive to promote entrepreneurship as an alternative career after college. This is why I've funded Jacinto & Lirio in their crowdfunding campaign.
The founders of this social enterprise started Jacinto & Lirio as a feasibility project, before winning the Business in Development (BiD) Challenge Philippines, earning them a grant from the BiD network. It was a blessing in disguise--winning the award meant that Noreen and her colleagues should launch the business since they will only receive the remaining half of the prize money once the organizers see that the venture is on startup phase and running.
They are Management graduates of the John Gokongwei School of Management (JGSOM), Ateneo de Manila University. Who knew that Jacinto & Lirio, which started as a group project they submitted in the Business Accelerator Program of JGSOM, would be helping make a difference to the communities making these plant leatherettes? I've heard about this enterprise a couple of years back and since then I have been inspired by their story. Up to now, I still can't imagine that I'm taking part in it. :)
Know more about Kwaderno by Jacinto & Lirio, and how it is helping the development of water hyacinth livelihoods in the Philippines.
Very few people in my University are interested in this sort of thing: entrepreneurship. In my organization, we have 100 members, but I'm pretty sure that not even half of this number are really into starting an enterprise, let alone understand what it really is. The mindset and passion is something we want to instill--although not really a prerequisite--to each applicant before becoming part of our society.
It's more disappointing to note that even in my college, the College of Business Administration, entrepreneurship is not really that encouraged. Although there are a couple of subjects that we can take if we want to pursue it, I don't think it's enough to actually convince the graduates to start a business of their own or even to join a startup.
Fortunately, a new term has been coined. It's understandable why most graduates will look for an office job and take the corporate track--there is easy money there. Whereas in building your own startup, you have to start from having nothing at all and maybe even rely on a few investors, but not until your first or second year. It's a challenge to take on the path to entrepreneurship, that's why doing it in the summer seems like a very attractive idea to Junior college students. (But not in UP, CBA.)
Enternship is not a typographical error. It is an internship at an enterprise which differs from the usual internship programs offered by corporations in the sense that an enternship lets you work with the CEO of that small company. The environment is much more dynamic and there are a lot of new people to meet and build relationships with.
This summer, I'm enterning at Jacinto & Lirio (J&L), a brand by EcoIngenuity, Inc. I have challenging tasks as well that are more relevant to keeping the business, such as fundraising and awareness campaigns, most especially since J&L is a social enterprise that aims to deevelop the use of water hyacinth into plant leather used for bags and journals.
In fact, I didn't know there was such a word-- enternship. I can pretty much say that I'm an entern, and I'm happy I chose to be one. It's a blessing to be in a line of work that you like and that you're passionate about. It brings out all the positive energy and strengths. This summer is exciting! Not only do I get to work under a Full Suite internship, J&L enternship is also doing me well.
I want more people to understand how important social entrepreneurship is in this generation and make use of the opportunity. I really need to make Career: Entrepreneurship happen soon.
