Conversations: Sheree Gotuaco shares her insights

For this Conversation, we catch up with Sheree Gotuaco, CEO of Elite Garments, home of the Freeway, Ensemble, and Solo brands, and one of G&G's newest Directors. This interview was conducted by Lexie Shulze for the Metro Society feature. 

Name: Sheree Roxas-Chua Gotuaco

High School attended: Immaculate Conception Academy (High School)

College attended: University of Southern California (BS Marketing and Management), Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising, Los Angeles (Fashion Design)

 

Can you tell us a bit about your childhood? 

My nuclear family was close. We always spent time together (my parents and 2 younger siblings) during holidays or summer breaks, even if we were already studying in the US. My parents both work, but they were almost always around for dinner and weekends. Like many children from private schools, my life was considered sheltered.

 

How did you get involved with Gifts and Graces? 

Marivic (Limcaoco) called me up to ask me if I would like to join and be a Director of Gifts and Graces as Sandy requested. They thought that my experience in retail would help in getting more ideas to improve the marketing and selling aspect of the products. Right now, I help in product development (creating collections for existing products) and giving suggestions and guidelines for retail penetration. I just joined the group this August and have been enjoying my involvement. It feels good to help and be creative at the same time.

Were you always into outreach growing up or did you only recently get into it?

I was part of the Social Action Student Staff in ICA. We visited some less fortunate areas. I remember that there was a time we were asked to go for an overnight in one of the communities, but my parents did not allow me. I cried a lot that night. During college and after, unfortunately, I did not have much opportunity to get involved in outreach programs.

What was your moment of epiphany to devote time to Gifts and Graces?

When Marivic called me up and told me about G & G, it sounded very interesting but I was also concerned about adding more responsibilities to my very full plate. But when she explained that I did not really need to implement the plans, but would just be guiding and working with a full team, it became a lot less daunting and more exciting.

Two main things attracted me to G & G, the first is also to be able to have the chance to expose my children to these communities. My children do not have much exposure to less fortunate communities outside family, friends and school, and through this I can hopefully make them be more aware of the realities outside their sheltered world.

Second, using creativity and ideas through products and helping the communities at the same time sounded very exciting. Working with other directors and the G and G team are also definite pluses.

 

What message would you like to leave the readers about their social responsibility to the less fortunate?

At this early stage, I have not seen the end fruits of my contributions yet, but from my standpoint now, I see the personal benefits like how it feels good to help and be part of the process.

A Conversation with Colette

This month in Conversations, we talked to Colette Forma one half of the dynamic duo behind Moodies, a marketing company specializing in creating the mood necessary for the audience to be receptive to your message. Colette came to volunteer with G&G through SharePeople. She came to the Philippines for two power weeks and remains in touch with the team. Here we get up close and personal with Colette who gets candid about the best moment of her experience and what she learned about herself.

G&G: Tell us your Name, Age, Nationality, Occupation

CF: My name is Colette Forma. I was born and raised in The Netherlands and this year I reached the age of 40. Together with my business partner, I own and run Moodies: a company specialized in moodmaking. Our work fields are both internal and external communications and brand experiences.

G&G: What made you decide to volunteer?

CF: In April 2011, our company Moodies celebrated its 10th anniversary. A special moment that we wanted to mark in a meaningful way. Around the same time, we met SharePeople, a Dutch organisation that connects social entrepreneurs in developing countries with European professionals in various fields. They suggested we volunteer for Gifts & Graces, who were in need of a retail concept for their fair trade products. The question fitted my experience and after the first contacts with G&G I decided to volunteer at G&G for a period of two weeks. Short but intense!

G&G: As a volunteer how did you use your skills and experiences to help G&G and its advocacy?

CF: The task at hand was helping to develop a G&G fair trade retail concept. We knew very little about the fair trade business in general and had no knowledge of the Filipino market at all, so there was a moment of serious hesitation – were we able to do this? But the organisation and it's purpose were so appealing, we decided to give it a go. Only one of us could actually go to the Philippines, but together, we prepared the case from Holland as well as we could. We read G&G's business plans, talked to fair trade organisations and even worked out a detailed planning and budget format.

a sketch of the G&G store by Marge Obligacion,
based on the brainstorming

Soon after arrival in Manila, it became clear to me that the G&G team had an enormous amount of knowledge and some very good ideas about the future retail store. What I mainly did was facilitating the G&G team to make the right choices, by giving them focus and describing the 'next steps' as clearly as possible. One of the first things we did was a high-pressure, creative energetic brainstorm on the target group with the complete G&G team. It helped the team to imagine their target group as if it was an actual person. This way, they could make clear choices: in which kind of malls should the G&G store be located? What should the store look like? How should the products be presented? And how can we promote the G&G store and everything it stands for? It was the starting point for delivering the description on the personality of our future customer, the design proposal and sketches of the exterior and interior of the shop, and important details like wrapping, music and clothing of staff among many others. In the process, of course I added some of my ideas on retail and communication as well ;-)

Photos from Day 2. Above: Colette with the women of Kapitbahayan Candles.
Below: Colette with the newspaper bag makers of FCED Foundation

G&G: Did anything go wrong that seems funny now?

CF: At the end of each day, I emailed all documents to Holland. Thanks to the time difference, Monique was able to further work on the documents. This way, we could work for G&G around the clock! Towards the end Monique worked on the last changes in the Keynote presentation for the Board of Directors while it was night time in Manila. When checking my email in the early morning, there was no newer version of the Keynote there. Strange, because she knew we needed it in the morning. I couldn't do anything, because in the meantime she was asleep in The Netherlands. Just when I started worrying what happened, an email came in. Fact was that she finished the Keynote late at night, but forgot to mail it to me. She couldn't sleep tough and was wondering why. Until she realized! 

G&G: What are two interesting things about the Philippines that the average person doesn't know?

CF: That 'time' is a very flexible concept and that you can't survive in the Philippines without texting: it's a way of life!

Colette's images around Makati

G&G: What was the best moment of the entire experience?

CF: There where actually lots of good moments, working with the G&G team. The best? Probably presenting to the Board of Directors and realise they were not discussing whether the retail store should be opened, but what location would be best! That was a big compliment for a great team effort.

G&G: What did you learn about yourself?

CF: I guess I learned that with my drive and perseverance I can inspire others to really make things happen. I also learned that I find it hard to speak out my feelings and needs, certainly if this means that I have to confront others. Something to work on!

G&G: Why should other people do volunteer work? What did you gain from it?

CF: Volunteering at G&G gave me the opportunity of working in a different culture (with all the challenges and uncertainties that come with it). Getting to know the team in a very short time, finding out about their roles and personal challenges, facilitating brainstorms in a completely new setting, working together and motivating everyone to deliver their part of the process, seeing the enthusiasm grow. It gave me excitement and satisfaction to be able to do so, far away from my common workspace.  

Colette and Greg at the Legaspi Market
on Colette's first day in Manila

Within just two weeks, the G&G team and Moodies created a store design, a plan of attack, planning, budget and promotional plan. It has been very rewarding for us to add a little to G&G's final goal: giving power to social entrepreneurship and help marginalized individuals to become self-reliant and dignified members of society. We hope the first retail store will open its doors soon! 

Being 'out of your comfort zone' certainly makes you grow as a person! Just do it…

Colette Forma and Monique are the managing directors of Moodies, a Dutch agency that works for large corporate clients. We make sure our client's target groups are receptive to their message. Our moodmaking activities concentrate on internal and external communications, as wel as brand experience and interior design.

To learn more about Colette & Monique's time with G&G, click here. 

Be One for Others

Gifts and Graces is proud to partner with the UP Sigma Delta Phi Sorority in their BE ONE Movement campaign and their WE card project.

Sigma Delta Phi is the oldest sorority in UP and is made up of dynamic women leaders. According to Sigma Delta,the idea behind the BE ONE Movement is for young people to go out and Be One force, focusing on others and working for positive changes in society. Coming together as one, the youth will be able to make changes and will have the power to transform our community. 

A great way to practice this everyday heroism as individuals and as a team is doing volunteer work through the WE Card project. On November 15, 2011 Sigma Delta launched the WE Card which is now available to students from UP Diliman and other universities and high schools. Participants will have the opportunity to volunteer for any of the 20 partner NGOs until February 18, 2012. NGOs will give out stickers for corresponding volunteer work. Sigma Delta has a special prize for the one who collects the most stickers.

As a partner organization, Gifts and Graces is happy to give participants the opportunity to experience volunteering for a fair trade social enterprise that empowers the disadvantaged and helps them become productive members of society. We believe in giving a hand up, not a hand out and helping the marginalized overcome poverty through livelihood.

Read our Conversations and blog posts on past volunteers Chiqui Go, Michael Golsworthy, Jessica Chittaphong, and Colette Forma to read about their experience volunteering with G&G.

For the WE Card project, these are the volunteer opportunities and the corresponding stickers to be awarded. Volunteers will be working with our Marketing Manager as well as our current AYAD volunteer for Marketing and PR Aun Ngo.

     -  Assist visitors/clients at a Gifts and Graces pop up store or bazaar booth 

        – 1 sticker for every hour of service

     - Update the Gifts and Graces website – 1 sticker for every hour of work

     - Document Gifts and Graces products including preparing product sheets 
       - 1 sticker for every hour of work

     - Gather and write stories for the newsletter, blog, website, including interviewing    
       stakeholders particularly community producers – 1 sticker for every hour of work

     - Produce an AVP – 10 stickers for every approved AVP

 
We hope to get a lot of volunteers through this project. We are always in need of good people. The youth especially have a lot of energy, enthusiasm, and fresh ideas. 

Please feel free to share this post with family, friends, colleagues to encourage volunteerism and be one with us.

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Conversations

At the Partner's Conference. Mike facilitates with
Darlyn Ty and Anurag Goel

Earlier this month we posted part 1 of this Conversation with AYAD volunteer Michael Golsworthy who, like Chiqui Go, shared his thoughts on volunteerism. For our second Conversation, we ask Michael more questions about his stay in the Philippines. Here Michael gives us a unique perspective from someone who enjoyed his 8+ months both in G&G and travelling the country on weekends!

G&G: What are two interesting things about the Philippines that the average person doesn't know?

MG: 1. The Philippines is the undiscovered jewel of South East Asia for travellers. Before working in the Philippines I'd never thought about travelling there, but as soon as I landed that stormy Friday night I realised it was a country I'd have fun exploring. The fun and friendly reception from our Filipino volunteer coordinators, the colourful jeepneys weaving through the traffic blaring out MC Hammer and Justin Bieber and the karaoke on arrival at the hotel.. And it only got better from there. From the great people to the stunning beaches, the perilous volcanoes to the fantastic festivals.. the Philippines has a lot to offer those who venture past the traditional holiday destinations of Thailand and Vietnam.

2. Manila is actually a pretty cool city. Much like my home city of Melbourne, you won't see the highlights of Manila in a tourist brochure. It takes work to hunt out the gems in this chaotic metropolis, like the great live music scene which seems to thrive solely by word of mouth.

G&G: Did anything go wrong that seems funny now?

MG: Most of my favourite travel stories start with something going wrong... While visiting the island of Siquijor, I had a bit of a motor bike accident, when a stray basketball from a game by the side of the road almost went under my wheel.. After riding all the way back to the hotel in second gear with potentially broken left foot, I had to race to the boat, then the hospital in Dumaguete to try to get an xray before my flight was leaving for Manila. I got the all clear 40 minutes before my flight was due to depart, so given you have to check in 45 minutes before the flight time, I didn't bother trying to make it and went to an internet cafe to book another flight. 20 minutes later I got a call from my friends at the airport telling me to get on a tricycle and get to the airport the airport staff said not to worry about the 45 minute check in rule... I got to the airport with 30 seconds to spare and ran/hopped all the way to the plane late and holding everyone up... and then a little behind me a filipino guy moseyed on up to the check in counter, checked in his bag and walked on the the plane, relaxed as you like... Apparently I hadn't quite adjusted to Filipino time in the provinces.

G&G: What was the best moment of the entire experience/trip?

MG: Too many to mention...

At work: Facilitating the strategy workshop with the board and working with the team to pull off a great marketing and sales event across the SM malls.

Around Manila: Dancing the night away at a Bruno Mars concert

On holidays: Swimming with a whale shark in Donsol, rock climbing up waterfalls outside of Moalboal and joining the fun for a couple of brilliant town festivals.

G&G: What did you learn about yourself?

MG: That I should avoid basketballs..

From L-R: Darlyn Ty, Greg Perez, Michael Golsworthy,
Jonalyn Dupa, Marge Obligacion, Nanding Regalado

Conversations

This month, we introduce a new segment – Conversations where we sit down with G&G's favorite people – our clients, partners, producers, directors and many others, to pick their brains or go heart-to-heart on a range of topics. To kick off the series, we start with our volunteers: wonderful, big-hearted people who have so generously given of themselves and have contributed greatly to our projects and programs.

For our maiden interview, we talked to Ms. Chiqui Escareal-Go, President and Chief Service Strategist of Mansmith and Fielders Inc., an advocacy-based marketing and sales training and consultancy company. Chiqui very graciously agreed to be one of G&G's guest lecturers/facilitators at our Lecture Series for our partner communities in 2010. Here Chiqui tells us in her own words why she volunteered, what she did with us, and what she got out of it.

G&G: Tell us your Name, Age, Nationality, Occupation

Chiqui Escareal-Go, 49, Filipino, Trainer/Facilitator, Entreprenuer

G&G: What made you decide to volunteer with Gifts and Graces?

CEG: Belief in the sincerity of the advocacy and the people behind the advocacy

G&G: As a volunteer how did you use your skills and experiences to help G&G and its advocacy?

CEG: I helped in training in the area of positive thinking particularly reframing common issues for a more proactive, 'can-do' attitude; I have continued to remain involved with G&G through donations and training. Being involved also means patronizing products and services of G&G's partners.

G&G: Why should other people do volunteer work? What did you gain from it?

CEG: Any volunteer work grounds people to the life-giving, life-affirming, and life-empowering. Meaning, as volunteers “help others” they learn to raise their personal bars in resilience, resourcefulness, courage, empathy, hope, patience, creativity and yes, even re-define their sense of happiness and self. Simply put, when a volunteer “gives,” he/she actually “gains” more in terms of psychic rewards that are definitely priceless.

Above: Chiqui conducts a Creative Appreciative Workshop - a unique, refreshing, and empowering approach to initiate positive change

Below: G&G's partners have gotten into the spirit of the workshop. Chiqui listens in on one of the groups