By Abigael Mei M. Yaokana / Office of the Director, DTI-EMB
SHERILL Quintana, a proud mother of four, began her entrepreneurial mind-set at the age of 9 when she and her siblings sold karyoka (sugar-coated cassava) and iced candies around their neighborhood. She would teach her siblings and friends how to mix different iced-candy flavors. They would sell the products and she would give them commissions. “I was the kid behind the concept and the coaching,” she said.
Quintana knows the importance of mentorship, which she considered as one of the unique qualities of being a woman-entrepreneur.
“It’s like blood letting. When you do mentorship, you nourish yourself,” she said.
She believes the key to success is to give back and to pay forward to others so that the chain of kindness would continue.
Quintana founded Oryspa, a pioneering brand in the health-and-wellness retail category, using the franchising concept. Their first store opened in 2010 in SM Calamba. They tried their hands in franchising the following year. Since then, their products garnered positive raves and received numerous awards, including Most Promising Filipino Franchise Excellence Award, Calabarzon Champion Award, Asean Business Awards 2016: AEC Priority Integration Sector Excellence Award for Healthcare, among others.
Oryspa is also registered in the Singapore Stock Exchange as Oryspa Pte. Ltd., and has distributors in Myanmar and Vietnam.
Oryspa is most known for its rice bran-based spa products, a first of its kind in the country. Unlike other health-and-wellness retailers that expand through direct selling, the company is into franchising.
With a vision for her company to be well-known internationally in the health-and-wellness industry, Quintana has been working the extra mile to bring their products abroad while carrying the Philippine name.
In 2016 she was invited to the World Trade Organization (WTO) public forum. With the theme “Inclusive Trade”, Quintana proudly represented the country’s micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) and discussed how a wider range of individuals and businesses can participate and access the trading system and WTO rules that ensure benefits for those involved in the export trade.
She also shared the challenges she faced while expanding her brand which included how she convinced other people about her entrepreneurial vision, finding the right people to work with, financial assistance and the lack of infrastructure. Despite these, Quintana’s passion and willingness to expand her brand surpassed these challenges.
“When embarking on a branding journey, make sure you identify your unique value proposition,” she said.
Through the help of the government and her determination, Quintana was able to do so.
“We wish to be a testimonial that yes, the government is at work to bring the SME to the next level,” she said.
In fact, the departments of Trade and Industry, Science and Technology, Tourism and Labor and Employment take pride that Oryspa is a fruit of the collaboration of private enterprises being assisted by government agencies.
Now as a multiawarded “micro-entrepreneur,” Oryspa wants everyone to stop believing that women have barriers for growth and she aims to be an inspiration for the microenterprises in the country that “Yes, the Filipino brand can.”