The melody of triumph

Dreams can be achieved with a combination of determination, teamwork, and unending faith. This is the success story of Melody Capistrano, 49 years old, resident of Brgy. Sto. Angel, San Pablo City, Laguna.

Melody is a loving wife to Ronilo and a supportive mother to Rommel and Marielle. A decade ago, when her husband Ronilo lost his office job, they did not know how their family would survive. They knew nothing except making wallets and other leather-based products.

“The company he (Ronilo) was working for eventually closed. We needed to do something. We had to think of ways to survive. We have to raise our children,” said Melody.

During his younger years, Ronilo worked in a wallet-manufacturing company. This is the reason why he and Melody opted to start with the same line of business.

“Before having my office job, I was able to learn the production process of wallet-making. So, we decided to give it a try,” said Ronilo.

With the capital of around P50,000 and one machine given by Melody’s brother, Willy Mauricio, they began with the journey they never thought would change their lives.

When they were starting, they were able to produce 80 pieces of wallets and coin purses each week. These products were brought by Ronilo to town markets and sell them to the locals.

“At that time, we had no strategic plan yet on where to sell our products. That is why we are only peddling them to different towns,” recalled Melody.

It may be hard for the two of them, but they cannot cease from doing the only thing they thought could suffice their daily needs. Until one day, a bigger opportunity arrived. They were asked to bring their products to various resellers at Divisoria, Manila. This chance opened a lot of doors for Melody and her husband.

“With the good quality of our products, customers and our partner resellers referred us to other people, adding new customers for us,” shared Melody with excitement.

A year after starting the business, Melody became a member of CARD Bank, Inc. The bank allowed Melody to avail various financial services for their business. “The loans I was able to avail from the bank aided us in funding the growing needs of the business,” said Melody.

Seeing the potential of their business, CARD Bank referred Melody to CARD-Business Development Service Foundation Inc. (CARD-BDSFI) to assist them in their product development and promotion. After series of interventions, the leather-based wallet products of Melody were marketed to a bigger number of consumers through Mga Likha ni Inay (MLNI), Inc.

MLNI is the marketing arm of CARD Mutually Reinforcing Institutions (CARD MRI), a group of 21 development-oriented institutions including CARD Bank and CARD-BDSFI.

“We thank CARD MRI group for this holistic support to our business. By linking us to CARD-BDSFI and MLNI we were able to join various trade fairs and other trading activities,” said Melody.

At present, a variety of leather-based products mainly wallets, pouches, and coin purses made by Melody’s team supply some of biggest clothing and apparel brands in the country including Red Logo.

“Because of CARD’s support, too, our products can now be purchased through Red Logo,” added Melody.

Since the wallet-making venture of Melody and Ronilo is growing, the demand for their quality products is also increasing. This paved way for generating jobs within their communities. At present, their business has five workers who are their relatives and neighbors.

Melody considers the risk of starting up her business as the one of the best decisions she ever made. The profit they gained through making leather-based goods funded the academic needs of her children. Rommel recently finished Computer Science program at AMA Computer Learning Center, while Marielle finished Information Technology program at Laguna State Polytechnic University-San Pablo Campus.

Moreover, Melody and Ronilo were able to fund the renovation of their home, as well as the construction of production area of their business.

“We’re done with funding the school fees of our children; we will now allot our profit to our savings. Some will be used to future expansion and purchase of delivery service vehicle,” said Ronilo.

Years from now, Melody aspires to bring their quality products globally, expand their business, and eventually establish their own brand.

Melody has inspiring words for starting and aspiring entrepreneurs just like her ten years back, “if you want something, go for it and work hard for it. Determination will bring you to places.”