I was overwhelmed by the response to the STEP UP (Student Entrepreneurship Provides Unlimited Possibilities) Summit held last Saturday morning at the University of the Philippines conference hall. I remember arriving thirty minutes after registration started and asking a volunteer from UP if there were a lot of students that arrived and registered. The volunteer, Karla, smiled and asked me to peek through the door. I opened the door and was shocked to see the hall almost two thirds full. It was going to be a good day.

We were very lucky to have three very interesting speakers. I would like to thank Philip Tan of Wellmade, Bunny Pages of Pages Holdings, and Lino Gomez of Human Capital Asia, as well as Charmaine Ong of the Zugbuana Jaycees. We were also very grateful to have almost 300 students from five different universities attend.

Philip Tan was an amazing speaker. He entertained the audience with his stark honesty coupled with a fantastic sense of humor. He spoke of starting at the very bottom, working as a gasoline boy at an uncle’s station. He was very frank about the hardships and difficulties of becoming an entrepreneur but at the same time, he spoke openly about the rewards should you make it.

Bunny Pages is a natural speaker. But as Bunny tells it, he did not start out that way. He even showed pictures of how he looked when he was young and how it affected his confidence and contributed to his shyness and fear of public speaking. He then showed how you can invest and work at something to become good, very good. He then showed to the students’ surprise, pictures of how he was able to shape and mold himself, and through hard work and constant practice, overcome. He turned himself into the epitome of confidence and a fantastic public speaker. He certainly left a lasting impression on the young audience who will never forget his mantra of R and R (Running and Reading), a philosophy of having a sound body and a sound mind through constant practice.

Lino Gomez, an innovation consultant, surprised the audience with simple exercises that produced dramatic results that also showed that we have a tendency to lose creativity as we grow older, and how to regain and relearn the ability to be creative. He went on to show that harnessing creativity and churning innovation can overcome traditional barriers to entrepreneurship.

And I can’t say enough about Charmaine Ong, who helped organize the event and was the program host. She is a good role model of an entrepreneur who goes out of her way to give back to society. She even hosts a radio program every Saturday over DYRF entitled “Oras ng Jaycees”. Thank you Charmaine.

Thank you to the student organizers led by Neil Huele, Angeli Cortes, Gele Gantuangco, Joan Doyon, the members of UP TAO, as well as others that contributed their time and effort to make the event a success.

But it is only a first step. We have more to do. STEP UP is an organization for student entrepreneurs as well as those that want to be an entrepreneur to come together and help each other achieve their entrepreneurship dreams. We would like to invite more students and young people to join. Together we will keep taking more steps forward towards growing more young entrepreneurs and contribute to our country’s progress.

For those that are interested to register and join, please email stepupcebu@yahoo.com . We are also looking for successful entrepreneurs and businessmen who want to participate and help shape and mold the next generation.

Omar Diaw, World Entrepreneur Day organizer for Senegal, wisely wrote, “A society that wants more entrepreneurs to ensure its survival and long-term growth must work to develop an entrepreneurial culture in its community because entrepreneurs contribute to greater wealth creation. The effectiveness of government policies to support the creation and the resumption of business will only bear full fruit if all the actors of economic development – among which are the educators in our country – work together to develop creativity and new attitudes of young people who are feel unsafe to take risks or make change… With our help, these young people will be better prepared to create sustainable businesses.”

Let’s follow the examples of these ordinary individuals as they strive to make a difference. Each week, lets all get together and share knowledge, stories, experiences, information, all for the sole purpose of getting One Step Up.

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