If there’s one business lesson that Pinky Jacob Ileto learned from her mother, lawyer turned internationally renowned bag designer and entrepreneur Cora Jacob, it is to approach ventures with no fear.

“My mom is the kind who really sticks it out when she commits to something,” Pinky says. “Being an artist, she’s really passionate about what she does. She never lets anything stop her, even if the odds are against her. Even when she lost everything she had–her business crumbled and she started to lose her vision from diabetes–it was her belief in herself that took her all the way.”

In 1994, Mary Grace Dimacali, a homemaker and mother of five, had a dream of building her own business selling ensaimada and fruit cake she would bake from her own home kitchen. The problem was, she was a psychologist by training. She didn’t exactly have the tools to …

Coming up soon on Innerview, Pinoycentric contributor Francis Acero talks to Mary Grace Dimacali, the woman behind the Mary Grace Cafe, known for the best cheese rolls in Manila.

In an  intimate conversation, the psychologist and homemaker brings us seven years back to her beginnings and shares how she was able to grow an MBA project into a sustainable enterprise with thirteen kiosks and two cafes:

Pinoy brides looking for help in planning their dream wedding need not look far. This March, more than 70 local exhibitors with expertise in gowns, invites, stationery, photographs, honeymoon destinations, wedding cakes, reception decor, table settings, and souvenirs come together at the Martha Stewart Weddings Bridal Fair to make every bride’s dream wedding a reality.

Entitled “Love Is in the Details,” this bridal fair takes place on March 28 and 29 at the World Trade Center’s East Pavilion Tent and is organized by the Summit publication Martha Stewart Weddings Philippines, a bridal guide offering fresh tips and how-to information.

By Kitty Arambulo-Clinton

Reprinted with permission from the Echostore newsletter. To subscribe, e-mail echolifestyle.info@gmail.com.

The verdant and tranquil compound of the Correctional Institution for Women (CIW) feels like the countryside, where women work amidst lush gardens, vegetable patches, and abundant fruit trees. The main road towards the principal buildings and offices winds past small, but well-kept houses in front of which small children play and an occasional sari-sari store where people flock to snack and chat, all set in patches of green with colorful flowers and plants. Yet this idyllic setting belies the institution’s true purpose.

Set in the middle of Mandaluyong City and founded in 1931, the CIW is a prison; under the stewardship of Attorney Rachel Ruelo, the CIW’s objectives are “to keep women convicts in custody for their safety and for the protection and security of society, and to prepare and rehabilitate these women for a better life upon eventual freedom from confinement.”

If you’re making the rounds of the Christmas bazaars for holiday gifts, make Echostore part of your itinerary. On December 8-10, nonprofit corporate-led foundation Philippine Business for Social Progress goes to Echostore to bring you unique, locally …