If there’s anyone that Mayumi Delos Reyes, owner of DMY Bakeshoppe, is thankful to, it’s God. She says that God’s grace and guidance have been unending in their journey of putting up a business.

However, aside from God, she firmly believes that the Kapatid Mentor ME Program of the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) has been playing a huge part in their success.

From losing hope when she left her job in Singapore to slowly standing on her feet for the business, Mayumi has been traveling a long journey.

The 42 year old entrepreneur says that the journey she took was never easy. She and her husband took risks they never thought they would.

Their first product was yema spread, then to establishing Maia’s cakes, and introducing sinantolan to the market.

Although Mayumi knew their business was growing, they never had a clear direction. That is why when they were introduced to the Kapatid Mentor ME Program, she made sure she gave all her best and learned from all of the mentors. From the practical skills to the more complicated concepts, Mayumi learned and applied all of these to their business.

Now, Mayumi knows how to keep track of their records. “Figuratively dati alam namin na nag–i-improve kami pero ‘pag tinanong mo ako nang figures parang I’m scattered everywhere,” she shares.

Their business is continuously growing and improving. And aside from learning how to keep track of the business, they also learned how to be confident about their products.

Not only did KMME teach the local entrepreneur the basics of business, but she also learned the importance of marketing their products. They tirelessly joined trade fairs that DTI introduced to them, and they also opened their market online. “Nagkaroon rin kami ng website tapos naging active kami sa social media. We even sell in Shopee, Lazada ‘yun. Kahit maliit tayo nagkaroon tayo ng window na ma-expose sa bigger market.”

Mayumi compares the KMME program to a ladder. It was not just a simple ladder for them, but rather a ladder to success.

However, she also says that the ladder will always be useless if people are not willing to climb it. She shared, “Mentor ME program for me is a ladder to success. From zero ‘di ba naghahanap kami before ng mentor na tutulong sa amin kung paano uunlad pa ang business—parang itong complete package na e kasi from accounting, practical approach, marketing, pati ‘yung social na-tackle lahat e.” ♦

Date of Release: 31 August 2021