Aliw’s Achievement

Bible Verse:

“Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving.” ~ Colossians 3:23-24 NIV

How does a business centered on God and helping others allowed this entrepreneur find fulfillment and success?

Aliw del Rosario is an advocate of healthy living and so it was not a surprise for her to put up a business that supported her advocacy.  She founded  Organic Alley, a brand that offers organic and all-natural personal and home care products. She believes in chemical-free living and that every person should enjoy God’s blessings through nature’s gifts of chemical-free beauty in a chemical-free home. Her business mission and vision is to “create awareness about the benefits of a chemical-free lifestyle and help marginalized women who need treatment for breast cancer through retailing alternative organic personal and home care products that are safe and effective.” Organic Alley has unique products, and they were conceptualized for women with real girl problems such as acne-prone, oily and combination and sensitive, and those who commonly have skin breakouts caused by preservatives in products. The products are also created for those busy women who want a simpler skin care regimen, women who travel a lot and want multi-use products, and women who want to use chemical-free products for themselves and their homes.

The business taught Aliw humility and keeping intentions genuine always. She believes that to flourish, one must be able to do all kinds of tasks needed to make the business going, even the most mundane and even the most unglamorous tasks. When she started Organic Alley, she had no team to help her. She would stay up until the morning to put labels on the products and would drive to suppliers near the port area and be her own “kargadora.” She says, “One must learn to live simply, especially during the early stages of business. Any business would not be a fruitful one if intentions are not pure and genuine.  It will hardly be successful if the intentions are evil and to be of harm to others, like businesses that shortchange their buyers by misrepresenting their products or those that abuse their employees to maximize profitability.” Building a business with the welfare of others in mind is truly noble and admirable. Her business is growing because of due diligence and hardwork but but also because of her desire to encourage others to make healthier and safer choices.

But this is not the only reason why Aliw is such an inspiration to women and entrepreneurs. Aside from being hands-on with her business, she is also a full-time mother of 2 and currently finishing her Graduate Studies at the University of the Philippines. She does not neglect the fact that aside from her business, she still has a role to fulfill in the family and should continuously improve herself through studying further. She sees learning as a never ending process, because change happens very quickly and information becomes futile rapidly, so we must continue to enhance our knowledge and skill sets. Doing all these is definitely not easy, but having her priorities aligned allows her to give herself whole-heartedly to God, her family, her business, and even to herself.

Because she is a proponent of healthy living, she lives it out herself. Aliw keeps herself in shape by doing biking, running, swimming, Bikram yoga, barre3, dancing, boxing and trx. Music also helps her manage her moods and emotions, such as listening to classical and praise and worship songs. She also considers that traveling is as important as education. She doesn’t buy her kids expensive toys, but would spend more on bringing them with her to travel. Being able to visit different places gives you perspective, and the happiness lasts longer than any material thing that you would only love for a while.

Aliw draws her inspiration and strength, first and foremost, from God. She maintains a consistent time with God early in the morning, through prayer and meditating on the Bible. She reflects on God’s Word daily and connects it to the things she is going through, making sure her thoughts and aspirations are always aligned with God. She says it isn’t easy, she is human and a work in progress. This is why she needs to arm herself always with the Word of God to battle “the enemy.” She is also very grateful for her siblings, life partner and mother for always sharing their time, wisdom and resources to her help her.

Success is really not just about recognition or awards. Aliw believes that to be really successful, it must show first in how you take care of your family and being able to raise your children as God-centered, respectful, compassionate and productive individuals, and at the same time in how your business is able to uplift the lives of others. Because her focus is to provide an organic and all-natural product offering, she was able to attract like-minded enterprises that promote healthy living as well. You can now find Aliw’s Organic Alley products in known health stores like Sesou Nature Source, Echostore, Pure Beauty and, Healthy Edge, Wholesome Organics, UltraSuperGreen and  selected All Home Supermarkets.

As an entrepreneur, Aliw sees Organic Alley as her baby. She says “Like a baby, your business needs you and your guidance all of the time, sometimes even in the wee hours of the morning and not just during business hours.” While she appreciates the fulfillment she gets from being able to influence the lives of others and the privilege of spending more quality time with her children, she still has to personally attend to business challenges and concerns, even if it’s a holiday or in the middle of the night.

Since she is handling her own business and really doesn’t have a boss to report to, Aliw sees God as her ultimate boss. Her humility and full dependence on Him is what keeps Organic Alley flourishing. Aliw is accountable always to the Lord for whatever her accomplishments are in her business. Because at the end of day, no matter where business goes, Aliw is still serving God.

Ms. TM says

Aliw is a sister in Christ and also a sister from a business organization called Network for Enterprising Women (NEW). Like me, she upholds the use of organic and all-natural products for personal and home use and started her business—Organic Alley. I chose her products as Christmas gifts last year, since I wanted to promote healthy living and using all-natural products among my family and friends. I highly recommend her 100% pure oils, as well as her all-natural care products, like Organic Alley’s natural soaps, miracle salve and care products for yoga. I have bundled these products according to the needs of my girlfriends as my Christmas present for them.

I am also inspired by Aliw’s achievement at her age. Aside from being a full-time mother, she is also doing graduate studies.  How she puts God as center of her activities, family, and business is worth emulating. These are some things I wasn’t able to do when I was younger. I was so motivated with business and money only. I was successful but never happy, and life was not fulfilling. All because my business focus was selfish and did not let God be part of it. I praise God for Aliw as she demonstrates a joyful life, full of initiative and productivity coming from our ultimate Father God who is the source of everything.  She always asks us, the elders of our organization, how to go about different aspects in the business and she also participates well and gives her great ideas during our board meetings.  She is always ready to give a helping hand to help another women entrepreneur.

One of my goals for this blog is to inspire young women entrepreneurs and the millennial today that they can do more and shine more if they are doing God’s will and purpose for them. They can be a very effective instrument of God in uplifting and inspiring the others, like Aliw. And also we honor God by not wasting our time with worldly, unproductive activities which have temporal satisfaction, and pursue our passions with God as the center of them all.

Prayer

Dear God, I thank you for giving me a job/business and granting me the ability to work. Remind me always that I am not working for the praise of men, but always see it as an opportunity to serve You. Allow me to serve You through my work and give You the glory that is due your name. May my work also help and bless others. Teach me to always be excellent in my work because this is my worship unto you. May others see You in me, as I accomplish my tasks as a business owner/employee. This I pray, in Jesus’ name. Amen.