As travel industry struggles, flight attendant pursues her passion to outlive the crisis – here’s what happened
MANILA, Philippines — In the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, the travel industry was heavily affected due to the closing of ports and borders—a measure deemed crucial to stop the spread of the virus.
This directly impacted airline companies, which resulted to temporary loss of jobs of countless employees. Liezl Amurao-Hipolito, a flight attendant for Philippine Airlines, was one of them.
Anxiety immediately gripped Liezl, just like majority of Filipinos who have families to take care of and provide for.
“I was anxious about losing our jobs. Good thing we have savings but then the challenge was how to sustain” she told Philstar.com in an email interview.
Aside from being careful and wise on their expenses, she also started thinking of ways to generate income from the safety of her home. She chose to face the situation head on rather than succumbing to both helplessness and hopelessness.
How did she do it? By transforming her passion for plants into a good source of income until travel industry goes back to normal.
Discovering her inner strength
Liezl started collecting rare types of cacti and succulents in 2017. These plants can be left for days without watering, which was perfect fit for her job that meant days away from home.
“I started to grow my houseplant collection since they are a natural air purifier—good for my son and husband who both have allergic rhinitis,” she recalled.
During the enhanced community quarantine, she found more time to taking care of her rare plants. She then realized that she had more than enough plants in her backyard greenhouse, thus, the bright idea came to life.
She found the strength to take the chance and transformed her passion for plants by turning it into a potentially lucrative business.
“This started the whole plant business idea… I propagated my plants and began selling. They were sold fast!” she enthused.
Aside from being a newfound source of income, her love for plants helped her to appreciate life more than ever and on all the beautiful things that turned out well despite the situation.
Trusting her ‘heart and soil’
What is more beautiful in this new experience is that she learned to be more enduring throughout the process of growing her plants.
“Plant business requires constant caring, learning and patience. You have to wait until it is the right time for them to bloom and grow” she said.
With her humble success, Liezl wishes to inspire her fellow Filipinos that they too can bloom and grow in spite of difficult situations.
“This is really a trying time for all of us. It never occured in my wildest dream that I could make money out of my hobby. Believe in yourself, and put your heart and soul in everything you do,” she shared.
Beautiful transformations
Just like Liezl, Filipinos and people around the world went through life-changing transformations because of the pandemic.
In this light, Kojiesan, a leading kojic acid soap in the Philippines, is launching a new brand that will support Filipinos in their journey toward beautiful transformations.
Armed with the mission to providing the market with products that are nourishing, nurturing, restoring and sustaining, Life by Kojiesan introduces fresh and creative ways to achieve beauty and wellness through supplements that promote fullness of life.
The impact of this crisis may be far from over. But time and again, humanity’s heart and strength are beyond any adversities.
Share your beautiful transformations with Life by Kojiesan via Instagram or Facebook. Comment your post and use the hashtags #BeautifulTransformations #LifeInTheNewNormal #LifeByKojiesan.
