MANILA, Philippines — Show business is no different from any other business, according to entrepreneur and actress of 35 years and counting, Maritoni Fernandez.
In an exclusive interview with Philstar.com following Korean “Squid Game” star Jung Ho Yeon’s press conference last week, Maritoni shared to her fellow entrepreneurs what she learned from her 35 years in showbiz that enabled her to make her business survive the pandemic.
Make sure your kind of business is really your passion
In 2000, Maritoni was diagnosed with cancer, and what helped her survive chemotherapy’s toxic side effects is barley. A year after, she became well, and for 22 years now, she has been cancer-free.
As such, she has been recommending barley to friends and family for anything that might inflict them – from lethargy to dysmenorrhea, constipation, sleeplessness, and even diabetes.
“And then, we started to notice, daming testimonies. Then I said, ‘You know what, maybe it’s not a bad idea to put it in the market',” she recalled how she started being in the food supplements business in 2005.
Five years ago, Maritoni partnered with IAM Worldwide as a director. According to her, her supplements business and IAM Worldwide will not survive the pandemic if she and their team had not been passionate about their jobs. In fact, she had to decline showbiz projects for the meantime to focus on business.
Strike a work-life balance
Although Maritoni is passionate about barley, she admitted that she still struggles to sleep early.
“I’m a night owl kasi, so normally, I sleep late. ‘Yun ‘yung training ng showbiz na ‘di na nawala sa’kin, puyatan,” she fretted.
“It’s really one of my main difficulties kasi in showbiz, you’re trained to stay awake. So up to now, that’s still my biggest thing because my husband is a morning person and I really am a night owl. So, maaga s’yang matulog. Ako, the whole night, I’m working… Most of the time, three o’clock na bago ako makatulog. And then I don’t wake up until mga nine. Eh s’ya, 5:30, six o’clock, gising na. It’s still an adjustment. I’ve only been married two and a half years.”
As such, if she cannot sleep, she just works because for her, “Time naman well-spent is always not wasted.”
Although she is already in her 50s, Maritoni stays cancer-free and even maintains her physique by taking only barley and Vitamin C with Zinc.
“I don’t consider it returning because I haven’t considered myself having ever left,” she said when asked when is she returning to her other passion, acting.
“It’s just that at this point in my life, there are other things that take priority like right now, I’m married na. So being a wife takes a priority for that, and then I have grown up children. Even if they’re grown up, they need a lot of taking care of. You have to know their emotional wellbeing… Actually, being a mom never ends… It almost grows into a different role. I try to keep up with that. Those are our priorities and of course, our business.”
Hence, her secrets to finding a healthy work-life balance, she said, are leading a prayerful and happy life.
“If there are toxic people around, you try to stay away from them. Hindi mo naman maiiwasan ‘yung mga haters o ‘yung mga negativity… even in your private life, meron namang ganu’n, ‘di ba? ‘Di naman laging bed of roses ang buhay,” she advocated.
“Wala namang perfect na buhay. The lesson lang that I learned being in my 50s now is ‘O sige, tama ka na. Ikaw na lang,’ o ‘di ba, para wala nang kuwento! Wala nang negativity, wala nang away – ‘Eh ‘yan ang sabi mo, eh ‘di sige’.”
Be patient, don’t give up
Though she folds her ears from negative comments, Maritoni believes listening to constructive criticism and customer feedback is key to victory in whatever pursuit in life.
“I think that’s also our secret to success. We don’t do just anything that we want. We also listen to our distributors because they’re the life and soul of our company and our goal is to spread the mission of hope and to spread how to earn money by improving the health of every person that it will come across – mentorship,” she said.
“One of my tips to an entrepreneur would be the same tip I give to people in showbiz when they’re just starting, which is maging matiyaga, ‘wag mag-give up kagad. Masanay ka sa rejection, kasi maraming rejection sa showbiz. Marami ring rejection sa business. Just keep your eye on the ball and just always put God first because, kung para sa’yo ‘yan, no matter what, no matter how many people encourage or discourage you from doing what you’re doing, you will succeed.”
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