139: DoNation By Laurus Enterprises Interviews Genecia Alluora

Today's episode is a really special one because I was part of a fundraiser, a charity event in the Philippines. But it's virtual. It's organized by Laura's Enterprises with the support of the world's largest event organizer who brings in Tony Robbins, T Haf Ecker, Robert Kiyosaki Success Resources Private Limited of Singapore. So this event is called Do Nation. Let's do it for the nation. There is a virtual charity learning event and aim to fundraise for front liners and event liners. I'm really blessed to be a part of this. So I hope you enjoy this interview and let me know if you love this episode. 

Genecia Alluora’s Story of Bullying

(09:43-11:24) I had to support myself at a very young age since I was 14 years old, and I wasn't able to kind of really build up my self-esteem well. So in school, I wasn't able to buy new clothes, new shoes, and therefore, I was often bullied in school because of my look. Imagine me with really short hair, maybe as short as yours. Rich, you have hair. Okay. So almost very short. And I have very dark eye circles, really bushy eyebrows, very tomboyish because of the way I was being brought up to defend myself, to defend for myself, and not with a lot of money in my pocket. I wasn't able to present myself well, I didn't have a lot of confidence, so I was always the spot where people would bully me. The girls have cornered me at the basketball court. I remember one time, and then they pull over my PE shirt, exposing my bra, and then one of them will actually say, oh, you're wearing the same bra. And I felt totally humiliated. Humiliated. So throughout my years, I was consistently being bullied because of my background, and I lost my self-esteem. In fact, there was one other incident that shook me up that I didn't even want to think about joining a beauty pageant because totally, I lost myself completely. There were times that they took my bag. My bag has holes in them, and they threw it across the classroom floor. And all my books were strewn all across the floor. And at that moment in time, I wanted to commit suicide. I just wanted to die. 

Her Journey Towards Joining Beauty Pageant

(11:27-11:50) My self-esteem continued to go downhill. But you see, we are the average of the five people we hang with the most. And sometimes when we don't have coverage, we don't have bravery. We lost ourselves. It's the people around us who will support us and give us that support. And my friends believed in me. My friends saw the potential in me and say Genecia, you should just join a beauty pageant. Just go for it.

(12:03-12:07) And my friends, eventually they enrolled me to join Miss Singapore.

(12:11-12:24) And the best part was, I wasn't groomed. I didn't have a lot of money to buy a pair of heels. In fact, I could only afford one pair of black color heels. But in any beauty pageant, you need to have one black and one silver. And you have to have clothes for multiple events.

(12:35-12:44) So I went to knock on doors, and eventually, I found someone who was willing to give me a sponsorship to teach me how to do public speaking. 

(12:46-13:18) Her name was Rebecca. And she gave me all the DVDs, CDs, her notes, and everything possible. She gave it to me. And then she said, can you give me your wallet, your bank? And I was a little bit blurred and naive at the time. Okay. I just passed you my bag, and she took out my wallet, unzip my wallet and pour all the money I have in my wallet. And I'm like, Rebecca, why are you taking all my money? That's all that I have. $60 is all that I have for the month for my food and transport and everything else.

(13:36-13:56) And I told myself since you took all my money, I have no money. Right. 

So I better study hard and make sure I do well in my pageant. Right. So eventually I scored really well, and I won Miss Singapore International in 2006 because of Rebecca's teachings,

public speaking, learn how to groom myself. All because I took the first step to commit to my success.

 

Concept of Value Exchange Pushed her to do well in Pageantry

(16:24-16:57) I think I never really understood the power of value exchange until much later in life. But definitely, when I looked back, I finally understood why she took that $60. There may be very little to some of you, the listeners, audience who's watching this right now, but for me, it was a lot back in those days. So we talked about the value, the proportion of the value that you have right now in your pocket when you give, whether it's 100 pesos or how much you're giving. It's not how much you give, but how much you have that you're actually giving.

Her Message to People who are Struggling. 

(20:46-21:21) Don't think that you are alone because there's someone else out there. I totally get you. If you have depression and anxiety, it's time and possible for the journey. Just know that someone has gone before you and someone has overcome before you. So be an Overcomer. Learn to Ask for Help don't feel like you're being judged if you ask for help or if I ask for help means I'm weak, means I'm lousy, means I'm no good. But if I hadn't asked for help, I hadn't had friends who gave me that support. I will not be here today and be able to do more with my life. 

(21:23-21:36)So I want to encourage you to really step out of your comfort zone and really ask for help. Don't feel that someone else is judging you. Always know that there is a brighter, lighter hit at the end of the tunnel.

Does and Don'ts in Starting a Business

Don't be an Automatic Expert on Certain Things.

(28:21-28:41) So to really do a cafe business, you need to don't become like a chef, you try to start a restaurant. You hold a camera, you think you're a photographer, you hold an iPhone, you think you're a blogger, you have a website, you think you are a blogger or something like that along the line. So don't think that you know how to be a barista. You can make a cafe. 

Don't Do Retail Business in this Covid-19 Season

(28:50-29:14) I would say in this Covid-19 season, don't really start a retail business anymore. I will recommend you to reinvent the idea into a kiosk and then do takeaways, something that is duplicatable, something that is easy. Similar concept to bubble tea. Do something that is easy for people to take away with. I think that would be a better choice.

Get a Franchise

(30:21-30:36)If you were to do a cafe, get a franchise, that is the easiest way to get started, even though it could be a little more pricey. But that investment that you put upfront guarantees you that you have a system and process that's proven and you can make money immediately.  

(30:49-30:57) Why? Because the brand is really known in the market and it's easy for people to trust you and know that your coffee is good. 

(31:07-31:13) Other than that, the brand actually has a trust factor involved. So definitely that will work in itself.

Build a Team

(31:24-31:44) I think one thing that I found success in the cafe business and I've learned is by having a team, we could put our skillset and strengths together and we are not functioning alone. And because we're not alone, we could easily put the processes together and eventually cr...