• Grab gathers female driver-partners, merchants, and social sellers for International Women’s Day.
• A roundtable discussion entitled, “Wonder Women of Grab,” was held to feature the outstanding and hardworking women from the Grab community.
• The Wonder Women of Grab shared stories of starting their businesses, joining the Grab community, and overcoming challenges as breadwinners, as mothers, and as women.
Grab, the leading everyday everything app in Southeast Asia, celebrated the lives and careers of five outstanding women from the Grab community by holding a roundtable discussion, entitled “Wonder Women of Grab”, in celebration of International Women’s Month.
Through its mission to provide inclusive opportunities to all, regardless of ethnicity, sexual orientation, social status, beliefs, or gender, the everyday, everything super app enables its women partners to be part of an inclusive, digital economy. Leveraging the services of GrabExpress, GrabCar, and GrabFood, entrepreneurs and driver-partners are afforded opportunities for business growth and family care through technology-driven logistical and transportation solutions.
Grab’s Madiskarteng Boss Club promotes self-care and family time
With 24/7 access to Grab’s Express’ reliable riders, Grab’s “Madiskarteng Boss Club” allows businesswomen to run online retail delivery operations straight from the comfort of their homes.
Rose Panlilio is the owner and chief operator of Panlilio Bags, which sells customized and eco-friendly handbags, made by local rural manufacturers. A diagnosis of cancer in 2014 did not halt her business, but rather, it forced her to innovate. Moving her business online, she was able to focus on getting treatments while not being bogged down to a single location.
As a member of Grab’s Madiskarteng Boss Club, Rose’s access to GrabExpress delivery helped pave her path to recovery while rediscovering her passion as an entrepreneur. “God has a way of turning unfortunate events upside down. For me, I found that my problems went away when I immersed myself in business,” said Rose.
By deploying GrabExpress’s reliable fleet of riders, full-time businesswoman and mother, Andrea Tuason delivers goods from her gift store called “iFitmo” to paying customers all over Manila. For Andrea, the biggest benefit of using GrabExpress is that it allows her to be more responsive to her customers, who place their orders at odd times and often need the shipment as soon as possible.
Being part of the Grab community means that she can continue to move trendy goods such as designer handbags, shoes, accessories, and electronics, while she and her husband care for their child with special needs.
“The biggest thing for me is quality time. When you have a boss, you always have to be somewhere at certain times, while I’ve always thought that good work doesn’t compromise family time,” Andrea noted.
GrabFood enables women entrepreneurs to extend their reach
GrabFood empowers merchants to expand their services to more customers all over the city without having to pay for extra rental space.
Over the years, Alicia Laqi’s “Sisig sa Rada” food truck has gained popularity by selling the best sisig in town at a reasonable cost for working-class. The business began as a second career for Alicia, having quit her day job after giving birth to her first child. Through GrabFood, Alicia is able to leverage the homegrown reputation to be able to bring the famous sisig to the doorsteps of customers all over the Makati and Bonifacio Global City area.
“My husband and I split the workload when it comes to our operations, but in my experience, women have stronger personalities,” said Laqi. “I make the big decisions when it comes to growing my company.”
Sisig sa Rada is not the only street vendor operation that has extended its reach through GrabFood. Rica Peñalosa’s “Ate Rica’s Bacsilog” started as a push cart that would roam Manila’s university belt to cater comfort breakfast food to hungry students. Rica finally built the confidence to transition into full-blown restaurants after a few years, but then found that high rental fees put her plans to expansion at a standstill. According to her, she would not have survived the expansion of her business if not for the support of GrabFood’s delivery services.
When asked about the makeup of her boardroom, Rica shared: “In my business, I’m the one who’s made all the innovations: from pushcarts to restaurants, and from bacsilog to a whole menu. I’m the CEO and I’m the only woman on the board. I’m on top.”
Empanada Nation was Ellice Chew’s “answered prayer,” embodying a life-long dream of owning her own restaurant. However, stepping onboard the business came with its struggles, requiring her to rethink where they franchised, and how they spread their capital and human resources early on.
With her guidance, Empanada Nation has expanded to 8 branches all over the city, catering authentic Ilocano cuisine malls and business hubs all over Manila. Now, Ellice has not only expanded the business physically, but has also optimized the spread of its branches through GrabFood’s delivery option.
The added flexibility not only ensures Empanada Nation’s growth for the years to come, but has allowed her to embrace her role as a mother as well. “The power of women is that no one multitasks like we do. Taking care of kids and running a business full-time – I’m not sure a lot of men can handle that like we do.” Ellice added.
Grab Driver-Partners break stereotypes in a male dominated industry
Over the past few years, Grab Ph has seen an uptick of women driver-partners every year, experiencing an average growth of over twice as many (or over 100-150%) of women drivers every year. To date, Grab’s driver-partner workforce in Southeast Asia is 39% female, and moves closer to gender equality year upon year.
At first, Erlita Lebozada’s friends were surprised to hear that she was a Grab driver-partner, saying that the job was meant for men. Erlita countered that she can do whatever men do, especially if it’s to feed her children. As a single mom, she completely disregards stereotypes in order to sustain her family. “I didn’t take it much to heart, because honestly, I love driving,” Erlita exclaimed. “I control my time, I don’t have to answer to anybody, and once I meet my targets, I can go home to my kids,” she added.
The Wonder Women of Grab represent leadership in different areas of Grab’s services, as driver-partners on the road, or as entrepreneurs, running the boardrooms of business.
“We are inspired by stories about people, especially entrepreneurs, overcoming seemingly insurmountable challenges. That moment of catharsis defines them as people and changes them forever,” said Brian Cu, Grab Philippines President.
Addressing the group, Brian added, “You have set yourselves apart by accepting that challenges play an integral part in building success. You’ve done the hardest part, and there’s a reason why you’re here and not someone else. For us, our mission is to allow you to leverage your current successes, and with our platform, scale it even further. ”
