Former UP student who used to live in a hut now owns her own BPO company

Many Filipinos hope for a better life for their families. Some try different businesses, others try their luck abroad. Take for example Maritess Pasag, a young entrepreneur from Los Banos, Laguna, who was able to overcome challenges and is now living her dream.

Maritess was just an ordinary girl who had great dreams for her family. Her mother was a home-service beautician and her father was an employee in a private company. While Maritess’s parents were able to provide for her and her brother, it was never an easy life for them growing up.

Maritess earned an engineering scholarship at the University of the Philippines Los Banos. However, she had to eventually drop out of school as she needed to help her husband make ends meet as she got pregnant before she even graduated. She had to live in a small hut with her young family.

Life was never easy for Maritess and her young family. She had to commute about four to six hours back and forth to her hometown to report for work at a call center. She was always sick and tired. She was confined in the hospital and could not be by her father’s side when he passed away.

Maritess then made a life-changing decision. She quit her job as it was taking a toll on her health. She started working home-based online jobs but was even scammed during her first tries. However, her luck finally changed: one of her clients partnered with her in a small outsourcing business. As things were going well, another challenge came into her life: she had to part ways with her first business partner.

Eventually, she was able to establish herself with some of her clients. She then continued on with her outsourcing business. There were many times that her clients would cancel the contracts, but she still needed to pay her employees’ salaries. It was never really easy.

Despite all the setbacks, Maritess never gave up. What was once a hut has turned into a two-storey structure which became her company’s office building. She was also able to buy her own SUV, and her dream house is now under construction as of this writing.

Maritess’s story has become an inspiration to women globally and was even featured in Inspiring Women Today along with other successful women from other parts of the globe. She is also the only Filipina featured in the website along with other famous successful women across the globe like Jessica Cox from the U.S., Marita Cheng of Australia and Saija Maijon from the U.K.

For someone whose hopes and dreams were just to provide a better life for her family, Maritess Pasag has gone a long way. Her BPO company VirtuAllie is now earning more than she could ever imagine. Indeed, Maritess’ life is a testament that women can inspire and achieve their dreams despite all the setbacks.