Someday, Maybe: Ateneo social entreps wade into PPE, ‘safe’ daily wear fashion
PASSION and the innate desire to be a major player in the business field are normally the major driving factors that motivate entrepreneurs to put up their brands.
For Ateneans Roxanne Montealegre and Brian Poe, it was “pain” that motivated and inspired them to put up their social enterprise, “Someday, Maybe.”
“A pandemic brought us down to our knees but we want to rise up to the challenge,” Montealegre, a known television personality told the Businessmirror in a recent interview through Facebook Messenger.
expounding, Montealegre said Someday, Maybe combined science and the craft to produce safe and sustainable apparel available to the public amid the raging contagion.
Their first collection, she said, is a combination of lifestyle, active wear and business casual with anti-bacterial materials and equipped with medical grade fabrics as an added measure of protection from the virus.
“We’ve been fighting uncertainty with mental toughness but we also have to move forward and take control. It’s a long way to go but we will begin the end of lockdown by offering precautionary and protective gears,” Poe said.
Moreover, he added, their items will not just cater to medical and non-medical frontliners but for every typical Filipino who wants confidence and peace of mind and functional in everyday wear. As a social enterprise, Someday, Maybe carries an element of compassion as it adopted tailors displaced by Covid-19, while their chemists integrate health-care innovation into fashion.
Moreover, Montealegre and Poe concurred the future will be quite different and entrepreneurs like them should prepare challenges in the age of the so-called new normal—from addressing needs with tech seeds, creating ethical clothing and eco-friendly personal protective equipment and “converting anxiety into something useful for society.”
Poe is a public servant by heart. His day job is serving as the chief of staff of his mom, Senator Grace Poe.
However, people may tend to forget that the younger Poe is also a successful entrepreneur and investor by his own right.
He is most known for his luxury watch brand Time Master Watches. Time Master is credited with being the first Filipino watch company to develop a dive watch. In keeping in touch with his sense of social responsibility Time Master Watches has partnered with different non-government organizations like Moved and Habitat for Humanity for its corporate social responsibility program.
After honing his skills from his first enterprise, Poe had joint ventures with his friends. His first investments were in food and beverage like Dulo Bar in Poblacion, Barley and Craft beer distribution services, and more recently Refined at the Bonifacio Global Center.
However, in keeping with the times, Poe also saw the potential in tech and is the lead investor in STOBZMEDIA and STOBZDigital which specializes in content creation and social media management services.
Now given the Covid-19 health crisis, Poe is optimistic that his latest business venture with the A-list owner and S+A commentator Montealegre to create a safer, healthier, lifestyle clothing brand that uses both PPE materials and anti-microbial formula integrated with different kinds of fabric to protect the everyday Filipino will create awareness in the market.
The duo said Someday, Maybe also want to build the brand to generate more jobs. With the rising unemployment, Montealegre and Poe said all hands should be on deck to help keep the economy afloat. They said Someday, Maybe is their small way of helping the country.
Ideally, when the brand does well, Poe and Montealegre plan to expand their product line into other aspects of fashion and promote more locally produced materials and designs.
Poe and Montealegre ask friends, family, and frontliners for their feedback to ensure the designs are comfortable. Poe designs the ones for men and Montealegre handles the ones made for ladies.
More importantly, Someday, Maybe plans to continue to address the needs of the market whether by improving aesthetics, or enhancing its functionality and safety features. Furthermore, they aim to create a brand that becomes known for its effortless style, comfort, and reliability.
“I am optimistic about Someday, Maybe because we’re addressing pain points such as having clothing that will also protect us against bacteria, microbes and viruses and providing jobs to displaced tailors due to the pandemic. I’m hopeful that Someday Maybe, we can go out without fear but for now, we do what we can to help. I expect this brand to evolve as we all navigate the new normal together,” Montealegre said.