MICHELLE TIOTANGCO ON WORK, LIFE BALANCE
Above all these challenges, Tiotangco had one key takeaway — learn to balance work and life
What started as a hobby back in college for Michelle Tiotangco turned into a very successful business venture years later.
Tiotangco, who graduated with a degree in entrepreneurship, was fond of planning and organizing trips for her friends and family. So, when asked to operate a business as part of her course program, she thought of running a travel agency. In an interview on Daily Tribune’s Pairfect show last March, Tiotangco said the idea caught on.
“Eventually my dad said ‘Why not do it as a business?’ After graduating, I finally decided to really pursue it,” she said.
Two years later, her dad, a contractor, built a resort in Coron. The place was meant to house his Manila visitors since Coron at that time had few hotels. She said, “He constructed an eight-room resort in Coron and then, suddenly, sabi niya why not manage it? This will really be a test if you can manage this kind of business because running a resort and travel agency is different.’”
The resort began to accept bookings soon after, prompting the construction of additional rooms. Tiotangco said, “Right now the resort has about 22 rooms. We were supposed to open the third phase last year but since the pandemic happened, we decided to not continue.”
Aside from Amika Travel Tours and Sophia’s Garden Resort, Tiotangco also runs Kamia Bay Resort, Mrs. T Cafe, Foton Puerto Princesa and several other businesses. When the country went into lockdown a year before, eight of her businesses had to stop operations.
She said, “What was left was our water refilling station because it is
essential. But our automotive business reopened last May.”
The pandemic was a very stressful experience for Tiotangco as a businesswoman. She said, “I never really imagined that it would happen. I’m a person who’s fond of planning but during that time nawala ako as to what I will do next.
“A lot of people lost their jobs. I have about 150 employees. It was hard for me to let them go. What alternative do I have for them to have their jobs still? But after a month of staying in our house, my parents and I decided to absorb some of my employees for our other business that are still operating.”
The pandemic was a very stressful experience for Tiotangco as a business owner.
Some of her staff were sent to her dad’s construction business while some are working for Taraneman, a farm she had just opened. “The farm is one of the alternatives that we gave our staff na
makapagtrabaho. I also saw during the pandemic the shortage of supplies that we had. Hindi pala lahat galing nang Palawan. So I had this thought of why not grow your own food. Right now we are supplying fruits and vegetables to some local restaurants,” Tiotangco said.
They sold veggie baskets instead of flowers last February which, she said, is a more healthy way of giving gifts to your loved ones. “I always tell my employees that we can bounce back. This isn’t anymore about you working in a hotel, sa hotel ka lang. This is about what we can do to survive. We also had talks that once tourism comes back, they will be my priority,” she said.
Above all these challenges, Tiotangco had one key takeaway: learn to balance work and life. “In the early years that I was working, para talagang work is life. All of my time was spent for work, not with my family or for myself. I realized that before you can run a business, you must actually learn how to manage yourself, dapat
maganda yung foundation
mo. You have to really have to balance it,” she ended.