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It has been long since Manila-based entrepreneur Marian Kate Santos-Sison, better known as Mia, left her life in Davao City to pursue college. While marriage and family life has made life in the urban jungle meaningful and purposeful, Mia is not one to forget beautiful memories of Davao — the simplicity of life, its country charm, and natural wonders.
“I grew up immersed in nature as there were no malls yet in Davao when I was a child,” Mia enthused. “On Saturdays, our family would head off to Paradise Island and on Sundays we heard mass at my grandmother’s church, the Shrine of the Infant Jesus of Prague. I do not remember most of my toys, except for my favorite BMX bike, but I do remember playing patintero, ‘cops and robbers’ as well as hide and seek with my cousins. We did not have access to most toys back then, so our parents had our toys created by a carpenter or we made do with what we had and immersed ourselves in the world of make believe.”
By degree, Mia graduated BS Civil Engineering in UP Diliman. Prior to being an entrepreneur, she practiced structural engineering for more than a year, and later on pursued a career in IT. She was sent by her Japanese employer to Japan to train for a year in Chiba, Tokyo where she learned how to speak and write in Nihongo and develop bridge design software using the C++ language. She also learned how to program in Java and became a business analyst in various IT companies.
After her return to Manila, Mia settled into married life. “I married into my 30’s and my husband and I wanted a big family, so we quickly plunged into having kids right away.” Now a mom of three, Mia made a shift in career focus and sprung from a 10-year stint in the corporate world to investing in her own business and passions.
“My family is my priority, all my decisions revolve around them. At the same time, I find ways to make myself happy. I feel I am able to take care of them best when I take care of myself first. I want to also live a full life, nurturing my own passions while I care for my children and husband.”
Photo courtesy of Mia Santos
Juice Hut
Aside from managing her own convenience store in Taguig, Mia keeps herself occupied creating tropical sips, nut milks and cold-pressed veggie-fruit blends under the brand Juice Hut, a business she started out of the intention of promoting a healthy lifestyle.
“I am not a vegan, nor am I into Paleo. I am just an ordinary girl who strives to eat healthy and be active everyday. I love homecooked meals and I’ve always loved to exercise – I love going to the gym, boxing, running and swimming! As I am a mother of three closely-spaced young kids, I am challenged to continuously nourish my body with the right nutrients so I can fulfill my duties as a wife, mother, daughter, entrepreneur and more. After breastfeeding my second child for about six months, I began to notice that my milk supply was dwindling. Having committed to exclusively breastfeed all of my children for at least one year, I immediately started looking for ways to be healthier. Breastfeeding was increasingly challenging compared to my first child because I have to keep up with an active toddler while nursing my newborn. My supply dwindled because of lack of sleep, poor diet and plain exhaustion. I felt that my reserves depleted and I was always dehydrated. Seeing my friends’ juicing and smoothie posts prompted me to first try making my own smoothies, then, eventually, my own juices! Fast forward to this day when I do not only juice for myself, but for my clients, too. Juice Hut stands in the belief that juicing is beneficial to everyone – stay at home moms, career moms, students, office workers, health fanatics, athletes, retirees, and yes, even kids. Juices can be taken to detoxify our bodies or simply to add more nutrients to our daily meals. Being Filipinos, I admit we all love to eat out, celebrate with food and even have an occasional drink or two. Hence, we offer the concept of juice cleanse to reset our system to healthy eating and balance out our occasional binges. Anything beneficial should also be accessible so, we, at Juice Hut, make sure we price our drinks affordably. We do this by sourcing our ingredients and packaging materials well without sacrificing quality.”
Photo courtesy of Mia Santos
Craft Party PH
Keeping attuned to her other passion, arts and crafts, Mia got together with fellow craft enthusiast, Nica Cosio and started Craft Party PH. Mia first collaborated with Nica for graphic design services for Juice Hut. The two found a common ground in arts and crafts and naturally became friends in the long run.
“Craft Party PH started last May 2015 when Nica and I were discussing our plans for summer, and she told me that she had some craft workshops lined up for kids. I loved the idea of gathering kids together for a morning of afternoon of crafts, so I thought, why not gather some moms or ladies, too? Our first Craft Party was born as a marketing event for Juice Hut. Nica suggest a 3-in-1 activity: Rubber Stamping, Clay Plate Painting and Stationary Making. Nica created a poster and shared this to our social media right away. We immediately got several sign-ups and inquiries within a few hours and we filled our minimum slots in less than a week. It was a huge success – the ladies loved the fun, relaxed learning environment and Nica’s passion for craft was infectious. From then on we’ve had monthly or bi-monthly Craft Parties, we’ve done brass jewelry making, rubber stamping with kids, memory-keeping workshops, and more. We do private Craft Parties for special events like birthdays, graduation, etc. We’ve also had our first Craft Festival last November where we had live art demonstrations, selling booths and a workshop at UP Town Center, Quezon City. This year we are partnering with Isobelle of @mabbymakes as we venture into events and children party packages.”
Clearly, Mia has well-defined work life balance. Her talents and skills have attracted a number of opportunities for her, and she is able to do work around a schedule that benefits both herself and her family. “I love being a mother and wife. I dedicate time for each and everyone in our home. I also want to stay to true to myself. I feel I am at my best as mom and partner when I am able to fulfill all my goals as an individual.”
Learn more about Juice Hut by logging on to www.juicehutmanila.com or @juicehut_manila on Instagram. Check out more Craft Party PH photos and their complete list of upcoming workshops via http://www.facebook.com/CraftPartyPH or @craftpartyph on Instagram.
Photos courtesy of Mia Santos.
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Story published on my newspaper column in Edge Davao.
