Mother of all trades

From selling biscuits to candy and furniture to laundry jobs, Sarah Y. Dellosa has tried them all, and she’s still going strong.

Dellosa, one of 23 women entrepreneurs in Mandaue City selected during the recent Search for WINNERS or Women In Need Now Entrepreneurs and Role Models of the Mandaue Chamber of Commerce and Industry, was given the Miss Virginia special award.

The award was given in recognition of Dellosa’s personal tale of triumph.

She overcame financial hardship and a bout with leukemia to achieve her small measure of success.

Dellosa was barely in her teens when she started to work to support her family.

“At 12, I worked for SM Biscuits (now known as Merry Land) as a candy maker. Then at  15 I worked in a furniture company while studying to help my parents because their earnings weren’t enough for all of us,” Dellosa said.

Because of work, Dellosa had to give up her studies.

“I tried cooking in a canteen before. I accepted different jobs just to earn more for my family,” she said.

Marriage and four children later, Dellosa had to work harder to support her own family.

With her husband landing contractual jobs before finding  regular employment, Dellosa found ways to earn income.

In 2007, Dellosa started cooking viands and her specialty, biko (sweetened rice), which she sells in her neighborhood in Lower Tipolo, Mandaue City.

It didn’t require a big investment.

“I learned a lot while I worked for a canteen before so I thought of starting up a small business selling cooked food,” she said.

Not having her own place, Dellosa  cooks at home  then wraps the food in single-serve plastic packs to sell door-to-door.

She wakes up early to cook the dishes to be sold in the afternoon then ends the day late doing household chores.

The punishing work schedule eventually weakened her health.

“I was diagnosed with leukemia in 2008 and had to stop selling. It was a difficult decision for me since I already had some regular customers. Giving up means losing  the daily income I use to buy medicine for my treatment,” Dellosa said.

Her mother and some kind neighbors helped her through until she recovered.

“I said to myself that I was given this life again for a purpose so I must go on,” Dellosa said.

Dellosa first ventured into selling fresh fish and vegetables in the morning, maruya or fried banana fritters in the afternoon and laundry jobs in the evening.

“I still go house-to-house selling my products because I sell more doing that and I meet a lot of new clients who  give me laundry jobs as well.”

Dellosa said she builds good relationships with her customers and keeps them satisfied with her products and services.

“I  see to it that what I’m selling is of the best quality and I price them right. I also make sure that when I do laundry services,  I  give them back their clothes all clean,” Dellosa said.

Dellosa said she hopes to grow her own business through the Kapamilya Negosyo Na seminar workshops she attended.

The seminars were held by the University of San Carlos Commerce Department in partnership with ABS-CBN.

The determined mother said her kids are her main motivation to working hard because she wants them to finish their studies.

“I only have one dream now and I’m willing to go through all hardships just to achieve that. I wasn’t  lucky enough to finish my studies and I feel that my children should be given that chance to improve their lives,” Dellosa said.