Our initial plan last year is to start an educational platform for marginalized communities –  we were supposed to offer skills, lectures and personal development classes, as well as livelihood trainings through partnerships with local government units (LGUs) and NGOs but with the pandemic, we cannot do face to face trainings and onsite classes. We reassessed and decided to focus on promoting holistic wellness – mind, body, and soul approach. Better Filipinas was borne out of this pandemic.

Since we were still in the planning stage when the pandemic struck, we found a lot of opportunities for collaboration, ample room for mistakes and learning, and exploring ideas what we can provide to our community.  We believe that this led us to the realization that this pandemic is a game changer and everyone is trying their best to adapt to the changes brought by this worldwide situation  – so there’s a lot of opportunities to just allow our creative juices to flow.

We had a totally different plan, but we all had to pivot, one way or another. At the start of the pandemic, our team felt lost as to what we will do next since our original plans were no longer feasible. We asked ourselves what we can do NOW and how we can we promote and organize classes and activities for the brand.

It started with a suggestion to offer online yoga classes and group guided meditations. We posted our scheduled activities online not really thinking a lot of people will join, but to our surprise,  more than our expected number of participants signed up. From there, we realized what people needed were activities that promote holistic well-being, mindfulness and balance, especially during such uncertain times.

We pivoted to the Better Filipinas today. We didn’t realize that there is a demand for such until we tried. We try to incorporate our values in our daily routines to create a balanced and intentional lifestyle.

Nonetheless, we still aim to accomplish our initial plans for Better Filipinas once the pandemic ends.