Starting a business isn’t easy, but we came across 30 amazing women who were able to pull it off… all before reaching the age of 30. Check them out!

30 Inspiring Filipina Entrepreneurs Under 30

30. Josa Camille Bassig, 27, @josabassig

Josa Bassig’s photography business has been up and running since 2012. However, her photographic journey began at the age of 10 when she joined the school paper using a film camera. “I was in love with street photography,” she gushes. “Obviously, the first few attempts didn’t turn out very well. So, gradually, I did more and then more; and the more I did it, the more I loved it.” When Josa’s mom bought her first DSLR in her 20s, Josa joined their college school paper again and started doing portraits, landscapes, concert, product/food and sports photography. “I started shooting everything that took my fascination,” she shares. “I started uploading some of my photographs on Facebook and people seem to really like them. Then, they started hiring me as their photographer.” On a whim, this encouraged her to pursue her passion and shoot professionally.

Josa’s is based in Tuguegarao and Manila, and her hobbies include tennis, boxing, traveling, and reading.

29. Amanda Moriles, 25

Amanda Moriles owns Kamayeño Grill, Cebu’s Original Chorizo and MLM Media Signs former AMM Outdoor Graphics. Amanda started doing business after college. She decided to continue their family business (AMM) because no one wanted to take over and since she grew up with her grandparents, she already knew the ins and outs of the business since she was in high school.

Amanda likes to travel a lot. She was also part of the the DLSU-D badminton and volleyball team. Right now, she is a DJ and she hopes to have her first gig in Taft, Makati or BGC soon.

28. Kyra Villacorta, 21, @ky.label

Kyra Villacorta owns an online accessory label called ‘ky’, which has been in operation since September 2018. She decided to start her business because of her love of anything and everything fashion and style. “I specifically started an accessory line because of the power that accessories have, especially when completing an outfit,” she explains. “I wanted to focus on curated collections of pieces that help people feel like the best version of themselves. My label revolves around the tagline ‘make your statement’ — highlighting how style is not just about making a statement; it’s about making your own statement; whatever that may be for you.”

Kyra is currently taking up a double degree in Communication Arts and Business Management. She has a strong passion for film, especially for the directing and cinematography aspects. She recently also started to get into hosting and acting. On the side, she also creates makeup tutorials for Youtube.

27. Mithi Miclat, 28, @mithimiclat

Mithi Miclat is the owner and general manager of Mi Gusta Gourmet Tuyo, gourmet products lovingly made by empowered women in the Davao region. She has been managing the business since 2015. “From initially preparing a few bottles of Mi Gusta Gourmet Tuyo in our home kitchen, we now have a fully operational production facility and competitive women workers,” she shares. “We also ventured into manufacturing other gourmet products.”

Mithi shares that her father started cooking gourmet tuyo as a hobby, which they gave as gifts to friends and relatives during Christmas. Her mother was the one who established it as a business. They employed formerly non-working mothers within their community whose ages and educational attainment are no longer acceptable to the corporate world. “My food background enabled me to make significant contributions in terms of commercial viability,” she adds. “This all led to what Mi Gusta is today.”

Mithi is also the outgoing curator of the Global Shapers Davao Hub, a World Economic Forum (WEF) initiated international network of young people connected in their commitment to improving the world, starting with their own communities.

25. and 26. Hannah Abigail Leynes-Cadeliña, 29, @TheCuriousDrinker and Maizie Frances Zipagan, 28

Hannah Leynes-Cadeliña and Maizie Zipagan own Lumiere Luxxe Beauty Lab by H & M Beauty Lab. “We don’t just value beauty,” they point out. “We also want people to understand the process of beautification and the benefits that we can give with regards to their health.” From a young age, Maizie had some bad experiences with different experiences and thus realized she wanted to pursue being an entrepreneur instead. “I believe that taking care of your own body is is very important. That’s why we decided to put up Lumiiere Luxxe Beauty Lab,” she shares.

Hannah has worked in two different hospitals as a nurse until she got married last year. Now, she is a story/script writer and Art Department Head of Cadelina Media Group, where she helps her husband. She loves reading books and is a part of their local church’s worship team Malayang Pilipino. Maizie is also happily married and bearing her second offspring. She enjoys managing and organizing events, as well as going on staycations with her family.

24. Kimberly Mas, 26, @kimberlymas

Kimberly Mas currently has two businesses in the arts and design industry, which she runs with her business partner, Cedric Cheng. Artsmith Creative House is a multimedia design/production house offers branding/graphic design, animation, video production, photography, and illustration; while So Asian Comics (@soasiancomics) is a popular online webcomics that targets the Fil-Chi/Asian community. Kimberly shares that she wants to help fellow artists and the art industry in the country by giving local artists more jobs. “Plus, I wanted to improve the arts scene in the country,” she adds. “To do that, I decided to start my own studio and never turned back.”

Aside from her businesses, Kimberly also does mural paintings. She also founded a women empowerment organization last year that gave benefits to impoverished women and children in the country. Kimberly is also into film photography and is an avid fitness buff, practicing swimming, boxing, and yoga. “I’m also a huge fan of the WWII era,” she exclaims. “I watch documentaries and movies from that period. I travel a lot too. I’m an aspiring travel blogger.”

23. Danielle Wassmer, 26, @DanielleWassmer

Danielle Wassmer owns a sustainable water hyacinth bag business called Hyacinth MNL (@Hyacinthmnl) that has been around for almost a year now. Danielle shares that she has always wanted to design bags for a living. “Though because I also have a full time job, it was much harder to get it started,” she admits. Early this year, she finally decided to just go ahead and start it. Aside from the fact that she gets to design the bags, Danielle is also able to help communities in Laguna at the same time.

22. Melissa Profeta, 28, @melissaprofeta

Melissa Profeta owns Social Media Academy, an online school dedicated to help individuals learn social media marketing for businesses. She started and cofounded it with Nix Eniego about two years ago. :It was a passion to help others believe that there is a way to make a meaningful career while at home,” she shares. “We really wanted to help more people because we have seen what’s been going on in the online freelancing community. We were thinking how people like us in social media should have distinction among other online service providers. We also wanted to brand Filipino social media marketers as high quality service providers. After all, we serve the international market and have competitions from different countries.”

Melissa is currently building and encouraging women to join her new group called High-Value and Financially Independent Women. She is the one who’s hosting it and she makes sure that every single thing, content, and person featured there really contributes to what tough women need.

21. Ruffa ‘Faru’ Indico, 27, @farusseacharon

Faru Indico owns Faru’s Sea-Charon (The Original and Crispiest Seafood Chicharon), which has been around for two years now. After watching the true-to-life Thai movie ‘The Billionaire’, Faru got inspired to try her own version of a seaweed product that only cost Php900. She tried cooking and made her friends taste it. They loved it and a day later, Faru started selling in her office. “That was the first time I tried selling anything,” she shares. “Since I’m a shy woman, I was really happy that the product sold itself without the need for sweet words or sales talk.”

Faru used to be a vlogger, mainly documenting music events (she is a huge fan of OPM artists), and she has also tried writing from time to time. She is a huge Game of Thrones fan, as well; she even collects action figures. “When it comes to food, I try to limit myself to eating healthy and focus more on veggies, fruits and seafood,” she adds. “I also love arts and designing. The label on our packaging and the ads we use in our pages are personally made by me.”

20. Lee Ju Hyun, 23, @leejuhyunn

Lee Ju Hyun started JL Browesse (K-Beauty Microblading) in August 2018 and South Tech Shipping (Korea to PH shipping) in November 2017. She started South Tech Shipping because she realized how big of an influence Korea has on the Philippines. “I knew a lot of Filipinos want to get their hands on the latest clothes or their favorite KPop merchandise, but they don’t know how to buy from Korea or send their own package safely to the Philippines,” she shares. “Being half Korean-and half-Filipina, I thought: why not use and share the resources I have to start solving this problem?” So she did and saw how it helped a lot of people’s problems.

Lee Ju Hyun is also a certified and licensed beauty tattoo artist, another big trend in Korea’s beauty industry. In her free time, she goes back to Korea for a vacation. She also likes to party, which is why she will be venturing into a nightlife experience mobile app called Seshon soon, as well.

19. Juna Alyanna Grimaldo, 25, @craftme_up

Juna Alyanna Grimaldo has a DIY music box and gift shop, which has been around since April. Juna shares that she was unemployed for a time when she decided to look for income to support my expenses. “Arts and crafts are my passion, so I chose it as the specialty of my online shop,” she explains. Juna is also into creative writing and baking.

18. Maria Georgianna Eleazar Carlos, 29, @georgecarlos

George Carlos owns three businesses: MyOffice Philippines (@MyOffice.PH), a virtual office and shared space company that her mom started but she joined and became cofounder of in 2014; Fetch! Naturals (@FetchNaturals), a brand of all natural, premium, pet care products that she started in March 2017; and Permitly (@permitly), which takes care of the “unsexy side” of business – business registration.

George started Fetch! Naturals because she has one dog who had recurring skin issues and she couldn’t find local and international branded shampoos that worked. When she discovered Neem, she found a chemist, decided to buy directly from farmers for the ingredients, and founded Fetch! As for MyOffice Philippines, George saw the rise of the startup community in the country and wanted to angle the company to be able to support them. Permitly, on the other hand, was started because a lot of her MyOffice clients would express the need for assistance when it comes to registering their business.

George used to be a teacher/guidance counselor for high school students. She graduated with a Psychology Major and her first dream was to be in the field of education. After a year in education, though, she realized that she was bad at it and not equipped to form young minds. “Props to all the teachers and educators out there,” she says.

17. Ma. Louise Marie Leuterio, 20, @Louieleuterio_

Ma. Louise Marie Leuterio and Bryan Vergel Borero started Gold Hunt Philippines in April 2019, which sells gold plated accessories. They say they started the business because they wanted to get rich early and make use of their money wisely. Both Louise and Bryan are law school students involved in other online businesses.

16. Schindlex Maldittini, 24, @schindlex

Schindlex Malditinni currently owns and manages three very different businesses: Vape Shop and Distribution, Food and Milk Tea Store, and her favorite, Cosmetics Brand and Store. She has been working passionately on Schindlex Cosmetics since November 2017. “This is the kind of work I’d proudly say I never get tired of,” she raves. “Even when it’s stressful sometimes, I’d still gladly go through it all, brainstorm until midnight, and still be happy about it.”

Schindlex Cosmetics was founded because of Schindlex’ love for affordable multi-use makeup. She actually used to resell cosmetics from other brands, but then realized that big brands do not provide resellers a good amount of profit. As such, she made it her goal to give her resellers and distributors the best prices possible, so that they can have good profit as it is well-deserved. “Also, I’ve always loved the idea of “Empowered women empower women”, which is why the brand focuses on encouraging women and transwomen to feel more confident through self-love and being the Lady Boss of their dreams,” she adds. “I aim to inspire and support others with the same dreams I have.”

Check out our top 15 inspiring Filipina entrepreneurs on the next page!