NEVER underestimate the power of positive thinking. Research is beginning to reveal that positive thinking is about much more than just being happy or displaying an upbeat attitude.
Positive thoughts can actually create real value in your life and help you build skills that last much longer than a smile.
I'm convinced that this optimism, not just survival, is one of the reasons explaining why our social media feed has turned into a pool of entrepreneurial explosions these recent months. Family and friends who once were distant to trade and business became instant entrepreneurs; with the word SELL, other than BUY becoming a more common lingo in the household.
Thanks to ECQ, Andrea Nicole, an incoming BS Psychology freshman at Saint Louis University, turned her hobby into an income-generating business and named it "Pastries by N," with N bearing her name and the pastel colors and font of her logo conveying a youthful vibe. Her cookies come in 17 delicious variants from classic, premium and the bomb with Matcha, Cream cheese sandwiches, Chocolate fudge Brownie and classic chocolate selections like Oreo, Twix, Nutella and M&M's are her bestsellers. Price ranges from P230 per dozen to P420 per 15 pieces.
As for me, I love the Oreo Matcha and the Red Velvet the most. It's chewy and the sweetness is just right.
Talk about a pastry to satisfy your urge with less guilt comes another booming brand on the internet, "The skinny Witch" by Stephanie Anne "Nini" Igama, lovely wife to Dr. Carlo Leandro Igama and an oncology nurse from BGH, so wittingly branded with a tiny stick witch for a logo drawn by no less than their youngest daughter, Rina.
One bite of this Burnt Basque Cheesecake and I was totally bewitched. Like a spell, you would want to have it all in one seating, which you can actually, given the cleanest ingredients whipped into it like a sweetener with a very low glycemic index derived from a natural source; no artificial flavorings using only high-quality organic vanilla and chocolate base plus Matcha, in one of their variants, directly imported from Japan. Definitely Keto approved! Guaranteed skinny dessert with an awesome witchery concoction to die for. Price ranges from P550 to P1,200 per order depending on the flavor and size.
Common to Nicole and Nini was that both businesses were conceptualized during this dreadful pandemic when the time was a luxury. The same goes for Business Developer Officer, Shaira Marquez of "Shairabites" who specializes in baked breads like ciabatta, burger buns, dinner rolls and stuffed "pandesal," now being served fresh daily at Hoka Brew.
The simple stories of these three beautiful ladies or probably with a multitude of "NEW" online sellers simply manifest how one can be resilient in these uncertain times where the quarantine was seen as an opportunity rather than a disaster.
A chat with them affirms the "broaden and build" theory of positive psychologist and researcher Barbara Fredrickson at the University of North Carolina stating that positive emotions broaden your sense of possibilities and open your mind, which in turn allows you to build new skills and resources that can provide value in other areas of your life.
Her study shows how positive emotions can propel one to develop new skills and hone existing ones. In other words, when you are experiencing positive emotions like joy, contentment, and love, you will see more possibilities in your life. These findings were among the first that proved that positive emotions broaden your sense of possibility and open your mind up to more options.
Now DTI registered, I can say that what drove these three online entrepreneurs to convert their newfound passion into productive industry, was not just a mere out of the blue fad of the pandemic we are in right now but it is backed with a vision of long term goals to make this business prosper and sustainable in the years to come.