SHANTAL Dimayuga cannot afford to be idle. Her days are filled with meetings, as she runs multiple businesses. She is currently the chief finance officer of Bright One Glorious Star Inc., the chief executive officer (CEO) of RadCorp, the president and CEO of Promptus Trading Inc., the president and CEO of Nobles One Solutions Agency Inc., the president of Bagwis Security and Investigative Services Inc. and the president and CEO of Empress Textile and Garments Manufacturing Corp. All this she has achieved at the age of 32.While some people need flowery words to encourage and inspire, Shantal does that by just being herself. Her story has come to inspire and empower people from all walks of life. They see the way she works, not only in the world of business but also in the world of philanthropy, and they are immediately stirred to do good and achieve more.Shantal aims to start “Yakap Kalinga,” a foundation aimed at helping marginalized children. She has been helping poor children for years now by providing them with school supplies at the start of every school year. She has also been helping poor families from urban and rural areas by giving them sacks of rice which they badly need. Her goal is to give these families a leg up so they can work on improving their lives for the future of their children.Not having a lot of money growing up has driven Shantal to work harder than everyone else. She grew up in a low-income family in Batangas. However, her parents saw the value of education which they instilled in her. Life was not easy back then. Her father was very strict with her especially when it came to time. But his strictness molded her to become the person that she is today—strong and disciplined, ready for whatever life throws at her.If there is one thing that Shantal is passionate about, it is educating Filipinos about the value of Small and Mid-size Enterprise (SME). She believes that having a business could open the door to so many possibilities especially for the poor. “The pandemic has been an eye-opener for me. I saw a lot of people waiting in long lines for government handout. I thought to myself if only these people had their own business, no matter how small, they would at least have some form of security.”Shantal believes one cannot simply rest on his laurels. There is a lot of work to be done and people should not rely solely on the government for handouts. “I believe that those who can must do—meaning we cannot sit idly by if we are capable of helping others. That would be an injustice.” SPONSORED CONTENT