Growing up in a family where everything was discussed at the dinner table: weird school rules, corrupt politicians, Denzel Washington in Out of Time, unreasonable goods prices, and people in marginalized sectors, I always knew that there is something wrong.
I was afraid to grow up and you would see the little Ana in kindergarten school crying and always shy. I was only four when I was sent to school and have always been skeptical ever since. At home, my Mama would always tell us to be kind but never let anyone hurt us in any way. My Papa ingrained in us that losing yourself in the service and helping other people would always be our main reason why we are here. How noble of them to say that even if we barely eat delicious food at night?
I question a lot of things ever since but I deeply know that I have to obey them no matter what. I was unconsciously watching the news every night and always excited to share what I have learned whenever my teacher would ask anything about social happenings in the Philippines and in worldwide.
At the age of 11, the same teacher I am trying to impress every time I would recite in class asked me to represent our school in an editorial writing contest. I wrote about an impeachment trial and all the allegations about this. I won the third prize and was very happy to move forward to the regional press conference level. I found comfort knowing that I am aware of what's happening around and at the same time became frustrated of how things work at that time.
During my junior years, I found myself interested working on my research paper alone. We were taught of investigative journalism and how media is considered the fourth estate. I am still in search of how I can be equipped of whatever battle this is but I am sure that I still have to serve and treat people right.
At 16, I am sure that the only strand where I will apply to is the Humanities and the Social Sciences. I am proud to be a humanista! In the same year, I became busier volunteering in the collective's work. I have to balance school and other extra co-curricular activities so I opted out not getting any responsibility aside from being a volunteer.
What seems to be blurry before is slowly making sense to me. On my last year as a Senior, I gladly accepted working as a co-head in one of the committee of the collective I am working on. I was very sure at this moment that serving people is the reason why I am here. I spent my remaining days in high school working on the library and hub of the collective. I also had fun starring on some of the plays we've done! I took pride participating in the commemoration of all the oppressed people during the Martial Law in the Philippines wherein we did a torture chamber and reenacted how people were treated horribly.
Later on, I took Education in college with the hope that teaching children is the best way I could serve people. I will be graduating few months from now and just last year, I was challenged to reflect on my mission again. A very close friend of mine just introduced me to what will become a plot twist of my 2021. I became part of an amazing team who helps people get their stuff made. Aside from firstly following their Instagram and Facebook page, I saw YourStuffMade on the posts of my gals, shared by influencers and heard stories about them on their website.
Being an Artist Account Manager in an ethical manufacturing company like YourStuffMade is a dream come true and a responsibility at the same time. Helping people transform their art into a merchandise ethically is bringing me closer to my very own mission. In return, I am very happy to share my love and care for the people by carefully working on each project I am handling.
I learned all the cool stuff and the processes of manufacturing custom products personally from the team behind and Liam, the founder himself. I am really happy to be working with people who has the same goals as mine and we're happy to be learning from each other. Working with customers from getting their designs done, to creating their mockups, proceeding with the production and delivering the custom products right at their doorstep is my main routine every day. Aside from immersing myself to the success stories of the amazing people we've worked with, I was also given the chance to feature incredible visual and music artists and entrepreneurs through the Artist Spotlight. The most fun of all is responding to people's queries and eventually helping them to get their stuff made. Happy to guide people reaching out through the chatbot! Come say hi!
To all the young people who dream of changing the world...
To those who are fixated on achievement that they fail to nurture kindness...
To those who lose themselves in the service of others...
This is all for you.
Ana Marie De Guzman
Artist Account Manager
Connect with me
Facebook Instagram LinkedIn
