This week, I am thrilled to share the story of Anya Lim, Co-founder, Managing Director and the Princess Ant of ANTHILL, a social and cultural enterprise based in Cebu City that promotes and preserves hand-loomed fabrics from around the islands specifically from provinces like Cebu, Bukidnon, and Abra.
She is described by Prim Paypon of The Dream Project PH as:
"A pilgrim on earth, she travels our northern and southern regions, mostly by herself, to discover and help save the dying heritage created by our ancestors' hands.
A socio-cultural entrepreneur, she empowers our artisan women to embrace their talent, nourish our indigenous or traditional industries, and teach our younger generations to share the same love for what's truly our own.
A dream enabler, she inspires everyone to wear our tribe with pride."
This is her story:
The Alpha Stories (TAS): Tell us the story of your company and why you started it?
Anya Lim: ANTHILL (Alternative Nest and Trading/ Training Hub for Indigenous/ Ingenious Little Livelihood seekers) Fabric Gallery is a fulfillment of a shared dream between my mother and I. In our travels, we saw weaving has become a dying tradition only known among the elders. There is a gap in its cultural transmission or continuity. Our weaves are undervalued materials and weaving has been an undervalued skill that is not attractive to younger generations. Cultural degradation was a social issue that deeply disturbed us. Coming from three years of experience as a fundraiser for an international non profit organization, I have witnessed how programs and projects in the field can still be largely dependent on aid which does not entirely give stakeholders a sense of ownership. More often than not, it also does not lead to sustainability. I was seeking out for solutions to address this and I felt social entrepreneurship was the answer. My fascination with the Filipino indigenous culture and my dream to work for its preservation alongside my mom's business experience in the fabric industry led us to start ANTHILL.
anya.lim@anthillfabricgallery.com / info@anthillfabricgallery.com
ANTHILL Fabric Gallery Instagram
ANTHILL Fabric Gallery Facebook
TAS: So, how did you put it all together?
Anya Lim: I did a lot of research on our Philippine Weaves. I went to visit the Philippine Textile Research Institute, National Commission for Culture and the Arts. I spoke with local designers, picked their brains and gauged their interest in using local weaves. We did a lot of community immersions across weaving communities in the country. When we started sharing our interests in preserving and promoting our weaves, everything happened organically. Our friends, families and networks introduced us to communities that matched our interests. We spent 3 years immersing in our identified partner communities to secure a strong foundation in our partnership. We did an assets assessment and had a lot of dialogues with the community.
TAS: What do you think is the most important part of starting out? How do you maintain a level of organization and impact to the community?
Anya Lim: I think the three important things in starting out- Multitask, Bootstrap, Innovate. I think it's a constant starting out for ANTHILL everyday. You never ran out of things to really start. The values of multitasking, bootstrapping, and innovating is also something that most start up enterprises continually adhere to.
There's also always something to fix so I personally don't feel we're quite organize yet. In our case, the organization and the impact is maintained because we're very much conscious of our mission-vision. It is imperative to invest in strengthening ones core that will ultimately guide the direction of the business and our activities. If that is clear, everything will follow.
TAS: Can you share with us 5 strategies that help you become an industry leader?
Anya Lim: I wouldn't really consider myself or ANTHILL as an industry leader just yet but here are 5 strategies that helped grew our humble ANTHILL.
a. Be genuine in everything you do and in getting to know your stakeholders. Sincerity and authenticity lingers and is felt by the many stakeholders you relate to (team, staff, customers, suppliers, business partners, community partners). It transcends any business transaction. There is so much more value and return on having good relationships with people. That's what they will remember you by.
b. Wear multiple hats and be good at them. Its is imperative to not just have a good overview of the business but to actually immerse oneself in every function. Learn how things are done, have the "I can" attitude 100% of the time, do it and be self sufficient. This is especially key in start ups. Being the employee and the employer helps you make better decisions and strikes the balance.
c. Share your story with pride. Be a testament. - I always tell our mothers to honour their voices and sometimes I forget that and sell my self short. There is power in declaration and story telling that it somehow magnifies and attracts more opportunities. One should really own ones story. Everything about what you do weaves your story.
d. Collaborate. Collaborate. Collaborate. - We would have reached this stage of our business if not for the many collaborations we've had from the start. It's important to know your strength and limitations. Seek for partners in change who can complement yours assets and learn from them.
e. Always go back to your core/ why. - This is the foundation of all business strategies and values. Your why steers the direction of your business and guides you in making decisions. This should be clear among the entire team and should constantly be strengthened.
TAS: What was your most inspiring moment doing what you do?
Anya Lim: I think what's most inspiring in the work we do is seeing our vision slowly come to reality. This is manifested in the growing number of young weave wearers we have especially among Filipinos appreciating our local weaves. There's a growing movement of those who wear them with pride everyday especially at work. It's not something that's undervalued anymore or deemed uncool to wear. As we grow our weave wearers, we are also able to encourage and entice more younger weavers to learn the craft and sustain the tradition. They are equally inspired when they see young people wearing their weaves. This is what inspires us the most- to see an ecosystem slowly being established because of the work we do.
TAS: When did you consider yourself a success? Why do you think you are successful?
Anya Lim: I still don't really consider myself successful. We've have achieved a lot of little milestones here and there but we still have a long way to go that's not very close yet to our success indicators.
I think we are "successful" in terms of being able to gain a following of genuine and long term Weave Advocates and Weave Ambassadors among our clients. They are our greatest storytellers. We are successful in terms of building relationships with our partners and slowly growing our businesses. They key to all these milestones is really team work. It didn't only take one person to make things happen. It has always been a collective effort in the pursuit of a shared dream. Every human element in the eco system we are building made us reach this point in our growth.
TAS: What are your success habits?
Anya Lim: I'm still constantly working on building strong habits at work. I think the habit that continually contributes to the path to success is ensuring that I have at least 10 minutes of pure quiet time for myself. Selfish as it may sound but I consciously do something for myself everyday that will make me happy. The constant practice and exercise of mindfulness in everything that I do grounds me to focus on my goals.
Other than that, I love keeping lists and photos. I try as much to have a To Do List everyday, calendar all my activities, write my blessings on my gratitude journal everyday and constantly update my dream and creative board for inspiration.
TAS: How do you start your day?
Anya Lim: I am still working on establishing a morning routine. Most days, I usually start my day with 20- 30 minute yoga or cardio just to clear out my mind, pump up endorphins and prepare myself for the day ahead. I thank the Universe for another new beginning, grab breakfast and then review my to do list and schedule for the day.
TAS: What makes you happy? Do you think being happiness is critical in being successful?
Anya Lim: Funny how I just met a very young and successful entrepreneur who's searching for happiness. I guess this goes to say that happiness is really not critical in being successful. A lot of people go up the corporate ladder, own multi billion dollar worth of companies, or at the peak of their professional careers but are not necessarily happy. The definition of success is also very subjective.
Personally, I believe that success is the result of happiness or joy. When one is able to merge passion and work into something that contributes to what the world needs, I say that is success.
I take delight in the simplest things so a lot of things really makes me happy. In ANTHILL, my greatest source of happiness is my team, our proud weave wearers and the ideas that we are able to turn into reality.
