This young baker from Iloilo shared an important life lesson after she figured in a car accident while delivering cakes last Valentine’s Day.
20-year-old student Emelu Grave Garibay started her own cake business in 2020. Her business was going well, allowing her to earn around P25,000 monthly. Until a tragic incident happened.
“I started baking po February 12, may dalawang deliveries po kasi sa city areas kasi sa amin, dito area saamin, kasi medyo malayo po ‘yung city areas. May 30 plus orders po ako that time. Nakagawa po ako ng mga 35 going 40 na cakes that time tapos po ayon, so bale pagod po hindi natulog ng ilang days and then need ko po magdeliver,” Emelu shared.
“Napass-out po ako during my deliver pero nakadeliver na po ako sa dalawang towns bale may isang town na lang po ako na hindi nadedeliveran nung malapit na po ako doon po nag passout po ako during my driving,” she added.
Emelu was driving with a speed of around 20-40kph. The right side of the car was totally damaged after the vehicle rammed an electric post. Fortunately, no one got injured.
“Nag-cross po ako sa road na hindi ko na po napansin na, hindi ko na po namalayan na nabanga ako. Paggising ko po, nandoon na ako sa mismong area na ‘yon. Na-shock din po ‘yung mga respondents kasi po okay po ako. Wala akong ni isang gasgas po or sugat. Wala po talaga and clear naman po ‘yung mga x-rays ko,” she narrated.
“Nadamage lang ‘yun na malakas kasi nag-cross po ako sa road tapos may kanal po don na nahulugan ko which is sa side ko po is safer talaga pero dito sa right side po mejo malaking damage talaga kasi parang nabanga po kasi siya sa poste before siya mapumunta sa kanal,” she added.
However, 12 cakes worth P7,000 got destroyed and were not delivered that day. Thankfully, her customers understood her situation.
Emelu said that the accident was an eye opener for her. “Magandang bagay po ‘yung magpause kasi diyan ka po makakahinga ng parang you need really a break para po maka hinga sa mga lahat ng ginagawa natin.”
“Kasi medyo ‘pag nasa taas ka na po, ‘yung feeling na kaya mo na po gawin lahat. So feeling mo, kasi po bata ka pa, tapos you have that money, your own earning po. Pero on the other side, you’ll realize na kaya siguro ‘yun nangyari kasi God needs you to take (a break). ibang bahagi kasi medyo lumalayo ka na sa gusto niyang mangyari para sa’yo,” she noted.
She usually accepts seven cakes per day but decided to limit it to two cakes per day.
“Noong mga first week po, I stopped baking po talaga and rest lang po. Ang daming na-realize na parang kailangan talaga magbawas kasi nag-aaral pa,” Emelu said.
Emelu is a first year BS entrepreneurship student at the Central Philippine University.
With a P500 capital from her parents, she decided to start her small business in June 2020.
Many netizens expressed concern when Emelu shared her story on social media. The uploaded video now has more than 3.1 million views.
“Keep your feet on the ground, hindi lahat ng bagay ma-aachieve natin agad-agad. So, you need to take it step-by-step, hindi ‘yung instant. Tapos kailangan natin i-manage ‘yung pag-aaral kasi student talaga tayo and ‘yung business is andyan lang,” Emelu said when asked about her message to fellow young entrepreneurs.
