Yes bestea! Colz Vidal was a full-time accountant before living in Siargao and became a full-time travel content creator and businesswoman!
In an exclusive interview with The Philippine STAR/LatestChika.com, Colz shared her life before entering the social media world and how the “Siargao magic” was vital to her success.
“‘Di ba Siargao is like magical. Imagine, I was just here so randomly before COVID, then from one main decision of quitting my job, now I’m basically living an island life with nine dogs, with four businesses, traveling the world. Plus, of course, my love of my life,” she happily said.
Colz grew up in Saudi Arabia with her family. She eventually went home to study accountancy at the De Lasalle University – Manila.
Since her father was a certified public accountant, she also dreamt of following his footsteps in the industry.
“I was raised by my parents to be an accountant. As in. Ever since high school pa lang, lagi akong tine-train ng dad ko sa math, just to be like him in the future. I really dreamed to be a CPA. That’s really part of my system. As in, I wake up for the purpose of studying to become a CPA and to climb the corporate ladder and to have my own accounting firm,” she said.
After finishing college, she immediately took the board exam and successfully passed the exam in 2016.
Describing her parents at that time, Colz said, “They were really proud. Laging description nila sa akin, ‘CPA ang anak ko.’ Ganun ‘yung pride nila as parents raising me.”
She was able to work at a famous firm in Makati City. But later noted, “When I was in SGV, I [was] slowly realizing na it was not as fulfilling as I thought it would be. The corporate life, the daily 8 to 5 job, I lost purpose.”
That’s when she thought of travelling and started posting online. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Colz decided to visit Siargao for the second time.
“I said, I don’t want to be in Manila for the next two weeks. Maybe I can take this opportunity, to explore my life in Siargao. So, that’s when I moved to Siargao. I took the opportunity of the pandemic to build my businesses,” she said.
The sudden shift wasn’t easy for her family, especially her parents.
“Sinumbong lang ako ng kapatid ko na, ‘Ma, si ate, wala na pa lang trabaho.’ So that’s when they gave me that talk, and that talk was actually not very ideal. It was masakit, sobrang bigat sa loob ko, kasi they really made me feel na disappointed sila,” Colz shared.
Adding, “It took me years for them to accept na this is gonna be my life and your accounting firm that you’ve been dreaming your whole life, it’s not gonna happen. took a different path sa in-expect nila.”
Colz stood firm and worked hard to establish her own name in the business industry. She was also able to find her “perfect partner” on the island while she was building her dream life and job.
“We met randomly in a bar. After party, 2 AM, sober si ate girl. I was just waiting for my friend. Then he approached me. At first I was like, ‘Sino ba tong lalaking to?’ Eh hindi ko kasi bet,” she candidly said.
“Hindi ko siya type. But then, from that point, we had a conversation. He felt that we had a connection he felt this urge to naligawan ako… I-pursue ako. Carl is really a big factor to me. I really know that I really grew to be a better person because of him. He’s really a big factor to my growth and to my success right now,” she added.
Colz started posting travel content in 2017 as a hobby. Because of her consistency and determination, she was able to build her own community on social media.
“It was an aggressive increase. Like over the weekend 10k, the next weekend another 10k. It was that fast. So even ako myself, I was overwhelmed. Kasi hindi ko naman pinangarap maging public content creator but then it just happened. And I loved it because gusto kong mag-take ng photos. Gusto kong mag-OOTD habang nagta-travel and I want to share it to the world. I also love to write so parang ang galing na nag-convert into this kind of career,” she stressed.
“Traveling has this mysterious effect on each person. It will widen your mind, it will widen your emotions.‘Wag mong sabihin na, ‘Okay mag-iipon mo na ako hanggang sa mag-retire ako doon ako magta-travel.’ It’s really different when you’re traveling young because there are so many opportunities. you could also grow to be a better person,” she added.
