Style and comfort are among the most important considerations for a footwear purchase. Most of the time, customers put on shoes and walk around to “see how it feels.”
This is the motivating force why a lady from Zamboanga Peninsula came out of her cocoon, unveiling her ingenuity to launch a business of manufacturing sophisticated pairs of shoes—the Mae Valencia Collections.
Mae, as her friends are fond of calling her, is the second among her equally talented siblings. She was raised by her loving and hardworking parents—his dad, a tough policeman and her mom, a loving and caring educator.
She labels her early life as somewhat average who enjoyed three meals a day, yet happy and contented. While growing, Mae was taught by her hardworking parents to become self-reliant. After completing her elementary and high school education, Mae was sent by her parents to Ateneo De Zamboanga where she graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in Accountancy.
She worked for several companies and considered herself to be financially stable. It was at work where she met her husband who has been a good provider and who supported her dream to become a lady cobbler.
Mae went on to produce elegant shoes containing superb designs (rhinestones, Swarovski crystals) that are stylish and posh enough to compete with international brands.
“I had no intention to be in this business but what brought me to this was when I had a very unforgettable experience wearing an expensive pair of stilettos, and also, when I gained weight. It happened one day I was with my husband to attend a gala night. According to a saying, your shoes is the first thing people would notice about you, so my husband purchased for me a very expensive pair of shoes. I was feeling proud because for me it’s a luxury,” Mae recalls.
She never expected that the particular moment would be an agonizing night when she experienced what she called “tiis-ganda” moment.
“Flaunting the shoes during the party was my intention but it turned out that it’s an excruciating experience for me. I was still inside the car and my feet were already cramping. My feet hurt and I was very unhappy. But of course, we have the famous line ‘tiis-ganda’ so I just endured the pain with my head held high,” she says.
Mae became eager to look for answers and decided that she would avoid the same painful experience the next time she wore high-heeled shoes in a party.
“Noticing women around, most of them were Americans and a bit heavier than me. I wondered how they could carry themselves gracefully wearing their shoes and looking pain-free. I was curious what brand they were wearing. A few hours later, I went to the bathroom and had a retouch. I saw each one of them removing their shoes and they even had a ballet flat with them. And from that moment on, I said to my husband, I needed to go back to the Philippines and become a hero of solving these problems to all women in the world, to provide them comfort while wearing elegant high-heeled shoes,” she says.
In 2012, she started searching for answers. “Way back 2012, I had a sandal business already which was more into accessorizing the flip-flops. But for shoes, it started in 2015. It was a struggle for me because none at that time offered shoemaking classes. That’s why I had to travel to Carcar [Cebu] and Marikina just to find a supplier who was doing high-fashion shoes,” Mae says.
“Why did I choose high fashion? Maybe I am a very optimistic person. I haven’t yet seen a Filipino product or brand that manufactures high-fashion design like the famous Louboutin, Valentino, etc. For me, if they could do it, then we can do it also. Mind you I didn’t know how to sketch nor did I have an idea about shoemaking. But because I’m very optimistic, Mae Valencia Collections came about,” she says.
She also had to overcome problems such as finding the right workers. While most shoemakers from Marikina were highly-skilled, many of them were aging and their skills were not passed on to the young generation.
“Raw materials were also a big problem back then and my shoes were a bit pricey because a majority of my materials were outsourced internationally. But to solve this, I’m adopting the trend of innovation because right now, Taiwan is the number one producer of shoes in the world. They have all the advanced technologies where they can produce 5,000 pairs in a day. So I guess, with that we can be more competitive,” Mae says.
Her eagerness and perseverance encouraged her to move from Cebu to Marikina. “I consider myself to be courageous. I’m an expat in Marikina but I love the suppliers because they have high respect for us newcomers. But of course, it was still a struggle since I could not find a partner where I could do my research and development,” she says.
Her quest to form a formidable team paid off when she met one of Marikina’s pattern makers.
“Good thing I found a good pattern maker who helped me form my RD team. I hired one shoemaker and one upper maker. So, from there I never stopped learning 24/7. Eventually, I learned how to pattern, design and even answer the problems to all feet-related issues, especially providing orthotic customized shoes, which is now my specialty.”
“My initial capital was P200,000 and Mae Valencia Collection’s uniqueness is a comfort and perfect fitting because we do foot casting, scanning to get the perfect curvature of your arch. For a customized design, it is cheaper and it can be seen anywhere. But what we offer is our special services. With us, our dear clients can walk in a 4-inch stiletto pump shoes pain-free,” she says.
On her future business plan, Mae says her goal is to be the number one supplier of comfortable shoes to small-medium enterprises and large companies.
Mae is now preparing for the grand launch of Mae Valencia Collections by September this year.
“Every business is tough when you are starting. When the time comes that you think your business is failing, don’t give up and continue to chase your dreams,” she says.
“I study and do research every day, which has made my business a success. Still, the key ingredient to be successful is to become grateful and let God become the decision maker. I assure you, you’ll see magic!” she says.