A budding 20-year-old CEO
“I AM PROUD that I survived bullying back in high school.”
The young entrepreneur who brought the iconic Enchanted Rose in Disney’s “Beauty and the Beast” to
reality was an odd-duck way back in high school.
(Hannah de Guzman, a MAPUA Industrial design student and owner of Aesthetic Flowers / Photo grabbed from Hannah De Guzman’s Facebook account)
Hannah De Guzman, one of the top 6 finalists for the EO Global Student Entrepreneur Awards 2017 -Philippines, went through a lot of discrimination from high school bullies long before she founded the
popular online flower shop, Aesthetic Flowers.
Her unique features that flaunt her combined Filipino and Arabic genes were always in the spotlight of mockery--dark blemishes around her eyes, pointy nose and dark skin
“They were making fun of me because I looked different,” De Guzman shared to Dapitan Post.
The dimmed days of her high school turned out to be the rain before the rainbow in her life.
“Now, I see being unique as an advantage. It was an awful experience, but it made me stronger,” she expressed.
Despite the mean experience, Han, as her friends call her, valued how this encounter affected her as a person: “I’m still thankful that it was a part of my life.”
In the face of those who tried to push her to the bottom, Hannah successfully reached the top through her entrepreneurial skills.
At the age of 20, she already owns an online business that is famous for the iconic black flower wrap with a bloom inspired from a famous fairy tale.
Aesthetic Flower pioneered the black floral wrapping technique as it was the first to produce Beauty and the Beast inspired “enchanted rose” in Southeast Asia.
(The trending Enchanted Rose of Aesthetic Flowers / Photo grabbed from Aesthetic Flowers Facebook page)
The popularity of the floral business is supported by a huge number of followers on its social media accounts – more than 67,000 and 10,000 followers on Facebook and Instagram, respectively.
Back in 2015, the business started unexpectedly. It all started when Han was browsing photos online and stumbled upon “luxurious and unique” flower arrangement that caught her attention.
She posted her own floral arrangement on her Facebook account and unexpectedly received hundreds of requests of bouquet orders.
“At first, I did not thought of selling it but when I woke up – I [received] hundreds of pending messages. It was a hit. People went crazy about it and started ordering bouquets,” Hannah said.
“I saw the opportunity of this business so I pushed through and established Aesthetic Flowers,” she added.
She recalled the challenging part of establishing her floral business: “I remember, I did not have enough money for the capital… I was clueless.”
Regardless of being a newbie in the floral industry, the competitive young adult studied how to exquisitely arrange flower through YouTube videos and books.
“With perseverance and hard work, I was able to manage and maintain the business. Almost everything was self-taught,” she continued.
Hannah considered Aesthetic Flowers a significant part of her life that gave her the determination to continue her passion and her drive to inspire the youth.
“It’s a huge part of my life. I would do anything to see it become a successful brand. Aesthetic Flowers gave me a purpose - not only to be able to share my passion on flowers but also to be seen as a role model to other millennials,” she shared.
Seeing that Aesthetic Flowers established overwhelming support from the clients, the young CEO received offers from the giant conglomerates Rockwell Land Corporation, SM Prime Holdings, Megaworld Corporation and MCA Music Inc.
“I got shocked seeing them on our e-mails. I never thought I will be able to do business with them - these are big [companies] and it is such an honor to be noticed [by them].” she revealed.
Her success was highlighted in the business industry when she was featured in different media platforms like ABS-CBN News, Solar Channel and Net 25.
“I can’t believe that I had the opportunity to share my experience with these networks even if I still consider myself as an amateur in the business world.” she said.
Despite the pressure of being a young entrepreneur, she made sure that everything she produced was impressive--a way to be considered a player in the market by the veteran tycoons.
This successful business owner has been enjoying the fruit of success of Aesthetic Flowers. She already “bought a car, phone, and a signature bag. The rest was spent on traveling, eating or went to [her] savings.”
Behind the grandeur of being a business person, Hannah admitted that there were moments in her life where she doubted herself, where she thought she was “not good enough” to run a business.
“I always gave myself reasons why I cannot do it, but I realized that nobody can help me become successful except for myself – you have to be your own die-hard fan,” she continued.
The girl who wanted to be remembered “as someone who gave you the ‘extra push’ you needed to start reaching your dreams” left an advice to the aspiring young entrepreneurs.
“My advice would be to start as soon as they see the opportunity. Follow your passion, work hard and never let anyone pull you down.” -- with reports from Kate Reyes
