#BOSSBABE: Living the Cinty Y Lifestyle!

This article is super close to this writer’s heart. I am writing about a woman whom I’ve personally known for decades and a former colleague at The Peninsula Manila. I have long admired Cinty Yñiguez and this petite stunner has always been larger than life! When she enters a room, everyone turns around and looks at her; she illuminates the room with her beauty and joie de vivre. What I admire most about Cinty are her calm demeanour, her love for life, and her kindness. Combined those traits with her fierce business acumen as an innovative womanpreneur, a successful career as a hotelier, and being Manila’s best yoga guru — Cinty is one #Bossbabe, a triple threat for sure!

Cinty earned her Bachelor’s degree of Science, Hotel and Restaurant Business Management at the University of the Philippines. She started her career as a Sales Manager at The Peninsula Manila in 1991. At The Pen, Cinty managed and supervised ten sales staff.  She was a consistent top Sales Manager for the hotel. Cinty concentrated on handling the corporate account management of top producing and large-scale multinational companies and overseas markets, which included Hong Kong and Singapore. One happy client was my uncle, Eddie Sia (husband of my aunt from my maternal side), former head of DuPont Philippines.

From her stint at The Peninsula Manila, Cinty went on to become an Associate Director of Sales for Ritz Carlton in Singapore for two years. After Singapore, Cinty became a part of the pre-opening team of the Sales and Marketing International team of Hong Kong Disneyland where she led and managed the regional teams in India, Indonesia, Philippines, Australia, Europe, and the U.S. in improving productivity, effectiveness and operational efficiency of the sales and marketing division. After ten years with Hong Kong Disneyland, Cinty moved on to become the Director of Sales and Marketing for the Sicogon Island Tourism Estate where she successfully managed the rebranding of AirSwift airlines.

At present, Cinty is connected with the Ayala Land Hotels and Resorts Corp., as the Director of Sales and Marketing for the Seda Verdis North — managing a strong staff of 20 for sales, banquets/events, PR & marketing communications, and reservations departments, with overall mentorship of all department leaders to develop effective revenue strategies and innovative marketing initiatives for 438 rooms, 10 banquet rooms, and three restaurants and a bar.

On top of her being a hotelier, Cinty is the CEO and Founder of Naked Foods by Cinty. She started the plant-based brand in 2017. Naked Foods by Cinty offers preservative-free meat alternatives food products without sacrificing tastes and flavour! You can savour Gourmet foods like the popular “Facon “ — a nutrient-dense Filipino and Italian sausage filled with herbal flavours. You can also enjoy classic favourites such as Sweet Pork Bites, Pulled Pork, Beef Strips, Vegetable Bouillon Powder, and Char Siu Pork.

Let’s get to know how one becomes a successful #Bossbabe and how to live the “Cinty Y Lifestyle!”

Tell us more about your business and how you started it. 

“It all started with yoga, shortly after my second daughter, Alexandra was born back in 2001. I wanted to get into a health regimen that I had to be realistic about in sustaining for life. Something that was only going to have a positive impact physically and mentally; a kind, and gentle yet strong, stable, and grounding active lifestyle. I got into deeper yoga practice, then saw the effects of what I was eating in my practice. The deeper and more advanced in practice I wanted to get, the more mindful I was about eating, realizing that whenever I ate less or no meat, I was more fluid, flexible and even stronger in my practice. The healthier I ate; the more plant-based I became, the stronger I became.”

What inspired you?

“Cooking was always part of growing up and I will always be grateful for having grown up in a home where ‘eating together’ is a family tradition; gathering around family meals connected us and brought us closer together. My Mom, Aunt and sisters were great cooks, and I couldn’t have been more inspired to do the same, this time probably a little healthier.

I started with a plot of land with 5 beds of vegetables. I started carrying home baskets of kale, and green leafy vegetables. Then my experimenting began with drinking green juice every single day for years; my kids got into the same healthy eating habits (and we never got sick, touch on wood). Healthy eating became a family staple; then I brought it to the office — a 5-star deluxe hotel (The Peninsula Manila) — where I first worked and introduced this healthy eating menu in their coffee shop. Eventually, this healthy lifestyle became an active choice.”

How were you able to establish it?

“Through further studies — Clinical Nutrition (and I am planning to further my education in Plant-based Nutrition). I strive to nourish my well-being not just through yoga, but by focusing on the healing, meditative practice of creating good, home-cooked meals, and experimenting with plant-based food alternatives. My aim is to be able to share this inspiration with others, to help enrich lives by creating and enabling healthier, sustainable lifestyles through the teachings of yoga and good nutrition.”

At a certain age, a woman accepts this fact: life is about accepting challenges and choosing to keep moving onwards. What are the daily challenges you face as a womanpreneur?

“I have always been a diligent, meticulous and an organized person even as a child. Time management and big-time multi-tasking skills were something I learned at a young age. It really is no different today, when I have to manage my time most effectively and enjoyably between my corporate life and my personal life. And outside of work, it would mean wearing many different hats as the founder of Naked Foods, as a yoga teacher, and as a nutritionist  — all rolled into one.

My primary focus, of course, is work. During weekdays, and if I’m lucky, I try to squeeze in a 20-30-minute yoga practice. I spend my nights, weekends, and holidays dedicated to getting creative in my ‘woman-cave’ or ‘she-shed’ or what I fondly call my ‘passion pantry’. My ‘woman cave’ is where I do some yoga self-practice, continuously gain more knowledge on plant-based nutrition, and learn more on how to have a well-rounded and holistic lifestyle approach.” 

“Yoga, nutrition, curated plant-based creations are all passion projects that fuel and nourish me every day. Every day is different and brings forth a myriad of different challenges and opportunities. Our most important resources — TIME and ENERGY and how we use and prioritize these — allow us to be able to sustain and inspire us to move through (with focus, agility, fluidity, and purpose) on the everyday changes and challenges in our daily lives.”

We all know that en route to success, we can’t help but pass by failures. What and how did you learn from your failures? How do you push through your worst times?

“When I think of the worst times — both personally and professionally, I try and remember to always set boundaries for myself and know exactly what I value in life; what matters most at the end of the day. I inculcate the best way I can and know — the values of GRIT,  FORTITUDE, OPTIMISM, and our favorite (and most used) word of 2020 — RESILIENCE. We really need to see beyond and understand that your thoughts today may seem the worst day of your life, but there is always a better and brighter tomorrow, with renewed faith, love and hope.

Hardships, obstacles, challenges, difficulties and even for some of us, trauma, are temporary, but they certainly build your character and make you stronger (hopefully, wiser) each time.

The worst times only help you to propel and accelerate you, your life, your goals to excellence. Just keep moving and flowing and know that tomorrow will always be better.” ❤️?

What is the most important to you and why at this point in your life?

“What is most important to me right now is a holistic approach and attitude towards wellness. I find the need to sustain the nourishment of my physical, mental, emotional and spiritual being so that I have more than enough to give others. Notwithstanding, the true gift of family and a handful of authentic people in my life are the people that matter most to me. When we take care of ourselves, we can show up and be more present for others.”

“Our mission is to encourage more people to nourish themselves with healthy and nutritious, handcrafted plant-based food that are stripped of all the preservatives, yielding healthier results for the mind, body and soul. Our vision is to be the voice and advocate of change and innovation for adoption of a more plant forward eating as a “gateway diet” to a healthier lifestyle. We believe that the journey to a healthier lifestyle starts with a few easy steps, transforming local and international staple favourites into guilt-free alternatives that taste just as good, if not better!”

What do you do for encouragement or to be motivated?

“GRIT. Find the courage, stay strong  and persevere in the face of adversities. Do your best to see opportunities in chaos. The light will always glimmer; the candle flickers; Life presents you with many choices. Be mindful, conscientious and vigilant in choosing the one you feel best at that moment. Be passionate about yourself and life is the best gift you can give yourself. Follow and live your BLISS. Keep stokin’ that fire, baby! ?

Find your TRIBE. LOVE them hard. The universe will (magically) always conspire to give you what you need. Have faith. Trust yourself the most and be kind and compassionate to yourself. Set boundaries and give love to yourself so that you have enough love to give to others. And this starts with taking care of yourselves first.” ❤️

Sometimes success means having the right idea in the right place at the right time. How did you know when you had the right idea?

“I discovered the amazing impact both yoga and good, healthy nutrition had on my body and mind. We can only trust and are solely responsible for ourselves. This means loving, accepting and embracing our body. It is the most amazing thing you’ll ever own. And if we don’t take care of ourselves; of our body, then who will? These are words that resonated in my head and heart when I started my passion in yoga and ‘eating clean’ so-to-speak in my wellness journey some 20 +years ago.

People have been focused on health for so many years. Since the beginning of time, we’ve been looking for ways to feel better and live longer. We are constantly exploring and evolving to find better (and not necessarily the best) ways to nourish ourselves – physically, mentally, emotionally and even spiritually. Sometimes, we look for a healthy, safe, and sustainable path that will heal and propel us as the realities of life start to set-in (such as uncontrollable toxins in the environment, illness, age and other factors).”

“I have found that self-care; taking care of our bodies as mediums have the greatest and most profound impact on our well-being. Knowing that what we put in our bodies is what will be reflected on the outside. I genuinely believe in the old adage,  “we are what we eat.”

“The practice of Yoga and Eating Clean or Good Nutrition (leaning towards a more plant-based lifestyle) have a lot in common. Both teach us to respect our bodies. We all age over time; we can’t escape that. Some are older; some are more limber; stronger; more flexible now than the others, but we will all get to the same destination some day. But as we do, we can get there gracefully and mindfully (hopefully, with less visits to the doctor; less medicines).”

What podcasts do you listen to inspire or learn from?

“I listen a lot to all kinds of TED talks  — about life, relationships, science, nutrition, food, yoga, business, technology, farming and a long list of cooking channels.”

Women have certainly come a long way — we no longer choose to be  victims; we prefer to be the heroines in our lives. Which womanpreneur inspires you and why?

“There is a long list of female entrepreneurs, both local and international,  that I admire and inspired by — for their advocacy, commitment, tenacity and success (however you define it).

But to zero-in on some of them are the following:

●     Rissa Mananquil Trillo is the co-founder of Happy Skin, a popular cosmetics and beauty product brand. The brand is known for its dynamic makeup lines that take care of the customer’s skin. Happy Skin boasts 13 stores and almost 100 beauty kiosks in the Philippines. It has also garnered 30 beauty awards, such as the Most Promising New Cosmetic Brand from Watsons Philippines. I have had a chance to have a few exchanges with her to explore an opportunity for a collaboration (for work). I feel we share the same sentiments and values about “good values” – how we should develop and nurture them, and at any time of compromise, stick to your guns; stand your ground. Know who you are.

●     Briohny Smith is a renowned yoga teacher. I had the opportunity of attending her Teacher Training Course in HK. Her energy was soothing, yet strong.

●     Rinat Perlman is a yoga teacher in HK (GOOD Yoga). I took countless classes with her and had my most amazing journey in yoga getting “beat” by her. I have profound love and respect for what I learned from her classes. And to all my co-teaching faculty in the yoga scene (as me teachers, mentors and sources of constant inspiration) — they are all amazing women who I know are always striving, thriving to be the best and give the most from their genuine hearts.

●     My Aspiring Partners in Naked Foods (Real Food PH, The Vegan Grocer, Only Vegan Store Cebu, and just a newby partner, Very Vegan Negrense).

My daughter, Krissa Ludvigsen (Dharma Approach) — she is an Oslo-based Yoga Teacher, Digital Marketer, An Advocate for Mindful Living  and because she is my daughter ?❤️?. Seriously, because and for her, I stoked my fire at a young age.” ???

Behind every successful woman is a tribe of other successful women who have her back. What advice would you give young aspiring womenpreneurs?

“I live by the following adage that apply to every area in my life – work, yoga and good, healthy nutrition:

Self-love is the greatest medicine. Our life gets better when we give love to ourselves; our body, and treat it with kindness, mindfully. We just need to keep working at it, and the rest will follow. Because really, the body achieves what the mind believes. We just need to practice patience and mindfulness, because nothing in life ever blooms all year.

We reap the rewards over time, not instantaneously, so as long as we are mindful and consistent in what we do and know exactly why we are doing it; knowing the “why”; the ‘purpose’, we will eventually get there. We are already halfway there, when the intentions in our hearts and minds are clear and clean. We need to create healthy habits, not restrictions. And we really need to listen to our bodies; allow it to whisper to us, so we don’t have to hear it scream.

Let not the mind limit us to do what is good for us in the short and long run. Embrace and love your body. It is the most amazing thing you’ll ever own. Let eating clean be a priority; a constant, joyous and adventurous journey and a gift we give to ourselves and the people we love.”

Hey ladies, what are we all waiting for? Let’s start living the “Cinty Y” Lifestyle — let’s start taking care of ourselves! Indeed, we are what we eat so let’s not eat junk, fast, fattening, and processed foods. Our bodies are our homes — let’s keep our homes clean! ❤️?