Gelaine Santiago: Finding the missing piece of her identity

Being away from her home country for more than two decades to be raised in Canada, particularly in Toronto, Gelaine Santiago has completely adopted its rich and diverse culture, learning from stories of various people she encountered in the place. Unlike her parents and older siblings, she did not have to go through a long period of cultural adjustment because they moved to Canada when she was just two years old. At such age, Gelaine already gained an understanding of the customs and general way of life of her new community so it is not hard for her to think of how she’s going to perceive her new surroundings.

There’s really no ‘coping-with-culture-shock’ feeling for Gelaine since, first of all, she literally knew a little about her homeland, as she grew up barely recalling how it looks, feels, sounds, and smells like.

And that’s the part of her that’s missing. She may be right there standing on Canadian soil, but she woke up one day realizing that her heart is out there, looking for the place where it first belonged.

Now earnestly wanting to know more about her identity’s other half, Gelaine, together with Philippine Canadian Inquirer (PCI), will explore a new unfamiliar road as she finds her way back home.

The Bulakenya

A heaven-sent gift to a Filipino couple, Gelaine first opened her eyes in the same crib where some of the Philippines’ noble heroes and greatest artists were born — the province of Bulacan, or the “Northern Gateway from Manila.”

Gelaine is the middle child among the five of them; she has two sisters who are six and seven years older than her and two brothers who are also six and seven years younger than her.

With all the types of Filipino families, she is lucky to have been born in a very supportive family that has always been there for her since the beginning, through thick and thin.

“We all have an amazing relationship. We have always been very close.”

Far from other kids who have strict parents, Gelaine does not have to deal with, perhaps, always being watched over or has to follow tons of rules at home; she simply gets to enjoy the amount of freedom her parents give to her.

But even though her mom and dad give her their permission most of the time, it does not necessarily mean that they care less about their daughter. They do, a lot actually, it’s just that they wanted her to become someone who does not need to depend so much on other people.

Every Bulakenyo has the privilege to enjoy the treasured beauty of one of the Philippines’ must-see destinations that is undeniably filled with historical heritage.

Unfortunately, Gelaine wasn’t able to do so due to her parents, who then came to realize that their motherland was not the country where they can find better job opportunities. And so, their family dropped everything they had in Bulacan and left for Toronto with high hopes for a much brighter future.

New country, new home

These brave souls started a new chapter of their lives abroad, with her parents ending up working as factory workers. With eagerness and dedication to provide for his family, Gelaine’s dad climbed his way from being just a simple staff to becoming a supervisor, and finally being promoted as one of the factory’s floor managers. Her mom, meanwhile, went back to school where she was able to learn about personal income taxes and how to sell insurance, which eventually led her to become an insurance sales person and owner of a personal income tax business which services over 1,000 clients every year.

Moving into their new ‘home’ as a two-year-old immigrant, Gelaine did not recall that much when they first arrived in the Great White North; the only memory that was clear to her was that she remembered wearing big winter clothes while playing in the snow with her parents in their backyard.

She shared that she felt very fortunate for not being able to make a lot of adjustments on their new home, compared to her parents and older sisters who had a very challenging phase of getting used to a culture and lifestyle that is markedly different from what they had back in the Philippines. What adjustment or change did she have to do when she had no idea what she had as a kid to begin with?

Gelaine may have saved herself from experiencing culture shock, but she failed to protect herself from the ‘judging gazes’ toward her.

She has a Filipina cousin who was working as a nanny whose duty is to help clean her employer’s home and take care of its kids. One time, when Gelaine had to visit her while working, she remembered having a very uncomfortable interaction with the relatives of her cousin’s employers who blatantly asked her if she was also a nanny.

“I was like ‘no, I’m actually [a student] in a university and I grew up here.’ And then one of the family members said something along the line like how my family had come here on a boat. It was very random.”

Working as nurses and caregivers are such an honorable profession for Gelaine and there is nothing wrong with that. However, generalizing that all Filipinos working in Canada are as such without considering their profession or academic status at all might be disrespectful to the person.

In spite of doing ways just to have a sense of belongingness, Gelaine said she felt more estranged and different, being one of those few people of color in both her school or neighborhood.

“For a long time, I felt like I should hide my Filipino identity or like I should just try to fit in with the definition of what a Canadian is instead of trying to reconnect with my heritage. I just really felt like I never belonged anywhere and I never felt very accepted for who I was.”

In many ways, Gelaine was not very connected to the Filipino community and because of that, she ended up “feeling lost” for most of her life. It was only when she turned 22, the time when she went back to the Philippines for the very first time since migrating, that she finally had the desire to find that missing puzzle piece of her identity.

A stranger to her own home

Home, for us, is where we can do whatever we want and be who we really are. Our homes should be the safest, most comfortable, and the most familiar out of all places in the world — but Gelaine felt like a stranger in her own.

As part of living in the overseas, Gelaine admitted that she was not pressed to stay connected to her Filipino roots, which explained a lot about why she only embraced what she was taught and had experienced in Canada.

“We weren’t educated about what life was like in the Philippines or what is Filipino culture or Filipino traditions. I didn’t grow up learning any of that.”

What’s more saddening is that Gelaine did not even have the chance to learn about her native language because her parents, she recalled, were advised by her teachers to stop communicating with her in Tagalog so she can learn how to speak English fluently.

“That was one of the reasons why I wasn’t encouraged to learn Filipino because my parents really just wanted us to fit in, to succeed in school, and unfortunately the system of education at that time really didn’t encourage diversity at home.”

So going back to an unfamiliar home in 2012, even if it’s only for a vacation with her family and husband, definitely opened her eyes to a whole lot of new experiences and meeting different people.

“FASCINATED.” That was the best word Gelaine could describe herself after realizing that there were so many things she did not know about Filipino culture and eventually ended up discovering about it.

“Just learning about Filipino culture and what life was like in the Philippines, I didn’t know any of that and I wasn’t sure what to expect. The community in Canada is also different from the community in the Philippines.”

While she’s exploring her Filipino roots, there’s also this thing that caught Gelaine’s eyes: well-designed and modern with a touch of Pinoy tradition products made by none other than the hands of skillful Filipino artisans.

Gelaine was amused by the fact that there is actually a small group in her homeland that is helping Filipino craftspeople to make ends meet by creating these fashionable merchandise.

“It was really amazing because that was my first time seeing something like that and realized that there’s a community of entrepreneurs who are really focused on creating social impact in the Philippines.”

But these businesses weren’t that much appreciated in the global market, making it hard for them to reach customers outside the Philippines.

So when she ended her vacation in her home country, Gelaine made it her mission to support these Pinoy artisans by opening more doors of opportunities to them, as she and her husband, Jérôme, chose to take the entrepreneur route.

Rise of an entrepreneur

Creating business plans, meeting with potential investors and clients, preparing work schedules, hiring staff, overseeing all activities involved with the company’s products and services, and more was never her wish nor even close to her initial dream to become a veterinarian.

It was Gelaine’s desire to become one of those people in the medical field and her parents expected that this was the profession she would take in the future. Or so they thought.

Things changed, as well as her dreams, after she graduated from university. Gelaine felt she was passionate about conservation so she thought of working in the field doing some research, focusing on environmental sustainability. However, she then figured out that being a researcher was not really her strength and that organizing people or bringing people together to share stories in a meaningful way is something that she’s really good at.

“I ended up doing human resources because I thought I could work with organizations to help them attract people and get people excited about their cause.”

“I think my core talent is that getting people excited about things but I never imagined being an entrepreneur… especially not an entrepreneur focused on Filipino culture.”

But somehow, her husband, whom she said to have always been very entrepreneurial, encouraged her to be like one. Her parents agreed with the idea of their daughter to choose the entrepreneurial path instead of being a veterinarian. Although they were concerned at first, they supported and trusted Gelaine to make her own decisions.

Going back to Canada after their life-changing vacation in the Philippines, Both Gelaine and Jérôme, who did not feel any more fulfillment in doing their corporate jobs at that time, decided to leave their respective companies, took what was one of the biggest leaps of faith in their lives, and opened the gates of Cambio & Co. to international clients.

Birth of Cambio & Co.

Taking their “it’s now or never” chance in 2015, the couple finally established an e-commerce company, named Cambio Market, which was derived from the Spanish name that means “change.” Gelaine said they initially envisioned their business as something that is not only focused on showcasing Filipino-made products, like bags and accessories, but also those coming from all over the world like Guatemala, India, and Uganda.

They ended up promoting these various products because a lot of people told them not to revolve their business around Pinoy products only because “people are not gonna be willing to pay much money” for it. Unfortunately, Gelaine and Jérôme were swayed by such advice.

It took them years to finally realize that they should have just stuck with the reason why they wanted to create a business in the first place, that aside from creating a sustainable livelihood for Pinoy artisans, they aim to offer their customers “fashion as means to help connect other Filipinos in the diaspora.”

2018 was the year they rebranded their business, changing its name from Cambio Market to Cambio & Co. Gelaine and Jérôme retained the word “Cambio” as it has made a name in the global market, but this time, they didn’t keep the Spanish background anymore. The word “Co.,” on the other hand, represents their partners in the Philippines as well as their customers “who are all working together to create change.”

Living the entrepreneurial life

For Gelaine, being an entrepreneur is not a complex thing to do. This job may require a lot of hard work but as an entrepreneur, you don’t necessarily have to have the best idea nor solve the biggest problem.

Working in a corporation, traveling, and being exposed to different organizations has taught Gelaine that there are so many ways of doing things and tackling problems.

Just like any other entrepreneur, even the most successful ones today, Gelaine has to go through tons of struggles all the time. But the biggest struggle she faced with Cambio & Co. for a very long time was when they could not understand who their customers are.

“We have beautiful products; they all have beautiful stories. And when we share it in person or online, people were like ‘Oh, that’s really a cool idea’ or ‘good luck,’ but they were not that passionate about what we’re doing. And that’s really frustrating.”

Not knowing their target market, Cambio & Co. was growing really, really slowly. It was only until when they rebranded last year that they stopped “pleasing” everybody and instead dealt with what they are really passionate about, which is working with their beloved partners in the Philippines.

“I said, let’s just specialize on that. Let’s share the stories of our partners, and let’s share stories about Filipinos like me who are trying to reconnect with their heritage.”

“Let’s just try to reach those people and let’s see what happens.”

When they finally found the most important story to tell their customers, everything just fell into place and their business was heard loudly in the international market.

As co-founders of Cambio & Co. Gelaine is in charge of all the marketing and storytelling on social media. Primarily, she interacts with their customers online, responding to their inquiries, and creating an online community and content. Outside their company, she also does in-person events, including speaking and networking.

Jérôme, for his part, is responsible for technology, logistics, and operations and coordinates with their business partners to bring their products from the Philippines to Canada.

Choosing entrepreneurship as a career had indeed a lot of bad parts but the core thing for Gelaine is that she has to depend on herself to make things happen.

As for Cambio & Co., Gelaine said they have no external funding; they are only supporting their business from their own pockets.

The fact that they do not have stable income coming in, Gelaine and her team have to burn the midnight oil to make up or figure out whatever’s the problem.

“It’s really just like, if there’s a problem, it’s on you to fix it. You can’t rely on anyone else to do that for you.”

“The failure of your brand is your failure; the success of your brand is your success.”

Gelaine believes that one cannot be an entrepreneur if they are afraid of going outside their comfort zone because no matter what stage that person is in their business, they will always face new obstacles. These trials, she said, should push that person to learn very quickly and grow really quickly.

Thanks to this immense learning opportunity in her chosen career, Gelaine felt like she has grown a lot and matured a lot than when she was staying in her previous job, trying to climb up the corporate ladder.

“I think for the last four years, what I’ve been able to learn was exponentially bigger. If I was in a conventional corporate job, I will still be learning but it would just be a slower kind of learning curve.”

Gelaine could not find the right words to explain how grateful she is for everything that happened.

Maybe, if she did not go back to the Philippines in 2012, she may still be looking for the other half of her hyphenated identity. If it wasn’t because of the people they encountered in her home country, she might still be clueless about how rich her Filipino culture and heritage is. If she wasn’t touched by the different stories of the skillful and hardworking Filipino artisans, she may not have the will to reintegrate back into her homeland and the guts to take that risk of leaving her office job to open the doors of Cambio & Co.

“I think the way that Cambio has grown and the recognition we’ve received is beyond what I ever expected.”

“I’m in a much better position and much happier to where I am today than if we have never started this journey.”

While she’s learning to become a better entrepreneur, Gelaine is also continuing to re-establish her bond with her Filipino roots, digging up more on her motherland’s traditions.

Reconnecting further to her heritage

Going on with her self-discovery journey, Gelaine is currently doing the best she can to learn how to speak the Filipino language, although it remains to be very challenging for her.

But compared from before, she can now proudly say, “I could understand Tagalog in a more general level.” Who knows, she may soon communicate with their business partners in the Philippines in fluent Tagalog?

In addition to that, Cambio & Co. has recently launched its sister company named Sinta & Co. By reading the name itself, you probably have an idea of what this business is all about. Coming from a Filipino word associated with “love,” Sinta & Co.  is a wedding boutique that specializes in Filipino wedding accessories, and of course, helping couples to add Filipino traditions on their very special day.

The thought of creating this business came about when Gelaine and Jérôme got married last year. The two hoped to add Filipino elements on their wedding day, however, they realized during the planning that there were not much shops in Canada that knows about Filipino wedding customs.

Not wanting others to experience the crisis they faced on their big day, Sinta & Co.  emerged in the market.

Gelaine shared she will focus on continuing to grow their business in a meaningful way, fulfill her mission to create positive change, and inspire other people to do the same.