The Great Women Brand

I first encountered the Great Women Brand at the Women in Media Session hosted by the Enabling Communities with Hope and Opportunities Sustainable Initiatives (ECHOsi) Foundation and the Women’s Business Council of the Philippines (WBCP) back in February. In the program, there was a talk by Jeannie Javelosa, president of ECHOsi and a presentation of the Great Women Brand. This is new and it got my attention.

The Great Women Brand products

It turns out that the Great Women Brand was created through the partnership of ECHOsi Foundation, ECHOstore Sustainable Lifestyle's non-profit arm, and the Philippine Commission on Women under a grant from the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA)with the goal of elevating the quality of both food and non-food products by women micro entrepreneurs from different regions of the Philippines.  

The brand is the result of the year-long Great Women Project, which had designers and product developers working with women microenterprises in Quezon, Leyte, Bohol, Iloilo, and Naga -- fashion designer Lulu Tan Gan, awarded designers and Movement 8 co-founders Tes Pasola and Ann Pamintuan, bag designer and exporter Renee Patron of Banago Bags (whose bags are in elite stores in the US like Nordstroms and Bloomingdales), Lenora Cabili of Filip+Inna (private trunk show to New York), product merchandiser Rambie Lim of Habi and rurungan Foundation, architect and designer Dan Lichauco, artist-designer-curator and ECHOsi Foundation president Jeannie Javelosa, product merchandise designer and graphic artist Reena Francisco and coffee product specialist Chit Juan, both of ECHOstore.  

Fashion designer Lulu Tan Gan with Miagao weavers

Designer Len Cabili in Davao

Charged with women empowerment, this program is focused on women helping women up the value chain, developing product variants and packaging, providing tools for smooth business operations, and opening new markets for their products.  

The trio behind the Great Women Brand (l-r):
Jeannie Javelosa, Chit Juan and Reena Franciso

The Great Women brand was launched recently at the Yuchengco Museum and was well received by the guests. On exhibit were food products, home textile accessories, couture and fashion accessories and home décor pieces.

Some products on display at the Great Women Brand launch

Currently, the Great Women brand products are available at ECHOstore Serendra, ECHOstore Podium, ECHOstore Centris, as well as in Tesoro's Handicrafts and Milkyway Café in Pasay Road, Makati City.

ECHOyoga's November Workshops

I've done time at the gym in my past life doing aerobics, cardio workouts and some weight lifting but I have never tried Yoga ever. Since I've been hearing a lot of good things that one can benefit from it, I might just give it a try one of these days.

Yoga is a practice that can promote wellness when done regularly. However, even non-yoga practitioners can learn new therapies for the body from ECHOyoga’s November therapy workshops, all run by certified teachers, focus on relieving pain. Yoga Therapy for Low Back Pain, a one-off workshop on November 19 for those suffering from lower-back stiffness and pain, will be taught by Avril Rodriquez. This workshop will introduce a sequence of poses to slowly and gently relax sore back muscles and strengthen them, to decompress and improve the flexibility of the spine, and promote better posture.

Yoga Therapy For Athletes on November 12 focuses on the rehabilitation of sports injuries. A series of therapeutic yoga sequences will be taught for athletes, trainers and physical therapists by Sen Sanchez to address sore muscles, hip pain, knee injuries, low back strain, and ankle sprains.

For the elderly, Yoga's restorative poses will likewise help for strengthening bones and balance. Marilen Elizalde leads a three session workshop as a Senior’s Introduction to Yoga on November 7, 14 and 21. This will allow golden oldies to do simple yoga sequences daily for better health and mobility. I'm thinking of enrolling my mom here, who at just 64 years old, finds it painful to take long walks and has difficulty in getting up from a chair after a long period of sitting.

ECHOyoga balances all physical movement workshops with inner work through two offerings this November: Past Life Group Regression facilitated by Jeannie Javelosa on November 5. This one is interesting to me since I did a thesis back in high school about past lives and reincarnation. I wonder what my other past lives were? I only know of one that came up during a past life reading for the thesis and it revealed that I was an Italian ballerina back in 1874 which explains my fascination for ballerina figurines and my love for dancing. A reflective inner awareness workshop using creativity techniques to make sense of life pointers and clues to direct you to your life’s work is entitled At a Crossroad: Making Sense of Your Life Journey. This will be facilitated by Vicky Ortega on November 26.

For more information please visit the website http://echoyoga.echostore.ph, text 0906-5063958, or e-mail echoyogaworkshop@gmail.com. . ECHOyoga Community Center is located at the Penthouse of Century Plaza, 120 Perea Street, Legaspi Village, Makati City.

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