#LifeLokal: Follow Your Heart is Anna Antonio's bag business with a mission
Most people stick to a set career path, but Anna Antonio, a 46-year-old businesswoman from Mandaluyong City, decided to do something different. She left her IT background behind, driven by a real passion to create a space where imagination and community come together.
The result? Follow Your Heart, a brand that embodies the spirit of following one's true calling and the power of collaboration.
From travel pouches to oversized bags, Follow Your Heart offers a modern, minimalist appeal that's effortlessly chic. Its clean, straightforward design lets you showcase your other accessories, like a stylish wallet, sunglasses, or even a cute scarf, while keeping your essentials visible and organized.
What's more, with each purchase, you can help the women who made these bags.
"These bags are helping to give sustainable livelihood to a lot of women, lolas, and nanays who we allow to work at home on these small details so that they can have a sustainable livelihood," Antonio told PhilSTAR L!fe.
In the interview below, Anna shares more about her brand and how it reminds her of her own personal journey while uplifting other women who make the bags possible.
When did you first know you wanted to be an entrepreneur?
I learned the bag business from my parents, and with their help and encouragement, I built Follow Your Heart Bags.
What inspired you to start your brand?
My early exposure to different materials sparked various ideas for creating bags. I channeled these ideas into ways to provide a sustainable livelihood for the women we support. These women are Lolas and Nanays from Pasig, Binakol and Inabel weavers from Luzon, and wooden handle makers from Cebu. Their skills allow us to incorporate handmade elements, local weaves, and accessories into our products.
What's the story behind the brand's name?
I come from an IT background and realized my passion was geared towards creatives. I love working with the materials I have to create endless possibilities for producing new products. With each creation, we always keep in mind to incorporate elements that our artisan communities can contribute to. Each piece that we make is the work of our collective hands.
In the good times, Follow Your Heart reminds me I made the right choice, and in challenging times, it anchors me to the reason why I do what I do.
How does your Filipino heritage/culture influence your brand values and identity?
Being a Filipino greatly influences our brand values and identity. Our bag designs are rooted in our Filipino culture. We use familiar local elements like the jeepney, the solihiya patterns, and the fishball cart to evoke joy and nostalgia. We execute these ideas by using different weaves from Luzon and with the help of our artisan communities, we are able to achieve a cohesive story.
There are so many competitive brands within the world of fashion and beauty right now, how do you make your brand stand out from the rest
What makes us stand out is our use of traditional elements in a colorfully fresh way. Embroideries of the sorbetero, magtataho, and the tricycle combined with neon colors attract both the young ones and the young once. Through our products, we aim to champion our Filipino culture.
What other obstacles have you faced whilst creating your brand, and how have you overcome them?
One obstacle that comes to mind is the sourcing of materials. We didn't want to use materials that were readily available. We wanted to source materials that can make a difference. We collaborated with women weavers from Luzon who make Binakol and Inabel weaves, and we trained Nanays and Lolas from Pasig to integrate various handmade elements to our design. Working with these groups created a great impact in the lives of these communities and as a result, promoted our Filipino heritage.
How do you want your customers to feel when they're using your products?
We want our customers to share in the pride of what we stand for. When they wear our products, we want them to promote our Filipino culture in a fun, colorful way, and as they support our women's advocacy, we hope each of our bags reminds them that great things can happen when you Follow Your Heart.
