IT was not a conscious decision on Fawziyyah Maridul’s to establish Malingkat Enterprise but it was rather a confluence of various factors, foremost among which was that she wanted to showcase the rich and beautiful weaving traditions of Muslim Mindanao.
“I am a Tausug on my father’s side and I’d like to make hand-woven textiles more accessible to a wider market of Filipinos,” Maridul said in an e-mail interview with the BusinessMirror.
Malingkat Enterprise, one of the awardees of the recent BPI Sinag competition, currently sells hand-woven fabrics sourced from their partner weavers from indigenous tribes, such as Maranao, Yakan and Tausug, and even community weavers from Abra. Moreover, Malingkat Enterprise works directly with individual weavers and their extended family because it believes it can create a more measurable impact.
“We produce home décors and lifestyle products featuring the woven fabrics, focusing mostly on small items like reusable bags, pouches, espadrilles. We envision every Filipino carrying a piece of our heritage and culture wherever they go through our products,” she said.
Maridul had to endure a lot of challenges because the entrepreneurial space was something totally new to her, having come from the corporate/private sector. She also had that constant need to strike a balance between being a profitable enterprise and fulfilling its thrust of giving back to their artisan and community partners, making hand-woven pieces affordable and accessible to as many Filipinos as possible, and making sure the personalities and traditions behind each hand-woven piece are properly recognized and compensated.
“This is an ongoing challenge if I may so, but thanks to learning and mentoring programs like those initiated by BPI Foundation and Bayan Academy, we are slowly and steadily learning how to be a sustainable enterprise and still staying true to our cause,” she said.
Malingkat was fortunate there were some relevant programs like the BPI Sinag and like-minded individuals who are seasoned social enterprise advocates who supported her enterprise during its fledgling days.
Despite the bumps along the way, Malingkat is here for the long run.
It is currently working on expanding their current product lineup, partnering with more weavers from different communities and tribes, and widening its market reach beyond the Philippines by maximizing the online retail space.
For Maridul, entrepreneurship is not just all about making a profit. More important, Maridul said, it is about adding value to the lives of everyone involved in the process, or in the enterprise. In Malingkat’s case, it starts from their sewer and weaver partners whose skills, talents and traditions Malingkat aims to showcase and extends to the customers who get to bring a piece of Philippine heritage with them wherever they go with every Malingkat product they buy.
“Entrepreneurship is also about grit. There are and there will be many challenges, but you have to remain steadfast and committed to your goals and cause because it’s not just about you, it’s also about lives and dreams of the people working behind the scenes,” she said.
Malingkat is available through Instagram @malingkatweaves, and on Facebook as Malingkat Weaves.