Growing up, Mary Anne Sagao of Taguig City, Philippines showed an affinity for entrepreneurship which translated into her running several businesses from e-loading (sale of phone credits) to selling liquid soaps by the time she reached adulthood. Then in 2018, she was diagnosed with relapsing polychondritis and received news that she had a small tumour in her brain.

The numerous surgeries and treatments that soon followed forced her to shut down her business operations. And then COVID-19 happened and further upended her life. Saddled with mounting unpaid medical bills, Mary Anne was desperate to find ways to pay those off. As luck would have it, a friend introduced her to the R.I.S.E. programme, thinking the training would reinvigorate her entrepreneurial passion. Mary Anne immediately registered for it!

She was actively engaged throughout the training, soaking up as much knowledge as possible. Modules such as Sales Personalities and Sales Strategies taught her about the most effective ways to reach new customers and get ahead of her competition. Mary Anne also had the idea of offering free delivery services in one of the sessions, especially for bulk orders and adjusted her pricing to help fit the purchasing capacity of her target customers. With all of these tactics in place, she started receiving more orders which, over time, increased her income.

Mary Anne, believing that a good opportunity should be shared, was inspired to share her success with her fellow Persons with Disabilities (PWDs). Even though she has graduated from R.I.S.E. and is a successful business owner, she continues to advocate for the programme and wants the PWD community to experience the benefit from it as well. According to Mary Anne, the general reluctance among disabled individuals on joining programmes such as R.I.S.E. stemmed from their intimidation of the training sessions. Shamed for providing the wrong answers and receiving zero guidance on using online platforms rendered them highly cynical about joining yet another training.

Mary Anne made it a mission to persuade PWDs to enrol in the R.I.S.E. programme. She took charge in many aspects: constantly sharing her positive training experience, teaching them how to use Zoom and making sure that the R.I.S.E. trainers made all participants feel welcome during the training sessions. In fact, the majority of the participants’ turnout for the programme can be attributed to Mary Anne as she was heavily influential in changing the mindset of the PWD community.

Mary Anne is thankful that she is now able to sustain the costs of her medical needs and the daily needs of her family with ease, as well as give back to the disabled community. She believes that everyone has the capacity to be successful in their own way and in the spirit of rising together, Mary Anne will continue to advocate for the R.I.S.E. programme so that many more PWDs can realise their potential and achieve their entrepreneurial dreams.