Reese for the sky

FROM rags to riches, Reese Fernandez-Ruiz, 40, embodies the classic entrepreneurial spirit. She credits her success to her childhood, spent watching her mother sell goods from Quiapo Church, laying the foundation for her influential business education.

Fernandez-Ruiz went on to found Rags2Riches (R2R), a livelihood-centered sustainable fashion brand employing artisans from impoverished areas.

Her mother, a missionary, instilled in her a desire to help others.

In 2007, that desire became a reality when she began supporting artisans in Payatas, a large dumpsite area in Metro Manila, to improve their incomes.

More than fashion

Rags2Riches' handwoven rugs have gained popularity, even gracing social media covers. Despite this, Fernandez-Ruiz insists the company isn't primarily a fashion brand.

"In the beginning, we didn't think of it as fashion," she said. "We just thought of it as a business that could support the artisans in a sustainable way."

Initially, artisans created only rugs.

"It was very limiting," Fernandez-Ruiz observed. "Because the artisan's skills were limited only to rugs."

The need for income and basic necessities drove the company to diversify.

Through connections and cold calls, Fernandez-Ruiz enlisted designer Rajo Laurel to create the first fashion collection.

Designers and artists joined the cause, leading to the development of an in-house design team.

"Design is very integral to what we do," Fernandez-Ruiz said.

The company has since expanded beyond rugs to bags and apparel, attracting a following of 60,000.

The brand's colorful weaves and distinct Filipino aesthetic appeal to a global audience.

Resilience

Fernandez-Ruiz's personal story of overcoming adversity mirrors her business' success.

"I inherited only generational trauma," she joked.

With no capital, she relied on her own resilience.

Rags2Riches nearly folded up in 2016.

"It was one of those catastrophes," she said. "And she had seen many in her life that could be put to right with an instinctual system for catching breath."

The company survived, and Fernandez-Ruiz announced its most profitable Christmas season. She attributed the turnaround to a pivotal shift in strategy.

"How she realigned is an understated pivot, the most left field of moves in her arsenal. She embraced the maths."

"I probably needed to stop saying, 'I hate math,'" she said, math being nothing more than university grades.

For the grades, she said rather unfeelingly. If she were unimpressed by scholastic achievement, it was probably because her business meant moving bigger roadblocks. Whichever ones you take, "it's on you."

The company's financial standing was on her, apparently, and the resuscitative tweaks took as long as they should. She took courses and "a long time" to arrive at a point where she could create financial models in a matter of minutes.

She is now CFO of several other businesses.

"We nearly went down. It was because of years of mistakes — that I made, there was no pause in this admission, and advice that I took that was not really a good fit for us at the time.

"R2R had really high overhead and sales growth was not catching up as fast as overhead growth," she explained. "We grew it so much."

The particularity of R2R taught Fernandez-Ruiz self-reliance in her business decisions. Hers was a model operating on a different scale, in an industry that resists templates.

For instance, "scaling tech looks very different from scaling artisan livelihood," she shared of one of her biggest lessons.

Before R2R could resurface, there were several deal-breakers that needed to happen. Fernandez-Ruiz probably forewent the credit as she recounted how these aligned by some miraculous streak.

"Rags2Riches was supported by grants instead of the fundamentals," she concluded. What she calls her "character development" in the math and finances, R2R set sail for sustainability. For most local brands, exports are the most popular measure of success.

But Fernandez-Ruiz is locked in on Rags2Riches' own identity and direction (the local market). With 35 people on the payroll and full-time artisans in their own workshop, a sewing studio and partnership with Ikea Philippines for the first in the world sewing and upcycling services with the global furniture company, and hundreds more stay-at-home artisans, mothers among them, the company is unbothered by global events.

"We like that we are maintaining our brand so that Filipinos here and abroad can proudly carry R2R," Fernandez-Ruiz said, emphasizing the value of the domestic market.

Again resisting traditional notions of business scale, the company continues to partner with local government units and foundations for training and community development.

"Livelihood is very sensitive, and we want to build the market first."

"Expansion proceeds strategically — numbers-dictated — and we have to be ready for them (the artisans)," she said.

R2R's post-2016 new wind even blew past the pandemic.

At the time, Fernandez-Ruiz seemed to have clicked the so-called fundamentals into place that even black swan events could not shake the business.

"Everything after 2016 was easy!" she said.

R2R started making face masks, and it's all part of her "character development," although much of it may have been endemic to the stuff she is made of.

"I used to be so embarrassed by selling," she shared. "I can sell products I believe in and made by people I really believe in. But now, I can really sell anything."

*** Quick questions

What really makes you angry?

Injustices and fake news!

What motivates you to work hard?

Improvement and impact.

What makes you laugh the most?

Conan O'Brien and my kids!

What did you want to be when you were a kid?

An actress!

What will you do if you win the lotto?

Live in the same way but invest in more opportunity-creating ventures.

If you could share a meal with any individual, living or dead, who would they be?

Conan! It would be so much fun and yet insightful.

What's the most daring thing you've ever done?

Aside from co-founding R2R? Snow tubing with my little boy!

What was the last book you read?

"Never Split the Difference"

Which celebrity would you like to meet for a cup of coffee?

Melanie Perkins! Not a celebrity per se, but I love her and what she has built (Canva!).

What is one thing you will never do again?

Mountain climbing haha! I only climbed a hill that one time. Not for me, nope.

Where do you see yourself in 10 years?

Along the trajectory of where I am today but better.