Hi All!

It has been a busy International Women’s Month! March was filled with participation at women-led events and making some changes to the way we do things in our own backyard.

Way before, we encouraged employees to explore their entrepreneurial side by letting us know, so we can help them manage their time and workload. Now, we are able to address work and personal life balance concerns, especially for parents, by being more flexible with work arrangements. They say that it takes a village to raise a child, and we are trying to do our part for our Kimstore family. It benefits not only our female employees but also those who are left at home, by giving workers time to share in domestic responsibilities.

My parents raised me as a very curious child which has carried over to my adulthood. I know that, like me, many Kimstore employees have a non-stop attitude towards learning. So we announced a more robust development program for women at Kimstore, tackling specific topics to help them explore and maximize their potential within the company

People know me as a pioneer of e-commerce in the country and as you know, I have made it my responsibility to help more women who want to take that path. Kimstore is now known as one of the first woman-led e-commerce businesses in the Philippines, we make sure it won’t be the last by promoting entrepreneurship and having women in executive leadership, starting with raising awareness for opportunities for women in the field of e-commerce.

Our virtual group picture at The Women of Web 3.0 held on March 23, 2022 (from L-R) hosted by Bettina Gayoso joined by JustPayto CEO Gemma Guerrero, Etaily COO Tatiana Cziomer, Paynamics CEO Mylene Chua, Opal Portfolio Investments President and CEO Ida Tiongson, yours truly, and GeiserMaclang Co-Founder Amor Maclang.

As I said earlier, Women’s Month has been busy. The Founder Institute Philippines, part of the global network which helps startups find funding and turn them into global businesses, invited me to speak on “How to Launch an E-commerce Startup in the Philippines in 2022” over Zoom.

I was also invited to talk at Digital Pilipinas’ The Women of Web 3.0 to help establish women’s role in open finance, crypto, e-commerce, and fintech and The Digital Pilipinas Innovation Convention to help advise the innovators of tomorrow form groundbreaking ideas today.

I also appeared back-to-back on ANC’s Market Edge and Pinaypreneurs: Taking the Digital Lead organized by Globe Business in partnership with Shopee Philippines and Women’s Business Council. We discussed trends in consumer electronics and the post-Covid market with Market Edge host Mimi Ong and help Pinaypreneurs navigate the e-commerce space.

Lastly, I want to thank everyone who makes our advocacy possible through their hardwork. We do it for all the women and the women in our lives: our moms, sisters, daughters, colleagues, and friends.

Our advocacy for women continues beyond International Women’s Month, women empowerment has always been a focus at Kimstore and as long as the problem of equality and representation exists, we’ll be working on solving it.

Yours,

Kim Lato

She E O

#IWD2022 #BreakTheBias