When Beyoncé sang “Who run the world? Girls!” she was really on to something. And March is the time of the year when that line becomes more tangible than ever.
Women’s Month is a reminder that outstanding women are made, not born. As a paragon of strength, wisdom and beauty, the modern Filipina takes charge of her own success and happiness. She manages, orchestrates, leads and makes vital decisions at home and work.
Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) in Qatar, the Filipina expatriates in particular, are reaching new heights by paving the way for other Pinays in the community.
Can you name some Filipinas who embody women empowerment in Qatar? The list is long for sure, but in this article, we curated empowering insights from the most admirable Filipinas creating waves in their respective fields.
Read on as we spotlight proud Pinays spanning various competencies, likewise highlighting their individual moments of fearlessness in an interview with Qatar Tribune.
The Businesswoman and
Community Leader
Featured on newspapers and magazines several times for being one of the most influential Filipinas in Qatar, Layla Bernal Al Lenjawi, is a loving wife to a Qatari citizen Mr. Abdul Majeed Al Lenjawi and a mother of 4 growing teens namely Mahdi - 18 years old, Hamoudi - 17, Zahrah - 16 and Zainab - 11. She is an entrepreneur and an active community leader with Kulinarya Qatar and Overseas Filipino Investors and Entrepreneurs Movement (OFIE-M).
What are your proudest achievements as an OFW?
One of my proudest milestones is achieving a stable living condition in this fast-paced world by pursuing my dreams and aspirations through hard work.
How do you maintain a work-life balance?
As a busy woman, it is very hard to maintain being abusinesswoman and a mother. But, for me, I make sure that I give enough time to fulfill both roles and continue my everyday life in a positive way.
What barriers have you faced, as a woman, in becoming successful in your field? How did you overcome them?
Barriers are not as heavy as before. Nowadays, society is more open about women’s abilities and achievements.
If you could have dinner with an inspirational woman, dead or alive, who would she be and why?
Dining with the late Senator of the Philippines - Miriam Defensor Santiago will be an interesting date. I found her to be strong-willed, frank and full of life stories that are truly inspirational.
What advice have you received early in your career that has stayed with you?
Be humble. Take criticism as a fuel to move forward and work positively.
What does success mean to you? And why?
After all the trials and challenges of the recent pandemic, I realized that success can be achieved in its simplest form.
What, according to you, is power?
Power is commitment.
Why do we need more women in leadership?
To show the capabilities, talent, commitment and initiatives of women leaders as members of society
What advice would you give to other women who want to follow your footsteps?
Go and take a chance. Don’t let anybody tell you to stop doing what you can do.
What is your favorite quote or motto in life?
Being busy is a choice.
The Musician and F&B Specialist
A multi-talented musician and Food & Beverage management expert, Mylene Inalisan, is a woman of substance and an epitome of true leadership. Fondly called Myles by many, the 42-year old leader of the band is also the breadwinner in the family, being the eldest among her siblings.
Currently working as an area manager with an international food brand, Inalisan also used to work as a training and audit manager at Burger King Qatar for 26 stores. Moreover, she has been a pioneer and training manager for Popeyes Qatar.
In the Filipino community, she served as a Chairman of the Filipino Center of Excellence Learning and a Co Admin - United Filipinos in Qatar (UFQ) Social Media. Now, she manages an all-Filipina group of musicians as a Band Leader of Pink Pepper Band.
What are your proudest achievements as an OFW?
Apart from being a market leader of one of the international food chains in Qatar, I also considered being a pioneer in this field and being able to open an international food brand last 2010 as some of my achievements.
How do you maintain a work-life balance?
Maintaining a work-life balance is very challenging if the work requires more obligations and tasks due to the position. One that might help is practicing time management while learning to enjoy the work. During my day off, I’m enjoying it to the fullest to relax my brain and get ready for the next day to handle any pressure.
What barriers have you faced, as a woman, in becoming successful in your field? How did you overcome them?
Being a woman in a senior leadership position is very tough. People sometimes do not seriously take the challenging role that I have. But, once they see the result of my hard work and persistence, they will give me the trust.
Personally, I’m motivating myself to strive more at work. I am inspired by women leaders who can handle the operations smoothly.
If you could have dinner with an inspirational woman, dead or alive, who would she be and why?
I would pick the late Senator Miriam Defensor Santiago, one of the most intellectual leaders in the Philippines, who is a woman of power.
I really admire her for being a charismatic person with a strong personality. She was able to shine in everything she did.
What advice have you received early in your career that has stayed with you?
Heads up high while keeping your feet on the ground. It means that regardless of the achievements I received, I should stay humble. Be a person that will continue to learn or get excited to learn something new. This will help me grow as a person.
What does success mean to you? And why?
Success for me is having a great career and gaining the respect of everyone. Not every person is successful if he or she is not gaining respect from others.
How do you see power?
Power is the ability to control things. In my job, it’s the reward that is essential to me but this should not be abused. This power is my way to lead and influence the team to do with same path.
Why do we need more women in leadership?
We need more women in leadership to motivate others to strive for their careers. Women also need support to step forward and overcome anything that’s holding them back. With this, we can create more women leaders who can inspire others.
The Entrepreneur and Educator
One of the most successful Filipinas in Qatar, Annaliza Tuyay Diet, is more than a pretty face. She has been working overseas for the last 20 years. Her OFW journey in Dubai lasted 10 years before she moved to Qatar where she is working for over 8 years now. She spent the other 2 years each in Singapore and the United States of America.
The edupreneur has also been a former CEO of Power Project Logistics & Transportation and Power Project for Events and an International Supply Chain Manager (CISCM) who is certified in Logistics, Transportation &
Distribution (CLTD). Her current professional career includes more than 20 years of executive level management in import and export international logistics and supply chain management.
During her past 2 decades of service, she taught logistics, procurement and supply chain for different International Logistics private sectors in the USA and UAE. She also trained more than 3,000 students for CLTD- Certified in Logistics and transportation distribution.
Currently working as Head of Research & Market Analyst in the financial industry, she focuses on Business growth and Business Acquisition.
A consistent academic scholar, she holds a Master of Science in Marketing at De La Salle Professional School of Business as Cum Laude. She pursued Social Entrepreneurial Management at Ateneo de Manila University. She then took an exam for the International Professional Trainer certification program and now got her CIPT achievement as a Certified International Professional Trainer with the American Institute.
Apart from having a Degree of Master in Business Administration major in Business Management at University of Bolton in UK, she is currently taking a Doctor of Philosophy in Educational Management studies at University of Bolton in United Kingdom. Above all, she was recognized as the 2022 Marilag Awardee in an Entrepreneurial Category awarded by Philippine Embassy-Doha and POLO OWWA.
What are your proudest achievements as an OFW?
Having more than 58,000 graduates and changed their lives from nothing into something
What advice have you received early in your career that has stayed with you?
Learn more and grow more. Learning is a continuous process. Never stop learning from mistakes and professional pieces of advice.
What does success mean to you? And why?
Success when you accomplished your main goal.
How do you define power?
I don’t have any power. Everything has been decreed.
Why do we need more women in leadership?
The most significant motivating factor to attracting more women in leadership is to create impactful change: inspiration.
What advice would you give to other women who want to follow your footsteps?
Increase your patience. For many incredible trailblazers, who continue to pave the way for the next generations “ to become an achiever “ in a role is no small feat. Face your challenge with confidence.
What is your favorite quote or motto in life?
“The real measure of our wealth is how much we would be worth if we lost all our money”
The Cyclist and Sports Champ
Others aim for the finish line, but Filipina cycling champion Marynel Bernardino always goes for gold. Working as a PACU nurse in Qatar for nearly 8 years now, this sports champ used to have knee surgery in 2020 leading her to look for a kind of sport that would help her lose weight. Little did she know it would make her earn medals and trophies.
What are your proudest achievements as an OFW?
As a PACU nurse in HMC, I took part not just by caring for patients but also in education and quality improvement. In Jan 2019 and Feb 2020, I played as a speaker and Master of Ceremony in HMC Perioperative Nursing Symposiums respectively. I’ve participated in different Value Improvement projects aimed to improve patient care and nursing practice.
In cycling, I started joining in all Pinoy races in Septemver 2021 and in Qatar Cycling Federation (QCF) races a year after October 2022. My awards include: 1st Women Senior Lusail Individual Time Trial 2022, 2nd Women Lusail Night Criterium 2022, 2nd 25km Women Theeb Bike 2022, 1st Women Dukhan Climbs Road Race 2023 and 3rd MTB Female Al Adaid Challenge 2023
How do you maintain a work-life balance?
For the past few years, I was just focused on my career. It was just after my knee surgery in November 2020 when I learned the beauty of cycling and the camaraderie it brings to the Filipino community. Joining Doha ChiQlistas and Bike to Work Qatar helped me achieve this.
What barriers have you faced, as a woman, in becoming successful in your field? How did you overcome them?
There were only a few Filipina cyclists around, thus my options were to either train alone or trainwith men. At first, this was my inspiration to become a better cyclist. I wanted to ride along men, not as a burden but as a cyclist who is able to keep up and soon after, become stronger than some.
If you could have dinner with an inspirational woman, dead or alive, who would she be and why?
The greatest woman for me would be my mom. I saw her struggle and still achieved her bestas a mother, a wife, a sister and a friend.
What advice did you receive early in your career that has stayed with you?
Always assess your capabilities, gauge your strengths and improve your weaknesses. As weakness is there, not to drag you down but to help you become stronger.
What does success mean to you? And why?
According to John Wooden, success is peace of mind which is a direct result of self-satisfaction in knowing you did your best to become the best you are capable of becoming.
We always start in different stages in life, some had started earlier. We also have different abilities and skill sets, some are natural born, others need to hone their skills. By giving your all out and being the best version of who you are, is what makes your achievement a success regardless of what you accomplished.
How do you define power?
True power comes from mastering yourself.
Why do we need more women in leadership?
More women in leadership bring out the often unseen, unheard struggles and experiences of women in sports. We need to be represented, valued and engaged in this male dominated sport. As a woman in cycling, this inspires and empowers every woman, elevating each other by sharing best practices, helping out one another.
What advice would you give to other women who want to follow your footsteps?
For all the women out there, always aim to enjoy first. Use cycling as a tool to bring out happiness, confidence, reduce stress, sense of empowerment, connection and community.
What is your favorite quote or motto in life?
Be the woman you would look up to.
Empowered Women Empower Women
The leaders, mentors, advocates, mompreneurs, homemakers, trailblazers, role models, game-changers and change catalysts – all of them and other women from all walks of life made a difference essential to the community’s path forward.
If you aspire to blaze your own trail just like the empowered Filipinas featured on this list, go for it! On this Women’s Month, may other women’s journeys inspire you to start creating your own success story and even changing the world.
