MaiMai is the General Manager of SariMart in Growsari. SariMart is a new independent business unit launched by GrowSari earlier this year and will have the mandate to be the country's largest B2B e-commerce wholesaler for neighborhood MSMEs (e.g., sari-sari stores, Carinderias, and bakeshops) and will operate independently from Growsari's platform, including partnering with other offline and online players. 

MaiMai brings in more than 20 years of commercial leadership from different large multinational companies — served as the Head of Marketing for J&J Philippines and Regional Director for Baby Care in Southeast Asia for Johnson & Johnson.

👋🏼 How would you explain your job to someone outside tech?

As Growsari's Chief Growth Marketing Officer, I drive user acquisition, retention, and customer experience for the Growsari platform. 

For acquisition efforts, we reach potential users through social/digital channels and with people on the ground. 

For retention and customer experience, we look for ways to better educate and onboard our users to our different products and loyalty programs while addressing any pain points or looking for ways to improve their experience on our app/ and service. 

As Sarimart GM, I onboard multiple FMCG suppliers in our platform with specific commercial arrangements, drive sufficient inventory planning & replenishment, drive product trial & basket building behind highly customized promos and ensure proper pricing and assortment to maximize revenues. 

🧐 What's something about you or your job that would surprise us?

Despite the full workload and being a mom of 3 young kids, I can squeeze in at least 20km of running and 100km of biking every week. 

🏆 What has been the biggest highlight of your career so far?

Other than how much we've grown, which is about 5x from when I joined, winning the Asia Ecommerce Best Brand Award for B2B — given that we do all our advertising and promotional activities in-house without the support of any advertising agencies. 

This is a testament to the dedication of the people who work in Growsari across all functions to ensure that we deliver our promise of uplifting the lives of our MSME retailers. 

🔍 What's a startup trend or space you're watching this year?‍

Fintech - digital payments & money transfers (local and international). It would be interesting to see the impact of a truly cashless society in a market like the Philippines, where >90% of transactions are in cash - and how that would revolutionize how small retailers can manage their daily financial planning. Also curious to see how that would impact overseas remittances, where Overseas Foreign Worker earnings can directly flow through the recipient's wallet. 

💼 What advice would you give someone starting out in your industry? 

Get ready to roll up your sleeves for a lot of experimentation to keep tweaking your business model to generate faster growth and drive cost efficiencies. Innovation can be found on both ends. 

‍

🗣 What's one thing you can keep talking about for hours? 

The problems of the Philippines that I wish we could solve. 🙂

🎥 What's your favorite movie/TV show? 

F.R.I.E.N.D.S.

🍨 What's your go-to ice cream flavor?‍

Double-dutch‍

‍