The Rebirth of Miss Valenzuela

It was a sudden tweet last Friday morning that Summit Media, the largest magazine publishing company in the Philippines, posted that they were going to hold a mommy bloggers’ workshop the following day. For the longest time, I have been waiting for this opportunity to come along. I cancelled my social appointments that Saturday to reward myself the chance to be part of that sophisticated conference for bloggers. I found myself on the right track.

I was happy to have tagged along Andrea, a registered nurse at Valenzuela health department, who shared with me that she also loves writing. I probed on her potential blog slant in the future and she said that she is interested in sharing stories of the people she meets on field whenever she’s deployed to promote community health service. I told her that what she likes is going to be complimentary with what I’m writing because I also want to share stories about our home city.

Buddy of the Day: Andrea of City Health Department

The mommy bloggers’ workshop, organized by Good Housekeeping of Summit Media, was an afternoon of learning held at Eastwood Richmonde Hotel in Libis, Quezon City, which was attended by veteran and aspiring mommy bloggers and members of the magazine’s online community.

The highly credible speakers during the workshop were Sheila Catilo, a photographer specializing in family portraits, travel photos, and magazine editorials; Christine “Tin” Dychiao, a retail consultant for online stores and retail brands who also maintains the blog -- manilafashionobserver.com; and Ginger Arboleda, a professional blogger (mommyginger.com) and a superwoman who ‘s a CEO of three companies.

Ms. Shiela Catilo

Ms. Ginger Arboleda

It was through this workshop that I was inspired to revamp my social media accounts. I started from asking myself, what is my personal brand? I consulted my sister Lavinia for her perception on my image and identity and she said, “You’re a writer and a former beauty queen,” hence the birth of “Miss Valenzuela.” If you follow me on twitter and Instagram, you’d see that both were already renamed.

Applying What I Have Learned.

Product Photography

Scepter Pen Is My Brand
- Miss Valenzuela

The Etymology of Miss Valenzuela.

“Miss” delves on the feminine side of my articles that talk about the glamour of living a life where one can magnify simple joys into a profound source of contentment. This, for me, is indicative of what an ideal life should be of former beauty queens. While skin-deep beauty is temporal and fading, one’s character and strength inside should continue to exude radiance, to touch lives better just like Audrey Hepburn and Miriam Quiambao.

The “Valenzuela” part is indicative of my target audience and my identity as a professional writer. While my college friends have found their niche in various fields, I found mine in local government service. Anyhow, since day one of my blog, accounts herein talks about the journey of a Valenzuelana.

Folks, welcome to my blog and I hope you’ll enjoy your experience here on my virtual social life.