She’s among the winners of the first 'Lazada Forward Women Awards 2021'

Gone are the days where a woman’s capability is dictated by the expectations of the society. Today, women can reach for the stars and follow the career path they want to pursue.

With the advent of technology, this opens even more opportunities for women to show their skills or to establish their own business. There are lots of women thriving in the online business these days, and one of them is a Filipina entrepreneur. 

At the first-ever Lazada Forward Women Awards 2021 held on March 8, 2021 in Singapore, Pinay pet care entrepreneur named Georgianna Carlos received the Enterprising Seller Award of the year. 

According to the eCommerce platform, this program is created to recognize outstanding women across "Southeast Asia who are trailblazers in the eCommerce space, and showcased resilience and innovation in their journeys as entrepreneurs."

A former teacher, Carlos is the owner and founder of pet care brand Fetch which offers all-natural products, sourcing ingredients from local communities. 

In a pre-recorded video interview that was shown during the awarding ceremony, Carlos said that her business started when she’s looking for a product for her dog Drogo. 

“He is allergic to all types of shampoos when I first got him until I discovered a brand from Europe,” she says. “When I checked the ingredients list, I discovered that the main ingredient was neem.”

Neem tress grows in the Philippines. Knowing this, she then partnered with a chemist and established her business. “From there, I found a partner chemist and we launched our very first pet care line under the Fetch brand named the Neem Pet Care System,” she says.

Carlos admits that managing her business while also handling online store is not an easy task. On top of this, just like most businesses, they too were badly hit by the COVDI-19 pandemic. “When you are an entrepreneur it’s always a difficult journey in the beginning because you’re really doing everything yourself,” she admits. “On our first time in Lazada, I do admit there’s a bit of learning curve since I was handling so many things, and at the same time, trying to learn to how work Lazada.” 

But all of her efforts and hard work paid off as her business took off, resulting to having her as one of the six female entrepreneurs in Southeast Asia to receive the award. 

“I am honored to be given this opportunity,” Carlos says. “I am hoping that those who can see this interview be inspired, especially, the women who are exploring or considering a career path in entrepreneurship.”

Other winners of the awards include Anne Ong of Anne’s Secret Recipes from Singapore and Pham Thi Xuan Hong of PinkShopGiayDep from Vietnam for the Creative Seller Award category.