On social media, she reigns as the Lumpia Queen. At just 25, Abi Marquez has transformed her love for Filipino food into a global platform, earning accolades from the Webby Awards, a coveted spot on Forbes 30 Under 30 Asia, and, most recently, Creator of the Year at the Adcolor Awards. She is also a 2025 Gold Stevie winner at the International Business Awards, where she was recognized as Most Innovative Content Creator of the Year.

But beyond the perfectly edited reels and viral recipes, who is Abi? What sparked her journey from filming home-cooked meals to representing Filipino cuisine on the global stage?

In celebration of International Women’s Month, Manila Bulletin Lifestyle sat down with the trailblazing creator for an intimate conversation about her beginnings during the pandemic, the challenges of building a brand from scratch, and the purpose that fuels her work today.

“I started doing content in January 2022,” she recalls. “We ate rice three times a day at home. One night, I made pasta for dinner and thought, ‘this is special.’” Armed with her phone and curiosity, she uploaded the video. It went viral.

Instead of basking in the numbers, Abi studied them. “As the nerd that I am, I made a formula for it,” she says with a laugh. She repeated what resonated, refining her storytelling while staying rooted in Filipino flavors.

Food, after all, was always central to her life. The second of four children, Abi grew up in a household where meals were sacred. Her father, an engineer turned entrepreneur, encouraged patience and experimentation, even critiquing dishes with gentle suggestions. Her mother, a nurse who chose to raise the family full-time, cooked three meals a day. No one started eating until everyone was at the table. Even today, that rule stands.

The discipline followed her to school. A graduate of Santa Rosa Science and Technology High School, she took up the Accountancy, Business, and Management senior high school track before earning a degree in Hotel, Restaurant, and Institution Management (HRIM) at the University of the Philippines (UP) Diliman. Numbers excite her as much as narratives do. She understands bookkeeping, business models, and audience analytics with equal enthusiasm.

Yet she was never confined to the classroom. Abi joined filmmaking contests, dance competitions, the student government, and even founded the first Honor Society chapter for HRIM students in her college.

When content creation began gaining traction during her final semester, she made a bold move. Faced with delays in a traditional internship, she convinced her dean to allow her to turn content creation into her immersion project. She wrote case studies and approached them with academic rigor. From the beginning, she treated it not as a hobby but as a career.

The early days were not glamorous. Without corporate experience, she navigated brand emails by instinct. “I basically pretended to know what I was doing,” she admits. Burnout soon followed. As a one-woman team, she shot, edited, wrote, negotiated, and posted her work. There were Saturdays spent editing instead of sitting at the family table. Those were the moments she cried.

“With the demand that I had with sponsorships and just the workload, it was a very difficult moment for me to catch up with everything, especially the fact that I would miss family occasions,” she shares. “I would miss weekends with my family because of work, which was really a big deal to me.”

Today, she leads a growing team and works with a management team that handles the business side. The challenge now is different. “It’s harder to explain your vision than to just do it yourself,” she says. Still, the improved quality of life affirms her belief that longevity in this industry requires collaboration.

With visibility comes pressure. As one of the few Filipinos representing local cuisine on global platforms, Abi feels a responsibility to be inclusive and informed. “The biggest challenge I face is becoming a responsible, inclusive representative of Filipino cuisine on a global scale.”

Learning, for her, is an active pursuit. She reads, watches, travels, and most importantly, listens. Conversations with fellow Filipinos, whether abroad or in newsrooms, deepen her understanding of the stories behind the food. Each exchange shapes how she presents Filipino flavors to the world.

A cookbook is in the works, a tangible extension of her digital universe. She hopes to travel more, meet Filipinos overseas, and understand how food connects them to home. This year, she is also going offline, teaching culinary classes at UP Diliman, speaking to students at Ateneo, and organizing kitchen workshops for children in partnership with World Vision.

And yes, she confirms, a restaurant is part of the dream. While many creators expand into products, Abi envisions a space where people can taste her creations firsthand. “It’s more fulfilling for me to share the food that I cook and watch it change someone’s mood,” she says.

For women still searching for their place, her advice is simple. Stick to your story. In a world obsessed with virality and comparison, authenticity remains her secret ingredient. “Your set of experiences is yours alone,” she says. “Block out the noise. Believe you can do anything as long as you put your time and effort into it.”

From a humble pasta video to global recognition, Abi proves that when passion meets purpose, even the simplest dish can open doors to the world.