ABI VICTORIA & RAQUEL CABRIETO
Teachables is a Manila-based social enterprise founded by 5 friends in 2012. It works to support and empower teachers and educators by providing innovative, effective and engaging tools and services. Its goal is to make teaching fun!
“It’s not just about passion. Know that it’s going to be a lot of hard work, blood, sweat and tears.”
Q: What is Teachables all about?
A: “We want to make teaching fun and bring back a sense of pride, love, and passion in the teaching profession. We have an online store that sells tools for grade school teachers and we organize workshops and community gatherings. These sessions are meant to inspire teachers, energize them, and refresh their teaching sparks. They are called ‘Kapet Guro’ – ‘Kapet’ means ‘coffee’ and ‘Guro’ means ‘teachers’ but it’s a play of words because ‘kapet’ also means ‘holding on’ so finding support in each other by sharing stories. We share stories and we share food.”
“I come from an entrepreneurial family and what I have learned from them is not to be afraid to take risks. You can only be successful in taking those risks if you are clear why you are doing it, what your goals are. It doesn’t matter if you have lots of competition. It doesn’t matter if you fail as long as you learn from it. What I learned in college is nothing in comparison to what I learned with Teachables.”
Q: “If you could go back, is there anything you would do differently?”
A: “I wouldn’t change anything because for every problem, every challenge, we had major breakthroughs and we learned from them. If there is one thing though, I should have dreamt bigger from the beginning.”
Q: “A word of advice to others starting a social enterprise?”
A: “I don’t want to be discouraging, but it’s not just about heart because a lot of people might think, ‘this is something good so its going to work. It’s for a good cause.’ Know that it’s going to be a lot of hard work, blood, sweat and tears. I think if you want to go anywhere, understand that it’s a real commitment and be prepared to break down lots of challenges.”
Company: Teachables
Location: Manila
Founded: 2012
No of Employees: 0
Women-led
