I am doing this blogsite as a channel to reach out,
inform readers of the latest business trends and seminars, tax information and
of course, to inspire the readers of success business stories of entrepreneurs
whom I have personally interviewed. And I was thinking of who could be my
launching interviewee with truly inspiring story that I believe could, beyond
doubt, get in the heart of my readers. I would want to interview Henry Sy or
Lucio Tan (if they won’t snob a beginner blogger like me :D ), but I thought,
you would want someone whom you can identify with, an ordinary man (because he
is not yet a celebrity and a business tycoon yet) but spends his life extra-ordinarily. So I have chosen the man who has silently
and bravely nailed his mark in his career, business and personal life despite
the odds he went through. Guys, I am so privileged to open the pages for Mr.
Prodex Tipuno.
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| A man of substance. |
It
was the youthful years of his life, famous for his cheery personality, an SK
Chairman, just graduated at Technological Institute of the Philippines with the
degree of Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering, was getting offers
from so many big companies here and abroad, and was about to leave for Aruba, South
America for his first big break in his chosen profession when he was gun-shot
by someone who had mistaken him as the enemy. That was almost 15 years ago.
That short-range gunshot incident has led to his full BLINDNESS and a BIG CHANGE in his life.
How did he conquer it all?
Being blind is never easy. The more if you are
naturally born with sight then suddenly it was taken away from you. His first 3
New Years of lost of sight led him to ending up with bruises because of bumping
his head onto the edges of the door frame. Aside from physical struggles in coping
up, sadness and frustrations come once in a while since some of his friends
forget to visit him. But he is a person who does not dwell on the negativity of
his surroundings or the situation, instead, he listen to the radio to get
educated about blindness and how to deal with his condition. He also started
to mingle with a partially-blind friend and learned from him and also associated
with group of blind people who do massaging. For 5 years he went to work as a
massage therapist after getting his license. Yes, blind massage therapists are
licensed and they even have to undergo continuing massage therapy education for
renewal of their license and it makes it more a respected profession. Prodex is also blessed with a family that supports him all the way.
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| Prodex at work! For your massage needs, just text: 0939-5830-663 (yes, he can text you back!) |
Now, where is Prodex and what does he do?
Well, what had happened to him does not limit him from
doing almost anything a normal person can do. Mind you, guys, he now owns his
own massage clinic A4DABLE MASSAGE SERVICES which is operating for more than 2
years now. A4DABLE MASSAGE SERVICES is located at 3rd level
Robinsons Pala-Pala Dasmariñas, Cavite. He also supervises 2 more massage
clinics founded by their organization named as VIBES MASSAGE SERVICES. As a part-time "celebrity" :), it has been a self-therapy to him to sing in gigs of their band, this is aside from playing the bass guitar. They can be usually catched up at Cowboy Barn in Terazza
Dasmariñas, Cavite. Unfortunately, they temporarily stopped from accepting gigs since
one of their members can no longer join them for distance reasons. If you would
like to apply, there is only one condition- blind yourself first! And what about his
lovelife? He is proud to say that he has already his own small happy family
with his wife Irene (his high school
sweetheart) and two angels who are ages 14 and 8 years old.
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| Prodex's active life with his bandmates For your massage needs, just text: 0939-5830-663 (yes, he can text you back!) |
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| Prodex with his happy family! For your massage needs, just text: 0939-5830-663 (yes, he can text you back!) |
About his
business…
After 5 years of working as a massage therapist, he
and his client who was then a bank manager and has become a friend decided to
put up a massage clinic along with another high school classmate. And it was
named A4DABLE MASSAGE SERVICES which offers an hour body massage for only
Php250! It is so affordable yet quality of service is never compromised. I have
already tried their services and it was so soothing to the muscles! You better
have to try it for yourself. The A4DABLE MASSAGE SERVICES is now sole-owned by
him since his two partners already sold it to him for some emergency reasons.
He said that eventually his clinic will merge with VIBES MASSAGE SERVICES.
How is he as a
boss...
He said that managing people is a tough job, more so
managing blind employees. They are overly-sensitive at times and can easily
fall asleep because of “darkness”, sometimes absenteeism is also a problem. But
their “sipag and tiyaga” is insurmountable and the quality of the massage they
deliver to clients is one enough reason for them to come back. Prodex even jokingly
add that since his massage therapists employees are all blind, special feelings
develop among couples there and he also plays as “Dr. Love” to them.
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| The Business and The Boss and The Client For your massage needs, just text: 0939-5830-663 (yes, he can text you back!) |
He even dreams
for more…
When I asked him about how he sees himself and the
business after 5 years, he answered me with a hopeful spirit! He looks forward
to tie up with hotels and be able to give more jobs to the blind community. He
proudly say that blind people nowadays are seldom seen begging for alms on the
street. This is despite the fact that they get no fund assistance from the government. It is either they can be caught singing with their guitars but not
begging because they too get tired of sharing their talents or they can be seen working in a massage
clinic.
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| Vibes Massage Services at SM Dasmariñas - soon at the hotels! (his goal) Vibes was established by an organization of blind people, which just started in year 1996 from the funds raised through their Christmas Carolings. From then on, it has become bigger and can now be found in many SM Malls. At first SM Malls were hesitant to accept them as tenants but now gave them a chance and SM generously waived their royalty fees as their way of helping them out. For your massage needs, just text: 0939-5830-663 (yes, he can text you back!) |
One quote from him that struck me!
“Ano ang magagawa ko bilang bulag?” What an
optimistic point of view! As I had more than an hour of interview with him, I
have seen how strong his character is. You can truly say that you can never put
a good man down. It is not the situation that will make you fail or prosper but
how you see and handle the circumstances that come across your paths. Only us
can decide to make a positive change in our lives. It is a shame on those
people who keep on complaining and playing victims of life when you hear this
one blind man asking how he can make a difference in his lifetime. Now, challenge yourself with the same question- What can you do in all your capacity as a normal person to improve your life?
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| The "Kenkoy" Prodex! For your massage needs, just text: 0939-5830-663 (yes, he can text you back!) |
