The Conversation I Never Expected
Some interviews begin with a person’s accomplishments. Others begin with a timeline of achievements or a list of titles. My conversation with Helen Sarita began with something I never expected to hear.
“If I have the chance,” she told me with a smile, “I want to paint my own casket.”
For a moment, I simply looked at her. It wasn’t the kind of answer I had prepared for. Most people avoid talking about death altogether, but Helen spoke about it with a calmness that immediately made me curious. She wasn’t talking about darkness or endings. She imagined her casket covered with vibrant flowers and bright colors, standing upright like a doorway instead of lying flat like a final resting place. Then she explained why.
“It will be my door to paradise.”
As I listened, I realized this conversation was becoming something much deeper than an interview. I wasn’t just learning about an entrepreneur, an artist, a poetess, a DJ, or a community leader. I was meeting someone whose perspective on life had been shaped by years of sacrifice, faith, and quiet resilience. I found myself wondering how someone could speak about life’s final chapter with such peace. As Helen shared her story, the answer slowly unfolded.
An Unexpected Beginning
Long before people recognized her for her work in literature, business, and community service, Helen was working as a medical representative. She often met people from different walks of life, and one ordinary conversation would unexpectedly change everything. A janitor suggested that she start a manpower and cleaning services business. Hearing her tell that story, I couldn’t help but smile. We often imagine that life-changing advice comes from executives, successful entrepreneurs, or influential mentors. In Helen’s case, it came from someone many people might easily overlook.
The suggestion sounded simple, but turning it into reality was anything but easy. Helen admitted she had no experience running a manpower agency, no employees, and no capital. People around her discouraged the idea, telling her she would need hundreds of thousands of pesos before she could even begin. “I didn’t have that kind of money,” she recalled. Yet instead of waiting for the perfect opportunity, she chose to begin with what she had.
Learning Before Leading
What struck me most wasn’t that she started a business. It was the honesty with which she introduced herself to potential clients. She openly admitted she was still learning. Surprisingly, that honesty became her greatest strength. One housekeeping supervisor saw her determination, believed in her potential, and patiently taught her the industry. Listening to this part of her story, I was reminded that confidence doesn’t always come before opportunity. Sometimes opportunity arrives first, and we simply grow into it.
The years that followed tested her in ways she never imagined. The business survived through borrowed money, loans with high interest, and relentless determination. Every peso she earned already belonged somewhere before it even reached her hands. Yet what impressed me most was that Helen never considered herself above the work. While building the company, she accepted cleaning jobs herself, working alongside the very people she employed. Leadership, I realized, wasn’t something she practiced from behind a desk. She earned it by sharing the same work and understanding the same struggles as everyone else.
When Poetry Became Prayer
But while she was building a business, another part of her life was quietly taking shape. She began writing poetry. I asked her what drew her to it, and her answer was simple. “When life became difficult, I wrote.” Those words stayed with me because they revealed that poetry wasn’t merely a creative hobby. It became her refuge. While carrying the weight of debt, business uncertainty, and family responsibilities, she transformed fear into verses that would later appear in Kabayan Weekly. Writing became her way of praying when words spoken aloud no longer felt enough.
“I only had my faith,” she told me. “I would tell God, ‘I don’t know how I will survive, but You have Your way of bringing me where I need to be.'” As she said those words, it became clear that faith wasn’t simply something Helen believed in. It was the foundation that carried her through every season of uncertainty. One song in particular, God Will Make a Way, became deeply personal to her because its message echoed her own journey. Faith did not remove her struggles, but it gave her the strength to keep walking through them.
Carrying More Than One Burden
Just as her business began to find stability, another trial arrived. Her husband suffered a stroke, and overnight the responsibilities multiplied. Hospital bills competed with business expenses, loan repayments, and the education of their five children. “The business was growing,” Helen reflected, “but so were my debts.” As she quietly said those words, I found myself thinking that perhaps success is often misunderstood. We tend to measure it by income, recognition, or achievements, but Helen measured it differently. For her, success meant continuing to show up for the people she loved, even when every part of life demanded more than she believed she could give. And despite everything she faced, she never stopped moving forward.
Building Beyond Borders
When I asked Helen how she managed to carry the weight of running a business while supporting her family, she didn’t tell me about extraordinary opportunities or life-changing breakthroughs. Instead, she spoke about ordinary sacrifices repeated every single day. Like many Filipino parents searching for a better future, she eventually accepted work in Abu Dhabi. It wasn’t an easy decision, she admitted, but she believed it was the best way to provide for the people she loved.
What fascinated me was that even after moving abroad, Helen never stopped being an entrepreneur.
She smiled as she told me that after finishing her office work, she would sell fish to fellow Filipinos. It sounded like a small detail, but to me it revealed something much bigger. Wherever life placed her, Helen always found a way to create opportunities. Every extra sale became another contribution to her children’s education, another payment for her husband’s medicine, another payment toward the family’s daily expenses, and another reminder that love is often expressed through sacrifice rather than words. Listening to her, I couldn’t help but think that success is rarely built through one extraordinary decision. More often, it grows quietly through countless ordinary choices made with extraordinary consistency.
Choosing Family First
Despite finding opportunities abroad, Helen never allowed career ambitions to replace what mattered most.
“My husband needed me,” she said simply.
There was no dramatic explanation. No attempt to justify her decision. She returned to the Philippines because she believed her family needed her presence more than her career needed her absence. As she spoke, I found myself reflecting on how the most defining moments in our lives are often the ones no audience ever sees. They are the quiet decisions made out of love, responsibility, and commitment.
Back home, Helen continued building her entrepreneurial journey by establishing ME At Your Supplies OPC. As we talked about the business, I noticed that she rarely measured success by profit margins or market competition. Instead, she spoke about creating stability—for her family, for her employees, and for everyone who believed in what she was building. Having started her entrepreneurial journey in 2015, she now looks back on more than a decade of challenges that gradually became life’s greatest teachers.
The Lessons Debt Taught
One lesson, however, surfaced again and again throughout our conversation.
Debt.
Most people want to forget the seasons when they struggled financially. Helen chose to remember them because they shaped the person she would become. She spoke honestly about the pressure of loans, suppliers, payroll, hospital bills, and educational expenses. There were days when it seemed every peso already belonged to someone else before it even reached her hands.
Yet what impressed me most was her perspective.
“There are people who have abundance but don’t want to pay,” she reflected. “Then there are people who have very little but sincerely want to fulfill their obligations.”
Those words stayed with me long after she said them. She wasn’t merely talking about money. She was talking about integrity. Helen explained that whenever creditors called, she reminded herself that they, too, had families and businesses depending on them. Instead of responding with frustration, she chose honesty, humility, and communication. Somewhere along the journey, debt stopped being something she hated and became something that taught her patience, accountability, and compassion.
Today, she says she is closer than ever to achieving one of the goals she has pursued for years.
A debt-free business.
“I can feel that I am closer,” she said with a quiet smile.
As I looked at her, I realized it wasn’t the smile of someone chasing wealth. It was the smile of someone discovering peace after years of carrying burdens that few people ever saw.
Building a Legacy of Service
Our conversation gradually shifted from business to another chapter of her life that revealed the heart behind everything she does. In 2021, Helen founded ME Publications, a venture dedicated not only to literature and storytelling but also to community service. As she described the publication, it became clear that this wasn’t simply another business expansion. It was another expression of her desire to make a difference.
She explained that proceeds from the publication help support charitable initiatives and community projects. Listening to her, I noticed a pattern that connected every stage of her journey. Whether she was managing a business, writing poetry, publishing books, or serving communities, the purpose was always the same. Every achievement eventually became an opportunity to lift someone else.
Perhaps that is why Helen remains so grounded despite everything she has accomplished.
She has learned that success becomes far more meaningful when it is shared, and that the greatest legacy we leave behind is not measured by what we accumulate, but by the lives we help along the way.
The Choice That Defined Her
Despite finding opportunities abroad, Helen never allowed career ambitions to become more important than the people she loved.
“My husband needed me,” she said quietly.
There was no hesitation in her answer.
She chose to return to the Philippines because she believed her family needed her presence more than they needed another source of income.
As she shared that chapter of her life, I was reminded that some of our greatest decisions are never announced to the world. They happen quietly, guided not by recognition but by love. In Helen’s story, success was never about choosing business over family. It was about knowing when family should come first.
More Than Building a Business
Back in the Philippines, Helen continued her entrepreneurial journey by establishing ME At Your Supplies OPC. As we talked about the company, I noticed that she rarely described it in terms of profits or expansion. Instead, she spoke about responsibility. She wanted to build something that could provide stability—not only for her family but also for the people who placed their trust in her.
Having started her entrepreneurial journey in 2015, Helen now looks back on more than a decade of challenges, victories, and lessons. As I listened, it became clear that experience had become her greatest teacher, shaping not only the way she managed a business but also the way she viewed life.
When Debt Became a Teacher
One subject kept returning throughout our conversation.
Debt.
Most people would rather forget the years they struggled financially. Helen chose to remember them because they transformed her. She spoke openly about the pressure of loans, suppliers, payroll, hospital expenses, and the cost of sending her children to school. There were moments when every peso she earned was already committed before it reached her hands.
Yet what struck me most wasn’t the hardship itself.
It was the way she chose to see it.
“There are people who have abundance but don’t want to pay,” she reflected. “Then there are people who have very little but sincerely want to fulfill their obligations.”
Her words weren’t simply about finances. They were about character.
Helen explained that whenever creditors called, she reminded herself that they, too, had businesses and families depending on them. Instead of responding with frustration, she chose honesty and humility. Somewhere along the journey, debt stopped being her greatest burden and became one of her greatest teachers. It taught her accountability, patience, and compassion—qualities that no business seminar could ever provide.
Today, she says she is closer than ever to achieving one of the goals that has motivated her for years.
A debt-free business.
“I can feel that I am closer,” she told me with a smile.
As I looked at her, I realized it wasn’t the smile of someone who had finally become wealthy. It was the smile of someone who had finally found peace.
A Business With a Bigger Purpose
Our conversation eventually moved beyond entrepreneurship and into something even more meaningful. In 2021, Helen established ME Publications, a venture dedicated not only to literature and storytelling but also to community service. As she described the publication, I realized it wasn’t simply another business she wanted to grow. It was another way of serving people.
She shared that the proceeds from the publication help support charitable initiatives and community projects. Listening to her, I began to notice a pattern running through every chapter of her life. Whether she was managing a business, writing poetry, publishing books, or leading community initiatives, the purpose remained the same. Every achievement eventually became an opportunity to help someone else.
Perhaps that is what impressed me most about Helen Sarita.
She never allowed success to become something she kept for herself.
Instead, she transformed it into something she could share with others, believing that the true measure of a meaningful life is not found in what we accumulate, but in the lives we are able to uplift along the way.
