As the president of Nai Cha Food and Beverages Inc. and co-owner and managing director of Le Charmé Suites, Josephine Floresca stands formidable despite the tough challenges she faced along the way.
Being a hotel owner did not happen overnight for Jo. In fact, she was once a house cleaner.
Le Charmé Suites, a popular hotel in Subic boasts of a European concept warmed by genuine Filipino hospitality. The business and leisure hotel started as an accident as it was conceived to be a furniture showroom before she saw its opportunity as something greater.
Jo, as she is fondly called, completed her formative education at St. Paul’s College. She took her bachelor’s degree in St. Scholastica’s College while working on the side. Financial struggles would not hinder her from gaining education and eventual success in life.
Her mother is the source of her inspiration.
“My mother always put our education first. She wanted us to get the best education possible. I would help her in our meat stall in the market. Sometimes even my classmates in high school would see me with their moms. It wasn’t something to be ashamed of,” she said.
“We would even give discounts to them [laughs],” she said. She recalled a time she hid in the bathroom during recess so that none of her schoolmates would saw that her baon was once again hardboiled eggs and rice. “Then I would drink from the water fountain,” she said.
“My mom said to me, ‘being poor is not a deterrent to strive better’. I would just write down all my frustration, all of the bad things said. Then I burned it. I still do today,” she said, adding that negative things should be left out in anything she does.
In an interview with Manila Standard, the amiable executive said that she looked up to her mother for teaching her the value of hard work. She continues to live up to this value to this day.
It was these life lessons that empowered her when she became a single mother with three children. At a young age of 19, Jo flew to Taiwan to become a factory worker.
She decided to settle in Subic. To earn a living for her and her children, she took multiple jobs – full-time secretary, English tutor and foot massage therapist.
She did not have a shortage of difficulties. However great the challenges were, she was steadfast, driven by her drive to make the lives of her children comfortable. Even as a house cleaner, she never ceased to dream big.
She would even take her kids to work and show them how beautiful the house was and vowing that one day they would live in one too. She persevered, hoping one day her fate would turn out for the best.
It was Jo’s fourth job – being a real estate agent – that brought the rags to riches story. She met a low-profile businessman who eventually became her investor in her ventures.
She used the money, together with commissions from her brokerage job, to set-up her first restaurant, a commercial building, and a four-star hotel. In retrospect, fate has an interesting sense of humor.
The jobs she did as a means to make ends meet are now part of her growing repertoire of business assets.
“All of them became my business actually. See, I have a spa, real estate, house for rent, office, and English tutorial. So I’m glad that I could apply to my business all my work experiences in the past.”
Jo is not someone who would rest on her laurels, however many and broad they may be. “Everything is temporary. The only constant is progress. It’s never downhill from here. That is something I’m very sure of. In an active lifestyle, everything is progressive, everything is improving,” she said.
She said she would not trade Subic for any other place. “I really admire Subic, how it turned from a military base into an industrial zone and a leisure destination in Luzon. No matter how much I was offered an opportunity in Manila, I did not consider them. Although I grew up in Parañaque, I fell in love with Subic. My passion is here.”
She now happily lives with her partner together with her four daughters. Her youngest is the inspiration and the namesake of her flagship business Le Charme Suites.
“I gave the generosity of space so that our guests will enjoy being inside the room. I really wanted the rooms to be spacious and homey for the guests,” she said.
“Being a mom, I’m very family-oriented so I made this hotel really a home away from home. Whenever guests arrive, I make it a point that they would feel the convenience and comfort of being home. We have a playroom for kids and virtual reality games for the teens so they really enjoy the staycation,” she said.
“My being a mom is my background because in hospitality, caring is our business. This hotel and property is the expression of my passion in Subic. This is my lifestyle.”
From being a receptionist, a factory worker, a house cleaner, an English tutor, a masseuse and a real estate broker, Jo finally found where she truly belongs and it’s only fitting for a strong, persevering woman.
“My classmates would tell me ‘Jo you have reached far in life. I would respond, ‘Why? We are still together, and we are eating on the same table,” she said.
“That brings us back to the way we were [back in the day]. It is not about the status in life.”