We all know these words: Strong, Independent, and Woman. Put them together and we’ll have the perfect adjective for the modern woman, a goal-oriented woman who knows her principles and values.
Here in Cebu, we’ve come across so many women of different generations who have set a name for themselves in many fields like art, politics, and business. One such lady is 24-year-old Charmaine De Leon.

Charm has always had the eye for business, starting a small online shop during her senior year in college. By the time she was 21, she along with other young entrepreneurs launched what is now the biggest bazaar in Cebu, Pop District Bazaar. Later on, she joined the team of Sugbo Mercado, what is now the biggest weekend food market in Cebu City, and serves as their Finance Director.
Charm is a strong supporter of start-up businesses, having also started one at a very young age. “I want to encourage Cebuanos and Filipinos to set their mind to be more open to setting a business and entrepreneurship,” she says.
Charm considers herself as well as other women lucky to be living at a time where women can be on top, and that embracing that fact makes up a strong independent woman of today.
When asked if she considers herself to be a strong independent woman, she says, “I am a woman. I consider myself to be independent.” And when it comes to being strong, Charm says that strength does not only mean not showing any weaknesses, but embracing one’s faults and learning from them.
“Even through your weakness, you can still find a reason to be strong,” she adds. If you do find yourself to be in a pool of struggles, she advises to have a healthy chat about them with your friends to help lessen the burden and load you’re carrying.
A strong independent woman is never one without values that uphold her being. For Charm, these are the values of people, money, and appreciating the value in things and respecting them. For her, showing respect for even the simplest of things comes a long way and creates an impact especially for others. All these she learned from her family, which she considers her source of strength.
“I find my strength in my family. I’m mainly doing what I do because of them, even [in] my advocacy in promoting businesses,” she said.
Being a CEO and Director of such big and popular businesses at a very young age, Charm is confident that she has proven herself to be a testimony that a young woman can do business. “I’ve proven that if you’re young, you can do it. Not [having] much experience can be a strength because I can absorb and learn from the experiences of others.”
But it does not stop there. Having started with Pop District Bazaar and Sugbu Mercado which gave way to local start-up business entrepreneurs, Charm’s dream is to start something that gives back to the community and to create a social enterprise where she is able to help people especially communities from rural areas to start their own and prosper from their businesses.
For Charm, being a woman may have its pros and cons. She tells all young women to never stop learning and finding their own passion. “It’s never too late. Focus on you and focus on learning. When you educate yourself enough about what you’re passionate about, it resonates,” she tells Zee.
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