Reylan and Angie Agawin: A Story of Overcoming
Introducing the Agawin family!
During the pandemic, Reylan Agawin was laid off from his job. With a background in baking, he and his wife, Angie, started a baked goods business. They first began selling to friends and neighbors, but when a friend shared the news on social media, the orders began pouring in!
With the goal of building a strong temporal self-reliance foundation, Reylan diverted all his efforts into building and growing their business.
The Agawins practiced several Rules of Thumb they learned through Academy trainings:
Differentiation of Products: Through a series of experiments, the Agawins created a unique “Bukobe,” a buko pie with a mixture of ube (a purple yam). This helped them stand out from the competition. They envision additional flavors of buko pie in the future.
Start Small and Think Big: The Agawins began their business with what they had, helping prevent loss and keeping risks low.
What began with mixing and matching flavors of baked goods turned into a booming business. In fact, it has been so successful that Reylan chose to maintain his bakery business rather than return to his former job. In addition, the family has found significant meaning in growing the business as the daughters have learned self-reliance while helping with the baking. This has given them the opportunity to grow closer together.
Through continual learning and perseverance, the family has experienced incredible successes. In December of 2023, they were awarded third place in the BYU MS Asia Awards. This has increased their motivation to pursue their vision.
After witnessing one of their part-time employees begin earning money, Angie shared, “Never give up, and then look at the people around you and how you make others happy.”
The Agawin family’s story is evidence that when you apply faith-based principles in your business, you will bless your family and the lives of those around you. They recognize that as entrepreneurs, you take on the challenge to constantly improve. This is how the Agawin family turned their setbacks into success.
