Messy Bessy started out as a vision to build an environment-conscious brand. From selling eco-friendly cleaning products online, CEO and founder Krie Lopez’ vision became a bigger mission – to grow an inclusive and sustainable social enterprise for women.
Having finished Management Engineering at the Ateneo de Manila University, Krie Lopez is no novice in social entrepreneurship, gaining experience as the former head of the corporate social responsibility program of a global food and retail brand. After leaving her corporate job, Krie bravely built her own social enterprise and in 2007, introduced Messy Bessy, which has become a popular home and personal care brand with natural, environmentally sustainable and innovative composition.
A modern-day CEO, Krie has built an environment of mutual growth and wellness, not just for her business, but more so, for her employees. She established their nonprofit HOUSE (Helping Ourselves Through Sustainable Enterprises) in 2015, in an effort to replicate and scale the social program they have incubated in Messy Bessy. She explains, “That’s been the core of what we do. If you look at Messy Bessy, more than half of our workforce are working students. When you buy a Messy Bessy product, you’re feeding into that system that’s providing these young adults with employment and education.”
Messy Bessy goes deeper into the support process by connecting their employees to suitable and attainable future opportunities. This is especially true for the disadvantaged women in their team. She adds, “We have family care programs that even go as far as engaging with their families. We also offer interventions in sexual health, psychosocial support and financial literacy.” Speaking about the women in her team, Krie acts as an enabler to further inspire and empower them. “These women deserve the privilege to fight for themselves”, she continues.
Krie further shares that the end-goal of Messy Bessy is to make their employees “self-reliant.” She says, “We take note of everything that we’ve learned along the way and identify what is really essential for our employees to be self-reliant. The big goal at the end of our program is for them to finish with a college diploma coupled with a rich work experience.”
The power of strong connections is also a crucial element for Messy Bessy. “Being a social enterprise, we are able to use our network, our connections to build and support the dreams of our employees. Over the years, we realized that so many in our community are willing to help. In fact, there are people from large multinationals who are always willing to roll up their sleeves to help us thrive.’
In celebration of Women’s Month, Krie was named as a “Master Builder” for PLDT Home’s #SheConnects campaign, a series of video masterclass of women masters. Learn from Krie Lopez and other amazing women by watching their exclusive videos on PLDT Home’s YouTube page here.
