Two generations ago, a young Filipino woman traveled across the ocean with her two young sons to start a new life in America. Though she said goodbye to her home and her people, “Auntie Bel” carried with her a deeply ingrained family culture of entrepreneurship and tenacious industry.
In the Land of Opportunity, one of Auntie Bel’s little boys grew up to become a dentist, and with his wife by his side, they opened a practice together. The couple had a daughter who grew into her place in the family business, and their example of hard work and business savvy became a part of who she was as well.
Their little girl grew up with an eye for beauty and compassion for others, and she found the same entrepreneurial spirit that coursed through the veins of her ancestors and flowed through her too.
That girl is Maria Corpuz, and the one everyone called “Auntie Bel” is Bel Merch & Design’s namesake and Maria’s Lola (Tagalog for “grandmother”).
A Business with a Vision
Maria didn’t stay in the family business. She found her way into the promotional merchandise industry, and over the seven years of working in various positions, Maria had her doubts about the way business was done. Most of the products being produced were of poor quality, limited durability, and simply became landfill fodder. Questions began to percolate in her mind.
Why do we do what we do?
What if businesses gave merchandise people actually wanted?
Products were being brought in from questionable businesses with no thought to the ethical treatment of the environment and their workers.
What if merchandisers only supported fair trade and environmentally friendly
manufacturers?
What could we accomplish with high-grade materials that are also fully recyclable?
The employees of the merchandisers wouldn’t use the apparel at all if it wasn’t required work attire.
What if the products were so good that workers wanted to use them on their off days?
What if we began making promotional merchandise that served practical and aesthetic
needs?
Communities are filled with creative and artistic talent. Many of them are living and working in relative obscurity outside of their own artistic circles.
What if we could bring together businesses looking for merchandise with artists who
could create beautiful, one-of-a-kind work?
What if we went beyond promoting a logo and amplified others’ voices?
Maria’s musings had led her to a business model unlike anything else in the industry, and since she launched Bel Merch last fall, Maria has raised the bar on promotional merchandise. Now that her company is redefining promotions, the guiding question she seeks to answer with every client is “Why?”
Why are you making this investment?
Why are we choosing this material?
Bel Merch offers customers a unique experience from the moment they set foot in the door. Maria’s cozy shop has the feel of an art gallery, as she showcases the work of local artists with whom she works. She listens intently as her clients describe what they are looking for in terms of goals, budget, and brand, and she curates a customized assortment of options, from sweatshirts to drinkware, etched class to pocketknives all selected to enhance the client’s brand and mission.
Her clients feel good about their purchases, as Maria has done their homework for them, networking with renowned artists, those who will create a product far more exquisite than standard dime-a-dozen merch. Her materials are sustainable, beautiful, and desirable.
Trailblazing with Gloved Hands and a Machete
As a young, Asian, female entrepreneur in Nebraska, Maria is rarely what people expect in a business owner. She feels a deep sense of purpose that her work is about far more than just making Bel Merch succeed and thrive. She is also paving the way for other brown-skinned visionaries and young women to establish their presence in an arena historically dominated by older white men.
Leading the way on a path she’s carving day by day isn’t always easy, and she’s not only blazing a trail in the business world; Maria is building a bridge between business and artist communities. She bears a responsibility to understand and appreciate both sides. Businesses have budgets to meet and accountants to answer to. Artists pour a bit of their souls into every piece they create. How do you put a price tag on an expression of the heart?
Maria navigates these sometimes-incompatible realities with benevolent savvy, helping both sides reach understanding, and often a satisfactory compromise.
A Trans-oceanic Vision
Maria’s cannot ignore the beckoning of her heritage as it calls her back to the Philippines, where a part of her identity will always lie. She dreams of the day when she will be able to take Bel Merch there, carrying within her the memory of her beloved Lola, who passed away last year.
She hopes to develop the supplier side of her business in her homeland, working directly with manufacturers to source beautiful, sustainable materials and enhance the quality of life of Filipino workers and their families, for they are her family too.
And Lola couldn’t be prouder.
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