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Splice celebrates the transformation of media in Asia. This podcast features conversations with people across the global media ecosystem: media startup founders, tech, data and design folks, investors, journalists, media development funders and donors, product managers, and academics.
Hosted and produced by Rishad Patel and Alan Soon.
This is Splice. Hey. This is Splice Pink. This is a podcast of quick conversations with people across the global media ecosystem. So we have media start up founders, journalists, and funders to all the tech data design folks.
Rishad:I'm Rishad.
Alan:And I'm Alan. And today, we're talking with our friend, Beatrice Lauren Goh, who usually goes with b Goh. Now the last time that we spoke, it was months ago and, oh, yes. She started a her new company, Atleta Filipina. How's it going?
Beatrice:Yeah. It's been 2 months. We just turned 2 months old, and there has just been a lot going on. And I think, like, every media startup founder could also attest to this that, you know, you could plan all you can. We did the audience research together back in 2022, remember, on, the appetite for women's sports content in the Philippines, and it all started there.
Beatrice:So it was a 2 year process, and then, you know, we got 2023 where I had to also, as a founder, heal also from a lot of things. You know, you have to, yeah. As an entrepreneur, you have to be, like, a 100%, like, in that zone that you're you're healthy. You're also willing to give your all because you're starting something new. And You
Alan:had a lot going on for those couple of years. But, you know, actually before we we get ahead of ourselves, why don't you tell people what the what what the business is? What do you do?
Beatrice:Okay. So Atleta Filipina is a startup for women's sports in the Philippines. So we are here to serve the needs of the women's sports community. And, yeah. So that is basically the vision also.
Beatrice:It's to just it's the mission that's the brand purpose. It's to serve the needs of the women's sports ecosystem in the Philippines. But then the vision definitely and the purpose is for women to have a future in sports.
Rishad:As always, I have a question around your user. So you're serving the needs of the sports ecosystem, which I find fascinating. What is that ecosystem apart from, I don't know, sports fans, players? Are we talking about people in government?
Beatrice:Yeah. So there are so many stakeholders in women's sports. So, of course, we have the athletes, we have the coaches, we have the teams. And then the ones that are, like, unseen are more of the sports management, the media, and also, of course, their funders and backers, sports patrons. And especially in the Philippines, we have to engage with a lot of sports patrons because the government could only provide, like, only a percentage of the support and that there, there's a lot of red tape going on, of course.
Beatrice:So but then the government also would the all all the government always encourages, like, this private and public partnership. So it's always about engaging private companies to just help boost the women's sports ecosystem. So so when Athleta Filipina began, it's really just to be that channel, you know, to gather this community of athletes, coaches, and teams just because no. There there there has been, like, sports female sports journalists. There have been female sports shows, but then, for a brand to actually do this, like, more the it's a more than media kind of thing.
Beatrice:So that's where that's how Atleta Filipina was born.
Alan:Can you tell us about some of these needs? You said needs maybe 3, 4 times there earlier. What are some of these specific needs that you've come across?
Beatrice:So I've been in the industry for over 15 years as an athlete, and then I became a sports journalist. Then now I'm a founder. So I've really seen, how the Philippines I've really gone deep into the Philippines sports ecosystem, and I could really say that you could really tackle this on a developmental aspect that there are just so many needs that you can't serve everything. But then but then, you know, as Athleta Filipina, I'm a solo entrepreneur, and so I'm very much aware of my capacity. So everything has to start with me first and what I can do to actually fill in some gaps in the market.
Beatrice:Because the needs can really, range from athletes don't have enough funding to even compete internationally. Athlete I have encountered athletes who don't even have shoes and equipment to train. And even, like, the coaching needs to be, coaching needs to be coaches need to be more equipped as well. And there are also, like, in women's sports that there's still that mentality in the Philippines that, oh, we have a women's sports team for hockey? Oh, we have women's sports team for football?
Beatrice:So there's still there's still a lack of awareness, and there's also that, the mindset also that, like, women are meant to be homemakers. Women are, women are still, working for unpaid labor in the Philippines just by being caretakers or even just, doing all the housework. So that is still very prevalent in the Philippines, sports. And they're, like, even on the and on the competitive level and the girls for girls, a lot of sports competitions get canceled just because there there are not enough girls to form a basketball team, which is only 5 people. So yeah.
Beatrice:Like, I could, like, talk about so many needs, but then, yeah, that's how vast it is.
Rishad:Speaking of basketball teams, you you recently I mean, considering you're only 2 months old, you recently got involved with an event. Tell us how you did that.
Beatrice:Yeah. So one of, Atleta Filipina's first ever game coverage was actually the Manila hustle 3x3 tournament, which is a 3x3 basketball tournament that gathered women women teams from all over Asia and Oceania. So we had some austral an Australian team come, and then we had Singapore. Thailand was there, Japan, Korea, and they all competed with the Philippine teams. And it was held in a mall, like, a huge one.
Beatrice:It's called Mall of Asia. So it's the biggest shopping mall in the Philippines, and the turnout was really great. The, the teams really enjoyed the Philippine hospitality also. But then for Atleta Filipina, that really meant so much also to the organizers because, finally, there was, like, a need there's a media outfit and a brand that's female athletes on a competitive level. Because, we're really trying to change the mindset that women don't have a future in sports.
Beatrice:They cannot compete. They cannot earn money in sports. So, this is what Atleta Filipina advocates for. And then aside aside from that, we became a media partner already for another association's event. So it's called the Women's Padel Association, and then they just, during their launch, they invited a a top level padel coach from Spain to come and teach.
Beatrice:And then, it all and they gather different levels of padel athletes from advanced intermediate and beginner to actually join the sport, and Atleta Filipina was there to cover it. So those are, like, a lot of the things that great things that have been happening in Atleta Filipina. And also just, like, it's a it's a blessing also that I've been in on the job for, for quite a while. So all you know, we really as a start off, I guess, we get through leverage on our relationships. And I really was able to get the support of the sport like, the sports organizers and the sports media who I've worked with for so long that they have been inviting Atleta Filipina to their own events and even giving us access and media media IDs to cover the games.
Alan:At this point, you've done you've done a couple of things. You've done the reporting side of things. You've also found ways to leverage the access that you've that you've had and relationships that you've built over over the time. So when, when you look at at at the work that needs to be done, and again, you were, you were saying previously that, you are just one person and I think, you know, that's, that's a nice dose of reality. What do you enjoy doing most about this work, as an entrepreneur, as a solo entrepreneur?
Alan:What do you what do you hate most about it?
Beatrice:Do I end what I enjoy the most yeah. I I went to Singapore last week. No. Early this month, remember, we were supposed to meet up, and I think, like, I that was actually the vacation that I never knew I needed. Yeah.
Beatrice:Because, honestly, as an entrepreneur, I was already in that zone where, look, I have to ride on my momentum. Oh, no. Like, I booked this trip already. Like, why in the middle of women's month? Like, I could have done so much more.
Beatrice:But then it was so it was I felt like it was just so, like, god ordained that I had to be in Singapore and actually met with my family there and, and really got to, like, talk about, like, what I've been doing. And I think I just really needed, like, that encouragement that my uncle said that, you know, it's different when, like, I I'm actually on cam, that it feels like I like what I'm doing, and and I love what I'm doing, and I'm so passionate about it. And I was like, sorry. I'm it it makes me cry just thinking about it because I feel like I'm it's like, oh, I never it's not that I never really got to choose to do what I want, but it's more of, like, there's just so much, like, pressure. Like, as there's so much pressure in life that peep and people have so many other expectations, but then I'm just so, like, glad.
Beatrice:And so I'm so glad to be deliberate also of my choices. Yeah. And to actually choose to do this even though, like, I know that it's gonna take a lot of me. It's gonna take a lot of my resources. I'm bootstrap funding.
Beatrice:And yeah. So, of course, those are the challenges. And, like, it's always, like, to have the heart to also serve your market as well. Like, I had to I'm just so glad I'm right now in this space where I'm actually so in love with the mark with I'm so in love with sports. I'm so passionate about equipping women and empowering them and, like, letting them know that, you know, there are actually steps to that because I also managed to I had to carve my own path as well.
Beatrice:So so nothing is really impossible. So, yeah, like and when I went to Singapore and just got to, like, receive all these, like, words of encouragement, that made me really, that made me be even more sure of what I'm doing as a founder, and it's because I love it.
Rishad:I just wanna ask you a quick quick question since you mentioned boot bootstrapping. What is your long term business plan?
Beatrice:Yeah. For my long term business plan, it's good thing that we really have these sports clinics and these events because the one that Atleta Filipina will be staging for the first time, we're not offering it for free. Definitely, there's going to be a ticket price. And the reason why I'm doing this is because, like, in the Philippines, all these girls sports organizations have always positions positioned themselves to be nonprofit that they tend to be more of charity organizations or companies who considers them as corporate social responsibility. And that and it has or it and when we're getting people and resources, it was always on a volunteer basis that it does not become sustainable or it always becomes at the mercy of companies and big backers that so this is the reason why, like, Atleta Filipina, I positioned it to be a for profit for profit organization.
Beatrice:And and, like, like, the events part, at least, like, this product can can earn. And then and for media, like, it might take a while to, to I treat the media aspect of Atleta Filipina to be more of an investment. Because, like, the law it's investing into building the audience. It's investing into strengthening the distribution channel, which is Atleta Filipina. This a distribution channel for women's sports.
Beatrice:So the so the returns, like, I'm I've already talked to some people who have advised me that, like, expect it to come 3 to 5 years later, but then just do it.
Alan:I like that you said you're you're testing and going as you as you figure this stuff out. What is the one theory that you have that, you know, that that you feel like still needs to be tested, that you're still unsure of at this point?
Beatrice:One thing that has to be tested, I just couldn't get the well, I don't know if it's a plat platform thing, but then I think I'm still trying to find the brand identity on these media media platforms. I've released, like, content whether it's, like, photo whether it's, like, photos or reels, and it's about different top it's about different topics. But then sorry. Like, aside from, like, just figuring out which content works or not on these, like, different platforms. I think, like, one thing that I really want to test is also ecommerce.
Beatrice:Like, because, like, there are there are sports teams who have their own merchandise, and they were asking, oh, what if, like, Atleta Filipina can sell it for us beyond a consignment basis? But in my, like, how I'm seeing, like, how I'm seeing things right now, And with my capacity, maybe I'm not yet there. Like, I don't like, even the the awareness of these sports teams, like, yes, they want to make the merchandise, but then I need them I need to engage with them also or they also have to engage with their own communities to be able to make things work for everyone in the ecosystem. So that's where I see, that there's, like, actually some boundaries that I have to be firm with that. Okay.
Beatrice:Atleta Filipina can help here. But also, I have to be firm that, I also need to see that, you know, are the resources that will shell out, it's going to be beneficial for all the stakeholders that I that I like, I hope that people like, you have to prove to me that people will actually be buying your merchandise. But then if and if it's not merch, what else can we do? Maybe, like, we could just partner up to, help build awareness on your team, cover your stories, and that will draw people into your games as well. Right?
Beatrice:So we have to see I I also have to be firm with that.
Rishad:Thank you, Bee Go. You spoke about sports teams wanting merch. I definitely want some AF merch! But thank you so much for spending your some of your morning with us. That's a wrap for this episode of Splice Pink.
Rishad:If you like our conversations with people across the media ecosystem and want more, please subscribe. Better yet, share this with someone. Get in touch. We're on splicemedia.com. Thank you, Bee.
Alan:Thank you, Bee.
Beatrice:Thank you.
Alan:All the best.