A Decade of Doris

It’s five minutes past midnight here in Los Angeles, on the last day of the decade, very early morning on Thursday, December 31, 2009. From the comfort of my two-bedroom West LA apartment, in the quietude of the evening, I am honored to write the final Compendium article for 2009, as I, without a moment of hurry, bid adieu to a decade I have been blessed to journey, savoring its last sweetness one more time.

My stories, the entire decade of it, perhaps run parallel with yours. Mine have been a story of lost, a story of victorious moments, of betrayal and of courage, of mistakes made and lessons learned, of discovering how to love, and learning how to let go, of striving to be a better person, of forgiveness and admiration, of acceptance, of prayers and of faith, of being and of becoming, of grammatical errors and new vocabularies.

At the beginning of the decade, I was freshly anointed as a college drop-out. To make matter worst, I was a college drop-out without a car! I left the hallways of San Francisco State U, packed all my finance and business law textbooks, and boarded United en route to Los Angeles.

The lack of bachelorhood accreditation from a university was never an intimidating factor for me. I knew then that my self worth rises above and goes beyond any paper can dictate.

I applied for my very first job and scored a sales position with Rampage clothing store inside the fancy Beverly Center mall. I would take the Metro bus from Santa Monica to Hollywood, wearing a B.U.M Equipment sweatshirt, tennis shoes and no make up. Unattractiveness attracted zero attention, and resulted in coming home safely.

I always arrived 30 minutes early and would use the restroom on the second floor above the pet store religiously to change from B.U.M outfit to mall high fashion. My job paid $9/hr – they went straight to rent and outstanding bills. I was not a good sales person. I ran away from clients, I was too afraid at the idea that they might ask me a question I do not have an answer of. I did not know how to sell. I was, however, excellent at putting tried-on clothes back to the racks. After 4 months at Rampage, I voluntarily left, after they blatantly cut my hours to 4 hours a week. I left with a pile of Spring/Summer clothes and a lesson in mall high fashion – Beverly Hills style! I retired my B.U.M and my Metro pass. I wanted to do more and dreamed better dreams for myself.

Luckily, not long after that, I came across an ad in Monstertrak.com, a job search engine for students, for a clerical position at a law firm in Century City. I had bribed a Santa Monica College student to release the school password so I could access a database of jobs offered only to Santa Monica College students at that time.

I interviewed and was offered the position. I moved from mall level 4, to 17^th floor of one of LA’s famous skyscrapers, sharing elevators with Hugo Boss and Armani-caped lawyers in Century City.

I ended my 3 year tenure to accept a better paying job as a personal assistant to a billionaire’s ex wife/producer wannabe/failed actress. I stayed there for 2 years, started off as an assistant, and at my departure I delivered the company’s first ever animation/cartoon pilot programming for television for Asia distribution. I was wrongfully terminated because I rejected to be part of my boss’s ill-insurance scheme.

What followed after was a job at a wellness company where I successfully transformed a mom & pop local operation’s meek five-figure revenue, into an international establishment with Asia Pacific distribution that launches the company into a six-figure revenue-generating enterprise with open doors to the Raffles and Ritz Carlton chains, and a secure distribution into the Philippines. I was fired for being adamant about the 15% sales commission I was promised, instead of the unfair 2.5% I was given. Relentless with my pursuit, I was met with a 2-week severance paycheck.

My decade has seen me with money and without, I have lived off of 33 cents a pack instant noodle for months, had to carry 2 3-gallon drinking water so heavy in both hands, and walked blocks from the bus stop to home. My decade has been adorned by sleeping with the boss, getting my first Toyota car, lost my Toyota, getting a civic, dating a Charlz, kissing an Abe, flirting with a Steven, sailing a boat, crying over a Joe, satiating my ego candy with a beemer, car accident, chemical burn on my face, robbed at knife point, robbed at gunpoint, bitch-slapped by a homeless, kissed a firefighter, too many bad dates and empty ‘I’ll call you!’ promises, called my date Louie when his name is really Andrew, office affair, saved a dog, Atkins diet, master cleanse, see food diet, fell in love, fell out of love, told myself not to fall in love,  repeatedly failing at following my own advice to not fall in love.

My decade placed me at that Rampage clothing store so I may learn that often times ‘good clothes open all doors.’ It put me in Century City, the playground of love and lust so I may distinguish the difference and amuse in both. It put me to work for a production company, an environment I was not familiar with and taught me that the key to success was to ask a lot of questions all the way to the top. I learned that in all you do, from your spoken words and written, honor will determine how high you soar.

This decade has taught me the powerful effect of kindness and compassion. That when you help others move one step ahead, the universe shifts you two steps forward.

Despite the occasional hiccups and tumultous journey, I am in constant gratitude that this decade has transformed my pain into my passion. That it finds me worthy to fulfill my own life’s calling and purpose. That it miraculously put me in places, situations and encounters that compelled me to learn, take advantage of, grow and multiply the reckoning and wisdom of such circumstances.

When I walked out of San Francisco U, never in a million years would I ever have imagined that I would be running a company that sells ‘Love’. The philosophy of “good clothes open all doors” was then reflected on the design of ALCHEMIST products and services, every materials and angles and curvature of our design are thought of with the same philosophy in mind. That the same love and lust I learned in Century City becomes the vein and playing ground for ALCHEMIST today.

For the new year, my wish for you is this:

That you always have someone to share tea with; that you lead your lives not to satisfy your ego candy but rejoice in your own fabulous truthful self, that you carry out your heart’s passion – money always follows where the heart leads, that of 20 people who said ‘this can’t be done’ , you find 1 person that propels you forward and say ‘this can.’ ;  that you find bliss in coming home; that you always  find gratitude in kneeling down and looking up; that you are happy often and frequent.

As I sit here, on the same chair I got from Target and at the same desk where I wrote most of my dreams at the beginning of the decade, I marvel at the journey I’ve had and a destination I’ve arrived! What a decade!

And now, as I close this decade, with 13 colored folders of new projects and endeavors stacked up next to me, a ream of thank-you notes from strangers and friends,  old photos of good times, on this very same desk, I dream another dream for me.

The best is yet to come.

Happy New Year … from my heart to yours!

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