SAN PABLEÑA ADDS ANOTHER FEATHER TO HER CAP

San Pablo City - There’s no way stopping her! Ms. Isabelita Marcelo Abele, Filipina-American President and CEO of US Lumber, Inc., in Woodbury Heights, New Jersey in U.S.A. received another award last March 31 for being one of the New Jersey’s Best 50 Women in Business in 2008.

Ms. Abele, a native of Barangay San Miguel, San Pablo City, has been a consistent recipient of Outstanding Filipino-American Award in the field of business in the United States.

In 2005, she received the Asian Entrepreneur of the Year Award during a recognition dinner in Washington D.C. Corollary to this and because of $10 million sales of her timber business, she was given the 2005 Enterprising Women of the Year Award in a special ceremony at Walt Disney World in Orlando, Florida.

In 2004, Abele was named one of the 25 Women of Influence for NJ BIZ and the Philadelphia Business Journal; Woman of the Year for the Girl Scouts of South Jersey Pines and was a finalist for the Wells Fargo Asian American Business Leadership Award.

Her success story is worth emulating because it is built upon courage and tenacity. When she left the Philippines to seek new opportunities in America, she was confronted with diverse problems but like a true blue blooded San Pableña, she managed to swim against the tide and meet all the adversities head-on. One good thing about Abele is her ability to learn from challenges and mistakes and the courage to put whatever disadvantages she has into positive selling points.

She said during one of her speeches, “No one has the right to strip us of our freedoms. To fulfill our dreams we must take risk. At the same time, all of us must bring humanity to everything we do. Success in life is not measured in dollars and cents. It is measured in the everyday things we do and how well we do them.”

One of her rare achievements is having been selected as a “Top-Idea Maven” by the Woman’s Advantage. Her quotes will appear in the 2008 Woman’s Advantage Calendar.

During the 2006 San Pablo City Annual Cocofest, Ms. Abele was the special guest of Mayor Vicente B. Amante who conferred to her the Outstanding San Pableña Awards. (MEL B.C. EVANGELISTA/7LPC)