If you live long enough, you’ll make mistakes. But if you learn from them, you’ll be a better person. It’s how you handle adversity, not how it affects you. The main thing is never quit, never quit, never quit.– Bill Clinton

A much coveted trophy was supposed have been presented to her at the Marquis Marriott Hotel in New York City last November 14. It was the first time a Filipina won in the Stevie Awards for Business under the category for businesses with ten or less employees, beating two Americans and a Canadian in the finals.

It would have been like winning in the lotto twice – going to New York, the city of her dreams, and personally receiving the gold trophy from the Stevies, considered the most prestigious award in the world of business.

The entrepreneur, instead of flying to New York, went to Cebu to receive another award from a medical society for her publication’s contribution to the coverage of mental health issues and stayed at a budget hotel in the industrial part of the city.

She requested a friend who is also a US correspondent for the company to accept the Stevie trophy on her behalf.  Her tiny business is revenue-challenged at the moment and flying to the Big Apple would have meant an expenditure equivalent to several months of operating expense.

And while friends offered their air miles and their NYC houses just for her to have this once in a lifetime experience, she politely declined. It wouldn’t look good to the company’s creditors and to her personal friends who are helping keep the company afloat until it becomes self-sufficient and she is able to pay them back.

That entrepreneur is me. The truth is, the birthing pain was not yet over after the launch of the magazine’s digital format along with its various social media platforms in 2013. I have been out of circulation in the pharma industry for almost four years, having focused on my retail business selling second-hand luxury handbags.

But even as Medical Observer was in its digital infancy, it was nonetheless receiving accolades left and right for the free health information it dispenses to a global audience on a daily basis – reaching a high of over three million views weekly. It was on the right track, but revenue-wise, it was struggling.

I had five full time employees and a pool of freelance writers from as far as Africa who were given projects as they come. Salaries and wages were first in the agenda when expenses were discussed. Employees came first before anything else – without them being paid on time, the morale might go down – a surefire formula for business failure.

What would they think if I had gone on with the trip and then find themselves waiting at the last minute to get their salaries? I wouldn’t have let that happen. I would’ve mortgaged my car first before they miss their pay envelops – at least, that is my thinking.

For months, an entrepreneur may or may not receive a salary – just one of numerous sacrifices if you are to enter the world of business. It is definitely not a walk in the park. I worked seven days a week and clock in 12 hours a day including work done at home. I blog for relaxation and run around the village for 30 minutes, mostly to contemplate on things both personal and business.

You must show to your employees that they come first before any extraneous whims, not even for that extraordinary opportunity one would figuratively kill for. Imagine, a global award giving body handing a gold trophy to me, a first for the country, in the city that never sleeps.

When the list of finalists was released by the Stevie Awards, I was over the moon. There were hundreds of nominees from 60 countries and I was selected by most of the 160 international judges. I had my visa sorted immediately not even knowing where the funds for the trip would come – but deep inside, I’ve come to realize that even if funds were raised, the company’s operating costs would still come first.

I think a part of me died when the trip didn’t happen. But when I go to the office and find my staff happy for me, driven and working hard – it assuages the feeling of regret at missing an opportunity that I know will never happen again – a gold Stevie, that is.

New York, I know will happen at the right time when the fruits of my labor are finally reaped. Such is the life of an entrepreneur and all I need is more fortitude to be able to sacrifice more – and then I will re-conquer the world the way I did in the 1990s.

Public Relations is now the world I circulate in having, reinvented myself from publisher to PR consultant.  I have moved on in so many respects.

As Bill Clinton would say, “never quit, never quit, never quit”.