Nina Mirabueno Opida is the co-founder and COO of Humble,  a climatetech company in the Philippines.

Humble assists businesses in earning high revenue by selling their tech equipment and collaborates closely with clients to create, track, and achieve their ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) initiatives.

‍

👋🏼  How would you explain your job to someone outside tech?

We help businesses maximize revenue by selling laptops, monitors, and electronics. Additionally, we collaborate closely with our clients to establish, monitor, and accomplish their sustainable objectives.

‍

🧐  What's something about you or your job that would surprise us?

Before Humble, I had no previous entrepreneurship experience. I started with a passion to build something that has substance and truth, a vision to create something impactful that will inspire everyone to be better.

What I have now are amazing industry experts who help us achieve the vision we have set out. I am extremely grateful for those people!

🏆  What has been the biggest highlight of your career so far?

We've come a long way! Looking back to when we started to where we are right now is a real highlight.

We've changed our business model to survive because we're never married to one idea, but we learn how to adapt. We go through a roller coaster of emotions and trends, but I am happy to say that we've finally found our footing. There is still a lot to improve on, but we're getting there with the support of our investors, clients, and team!

🔍  What's a startup trend or space you're watching this year?

This would be on ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance)! We are excited to help companies with their ESG metrics by assisting them in establishing, monitoring, and tracking their sustainable objectives.

The great thing about this is that we have investors who are knowledgeable in this space and will help us co-develop a book on sustainability. This year, we are grateful to help companies establish a process for proper IT asset disposal.

💼  What advice would you give someone starting out in your industry?

When starting your own business, begin with something you're passionate about. When I started out, I only knew I wanted to build something, but I didn't know how. I had to figure it out the hard way because I didn't know who to ask for help.

I read that you have to start with what you love and then figure out what matters to you. For me, I knew I was passionate about second hand items because my mom introduced me to second-hand or "ukay-ukay" treasures when I was young, and I associated that with wonderful memories that I wanted to share.

Apart from that, the vision I had initially was to build something meaningful that would benefit future generations, even though it was vague at first. It's also important to talk to friends, family, and colleagues, ask lots of questions, and keep speculating! Reading books also helped because you can learn from others' experiences or mistakes and apply what resonates with you to your journey.

I'm still far from perfect, and the beauty of this journey is that you learn as you go along. The best part is that there is a wonderful community here in the Philippines that's passionate about helping one another, and that makes a huge difference!

🗣  What's one thing you can keep talking about for hours?

My Faith and personal relationship with God. He has been with me throughout this journey. I remember praying years ago that I wanted to build something meaningful. I was frustrated because I had resigned from my job without knowing what was next. It was terrifying.

I always asked myself, "Did I make the right decision?" I kept praying to God, and he aligned my heart to what he wanted me to do. Fast forward to now, there have been a lot of ups and downs, but he has been faithful and has guided our hands, bringing the right people to us on this journey. If you can resonate with this and want to know more about this, reach out to me on my socials.

Overall, he has been my rock and my constant, and I can go on and on for hours about how he has changed my life for the better and guided me all along. What I do is for the greater glory of God (Ad majorem dei gloriam!)

‍

🎥  What's your favorite movie/TV show?

Ted Lasso. I have seen it about six times! It's a feel-good movie that touches on many topics, such as kindness, leadership, pain, and life. I admire Ted's character there; very inspirational. I won't spoil anything, but please check it out.

‍

🍨  What's your go-to ice cream flavor?

Vanilla—some would say it's a simple flavor, but I don't think so. Vanilla ice cream flavor is almost everywhere; it goes with anything perfectly!