Beyond Labels

Shiela M. Cancino, CPA, DTM, ICF Coach

💎 Helping others discover their treasures through #keynotespeaking, #coaching, #mentoring, #training, and leading #scholarship foundations 📗 Author of Pawn to Queen Life’s Chess and Quest

Have you ever been affected by how others label you? How did that make you feel?

2007… I was in North America… working hard as a Hedge Fund Account Manager to earn money and send it to my mom in the Philippines to help her repay loans.

I was earning a lot. Big time. But I was homesick. Big time.

I asked my aunt for advice.

She said, “Shiela, whenever homesickness hits, remind yourself you are earning US dollars.”

Months later, I am still homesick.

Then she said, “Shiela, I suggest you move to Asia, but remember one thing: go anywhere but Hong Kong.”

I wondered why.

A year later, I received an offer to move to Asia.

Guess where? Hong Kong

I wanted to be closer to my mom. So, I moved to HK and became a team manager at Hedge Funds.

Then, one day, I realized what my aunt meant.

I was in a lift… a mother and son entered.

The son couldn’t reach the button for their floor, so I helped.

The mother said, “Say thank you to tse tse.”

“Tse tse” is a term many use for domestic workers.

I was shocked…

I was labeled a domestic worker!

In Hong Kong, there are more than two hundred thousand Filipino domestic workers.

Many assume most Filipinos are domestic workers.

With how I look, how I talk, I can’t hide that I’m a Filipino.

I get labels not only from locals and expats, but from Filipinos as well.

One day on the MTR.

A Filipino lady said, “Is it your day off today?”

I said, “Yes”

Then she asked, “Is your employer expat or local?”

Since my manager is an American, I said, “expat.”

I thought that was the end, but she asked me further, “Do you look after children or elderly?”

As I work with demanding clients and colleagues, I say, “Elderly!”

Have you ever been labeled wrongly?

How did that make you feel?

I was fed up with what others say about me. I could not take it anymore…

I asked my aunt again.

“Aunt, why can’t others see my true value?”

“Shiela, I have had similar experiences. As a domestic worker in Italy for so many years, I felt even more discriminated, judged, and labeled.

What I’ve learned is

You can never control how others label you.

But only you… can see your true value

… beyond these labels.

Do you know your true value?

Do you know someone who doesn’t know their value yet?

I thought to myself — if I feel so bad being labeled wrongly as a domestic worker, how might real domestic workers feel by constant labeling and judging?

Do they know their true value?

Like me, they joined millions of Filipinos abroad to earn dollars

to support their families back home.

Like me, they sacrificed being away from their loved ones.

Like me, they are unsung heroes in their own special ways.

And then I asked myself how I can help them see who they really are?

They are saviours of their families.

They are serving society by helping families who employ them.

They are champions in their own way.

But many don’t see their true value.

Even though I had paid my mom’s loans a long time ago, I chose to stay overseas to help my fellow migrant workers. I stopped hiding from being labeled as a Filipino Domestic Worker.

In fact, I embraced them.

I can now see my true value: I have the experience and expertise to help myself and help others.

I started to make use of my free time to support my fellow Filipinos in Hong Kong in learning valuable life skills to unleash their potential.

The more they learn, the more they grow, the more opportunities they have.

The more I help others recognize their true value, the more I can see people beyond labels.

How are you affected by the way others label you?Does it make you go slow or does it help you to grow?

Today, I am not affected anymore by how others label me.

Instead, I see myself as a proud Filipino who is also a valuable member of society,

regardless of the job others think I’m doing.

Remember…

You can never control how others label you.

But only you can know your true value.

When you can go beyond labels, you can be proud of who you truly are.