Women Who Inspire Me: Lorephil Toledo

How Realizing a Childhood Dream and Experiencing Loneliness as an Immigrant to Canada Fueled a Passion to Build People

I had the privilege of meeting Lorephil at Trailblazer Live in Edmonton in October. I just remember sitting beside her and feeling her warmth, the way that I seemed to feel at ease beside her. I have talked about how I went to Trailblazer without knowing one person, but I left feeling totally transformed, and I started this blog series to highlight the voices of women creating a different path for themselves.

It was the women in that room, just like Lorephil, who are changing what it means to be a woman with dreams, a mom, and a wife.

Lorephil and I went for lunch on the second day of the conference. I remember thinking that I could just talk to her for hours; we had so much in common, she validated my own experiences with a kindness you don’t often come across, and I was fascinated by her journey.

It wasn’t until we sat down for this interview that I truly was able to learn about the inspiring woman she is, how she has found her purpose in mentoring others, the amazing unfolding of her dream as a 15 year old girl picturing one day living in Canada, and how she believes that everything is possible if you just believe.

This is Lorephil’s story. 

Can you share a bit about your journey, the path that led you to where you are today, and the moment that really changed things for you?

When I was 15 years old, my dream was to come to Canada. Not because I wanted to earn more money, or because there's a better life here. All I wanted was to come to Canada and see the snow. 

Because when I was a kid, there was a fairy tale that I heard, I'm not sure if you are familiar with it. It was about Sarah, a princess from London, and in the fairy tale, there was snow.

It was from that tale that I said to myself, “I want to see the snow.”

I kept dreaming about it.

I searched online and found out that Canada has a lot of snow.

It's amazing because I have goosebumps right now. Every time I remember being that 15 year old girl with this dream, I get this feeling. 

I can feel the snow. It's so cold, and it touches my skin. I'm imagining that I'm already touching it. I'm already playing in it. 

So every year, I kept telling my friends, I'm going to Canada. I'm going to Canada. I'm going to Canada. 

I remember they said to me, “Why do you want to go there?” and I always said the same thing, “Because I want to see the snow.” 

And that's it. That’s the only reason I needed, because at 15 years old, you don't know things, right?

That's why I really believe in the power of manifestation, because what you believe and how you feel it, it will come through. 

Seven years later, I got this opportunity here in Canada, and I got a job. This was my dream to come to Canada unfolding; this is when the story starts.

Katie Eberman: I love how when we're dreaming when we're young, it can be that simple. I want to feel the snow, that's all that I need. And that can guide us forward. When we get older, we start to build our lives around the question of "how do I make money?” We get away from dreaming for the sake of dreaming.

Lorephil Toledo: In our subconscious mind, we don't care about paying bills. We don't care about earning more money. Instead, when we're young, we're focused on the feeling we’ll have when we do the things we are dreaming about. Right, so we don't feel scared.

Katie Eberman: What was the job that brought you over to Canada?

Lorephil Toledo: So, I got an opportunity from a restaurant as a shift supervisor. There were actually one hundred applicants for the position, and I was the youngest. Most of the people applying were in their 40s, 50s, and 60s with 10/20 years of experience. And me, I only had two years of experience, so I was pretty young, but I had the confidence I could do the job, that I could manage people.

So when it came to the interviews, of the 100 people, only six people made it, and I was one of them. I remember in my interview, they asked me, “What are you good at? 

And I told them that “I am good at firing people.” 

I impressed them with my answer, and I got hired.

It was unexpected, but I just answered from my heart. I was coming from wanting to make sure that I was an asset to the company. I wanted to make sure that if it's in my hands, the company is in good hands as well. 

That's one of my core values: committed to work. I make sure that I will do my best and be the best at work.

So I think they looked at my character, and it’s what helped me get the position over people with over 20 years of experience. I remember telling them, I don't have much experience, I only have two years, but this is what I can give to you.

Katie Eberman: I love that, it’s a beautiful example of what’s possible when you believe in yourself. Once you came over to Canada, what was the transition like for you?

When I came to Canada, I didn't realize that there would be a lot of changes, the culture, and the language, especially because English is my second language. I couldn’t even speak English when I first moved here. 

When I was working at the restaurant, for example, I didn’t know what a washroom was. I just thought it was just for washing hands, right?

I remember one of our customers asking me, “Where is the washroom?” You know, I just showed him the sink and said to him, “This is the washroom.”

In the Philippines, we call it a toilet, not the washroom.

Katie Eberman: Oh my goodness, I can just imagine his surprise when he heard you say that!

Lorephil Toledo: Yeah, that's the funniest moment I had in my first month in Canada.

Katie Eberman: Thank you for sharing that story, because it shows how something that we don’t even think about on a daily basis can have such a different meaning, and how we learn in those moments. 

When you came to Canada, did you come by yourself, or did you come with your family, or what did that kind of look like? 

Lorephil Toledo: It was my first time coming to Canada, and I was just by myself. I don't know where I got that courage, but I think it was because finally I was going to be able to see the snow after seven years. At that time, I didn't feel like I was going to be lonely here, and I didn’t think about how far away I was going to be from my family. I was full of happiness at that time.

Katie Eberman: Yeah, of course. And you're excited for your future. 

Lorephil Toledo: Exactly, and at the time, I didn't realize that Canada was a good country, or that there were lots of privileges here. All I knew was I had achieved my dream.

Katie Eberman: I love how you describe feeling the snow, how cold it was on your skin. That's the quickest way to get that manifestation into your life.

Lorephil Toledo: Yeah, and can you imagine most of my friends when I was in high school, I would say, “I feel cold, I can feel the snow.” At that time in the Philippines, it was so hot, like plus 55 degrees. I remember my friends saying, “Are you crazy? It's hot right now!”

That's the power of the mind. From my own experience, I believe that everything is possible. You just have to believe it.

Katie Eberman: I one hundred percent agree. Once you realized your dream, what became your next dream?

Lorephil Toledo: Once I achieved my dream, I started to feel homesick. I had kids at that time, I had left my kids, they were only 11 months old and two years old. So my 11 month old son was still breastfeeding with me. So while I'm here, I’m experiencing my milk still producing, and I didn’t know how to deal with it. 

At the same time, I was crying a lot because I missed my family. I found that I was crying every day and every night. I would always ask my manager to give me more shifts because I didn’t want to feel the loneliness. 

At that time, I worked at night. In the day, at least I could just sleep. One of my colleagues told me, " Why don't you just clean houses? So at the same time, you don't feel homesickness, and you earn money.”

I said, “Okay, let's do that.” I was already cleaning our apartment, and it was one of my passions. So I tried it, and I started loving it. 

After that, I started to dream again. Every time I would clean a home, I would imagine that this was our house and my kids were here. That we all have each other, kissing each other. 

I love using vision, I love imagining things. 

So that's how I started my business.

Katie Eberman: Oh my gosh, I was not expecting that! 

Lorephil Toledo: After cleaning one of my clients' houses for three years, she said to me, “Why don't you just start your own business?”

At that time, I had fear, because my subconscious mind said, “No, I don't think I can do that, because I am an immigrant.” And at the same time, I didn't know where to start, because I've never started a business. And she said to me, “I'm going to help you get started,” and she helped me in exchange for cleaning. 

So I'm cleaning her house, and at the same time, she's coaching me. She said that because this is your passion, it's better to have your own business and make sure it's legal. 

After that, I was building my business by myself. At that time, I had already resigned from the restaurant and was working in a surgical clinic.

I was there for about two years, but I didn’t feel passionate about it. Not the way that I was passionate about cleaning.

So in 2016, I started my business, and then I incorporated my company in 2019. 

Katie Eberman: Amazing! I just want to say congratulations, that is incredible! I would have had no idea about your journey without this conversation.

Lorephil Toledo: I do believe that whoever we meet in our lives, there's always a reason why. Because I already had a vision of what I wanted to create, and then this person came to help me build my vision, to help me in the process of achieving my vision. 

At that time, I didn't understand where I was going. I just trusted the process. I just trusted the universe. 

Now I have 16 people with me.

Katie Eberman: How did it feel expanding your team and expanding your vision? Did it just kind of feel like the natural next step for you?

Lorephil Toledo: So since I was young, I thought I was going to be a teacher because I love to teach people. I love to teach from my own experience, so that they don’t have to go through the same things I did.

While I'm building my company, I started to realize that I want to make an impact on people. I want to make sure that through my story, I'm impacting them and inspiring them that if I can do it, they can do it as well.

So I build people. I am not building a company. 

I teach my employees how to do things to make a better life for themselves. 

I teach them that everything is possible and not to quit. 

I am teaching that, because the number one investment in our life is not in real estate, it’s not Bitcoin, not just the amount of money in the bank. The number one investment actually is ourselves.

We have to grow ourselves because that's how we go wherever we want to go.

You can learn to make money for yourself. Those skills are not something that another person can rob from you.

Katie Eberman: I agree completely. Before, for example, I'd choose jobs because of the money or because someone said I'd be good at it. It was never about what I actually wanted to do, or what I enjoyed or even about the skills I wanted to build, which seems so backwards. It wasn't until I started my business that I had this realization that this is actually not about learning the skills to build a business. It's actually about me.

Lorephil Toledo: Actually, all of my previous jobs have helped me to be who I am today, which is very cool. I went to the restaurant, and I learned how to make systems, I learned how to be a good leader, and how to understand people. 

On the medical side, I learned how to pay attention to detail and how to listen to patients. 

I apply all of those skills when I am interacting with my customers as well. I have to listen to them to find out what their pains are.

Right? In all our experiences, it's your step ladder until you realize what you want in the future.

Katie Eberman: I love the way that you're describing it. You learn the skills that you can apply forward, and it's really more about personal development than it is about the job.

Lorephil Toledo: It is, and I encourage my employees to study, to help themselves for their future, because they are not just my employees, I am coaching them to be better people.

This gives me such purpose, I am teaching them the things that I have learnt along the way. Because I'm an immigrant, and most of the people that I am employing are immigrants. I started here in Canada as an immigrant with nothing, and I want to make sure that they will not experience what I experienced with no education about where to start. Because for me, I experienced all those things the hard way.

Even getting the business license, I had to learn that the hard way. I didn’t know that I needed a business license until I met a client who was a cop, and she said, “Do you have a business license?”

“I said, no, what is that? But I know I'm registered. I'm legal.” She reported me to the city of Edmonton that I didn’t have a business licence.

But the good thing that happened is that the City of Edmonton was very nice. They told me to get a business license so I wouldn’t be penalized, and I got my business license as soon as possible.

That was 10 years ago, and it wasn’t like today, where the registry has the steps to set up your business.

Yeah, so it's funny because only from experience did I start to learn the next steps, and things became easier.

Katie Eberman: What's your next dream that you're working on?

Lorephil Toledo: Yeah, so my next plan for this year is I'm starting a property management business. My passion is managing people, we already handle our clients tenants and landlords, so it made sense to add in property management as something I offer. 

We're planning to expand into the other side of Canada, such as in Toronto, because I saw there is a market there. I want to help more immigrants find jobs and create more jobs for them.

What’s something you’ve learned along the way that you wish every woman knew, or a mindset, tool, or practice that’s helped you step into your full potential?

For the woman reading this, for me, I had the belief that women are built to just stay at home, take care of the kids, and be a good wife. 

I now believe that you can be a good wife, you can be a good mother, and you can be a good person who can influence men. Because I do believe that men do not exist without women, because we all started out as babies.

As women, we are built to be resilient, to be strong, to be a foundation of the family. So, as a woman, you have to value yourself and never compromise yourself. If someone doesn’t value you, just walk away from it because there are a lot of people who can appreciate who you are.

Never underestimate yourself because you know what you are capable of.

I say to my husband, “I'm a strong, independent woman.”

You have to have more respect for yourself, because if you value yourself, then you are going to attract people who will also value you. They will not care about your price, they will not care about what you're doing, because they know that you are high value to them.

Katie Eberman: And that you care about more than a dollar sign, you know, you care about them on a personal level. Just like how you began your story, where you said you approached each role you were in with the goal to be the company's greatest asset. You bring that quality into your own business. Where you are now in a position to mentor and help other immigrants, and other women who come to Canada, feel like they can do anything.

Lorephil Toledo: Yes, yes, because I want to have a big impact on people. When people look at my name, I want them to be able to say, Lorephil did this, or Lorephil did that, all in a good way. 

People will remember you wherever you go. It's part of your branding and at the same time, part of your legacy. People will remember you for the small things that you've done for them. For you, it might be so small, but for them, it creates a big impact on their life.

And that's what I want. For me, I’m successful when people remember me for what I've done for them.

Katie Eberman: As you were saying that, I was just thinking about our meeting at Trailblazer. I still have that photo that we took. I have it in my desk here somewhere. I remember coming home and thinking, "Wow, I just made an incredible new friend.” And that’s exactly right, I remember you because of the way that you made me feel when we were sitting at our table. I didn't know anybody else, and I really connected with you.

Lorephil Toledo: I have been told that I have that gift, of being able to easily connect to people. For me, I value relationships. 

So if someone just wants to get something from me, I feel bad, I feel sad, and I know that we have to part ways. I’m learning that not all people are permanent in our lives. 

But I'm the kind of person who is very relationship driven. You won’t find me just asking, “What's your name? What do you do? Okay, bye.” 

I'm a person who, when I meet you, I want to make sure that I touch your life. I want to make sure that when you hear my name, I left an impact on you.

When women read your story, what do you hope they walk away feeling or believing about themselves?

First of all, you just have to believe that everything is possible. Even if you think it's not possible, everything is possible. 

Do you know the movie Mission Impossible? I really resonate with that movie because first, they have this mission, which seems impossible to accomplish, but you soon find them saying, “Let's figure it out.”

And they are successful. 

That’s who I am. I want to have a challenge, and I want to make sure that I accomplish it. 

For example, my own experience of coming to Canada. I had no money, and I never spoke a word of English. I had my mom saying to me that she doesn't believe that I can come to Canada, she said that Canada is a scam, and that it was only for rich people. 

And I said no.

I believed that Canada was a great country, and for me, it was where I was going to spend the rest of my life. So I stuck to that belief, and I am starting to believe that more things are possible for me.

One of my mantras is you have to believe. Even in my office, you will see the word “believe”, because once you believe in something, you never know where you're going.

Katie Eberman: When you talked about your mom and how she's like, “that's not for you, that's for rich people.” That made me think about how a lot of women struggle with family members saying, "That's not for you, you're not good enough”, but it's not really about you. It's about their own fears. How do you navigate family members saying that to you and still going after your dreams? 

Lorephil Toledo: We have to understand that our families, especially our parents, are scared of us getting hurt. They have a fear that you're going to get hurt, and if you do get hurt, then they're going to hurt too. 

I tell people to take notice of that fear and explain to their parents that this is my dream. If I made mistakes, just come to me and hug me, and I will feel better. But I have to do this, because this is my passion. This is what I want. 

Something that comes to mind is what Jim Rohn said, “Everything is scary. Everything is a risk.” 

So I have decided to take the risks before I die rather than do nothing.

The fear is there, but we have to choose. It’s ok, you have that fear, but do you want to live in your comfort zone and have the regret that you never did that one thing that you wanted to, or would you rather say, “ok, I made mistakes, but I have no regrets because at least I've done the thing that was on my heart.

Because we live in this world, we will always make mistakes, with finding a love, with finding a career. When you make a mistake, don't take it as you are in a jail, in a prison, that when you make mistakes, you're done. 

Making mistakes helps you take the steps to grow, and so it will not happen again.

Here’s how you can connect with Lorephil:

Website |Facebook |Instagram | LinkedIn

If you haven’t yet read the other stories of women who inspire me. I encourage you to read through each woman’s story because there is such power in the telling and listening of our stories. I just think back to being a child and sitting for hours as my grandparents told me the tales of what their lives were like growing up, and how their biggest milestones - graduating high school, getting married, and having children came about. Life now feels isolating and sometimes lonely, but we can change that by surrounding ourselves with a community of women, men and children who support and love us.

Read inspiring stories from women like you: Women Who Inspire Me

I believe every woman’s journey holds a piece of wisdom the world needs to hear. If you are a woman entrepreneur building a life and business you love, join the Simply by Katie community. A space for women to create authentic and meaningful friendships, witness the courage it takes to go after your dreams in alignment and without sacrifice and learn how to grow your business with a website that replaces unanswered emails and countless sent DMs.

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