Meeting the well-dressed and articulate lady entrepreneur and executive Shirley Young Sobremonte for the first time easily gives the impression of someone who is gifted in both beauty and brains.

The beauty part is palpable. Her features, she would tell you at the outset, she inherited from her father who was a look-alike of the handsome actor Ramon Revilla. Her appearance is striking as she is a fashionista in a cool, elegant and trendy way. 

When it comes to her conversational skills, she is a sociable person and one with convincing power. It is an asset that she has used to the hilt in the various enterprises that she has engaged in through the years.

To be sure, Shirley will tell you that it has not all been a bed of roses for her, as she had to face challenges including being widowed at an early age and being left to pick up the pieces of her shattered life.

At the outset, she declared, “My husband and I were self-made. Our first dream was to acquire our own home.” Between the two of them, they would not only own a home, they would progress in life and together, they were a perfect team though success did not come fast and easily.

In time, Shirley emerged not just as a survivor but as a winner in facing obstacles life and fate handed to her. One would sense she was born a champion because of her faith, determination and diligence. All these I found out when she invited me to join her to dinner at the lobby of the Manila Pen, a favorite hang-out of hers.

 Woman of substance

A woman of substance is a description that fits Shirley perfectly. Today, she is a top
supplier of diesel fuel. Her clients include big companies and plants that need diesel and regular fuel oil. It is a distinction that goes beyond her achieving financial success in whatever endeavors she lays her hands on. She is a woman of steely determination.

Hers is a life story worth knowing. In these days when so many young people feel entitled especially because they live in an environment where instant gratification is brought about by highly advanced technology and have well-off parents who back them up socially and financially, Shirley’s path to success is exemplary. At best, she had a husband who had been by her side all the way but at the very worst, she had to deal with storms and debacles all by herself and came out of them a stronger person, wiser and more hopeful for the future and confident of her capabilities. She was also lucky to have parents who became her exemplars of industriousness and kindness.

Middle child

Shirley was the middle child of a family of eight children. “I belonged to a middle-class family,” she related. “My father, Johnny, owned and managed a wire manufacturing firm. Among his customers were piano manufacturers like Treble, Weinstein and Lyric. We lived simply but comfortably.”

Seeing her father toil in his business and her mother take care of their children and their home made Shirley realize early on that “one has to work hard to be able to acquire and enjoy what one wants in life.” Her mother was a homemaker who cooked well and sewed her daughters’ dresses. A tough woman, she also did carpentry work.

Diligent student

Shirley’s school from kinder to high school was at the Immaculate Conception Academy in Greenhills. In high school, Shirley was in the honors section, which only had more or less 40 top students out of 120 graduating students. She was very diligent with her studies. “I  strictly followed a study schedule.” 

Helping Dad

For college, she pursued her Bachelor of Science major in Math at the College of the Holy Spirit. “Math was the practical field because I wanted to help my father in the family business,” she related.

“I had always admired him from my childhood. My first exposure came from him. He was very determined but he had his shortcomings. My dad was a little lenient when it came to collecting payments. I was the strict one when it came to following up on our receivables. My advantage was I was good in Math.”

In business with Lawrence

When she married her husband, Lawrence, she concentrated on the business that they started as a couple. “We were self-made. Our first dream was to acquire our own house and lot. We fulfilled it by buying a townhouse in the Greenhills area.

“He then started in the chemicals distribution business. He also had difficulty collecting receivables so I did it for him.” Then Lawrence taught her the buying and selling of construction materials like deformed bars. The couple prospered through hard work.

“I am proud of myself and my husband because, from that one table, our business grew. Then, we started distributing bars, GI sheets, cement, lumber and plywood to hardware stores. We received orders every day. In time even big construction companies bought from us.”

“While I was hardworking, my husband realized that I was doing it all by myself. He said, ‘Baby, you cannot do everything by yourself. You have to delegate responsibilities.’ All along, I had been trusting just myself and my ability.”

Asian Crisis challenge

When an economic crisis hit Asia in the mid-1990s, construction projects were halted. “It was a terrible time because we had a dollar loan. And our obligations doubled. But we were lucky that Pilipinas Shell, aware of our outstanding credentials, approved our application to be the distributor or reseller of their products. Fortunately, too, many people bought from me. I earned a lot more than anybody did.”

Lawrence bids goodbye

Soon the family suffered a bigger blow. Her husband contracted cancer. On the side, Lawrence, a musician, had been operating a resto-bar along Timog in Quezon City. It was in the resto-bar that Lawrence most likely caught cancer due to the constant smoke that filled the establishment. It was a terrible time but Shirley did not easily surrender. “I brought him to Singapore every two weeks. It was an expensive treatment because we consulted the best doctors including the one who was attending Prime Minister’s Lee Kuan Yew’s son. I told myself we could always bounce back.” In the end, her husband passed on.

After a brief period of mourning, she resumed managing their family business. It was a challenge that she was determined to face head on. Not everyone had been kind to her. A competitor, mocking her, told her that with her husband gone she was sure to lose everything that they had worked for. She replied that she would not let that happen. There was no defeating Shirley.

A resilient businesswoman

As she looked back, she recalled that “my resilience and conscientiousness saved me. I had always been used to hard work so I just had to double my efforts. I also had the guts and tenacity. And I prayed a lot, of course.”

It helped that she had tucked in a few real estate investments because “I always took a good risk so I invested my earnings on properties. I would buy a subdivision lot knowing that in time the property would rise in value and would pay for itself.”

She had originally wanted to build a home in Green Meadows where she invested in a prime lot, but when a good offer came, she smartly agreed to sell it. She immediately found a nice lot in Corinthian Gardens, where she built her dream home and where her children eventually grew up into their teenage and adulthood years.

Outstanding Rotarian

It has not been all work for Shirley.  She is active in civic work as a Rotarian, to which her husband introduced her. In 2013-2014, Shirley was elected as the president of the Manila Midtown Rotary Club of the District 3810 in 2013-2014. She was chosen as one of the most outstanding class presidents in 2014.

She and her fellow club officers and members visited public schools where she led them in the distribution of school supplies, food provisions while sharing their knowledge of proper hygiene. She also focused on sponsoring and conducting disaster preparedness seminars.

Other times, she would visit the depressed parts of Manila. “I would mix with street children in Quiapo and I was touched by their smiles.   We gave them a Christmas party where I sang with the kids,” she recounted.

Other than her awards for civic work, she is regularly recognized for her sense of style and grooming. Admitting that fashionable clothes are her only extravagance, she orders from her favorite designers, namely, Amir Sali, Jun Escario, Rolette Esmilla and Letlet Veloso.

Just recently, Shirley made it as a cover lady of the 2023 edition of Faabvlous coffee table book of glamor photographer Ruper Jacinto. In 2022, she received an award from the Philippine Cancer Society as one of the Best Dressed Women of the Philippines. In 2014, she was chosen as one of Manila’s Best Dressed. She was also named to the list of Empowered Women of 2013. Last year, she was elected as vice president of Club Bulakeño.  Twice, in 2014 and 2015, she was featured as the cover lady of the glossy magazine, Images Asia.

Proud mother

Of her many accomplishments in life, it is her being a mother that she is proudest of. Her eldest, a University of Santo Tomas cum laude graduate of Medicine, is now practicing her profession in the United States. Her second daughter graduated with an honorable mention in Ateneo and later took up her master’s degree in Spain. She became vice president of the Citibank in Manila. She now lives in the Czech Republic with her Chinese-Filipino husband who occupies there a top corporate position. Her son, the youngest, a Dean’s Lister, is graduating soon from De La Salle University with marketing and psychology as his majors. 

Car enthusiast

Shirley bonds with her children by traveling to various parts of the world. Shirley’s favorite destination is Japan, which she admires for its food, cleanliness, and the courtesy, politeness, and nationalism of the Japanese people. She also enjoys visiting the Czech Republic, Canada and Alaska in the United States.

A car enthusiast, she keeps in her garage two Mini Coopers and a Porsche. Just recently, she sold her BMW. “It’s a personal thing for me. I just love looking at them. It’s a masculine thing but maybe, it’s because I am a strong woman.”

Looking back with gratitude

While Shirley is one treasure of an outstanding lady who continues to accomplish astounding feats, she is foremost a mother.  As two of her children are away and her son is busy with his studies, she is not exactly lonely. She has had the joy of meeting someone whom she describes as “caring, loving and very talented. He has helped me cope with my current challenges.” His identity, though, would remain confidential for now. It is enough that her children like him and that he stands by her in the proverbial good times and bad.

With successful loving children, a caring companion, and business enterprises that continue to flourish, Shirley sums up her life thus:  “My top accomplishment is having raised my children well. And second is I was able to reach the top and grow my business with the help of God. I always believed in myself and that had made my journey very fulfilling.”