Meet Bong Abad

We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Bong Abad a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Bong , thanks so much for taking the time to share your insights and lessons with us today. We’re particularly interested in hearing about how you became such a resilient person. Where do you get your resilience from?

Being born in a remote province in the Philippines, I didn’t have the same opportunity and privilege like other kids, especially compared to the those who were born in First World Countries like the US. My parents instilled in me the importance of industry and handwork at a young age. The only privilege I considered to have, is witnessing how my parents worked hard to provide me and my siblings, education. Education that eventually led me work outside my country. Bringing me a better life compared if I didn’t pursue my dreams and theirs’.

Thanks for sharing that. So, before we get any further into our conversation, can you tell our readers a bit about yourself and what you’re working on?

My love for the arts started at a young age. I loved drawing as a kid and probably for this reason I eventually wanted to pursue a career at creating art. Initially I wanted to be a comic book artist as I loved creating stories, characters and world building. However, I had to take a detour.
It’s when I started practicing the martial art of jiujitsu that made me try and pursue the creative dream. So, Gawakoto was born. A phrase from Tagalog that literally means ‘I made this.’ It was the perfect slogan for the brand; as a perfectionist, I wanted to do everything myself.
Gawakoto grew as a niche clothing brand for jiujitsu practitioners and to some degree, MMA (mixed martial artist). Incorporating my cultural background, pop culture and comic book art, the brand provided a different and unique representation of the sport of jiujitsu.
However, the brand as clothing did not sustain the competition. But rather than being deterred by failure, I made the conscious effort to change and become a sculptor and toymaker.
Inspired by brands like Sideshow and Funko, I went on to pursue and discover the art of making toys, particularly, soft vinyl toys.
Sofubi, as it is widely known in Japan, made a resurgence in popularity as of late. It became a popular format for independent artists and brands as well, for their ‘designer toys’. Japanese kaijus (monsters) are the most popular sofubis, like Godzilla and Ultraman.
Bringing yet again my interests :pop culture ,jiujitsu and comic books, I brought my own characters into the world of sofubis.

If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?

I was an introvert as kid, in which I continued to be even as an adult. Overcoming this was probably the most important thing that happened to me, especially in the business I am in. For me, jiujitsu made it happen. It was through jiujitsu that I developed that confidence. I was able to speak and converse with people who I would normally avoid.
My determination and motivation to improve are other aspects that I think made it possible for me to succeed.

If you knew you only had a decade of life left, how would you spend that decade?

Challenges and obstacles are common for any new business venture, even more so, in art-related business.
To have a consistent output, to have a constant motivation and inspiration creatively… Each new idea for a product, presents a new set of difficulties, from concept to actual product. Especially when relying on other people or companies to fulfill a particular aspect of a project. A delay in one of phases of production, delays all other phases as well. So, it’s important to collaborate with people that have the same end goal as yours.
Recently, production cost has also risen due to covid and the recent inflation. So financing new products needs to be prioritized.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.gawakoto.com
• Instagram: @gawakoto
• Facebook: https://Facebook.com/gawakoto

Image Credits

Bong
Abad