From rural life to the glitz of Beverly Hills: A Fil-Am author’s journey to success

When your food choices only come down to sweet potato and steamed saging na saba and chances of having fish or meat spells Pinoy fiesta, can you still look at every day with optimism? 

This Fil-Am entrepreneur and author’s story isn’t just your average rags-to-riches tale but one peppered with a dash of Filipino resilience and dream-chasing.

Vina Lelim Nacionales, the Fil-Am entrepreneur and author of the book “From a Philippine Village to Beverly Hills — Vina’s Journey” to be launched in Manila this Friday, Feb. 9, and CEO of Nacionales & Associates Inc. was born two years post World War II and grew up in Lambunao, Iloilo, a city in the Southern Philippines.

Imagine living every day in a field of bananas, rows of eggplants, sweet potatoes and other vegetables, that’s exactly how Nacionales spent her childhood – a mosaic of green fields and hard labor.

But despite the arena of greens for a playground, she didn’t get to play much as a child. In her tender years, she had already started working in rice fields. Still, her experiences of riding a carabao are momentous — a rare opportunity given to those living in a rural area.

While she had the luxury of living in nature, their family was lacking financially. Despite her family’s poverty, her spirits remained unshaken. This Fil-Am entrepreneur’s four-mile trek to school and struggles with bullying didn’t dampen her determination. 

Luckily for someone like Nacionales with high spirits, having less doesn’t mean the end of the world. Thanks to her family’s unwavering support (even struggling with debts) and her motivation to be successful despite the hurdles she made it to college and took an Education course to become a teacher.

Though she wasn’t able to finish her course, she shifted to a secretarial course — something more feasible to her capability to pay for her own studies after her parents ran out of financial resources.

From her sidelines of sewing to cover her school expenses to eventually landing a job at Chrysler Corporation after she finished her secretarial course, she proved to be an unstoppable force. 

This Fil-Am author’s pivot from education to entrepreneurship

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Climbing her ladder to success didn’t happen overnight. But with her job, she was able to help her family and support them. She then started her own family but eventually lost her job. 

The narrative took a turn when she found solace and opportunity, thanks to the Penasales family – Harry and Riza restaurant was born along with their copy business Ubix Machine. 

But when luck combined with her hard work turned in her favor, Martial Law happened and somehow shook things up for her — majorly affecting her business.

Her American dream

Again, with Ms. Penasales coming to her rescue, Nacionales was able to go to the US in 1989. Landing in Los Angeles, she scored her first job in the “Land of the Free” as a caregiver while selling packed meals then eventually landed a babysitter job in the affluent and glitzy Beverly Hills.

Never stopping to pursue her dreams, she studied to earn a CNA certificate. She took courses and passed the State Board Exam as a nurse. For eight years, she worked closely and as a family with her employer and First Lady of Beverly Hills, Vivien Scott.

In 1995, she finally bought a house in Hancock Park and brought her son Harry and daughter Riza to the US. Vivien’s health deteriorated as she developed Alzheimer’s but she still took care of her while training to become an administrator of a residential care facility for the elderly.

She then converted her house to a care facility for the elderly setting up her very own Nacionales & Associates Inc. with her facility named Orange Drive Villa. Nacionales was able to build a new house for her family back in Iloilo and support her siblings’ college education. 

In 2002, she bought a bigger home care facility through a loan — her second business. By 2003, she already had her third care home, the Beverly Hills Home Care.

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Come 2004, with all her hard work and hard-earned money, she was able to buy a property and move to Beverly Hills. But she’s no superwoman, she got tired of all the years of overworking. 

In 2008 she sold Orange Drive then Orlando in 2009, she was left with one home care — the Beverly Hills Home Care. She began enjoying more time for herself doing charitable projects. In 2018, she was already over 70 years old but none of her children wanted to take over the empire she built.

She sold the last home care left and for the first time, she felt free of responsibilities. Aside from her success, she had accolades for being a successful businesswoman and an outstanding mother. 

In addition, Nacionales received awards from the Word of Life Giving Ministries in 2012 and the National Association of Senior Care in 2011 to name a few.

“I was given education and I cherished it. When I had it, I combined it with determination and, if you combine the two with that morsel of luck, success follows,” advised Nacionales.

Her Vina Lelim Foundation also supported many charitable causes such as the Cedars Sinai Cancer Research Foundation and the Annual Gift-giving Program in 2017 are some of them. 

A beacon of hope and a living testament to the power of determination and resilience, this Fil-Am entrepreneur’s story is a reminder that for dreamers and doers, life is full of possibilities. Now, what’s stopping you?