Happy anniversary, everybody! Wow, it's been an amazing 8 years! The last 8 years were some of the most difficult years of Anna's, Camille's and my life and helping to build Human Nature has been the most difficult thing I've ever done. But looking back, it has most definitely all been worth it. It's only thanks to the incredible dedication of so many of you that we've got this far as a company, especially those of you who have been with us since our very first year and are still here such as Pam, Moise, Joanna, Jojo, Lein, Lin, Jing, Pony, Mang Robin, April, Dina, Jason, Iday, Froesthel, Clint, Lynlyn and Odette. The last 8 years have seen us go through so many difficulties, delays, dead ends, problems and seemingly hopeless situations. But God got us through all of it by sending so many incredible people who matched Anna, Camille and me every inch in love of country, love of God and a desire to see our people rise. God has proved himself utterly reliable and completely trustworthy in every trial we've gone through by sending people who were faithful to your calling to simply give your best for the sake of the dream of building a world-class company that would do business without lagay and while loving the Philippines and its people. Last Saturday (our anniversary) was very meaningful for me. In the morning, I was with a group of our people from head office to show them around our new office in Laguna. Many of you are dreaming of a better life outside the city and we're now in a position to help you get it! At lunchtime, we welcomed that same group into our home and we were able to spend a little time with them reminiscing about what it was like starting Human Nature with nothing. In the afternoon, we were at two weddings — one for Sara Brilliantes, our former PR executive and the other for Mary Ann Ventures, one of our merchandisers, witnessing them start their new lives and new families together. I couldn't think of a better way to spend Human Nature's anniversary than spending it with our people who are getting ready to build happy homes and happy families. God has affirmed us in the last 8 years with many awards, from the Global Social Entrepreneur to the Bossing Award to being the first to be Cruelty-free, the first in ASEAN to be NPA-certified and now the first in ASEAN to win the global Sustainable Beauty Pioneer Award. Although we never, ever do anything in order to win awards, I'm very grateful to God for these affirmations which show His blessing on everything that all of you are doing. But what excites me more than anything else right now is what God is getting ready to do in the personal lives of all those of you who have been faithful in His mission for you here in Human Nature. I feel strongly that at this stage in our development, God wants us to become better at taking care of YOU and that He is getting ready to pour out His blessings on many of you. This is why we're shortening everyone's working hours starting January to 7 ½ hours per day instead of 8. That's why we're getting ready to help many of you buy your own homes, something most people these days cannot even dream of. That's why we're claiming the promise of a better life FREE of traffic and pollution just a little way outside the city. It's been a joy-filled, if exhausting, 8 years! I'm so excited for what the next 8 years will bring for Human Nature and for all of you. Dylan Wow, has it been 8 years? I still remember frantically waiting for stocks to arrive just hours before our launch in Blue Leaf. We were worried but definitely hopeful from the support and bayanihan that we received from our Gawad Kalinga family. We were excited to embark on this journey to bring locally-made products that provide opportunities for the poor to the market as a new expression of our love for the Philippines. Through the years, that excitement has remained constant and has fueled our growth by attracting so many heroic and talented people to join Human Nature. I am so honored and humbled to be surrounded by people who give me so much hope that we can make our country great—not only because of the work of our hands but by the way we care for our people. Eight years ago around this time, our whole family came together in bayanihan to launch Human Nature, a brand which we dreamed would be a household name in natural products here in the Philippines. Today we have achieved just that thanks to the support that we have received from loyal advocates, customers and employees. Together, we have proven that the Filipino can compete with the best in the world having won the prestigious Sustainability Pioneer Award in Paris. We have shown that compassionate businesses can contribute to nation-building having built 122 houses for Yolanda survivors and 20 houses for families in Maguindanao. Living by our core values of being pro-Philippines, pro-poor and pro-environment has shown that good business practices make good businesses sense. From the bottom of our hearts, thank you for your faith and being part of this incredible journey. God bless you all, Anna Giving a talk in DLSU recently just made me realize how long 8 years has been. 8 years of us trying to make things work, 8 years of learning things we've not known before, 8 years of daring to make a change in our country and our economy. At the same time, 8 years of being family with everyone, 8 years of learning things together, 8 years of seeing coworkers get married and have children, 8 years of coming up with so many different innovative products, 8 years of meeting more and more like-minded people who believe that we can make a change in our country and in our world. There were so many things that happened. We went from stickering bottles at home until 2am with our mom, picking and packing the first few orders from the second story of the Wilk home with April and Dina, Kuya Dylan delivering the orders himself until 10pm, formulating the first ever prototype for the powder with a food processor in the warehouse kitchen. Fast forward to us starting our own manufacturing plant, establishing Goodness Rising, increasing our visibility in many retail outlets and stores overseas, and now we're continuously expanding our company of over 400 employees. It is unthinkable how we were able to do it but the truth is it's our bayanihan, heroism, love for the Philippines and most of all a calling to put our faith and love for God that has been in action in the last 8 years. We have all been through a lot but I can only look forward to 8, 10, 20 and 50 years with all of you. I feel so privileged to be working with everyone. I hope we all keep the fire burning inside all of us. Camille We opened 2 new branches this year — one in Antipolo Town Proper and one in Batangas City — and now we have a total of 32 branches. We launched 41 new products this year! This includes our latest innovations in green manufacturing and new scents to cater to more advocates of genuinely natural products. We won 13 awards including the prestigious Sustainable Pioneer Beauty Award held in Paris, France by Organic Monitor. We also received recognition from the big names in local publishing. Preview Magazine awarded our Radiant Grace Night Cream as Beauty Power Player while our Coffee & Vanilla Body Scrub is included in MEGA Magazine's 100 Best Solutions to Your Top Beauty Sins. Cosmopolitan Philippines dubbed our Pure Rosehip Oil as the Best Facial Oil, SafeProtect SPF 30 Sunscreen as Best Natural Sunscreen and Powder Fresh Premium Roll-on Deodorant as Best Natural Deodorant. Finally, Chalk Magazine awarded our RoseDew Mist for being Best in Beauty for Face, Lemon Zest Scented Cleansing Bar and Coffee & Vanilla Body Scrub for being Best in Beauty for Body, Sunflower Beauty Oil and Earthy Beauty Perfect Eyes Mineral Eyeshadow for being Best in Beauty Bargains, and our Natural Clarifying Shampoo for being Best in Beauty for Boys. We were able to help build 20 houses for families in Maguindanao and we are continuously tapping into everyone's bayanihan spirit so that we could help provide homes for more people in Rajah Buayan. We were able to help send 50 bright, underprivileged teens to school through SEED. We partnered with 15 new social enterprises and now we have a total of 30 partners. We are working with 4 farming communities to grow fresh natural ingredients and raise quality of life for farmers all around the country. Human Nature is the brand with the most products (38 products) certified genuinely natural by Natural Products Association. Would you like to share your good news and heartwarming stores with the rest of our Human Nature family? Send your stories to Kin at korina.ma@humanheartnature.com. Your story may inspire others, so come and share the goodness!