SJ handicrafts: Products’ value goes beyond price tags

All that Shiela Marie Castillo really wanted when she relocated in 2019 to Ligao City, Albay, was to lead a less stressful life in the hometown of her husband, John Jerick, and finally have a baby.

Little did she know that she would eventually bring into the world not just her son, Lucas Mason, but also a business and an advocacy.

Castillo is the founder and president of SJ Handicrafts, which produces contemporary home and lifestyle products using natural Philippine materials and traditional handcrafting techniques that are gaining both local and international exposure.

These are painstakingly made by hand by a network of almost 400 weavers and artisans, including persons deprived of liberty (PDL), who are helping keep alive the craftsmanship that the Bicol region has long been known for.

Castillo started small in 2020, selling local handicrafts such as planters and baskets online at the height of the “plantita” craze.

At that time, she was merely reselling to the mostly Manila-based crowd the handicrafts readily available in Ligao and nearby towns and cities.

Lucky break

But as luck would have it, her social media posts would gain the attention of Kultura, an affiliate of the SM group and a growing hub for all things Filipino.

Castillo says it was Kultura who encouraged her to become a supplier. While hesitant at first, she took on the challenge to level up.

She went all out producing samples and when they passed, Kultura immediately placed an order in March 2021.

The order was bigger than what she expected so she initially had second thoughts about taking it on.

After all, she was new to the world of handicrafts and she also had a full-time job as a sales representative.

But Kultura’s belief in her and the products she was selling became the push she needed to nurture SJ Handicrafts.

“Because they believed in me, I had to also believe in myself and take the business much more seriously,” says the 39-year-old.

To bolster her knowledge, Castillo sought the help of government agencies such as the Department of Trade and Industry.

DTI proved to be an enthusiastic partner and it helped her and her initial group of artisans—mostly neighbors and housewives—improve on their weaving techniques to produce the handmade goods that Kultura wanted.

That group formed the core of Layon Empowered Housewives Association, or Leha, of Ligao City.

Since then, SJ Handicrafts’ network has grown to 381 weavers, coming not just from Ligao City but other towns of Albay and even reaching as far as Sorsogon province.

All of them work together to fulfill orders coming from not just Kultura but other institutions as well, shoring up the communities’ income while helping preserve weaving traditions.

Castillo proudly shares that Kultura opened the doors to other local buyers, including hotels and supermarkets.

SJ Handicrafts is also setting its sights on eventually penetrating foreign markets.

None of this, she says, would have happened without Kultura.

“Kultura was my first break,” Castillo says.

She says Kultura’s initial order bolstered their belief in themselves because they knew that Kultura catered to a premium market and would not source products from just anybody.

“We realized that our products are more than good enough for the crowd of Kultura,” Castillo says.

“They believed in me first, before I even believed in myself,” she adds.

From that first order in 2021, she has grown as a person and sees her move into full-time entrepreneurship in 2026 as a response to a higher call to help others through SJ Handicrafts.

Not to say, however, that SJ Handicrafts grew on the strength of its purpose alone, which is to create meaningful opportunities for local artisans while bringing the beauty of Philippine craftsmanship to a wider market, including the retail, hospitality and corporate sectors.

Ensuring quality

Castillo stresses that, like other businesses that work with Kultura, hers had to meet the rigorous product and design standards of the company.

That means ensuring consistency of quality and commitment to deliver on time.

From the production facility in Ligao, Castillo and her workers and partners take care of material preparation, product assembly, finishing, quality checking and then packing of finished products for delivery.

SJ Handicrafts’ increasing line of functional home and lifestyle pieces made of materials such as abaca, raffia and seagrass includes tableware, baskets, bags and home decor.

Castillo credits her years in sales for instilling in her the discipline to meet deadlines and standards and to work well with other people to achieve common goals.

“I am very strict when it comes to delivery. Once ordered, I make sure I meet the deadline because I also do not want my buyers to run out of stock. That way, you develop a good relationship with your clients, your buyers,” she says, “It should be a win-win relationship. Both sides should benefit.”

In 2025 alone, SJ Handicrafts produced some 70,000 baskets.

SJ Handicrafts’ commitment to quality and deadlines has paid off as orders continue to come in, with the company tapped to deliver a new Christmas-themed line for Kultura and other clients.

She believes other buyers got on board because she had Kultura as her calling card.

“When the prospective clients learned that I was supplying to Kultura, there were no more questions about trust. There were no second thoughts about my credibility. That is why I value the relationship with Kultura. They trusted me even when I did not have a track record,” she says.

But now that she has built one, SJ Handicrafts is actively looking for more buyers for the local and export markets, driven by a need to keep the artisans busy.

She also spends time collaborating with partners to come up with new designs to meet the evolving requirements of her clients.

This way, she hopes to improve her chances of achieving the company goal of growing its bottom line by at least 10 percent every year.

Castillo readily admits that running her own company is more stressful than just being employed in a company, as she is constantly worried about details such as meeting payroll and production.

But the joy she derives from seeing her artisans and PDL do more and dream bigger makes all the difficulties and challenges worth it.

There is the 60-year-old homemaker who realized that she can be more than just a dishwasher, the male PDL who now helps in the household finances even if he is in jail and hundreds more with stories that are woven into each SJ Handicrafts piece.

“You are no longer in this for yourself but for others. Here, your heart is never empty because you know that you have been able to help others change the way they look at themselves and others. It is stressful, yes, but fulfilling,” she says.