Financial Blog

“I just try to step it up because when I do, people take notice,” shares Erwan. We go behind the scenes of this tastemaker’s evolution from food blogger to entrepreneur. He keeps getting better and he’s doing it with a little help from a better banking partner.

I look at my content from years ago and cringe. But that’s how you learn. With everything I do, I always make sure I professionalize it. When I have a hobby, I look at it like it could eventually become a company. Not necessarily make revenue out of it, but because the quality gets better.

My inspiration mostly comes from traveling. I’m on the second season of Overnight, a show for TheFatKidInside.com, where we spend 48 hours in a foreign city. Each time we film is inspiring. Hanoi was fantastic; I’m going to Osaka next. I’m sure when I get back, I’m going to want to do Japanese food.

When I cook, it’s really just fun. I cook for myself, for my friends, or when we do R&D. I use a lot of Southeast Asian flavor and a lot of French technique. I never really cook for the restaurant. It’s the chefs I work with that turn them into restaurant food.

My partners and I have to see eye to eye. We have to be able to throw ideas at each other and we both have to understand how something tastes before we make it. Luckily, I’ve garnered that kind of relationship with all the chefs I work with now.

I’m not just a talent who shows up for the shoot. I’m very hands on. I do all the logistics work, I contact companies abroad, I do a lot of the backend stuff, which is extremely tiring. Aside from my channels, I fully produce and direct content for Tastemade, Discovery Channel, and TLC. It’s a business now.

I take care of the restaurants and production company myself. I move cash around a lot for the businesses. If I had to talk to an accountant every time I had to make decisions, it would be harrowing. That’s why I’m a huge fan of Security Bank’s BusinessPlus account. Their facilities were always, for me, so much more streamlined than anything else. Other systems that I’ve used didn’t really give me the same transparency and clarity.

Business is about solving problems better than the other person. I feel like Security Bank and I share that philosophy of keeping things simple for people—whether it’s a customer, viewer, or reader. When things are easy to digest, their experiences tend to be good— sometimes, even memorable.

I’ve closed restaurants before and it always hurts. So if what you’re doing is potentially ego-bursting or tough, you have to love the pain. Everything you do at one point is going to fail, so my philosophy is to embrace the failure and expect it, but also enjoy the journey.

Photos and Words by Summit Media Philippines