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First, it was just a plastic bag.
Nothing fancy — a clear bag your tita might use for leftovers. Then came the typo: “when something romantic happen.” Proof I was winging it, one sticker and art print at a time. But maybe that’s the point. Kilig Ko was never born perfect. It was born brave.
From a Folding Table to a Community
If you were at a One Down event a couple of years ago, you might remember a shy Filipina behind a side table stacked with ube sweaters, dollar art cards, and a tiny sign that said “DM me to order.” That was me, too nervous to even call it a “booth.” I didn’t have a Shopify store. No logo-stamped poly mailers. No plan beyond: “Just show up.” And yet, people lined up. They held up my prints, read my little hang tags (with the typo I can laugh about now), and told me it felt good to see Filipino words on something beautiful. That day, I learned: your first version doesn’t have to be polished. It just has to be yours.
The Evolution of Packaging (and Self-Belief)
If you’ve ever opened a Kilig Ko package, you’ve unwrapped years of trial, error, and stubborn love.
Early days:
✅ Clear plastic bag from my mom’s stash
✅ Basic business cards printed on some random website
✅ A clothing tag I’d pierce with a tagging gun because I didn’t own a hole puncher
Now:
✨ Custom bags with affirmations in Filipino slang (“OMG so kilig!” “Lodi!” “Okay werk!”)
✨ Branded hang tags reminding you that self-love isn’t selfish
✨ Handwritten notes because if you’re going to support my dream, the least I can do is say salamat by hand.
And let’s not forget my first poly mailers that said: “Pssst…open the light!” Because every Filipino family has that one tita who says “open the light” instead of “turn it on.” Sure, I ran out of them. My next supplier sent me poly mailers that chipped in the mail. I was mortified. But also — I sold out of the originals. That’s the messy, magical duality of small business: feeling proud and embarrassed in the same breath.
Doing It Anyway
When you look at my tags, you might see clean typography. What you don’t see is me, on the floor, manually threading string through tiny holes and pinning each tag onto every hoodie. When you wear a Kilig Ko piece, you don’t see the nights I spent doubting if I was “ready.” If I waited to feel ready, you wouldn’t be reading this. I’d still be sketching designs on scrap paper, telling myself: “Sige, maybe next year.”
It’s Not Just Packaging. It’s a Love Letter.
Everything I make is a reminder: you deserve to feel kilig for yourself. Not just for a crush. Not just for someone else’s approval. The way your lola’s adobo recipe holds memory, these packages hold pieces of me — and hopefully, pieces of you, too. I’m still learning. Still improving. Still figuring out how to sew those collar tags properly. (I’ve been procrastinating since December, okay?)
But here’s what I know:
There’s power in starting before you’re ready.
There’s beauty in celebrating your culture, even when it feels imperfect.
There’s magic in seeing someone smile when they open your creation.
What’s Next?
Someday, I’ll have the branded pink bags of my dreams. I’ll sew every tag with perfect stitches. I’ll launch collections that feel even more kilig and Filipino than the last. But until then, I’ll keep showing up, flaws and all — because that’s how Kilig Ko was built. And that’s how I know it’ll keep growing.
<3 Sarah
Uploaded on: Kilig Ko | Youtube
Date: July 9, 2025, 6 PM PDT
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