PWD Employee Spotlight: Pics
Piccolo Embuscado--or as we lovingly call him, Pics--has come a long way from when he first came to us in 2015. Having worked in various jobs before, we were impressed not by his experience, but with his attitude.
At Chemistea, we believe that everyone deserves a chance to have opportunities to be employed. Which is why we hire PWDs, at-risk youth and struggling students, to give them an opportunity to work alongside regular employees. There is no separation among the staff and both regular and priority employees learn to work together and to deal with each other.
Pics is a story of how a self-conscious, Bipolar II patient became a respected and well-loved manager of the store. His journey wasn't easy. But he is a fighter and with the help of everyone in Chemistea, he rose to be a leader and an inspiration to all the other employees--and even his bosses.
From the beginning, he showed an amazing attitude that we came to love more the longer he worked with us. Not only is he driven and set to overcome his disability, he is also very honest and trustworthy, and (as his co-workers can tell you themselves) a very good team player who has become a "kuya" to many of his younger coworkers.
Pics was also usually commended by many of our customers and mystery visitors to be one of the friendliest staff we have. Many have also commented on how they feel at ease with him and how they enjoyed discovering new flavors as he introduced them to Chemistea's different mixes.
Of course, Pics had his moments when his case got the best of him, but he continued on fighting and we were with him every step of the way. He constantly improved himself and soon, gained enough self-confidence in his own work and abilities that we were proud to elevate him to being the store manager as soon as our second branch opened.
Pics is currently working in their family business, but still often visits Chemistea as he had come to consider us as part of his family.
