OFW scammed by employer goes freelance online, now makes 7 digits a month

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — A licensed architect who was not paid her year’s salary while working in Brunei has turned things around and resorted to freelancing online, where she now makes up to seven figures a month.

Joannes Paula “JP” Espino, who obtained her degree in architecture from the University of Sto. Tomas (UST) and a degree in the teaching profession from the Philippine Normal University (PNU), said the incident with her employer turned out to be a blessing in disguise as she now works from the comfort of her home.

“When I was an Overseas Filipino Worker, I had a bad experience with my employer, whereas he didn’t pay my salary for a full year,” Espino told GMA News Online.

“Because of that,” she added, “I was forced to file a case against him.”

But unknown to her at the time, filing a case against her employer meant she could not take on another job because of her employment visa, which could not be nullified while the matter remains pending arbitration.

Espino also could not go home to the Philippines while the case was pending.

“Because of that, the only way I could earn was to work online, which was what I did. It (labor case) turned out to be a blessing in disguise as that (freelancing) became my turning point. From earning just $5 per project (during the early days of freelancing online), I have now transitioned to multiple business opportunities that generate up to seven figures a month (in pesos),” Espino said.

The employer eventually agreed to settle out of court. “I got what I sued him for,” Espino said.

Espino, who fondly calls herself “The Digital Architect,” now helps other architects transition their business to virtual operations.

During the pre-COVID days, Espino regularly traveled around the world with her daughter, spending days as a digital nomad when she was not working on her architectural projects or delivering “value bombs” in her talks on workshops and webinars.

These days, “I work wherever I want,” she said.

One such speaking engagement, meanwhile, was with the ongoing weekly, free Zoom livestream workshop series in Dubai dubbed, “Opportunity for Filipino Workers” (OFF Workers), where Espino recently discussed how to establish online presence through social media.

Espino gave tips, at the online workshop, on how to post a more effective social media content that attracts the target market, for OFWs who also want to transition and use social media to promote their businesses and attract more clients.

“Basically, my advice to OFWs jumping into social media marketing is do their homework and understand their target market, know the needs and how to fill the gap through their products or services,” she said.

The OFF Workers livestream is being held every Friday and Sunday starting at 1 p.m. UAE time. This has been slated to culminate in a week-long trade fair in October this year, organizers said.

Nineteen sessions, with each facilitated by 19 resource people, will be held. The topics range from entrepreneurship, as well as e-Commerce, personal and visual branding; to sales and marketing; Facebook ads and e-mail marketing and website development, among others.

The first sessions kicked off last week June 18. —KBK, GMA News