DUBAI, United Arab Emirates – A 44-year-old single mom who has been working abroad for 16 years has opened her own company, providing state-of-the-art software solutions for various industries to operate seamlessly and be more productive.
“We provide flawless operation for the companies, on the one hand, and more options for customers at their fingertips on the other,” said Ruby Berja-San Antonio, founder and CEO of Entreppid.
“It’s short of revolutionizing the process in this digital world that we have become,” she added.
The Dubai-based company, which opened only in May last year, now has more than 50 clients across the Gulf region, the most recent additions being an establishment in Oman and Saudi Arabia, which are now in the contract-signing phase, according to San Antonio.
San Antonio’s company brings down traditional barriers with “smart, scalable solutions, enabling partners to deliver exceptional services and thrive in a rapidly evolving world,” she said.
Services are tailored for the hospitality, food service, and healthcare industries, where the company’s platform offers digital menu management, nutrition analysis, and hospital meal management systems, including patient meal ordering solutions.
San Antonio said her team works with HORECA, an organization providing back-of-house equipment to food and beverage operators, including caterers, manufacturers, meal plan providers, and healthcare facilities to help these businesses streamline their operations.
“Our software simplifies menu management, tracks macros, and enables customized meal options for both clients and patients. We currently serve clients across the GCC and the Philippines, and our goal is to leverage technology to enhance both operational efficiency and the overall customer experience,” San Antonio said.
The software, she said, does away with manual calculation, which lessens human error, expedites the process, automates and synchronizes the operation, allows paperless transactions, avoids food wastage, and educates consumers about nutrition information.
The system, conceptualized in 2020, is an ongoing work-in progress, San Antonio said, to keep it abreast with the fast-evolving digital age and be tuned to the market’s needs.
“Since our launch, we’ve been continuously innovating and adapting our system to meet the unique needs of local markets. Our vision is to become the go-to solution for food industry businesses, enabling them to deliver top-quality service to their customers,” she said.
The youngest of seven siblings raised in Bicol, San Antonio went abroad in 2008 to work in Qatar as graphic designer. Her interest in the software system began when she moved to Oman soon after, where she shifted her focus to fitness and wellness, working as an instructor.
“These experiences abroad broadened my professional outlook and fueled my passion for the wellness industry,” she said.
She went to Dubai in 2014, where she was hired as a personal health coach for a local family. “This role allowed me to apply my fitness and wellness expertise in a unique and personalized environment,” San Antonio said.
She transitioned into the corporate world as a sales executive after finishing her contract as health coach. “This marked the beginning of my journey building networks and establishing a foundation for my career in the UAE,” she said.
San Antonio then got a job as a key accounts manager at a locally owned trading company, “where my contributions continue to play a vital role not only in building the business two years ago, but in sustaining its success up until now as a partner,” she said.
San Antonio’s daughter Allejah Elyze was just two years old when the former’s husband walked away, leaving her with a resolve to stay strong and pick up the pieces.
“I became a single mom with a toddler in my arms, a heavy heart, and a future full of uncertainty,” San Antonio recalls.
Allejah, now 19, and who was recently in Dubai to study, pulled her through, inspiring her to push on.
“In my darkest moments, I have always thought of my daughter. Allejah has been my light through it all. Even from afar, she has been my greatest source of strength, constantly reminding me why I started this journey in the first place. Her belief in me, her words of encouragement, her love — they’ve kept me going when everything else felt impossible,” San Antonio said.
She recounted how she still didn’t make enough no matter how many hours she worked or how many sacrifices she made, teaching at three universities in the Philippines.
“The bills piled up, and the weight of being the sole provider for my daughter grew heavier. With no other choice, I made the heartbreaking decision to leave her behind and work abroad, hoping to create a better life for us both,” San Antonio said.
She said it came to a point when she also had to support her parents and twin sister. “The dream of coming home faded, and in its place, a bigger dream began to take shape: building something that could secure not just our future but create real impact,” San Antonio said, adding that this led her to decide on creating her software company.
San Antonio said balancing motherhood and building a company in a foreign country wasn’t just hard — it was “soul-crushing” at times.
“There were nights when I cried myself to sleep, feeling like I was failing as both a mom and a business owner. The loneliness, the relentless pressure, the fear of not being enough — it all felt unbearable,” she said.
San Antonio’s challenging journey still goes on every day, she said. “But when I look at my daughter and the life we’ve built together, I know one thing for sure: We are unstoppable,” she said.
San Antonio said specializing in start-ups is her “forte,” a fact, she added, “evident in my successful tenure with my three previous companies.”
“So, if I could contribute so significantly to someone else’s success, why not channel that same energy into creating my own?” she said, explaining what drove her to open her company.
“I always tell myself, ‘Don’t be a lamp in a chamber if you can be a star in the sky.” – Rappler.com
