Long before Ana Magalona-Go launched the fast-growing coffee brand But First, Coffee, she spent several years working across different industries—experiences that would later shape the way she approached entrepreneurship.
Magalona-Go grew up in Bacolod City and studied Marketing Management at the University of Saint La Salle. Even while she was still in school, she already sensed that she wanted to build something of her own someday.
“When I was studying, parang I had this entrepreneurial mindset na talaga,” she says.
But instead of rushing into business immediately after graduation in 2016, she chose to gain experience first. Just two weeks after finishing college, she boarded a flight to Manila to begin building her career.
“When I graduated, two weeks after, lumipad ako dito sa Manila to look for opportunities,” she recalls.
Her first job was with SGV, one of the country’s largest professional services firms. Although she was not an accountant, she worked as a Resource Management Associate, helping coordinate staffing assignments for the firm’s clients.
“I started at SGV—pero hindi ako accountant. I was a Resource Management Associate. My job was involved in scheduling CPAs for the clients of SGV.”
The role exposed her to the fast-paced environment of a large professional organization. While the job itself was operational, it allowed her to observe how large firms coordinate people, manage client demands, and maintain professional standards.
She stayed for about eight months before deciding to explore another industry.
“And then after that, I transferred to the IT industry,” she says.
In the technology sector, she worked for a software company as a product specialist, helping introduce business software solutions to corporate clients.
“I worked for a software company wherein we were one of the product specialists. We sold software to clients.”
The experience deepened her understanding of how companies adopt technology to improve their operations. More importantly, it introduced her to the dynamics of business-to-business selling, where solutions must address real operational problems.
After two years, Magalona-Go moved again—this time to a fintech-oriented payroll software company, where she eventually served as a project manager handling lending-related initiatives.
“And then I transferred to another company, which was a payroll software company naman. It was more on the fintech side siya. I worked there for almost three years na rin. I was a project manager ng loans.”
This role proved particularly formative. Working in fintech required her to collaborate with multiple departments and interact with different stakeholders across industries.
“In that company, I learned a lot in terms of working with several departments and several industries,” she explains.
Her responsibilities placed her in close coordination with senior executives, financial institutions, and legal professionals—exposure that helped broaden her perspective on how businesses operate.
“I’ve worked with lenders, I worked closely or directly with the CEO before, and I also worked with lawyers.”
Looking back, she believes those years in corporate roles were not simply jobs—they were training grounds for entrepreneurship.
“So I think that job gave me the opportunity to equip myself with what I needed before starting a business.”
Many aspiring entrepreneurs often believe that launching a company requires only a strong idea or sufficient capital. But Magalona-Go’s experience suggests that entrepreneurial readiness is often built through exposure to different business environments.
Working in professional services, technology, and fintech gave her insights into how organizations structure their operations, how products are sold, and how different departments coordinate to solve problems.
Each role added another layer to her understanding of business.
By the time she eventually decided to start her own venture, she had already seen firsthand how companies operate—from managing clients and technology solutions to collaborating with executives and financial partners.
These experiences quietly laid the groundwork for what would eventually become But First, Coffee, a brand that would grow rapidly by offering affordable coffee to young professionals and building a strong online community.
Her journey illustrates a common but often overlooked truth about entrepreneurship: successful founders rarely emerge overnight.
More often, their ideas are shaped by years of observation, experimentation, and learning within the organizations they once worked for.
