Before Walther Buenavista became the founder of Shawarma Shack, one of the fastest-growing food businesses in the Philippines, he was just a young man struggling to find a job.
Buenavista dreamed of a stable career, but his lack of a college degree made job hunting nearly impossible.
“Dati kasi nag-apply ako ng call center, di ako natanggap. Kasi, di ako magaling magsalita e,” he recalls.
It wasn’t for lack of effort—he applied multiple times but faced constant rejection. Meanwhile, his classmates were landing good jobs, leaving him feeling frustrated and stuck.
“Daming beses kong nag-apply noon, pero walang makuhang trabaho kasi undergrad ako. Yung mga kaklase ko, ang gaganda ng trabaho. Kaya na-frustrate ako. ‘Bakit ganito na lang ako?’”
From Job Rejections to Business Beginnings
With no job offers, Buenavista had no choice but to find another way to make a living.
He and his wife Patricia brainstormed ideas and decided to start a small food business. Since Buenavista had learned how to make bread while staying with his grandfather in Bicol, and Patricia was good at mixing flavors, they thought, why not make shawarma?
They opened their first stall at Tutuban Night Market, a tiny six-square-meter space, where they would set up, sell, and pack up everything at the end of the day.
It wasn’t easy. Sales were slow at first—just P2,000 a day, barely enough to survive. They even considered quitting.
A Simple Promo Changed Everything
Desperate to attract more customers, Buenavista took a risk:
“Ano kaya, i-buy one take one natin yung shawarma?”
The next day, their sales skyrocketed—and they never looked back.
From barely making ends meet, Shawarma Shack expanded into a nationwide brand, now with hundreds of locations across the country.
Buenavista’s journey proves that rejection isn’t the end—it can be the start of something bigger.
This article includes quotes from an interview originally published by Esquire Philippines, authored by Henry Ong.
