Woman of the Week: Franz Tolentino

“I was able to send my children to college and got to finance my house through my Avon earnings.”

Woman of the Week: Franz Tolentino

Beauty Entrepreneur, Philippines

When Francisca “Franz” Tolentino found a lump in her breast whilst taking a bath in 2003, she initially wasn’t concerned. “There was no pain. However, I noticed that the lump was growing and I had an on-and-off fever,” she remembers.

The mum of five went to the doctors and was referred for a biopsy. The result came back positive for cancer. “The doctor advised that I need to do the surgery as soon as possible as my condition was dreadful, and fatal. I cried so much that I could not tell my husband and my children of my cancer as we didn’t have money for the surgery,” she says. However, one of her daughters, who was a student at the time, offered to drop out of university to support her mother’s treatment.

“I felt relieved and had the courage to fight knowing that my family is here to support me. They’re willing to sacrifice everything just to keep me alive and survive this battle,” says Franz. “After surgery, I had 25 session of radiotherapy and 5 years of hormonal replacement therapy. So many laboratory tests including bone scan, CT Scan, MRI and I even had another gallbladder surgery. Now, even if I do not have my kidney, both my ovaries, my right breast and my gallbladder, I am still alive and kicking!”

As one of the pioneer members of the Avon Breast Care Center Support Group at Philippine General Hospital, Franz was invited by Avon to share her experience at the National Sales Convention in 2004. The more she learned about Avon, the more intrigued she was by the opportunity.

“I was inspired by the success stories of the sales leaders who received their awards at that time and became successful. When I was watching them, I told myself that I want to be an Avon Representative and be successful too,” she says. “And in God’s time, it happened. I was able to qualify for incentive trips and got to travel for free because of the sales achievement I had with Avon. I was able to send my children to college and got to finance my house through my Avon earnings.”

Franz adds, “As a representative, I learned a lot from the trainings. I gained a lot of friends and increased my network too. I usually just stayed at home before but when I became a representative, I learned how to explore the world.”

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