Filipina American entrepreneur raises $650,000 on 'Kickstarter' with her great idea

Angelia Trinidad pursues one of her passions.

WANT TO know what to do with the rest of your life? You say you want to pursue what's really important to you?

"Follow your passion," is probably the worst piece of advice you can give to a young person just starting out, because that doesn't prepare them for rejection or giving up some of the other things you expect out of life - like paying the rent, eating, or taking  vacations.

However, for a few people, that advice works out. It is their success that gives  hope to the bright-eyed, bushy-tailed optimists coming out of high school or college.

The next few weeks will be busy for Angelia Trinidad. After raising more than $650,000, she closed out her second Kickstarter campaign last week. That sum is a whopping 6,584 percent of her modest $10,000 goal. This isn’t chump change.

According to Kickstarter’s statistics, only 1,619 successfully funded projects have raised more than $100,000—less than 2 percent of all projects. 

The 24-year old Filipina American just might be able to (finally) move out of her parent's San Diego home where she has taken over the garage for her warehouse/office.

So what is Trinidad’s grand product that attracted 23,000 backers? An old-school paper planner. (Watch the video below.)

She finds that taking the time to write things down helps her to focus.

Back to the future? Find out more about Angelia's great idea. 

To look at her in her backwards baseball cap, jeans and southern california casual style, you wouldn't think she is a CEO. However, she's garnered the attention of the local business scene and she's been invited to do motivational and business workshops and even gave a TED talk at UC Irvine.

Through it all, Angelia has managed to keep her head and priorities straight to focus on what's really important to her. Her "Planner" must be working for her.

“I think my version of the American Dream is just having enough and having lots of people that I feel close to,” she told a reporter. “I value friendships and my family way more than money. I remind myself over and over again what my values are and what I want out of my life. What the Passion Planner does is helps you find out what matters, on paper.”

Angelia Trinidad's parent's garage is now too small for her growing business venture.

###