From Free Vitamins to Golden East Ads Promo and Events: How Charito Evangelista Built a Business Around Giving Back

As Finance and Administration Manager of Golden East Ads Promo and Events, Charito “Chat” Evangelista shares how she and her husband, Darren Evangelista built a business through hard work, resilience, and generosity.

Before Charito “Chat” Evangelista and her husband, Darren Evangelista, built Golden East Ads Promo and Events, they had a much smaller goal: to make sure their children had vitamins.

“Kasi hindi namin afford bumili dati, eh. Ganun kami. Ganun ang level,” she recalled. Their earliest events were swimming competitions. Back then, organizing a competition could mean securing enough vitamins for their children for an entire year. It was a practical way for the couple to provide for their family.

Today, the story has come full circle.

“Ngayon, afford na yung mga vitamins. Ngayon, namimigay ng vitamins na,” Charito shared, referring to the vitamins their sponsors now help distribute at events.

Between those two moments is a business built through hard work, relationships, and the belief that success should be shared. As Finance and Administration Manager, Charito works alongside Darren, the company's General Manager. Together, they have helped grow Golden East from organizing swimming competitions into a business offering events, advertising, and promotional services.

Charito recalls that someone noticed how she and Darren worked and guided them toward doing things properly. Their swimming competitions eventually grew into bigger events and other business opportunities.

Yet the lessons that stayed with her were not complicated business formulas. “Pag meron, meron. Pag wala, wala.” For Charito, this means knowing how to live and work within one's circumstances. When resources are available, make the most of them. When they are not, adjust, save, and find a way forward.

And when something goes wrong, she would rather look for solutions than spend time worrying. “Always isipin palagi, it's a blessing in disguise,” she said. “Huwag susuko agad.” That same outlook shapes how she treats the people who help run the business.

Charito believes employees deserve to share in the company's success, including those who contribute on a temporary basis. “Parang isang pamilya kayo sa negosyo,” she said. But generosity does not mean avoiding difficult decisions. When an employee breaks their trust, Charito and Darren try talking things through first, understanding what went wrong, and rebuilding the relationship. If that is no longer possible, they accept that sometimes people need to move on.

With clients, their philosophy remains straightforward: always deliver the best possible work. Charito describes how Darren looks for ways to improve on a client's ideas rather than simply carrying out what was requested. “Palaging ibigay ang best mo at be generous,” she said, speaking of both clients and employees.

These are also the values Charito wants to pass on to the next generation. “Pag tama, tama. Pag mali, mali.” For her, doing what is right, working hard, and sharing what you have are lessons that matter just as much outside the business. Looking back, perhaps the greatest measure of their journey is not how many events they have organized or how much their business has grown.

It is that the couple who once organized swimming competitions to provide vitamins for their children can now help provide the same for others. And for Charito Evangelista, that is a success worth sharing.