At Sun Life Grepa HIP Fest 2026, Gia Abao shared how financial literacy empowered her journey toward independence and confidence.
By Kahit Kabado® Team
What happens when something goes wrong while you’re speaking in front of a crowd?
For Gia Abao, the answer came unexpectedly when her heel broke during her speaking engagement at Sun Life Grepa HIP Fest 2026.
“Kinabahan rin ako kasi naputol yung heels ko. Akala ko mapipilayan ako or ma-sprain,” Gia shared.
But instead of letting the unexpected moment derail her talk, she redirected her attention to what she came there to do: give her audience something valuable.
“Actually, sa mga ganun, I just focus on the value of my talk. Siguro sa daming beses ko na rin napahiya, unbothered na ’ko kapag may nangyayaring unexpected while speaking.”
It was an unexpectedly fitting Kahit Kabado® moment.
Because confident speakers aren’t people who never get nervous, embarrassed, distracted, or caught off guard. Sometimes, confidence simply looks like knowing how to keep going when things don’t go according to plan.
Taking Adulting 101 to the stage
Gia was invited to speak for “Adulting 101: Budgeting Budols,” where she talked about financial literacy for Gen Zs and young adults navigating their first salaries, growing responsibilities, and the temptation to spend now and worry about the future later.
Rather than approaching financial literacy only through numbers, Gia shared lessons from her own experience.
One of them was learning early that earning more money wouldn’t necessarily create financial security if she didn’t also learn how to manage it.
Building better saving and spending habits eventually helped Gia reach an important personal milestone: building her first million while still in her 20s.
But for Gia, reaching that number was never the end goal.
It was what having money allowed her to do.
Financial freedom means having choices
As Gia built her career, learning how to save and grow her money gave her more freedom to spend on experiences she genuinely valued—including traveling.
She has since been able to travel to dream destinations such as Bali and South Korea and build a lifestyle where travel doesn’t always have to feel like an impossible “someday” goal.
But there was another reason financial independence became especially important to her.
“I really want to be financially free kasi as a woman, iba talaga kapag may pera ka,” Gia said. “You can be independent and mas confident ka. You can leave any situation you don’t want for yourself.”
That was one of the bigger messages behind her talk.
Financial literacy isn’t only about learning how to budget properly or resisting every budol that appears on your feed. It’s also about gradually creating options for your future self.
Having savings can give you room to leave an unhealthy work environment. Financial independence can make it easier to say no to situations you don’t want. Growing your money can give you the freedom to pursue opportunities, experiences, and goals without depending entirely on someone else to make them possible.
For young women especially, Gia emphasized how empowering it can be to know that you can stand on your own.
The most important part of speaking isn’t perfection
Ironically, one of the biggest lessons from Gia’s Sun Life Grepa appearance wasn’t part of the prepared talk at all.
It was the broken heel.
Speakers often prepare for the obvious things: their slides, talking points, transitions, opening lines, and closing statements.
But you can’t rehearse every possible thing that might happen once you’re onstage.
A microphone can stop working. You can forget your next point. Someone can ask a question you weren’t expecting. Your presentation can malfunction.
Or your heel can literally break.
That’s why Gia’s response reflects one of the principles behind Kahit Kabado®: when you become overly focused on yourself, every mistake can feel enormous. When you refocus on the value you want to give your audience, it becomes easier to recover and continue.
The goal isn’t to reach a point where nothing embarrasses you anymore.
It’s realizing that embarrassment doesn’t have to end your performance.
Kahit kabado, ituloy mo lang.
Whether you’re standing in front of an audience, answering an unexpected question in a meeting, walking into your first job interview, or figuring out your finances in your 20s, you probably won’t feel completely prepared for everything adulthood throws at you.
You don’t need to.
You can learn, recover, adjust, and keep building anyway.
And sometimes, that’s what confidence looks like.