Former Bahrain resident Rosalie Busaco has gone from working as a hotel waitress in the kingdom to building a successful business empire in Greenland, turning the skills, lessons and experiences she gained during her years into a thriving entrepreneurial career.
Originally from Butuan City in the Philippines, the 37-year-old arrived in Bahrain in 2012 for her first overseas job, working as a waitress at a hotel in Juffair.
Her years in the kingdom’s hospitality industry taught her the value of customer service, discipline, teamwork while also showing her the value of building strong relationships with the people around her.
Among those who left a lasting impression were her former Bahraini managers, Khalid Ebrahim and Hameed Al Halwachi, whose leadership and work ethic helped shape her own ambitions.
When her two-year contract ended, Ms Busaco was offered another contract, but she had already started thinking about what she wanted from her future.
“I knew that there was more out there for me,” she told the GDN. “When I left, my managing director asked me where I saw myself in the future, and I told him I wanted to be like him. I said that if that happened, I would personally come back to tell him I finally made it.”
She returned to the Philippines in 2014 to complete her bachelor degree in hotel and restaurant management, but her journey eventually took her thousands of miles away to Greenland.
In 2018, she moved to the Arctic country, where a rejected request for a pay rise prompted her to consider what she could achieve on her own.
Ms Busaco soon noticed a gap in the market for laundry and cleaning services in Ilulissat, a scenic coastal town in western Greenland known as the ‘iceberg capital of the world’.
Rather than wait for an opportunity, she decided to create one.
With no employees, Ms Busaco began Ilulissat Services ApS on her own, personally approaching hotels, homes, companies and tourist boats and offering her services wherever she saw an opportunity.
“It was not easy,” she said, “I started with just one laundry machine, dryer and an iron, and spent six months of my salary to buy this equipment. The money was supposed to be my ticket home to the Philippines, but I took the risk.”
The gamble eventually paid off.
What began as a small laundry operation grew into a growing portfolio of businesses spanning hospitality, restaurants and property-related ventures, with two more businesses planned to open this year.
As her businesses grew, so did her need for workers. In 2024, Ms Busaco returned to Bahrain – but this time as an entrepreneur, looking for people willing to join her growing ventures in Greenland.
She reunited with her former managers and told them she had come back not only to show them that she had achieved her ambitions she had spoken about years earlier, but also to recruit workers. “I ended up hiring two chefs and two waitresses I knew from Bahrain,” Ms Busaco said.
Her journey has since opened doors for hundreds of other workers. Ms Busaco has helped connect more than 300 Filipinos with employment opportunities and supported more than 25 companies in Greenland.
She hopes her story can inspire fellow Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) to look beyond the limitations of their circumstances, pursue their ambitions and recognise the opportunities that can come from working abroad.
“I don’t want them to just work and work,” she said. “I want them to someday go home with savings, a house, a business or something they can build for their family.”
Her message is particularly strong when it comes to women, whom she believes should never feel confined to traditional roles and that women can build businesses, lead organisations, work in science, compete in sports or pursue careers in any field they choose.
“We women should have our own money, because financial independence gives you freedom, confidence and the power to choose your own life.”
And while her own story has taken her from Bahrain to Greenland and into entrepreneurship, she believes success does not have to begin with a grand plan or large investment.
Her advice to OFWs abroad is simple: “Trust the process. Stay focused. Learn. Be humble. And, do not settle for comfort.”
She also urges people not to compare their progress with anyone else’s, adding: “You don’t have to start big, you just have to start.”
julia@gdnmedia.bh
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