Gladys Rivera's personal medals of honor
Name: Gladys G. Rivera
Ex expat of: Dubai
Years spent in the emirate: Four years
Worked as: Tailor promoted to Officer in Charge of a startup fashion label
Reason for leaving Dubai: Better opportunity
Where is she now? Taif, Saudi Arabia
Current job: Dressmaker
Lesson learned from expat experience: You will meet people with different kinds of attitude. Extend your patience.
Her story
The year 2004 was a turning point for Gladys Rivera. “I decided to change everything in my life. It was like a wakeup call,” she told PilipinasToday.Net. She got offered a job as a tailor for a Dubai-based fashion designer. Initially, she was torn between leaving her family in Quezon City for the first time and accepting this “new turn of life”. In the end, it was an opportunity she just couldn’t miss.
The newly opened business of aspiring designer Mariam Bardri gave Gladys a lot of opportunity for career growth. She worked as a tailor at first, and was promoted to Officer in Charge. “I was so happy experiencing fashion shows held at famous hotels, and seeing my work published in magazines and newspapers,” she said.
Gladys met a lot of interesting people and made younger friends who she said "treated me like their mom". "Sometimes they confided in me. They gave me a lot of respect,” she said.
In 2007, the fashion store closed, forcing Gladys to look at other employment options. She worked as a tutor to a Lebanese girl for one year. It was a great learning experience, she said, but it made the single mother of three miss her children more. “My three kids teach me how to be strong. As a single mom, I must be strong for them,” she said.
Thankfully, an opportunity in Taif, Saudi Arabia soon opened up for Gladys. She has happily worked as a dressmaker in the country for six years. “Overcoming obstacles and bad experiences is like gaining a medal that you can bring anywhere. That medal will remind you how strong and good you are,” she said.
