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Maria Javier | Filipino-American Entrepreneur

@mjflowells

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Founder @toastypolvo®
Behind the Scenes • Filipino American Culture
📍NJ

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7 days ago

Okay, we know you’ve been asking how to order Toasty Polvo®. We hear you!

We’ve been making some changes behind the scenes, from updating our packaging to rethinking how we make Toasty Polvo® available to you.

We’re not quite ready to open ordering just yet, but things are moving!

For now, the best way to keep up is through The Toasty Dispatch, where we’ll share our updated offerings, ordering details, and everything else we’ve been working on.

Head to toastypolvo.com to sign up. by @mjflowells

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8 days ago

Very limited stock of @toastypolvo for tomorrow @ligayafestnj 💕 — see you tomorrow! taken in The Studio Ligaya by @mjflowells

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8 days ago

A month ago I deleted a LOT of ghost followers from my Instagram.

Not as a growth hack. Not because somebody told me this was the secret to beating the algorithm. I actually had no idea if this was going to work. 😂

I just kept thinking: why am I trying to grow an audience on top of an audience that isn’t actually here?

So I cleared out people who hadn’t engaged with me in years, people who clearly weren’t interested anymore, and accounts that just didn’t make sense for where I’m going now.

My thinking was pretty simple: I would rather have 170 people who actually want to be here than 1,500 people who don’t.

And now it’s been a month.

The interesting part isn’t just that my follower count is growing again. It’s WHO is finding me. My engagement is better. The conversations feel different. People are finding my work, joining my email lists, showing up in real life, and the audience feels a whole lot more like the community I actually want to build.

Do I know for sure that removing ghost followers did all of that? Hell no.

Do I think cleaning up my Instagram gave the algorithm a much clearer idea of who I am and who might actually want to follow me?

Absolutely 👀

So if you’ve been searching “should I remove ghost followers on Instagram?” this is your one-month update from somebody who actually did it.

I’ll keep reporting back.

#GhostFollowers #InstagramGrowth #RemoveGhostFollowers #InstagramAlgorithm #OrganicGrowth by @mjflowells

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10 days ago

Nolan loved pan de sal.

When Christina first asked me to help put together a care package of Filipino snacks for Christine, it felt like a small way to surround her with a little bit of home and community while we were together in LA.

But when I learned Nolan loved pan de sal, suddenly pan de sal, mamon, lumpia, all of it felt painfully inadequate.

What do you possibly offer another parent when what they really need is their son?

So we sent some texts out to parents who are also leaders in our Filipino American community and asked for help.

And without hesitation, they answered.

With wisdom. With care. With solidarity. With remembrance.

What started as Christina’s idea for a simple care package became people sending pieces of their communities with us to LA. Pan de sal from New Jersey. Coffee from the Philippines. Shirts declaring Filipinx solidarity with Black lives. Food, messages and reminders that Christine, Elmore and Nolan are held by a community much bigger than any one of us.

None of these things can give Christine and Elmore what they want most: their son.

But we can remember him. We can say his name. And we can stand beside his parents as they fight for what they deserve now: justice for Nolan.

This Filipino American History Month, I keep coming back to the idea that our history isn’t only about the people who came before us. It’s also about whose stories we choose to carry with us, whose names we choose to remember, and who we choose to stand beside right now.

Nolan Wells is part of Filipino American history.

May you think of Nolan and his Lola every time you see a pan de sal.

#FAHM #NolanWells

May we remember him.

May we stand with Christine and Elmore in the pursuit of justice.

#FAHM #nolanwells by @mjflowells

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13 days ago

WATCH ‘FORGOTTEN ISLAND” IN THEATRES TODAY 9/25! 🎥🇵🇭🏝

Members of the NJ Filipino community were invited to an early screening of the film. And the response was huge! RSVPs filled up, and thankfully our community partners came together to provide not one, but two theatres to meet those requests. 🎟

A big shoutout ot all the contributing organizers and sponsors for putting this together! 🙏🏽

But we have a request for attendees - tell them how much you loved the film and spread the word that the movie is out! If you’ve already seen it, see it again! 🗣🗣🗣

If you’ve read the suggestions from many Filipino leaders in the entertainment industry, coming to the theatre and seeing this film will help more people invest in Filipino stories! 💵📝👀

TELL A FRIEND TO TELL A FRIEND TO SEE “FORGOTTEN ISLAND” THIS WEEKEND!!! 🗣🗣🗣🇵🇭🎥🎟🏝💵🎥🇵🇭🗣🗣🗣

THANK YOU’S:

@kultureko_mnl
@plus6thr3e
@project_barkada
@filschoolnynj
@helpingstarsfoundation
@patti.malaya
@toastypolvo
@futureancestors.tv
@jess_escalona
@napawfnyc
@francysicecream
@turonking.usa
@360celebrationcam
Chubb Benefits

AND OF COURSE OUR FILIPINO FAMILY OF NEW JERSEY!!!!

*With the overwhelming support of the community and multiple contributors involved, let us know if we forgot to mention anyone if they’re not listed here* 😉 taken in AMC Theatres-Clifton Commons 16 by @mjflowells

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22 days ago

Heart is full. See you tonight New Jersey! @patriciadayleg @futureancestors.tv @plus6thr3e and especially @ginowhatimeaaan + all the organizers and sponsors. I cannot believe this came together this fast. Incredible to meet the moment with all of you.

200+ of our community in one room seeing history on the big screen. I just.. 🥹

@forgottenislandmovie @dreamworks #forgottenisland taken in Clifton, New Jersey by @mjflowells

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24 days ago

Less than 24 hours. That’s how long it took you all to fill our theater. 😭

We started with 99 seats for a free community screening of Forgotten Island in Clifton, NJ and thought, “Can we actually fill this?”

LOL. Okay, New Jersey. We heard you.

Now Patti and I are scrambling to see if we can move into a bigger theater and get more of the folks on the waitlist in.

And we keep hearing: “I got in, but my friends didn’t!”

So here’s our answer: Do you know a business that wants to help us get a bigger room?

We’re looking for businesses and organizations that want to chip in alongside Malaya Solutions, Toasty Polvo® and our community partners to help cover the additional cost and get more people through the doors.

No elaborate sponsorship package. We’re literally trying to make the room bigger. 😂

Businesses: DM me if you want in.

Let’s get more of New Jersey together for Filipino stories on the big screen. 🇵🇭

@forgottenislandmovie #forgottenisland by @mjflowells

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a month ago

Thank you, NJ!! We’ve got a FULL HOUSE!

We started this wondering if we could fill a 99-seat theater and you all said, “that’s cute.” 😂

The response has been so big that we’re now scrambling to see if we can move into an even bigger room and get more folks off the waitlist.

Soooo… if you’re a local business or organization that wants to chip in and help us get more of our community into the theater, DM me. We’re pulling this together in real time and every bit helps.

Filipino stories on the big screen + a theater full of our community. This is exactly what we wanted. 🇵🇭

September 23 • AMC Clifton Commons • Clifton, NJ
———
(and yes I took down the actual link now 😭)
Join us Wednesday in Clifton, NJ for a FREE community screening of DreamWorks’ Forgotten Island before it officially hits theaters on September 25.

We’re bringing the Filipino community together for an early look, and we’d love to fill the room. Bring your friends, your family, your titas, your cousins… you know the drill.

🎬 Free community screening
📍 Clifton, New Jersey
🗓 Wednesday
🎟️ RSVP required (for each person)

Tayo na! 🇵🇭💕

@dreamworks @forgottenislandmovie #ForgottenIsland by @mjflowells

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a month ago

Old kitchen. New mindset. New chapter.

Back at Garden State Kitchen in New Jersey and stepping into a new season as a food entrepreneur and founder.

A lot has shifted behind the scenes, and October is shaping up to be the start of something new for Toasty Polvo®. taken in Garden State Kitchen by @mjflowells

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a month ago

I know I’ve been joking about getting a Seafood City in New Jersey 😅 but I need to show you a little bit of why I’ve become so drawn to the Filipino community in Central Jersey.

Over the past year, I’ve met so many incredible people across the Filipino American community in New Jersey — especially Filipino small business owners who are really out here doing the damn thing.

And there is something happening around @studioligaya in Metuchen, New Jersey that I can’t quite put my finger on.

The businesses. The events. The people who keep showing up. The way one introduction turns into five more. The way people are actually finding each other and figuring out what we can build together.

It really feels like a Filipino cultural hub in Central Jersey is taking shape.

And this is coming from somebody who worked in immigrant affairs in New York City. I’ve seen what it looks like when communities start building a real sense of place, connection and infrastructure around themselves.

There’s a certain kind of magic happening here right now, and I’m just really grateful that my family and I get to be part of it.

We’re rebuilding FANHS NJ — the New Jersey chapter of the Filipino American National Historical Society @fanhs_national — to help connect, document and preserve the stories of Filipinos across New Jersey.

If you’ve been looking for the Filipino community in New Jersey, especially here in Central Jersey, come find us at fanhsnj.org.

Let’s see what we can build together. 🇵🇭 taken in The Studio Ligaya by @mjflowells

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a month ago

Twenty-five years ago, I was a freshman in high school, sitting in second period on my second day of school when everything changed.

In the days after, I somehow had the presence of mind to save the newspapers.

I remember wanting to hold onto the history.

I knew what was happening was going to shape the world around me. I knew, even then, that it was shaping me too. I just had no idea how.

I turn 40 in December, and I’ve been thinking a lot this year about the moments that quietly set the direction of my life.

Looking back now, I can see how deeply September 11 shaped the way I understand public service, government, community, crisis, and our responsibility to one another. Those questions have followed me through so much of the work I’ve chosen to do since.

I’ve kept these newspapers for 25 years because I never wanted to forget. by @mjflowells

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a month ago