Filipina Alopecia awareness advocate Abby Asistio flew to San Francisco and had the wonderful opportunity of being chosen as one of the eighteen invited by Facebook on their 12th Anniversary Friends Day celebration and, as a result, got the chance to meet THE Mark Zuckerberg!
Abby Asistio met Facebook Founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg along with fellow California-based Alopecia awareness advocate, Rachel Regal.
Abby recounted that it was such a surreal feeling to be in the same room as Mark Zuckerberg. According to Abby, Mark, who wore his trademark look (jeans, sneakers, shirt and a big smile on his face), had such a friendly, approachable aura and demeanor about him.
Not at all intimidating, she said. During the event, he shared stories about how the company started, its mission-vision, the ups and downs that came along, and their future plans. Those invited also had the chance to ask him questions. When Mark was asked about achieving success and life’s “impossibilities,” he said, “There’s a difference between impossible and things taking a really long time. Even if you’re not going to be able to do something in a short time period, if you care about something, you want to see the world to move into that direction… So the best thing to do is just get started and not be discouraged. It’s tough because this stuff is hard, or else people would’ve already done it.”
Mark capped off his talk by sharing their company philosophy with everyone present. Though already having over 1 billion subscribers, there are still 7 billion people all over the world without access to all the meaningful connections and information that Facebook brings. One thing that the company stands by is that “things are always 1% completed.” It keeps them grounded, reminding them that there is always so much work, growth and progress to be done, and so many people to reach out to and help.
Everything about the Facebook trip was overwhelming and inspiring according to Abby. More than anything, it reminded her about “responsibility.”
“We are all given our own platforms, in this case “accounts and connections,” to make a dent in this world. It is up to us to become complacent and take these vehicles for granted, or maximize the opportunities and use them to make a positive impact in this generation,” Abby said.
Abby is grateful that Facebook has become a medium for her to communicate disease awareness and touch people beyond the confines of her tiny room and her country. Abby is also glad that she and Rachel are two out of millions of people who choose to recognize the importance of social media in contributing to making this world a better place, and actually doing something about it. Abby is also thankful to Novuhair, Nature’s Answer to Hair Loss (www.novuhair.com), for always being so supportive of her advocacy and endeavors. Abby is proud and honored to have represented the Philippines and the Alopecia community in this once-in-a-lifetime, international event.
* Alopecia is an autoimmune condition which results in partial or total head and body hair loss.
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Mindanaoan is a multi-awarded blogger, content creator, seasoned social media strategist and publicist with undeniably successful track record. 2012 International Visitor Leadership Program (for global leaders) alumnus and O visa grantee (for people with extraordinary skills and who have risen to the top of their field). Avid traveler and a proud relief operations volunteer. Regular resource person for social media, blogging and content creation. Available for work and travel – [email protected]