Hi, I’m Angel! (she/they)
I am mainly known as the Creator of Passion Planner, a goal-setting paper notebook company I started in 2013 fresh out of college. I needed something to help me navigate post-grad depression and find direction in the “real world”. I launched it on Kickstarter and it went viral and made me an accidental community-made millionaire.
I am also a first-gen, queer, non-binary, Filipino American millennial with ADHD and dyslexia. I am also a product designer, 3.5x speed audiobook listener, artist, meditator, basketball and pickleball player, StarCraft geek, minimalist traveler, speaker, partner, and giver.
I have a firm belief that abundance is a feeling of shared enoughness. I love to share and I love my community who are my chosen family.
I live by the motto "it doesn’t have to be perfect; it just has to start." and I love trying new thing or old things in a new way.
Here you’ll find stories of my ADHD-led adventures organized and manifested via my handy dandy Passion Planner.
Intro
How did you start Passion Planner?
“What the heck am I doing with my life?” This was the question I asked myself in 2012 when I graduated from UCLA. I thought I had done everything right, but I still felt lost. After slipping into post-grad depression for 9 months I decided I needed to action and pull myself out of that rut.
I took out a piece of paper and asked myself “What do I want to be, do, and have?” I wanted to help people. I thought about what helped me the most when during the busiest yet most fulfilling times of my life. It was my planner. But, I was dissatisfied with the planners on the market. They helped you plan your daily life, but they didn’t ask you what you wanted out of life. I wanted to change that. That’s how Passion Planner was born. (read more)
I launched the first version of Passion Planner in 2013 on Kickstarter and messaged everyone I knew on Facebook about my dream. Some ignored me, but others believed. In 30 days I had raised $48,000 from friends and complete strangers on the internet. The dream became a reality. I rented half of my parent’s garage as our first headquarters. I was so happy to help my parents with their mortgage and have a real business.
A year later the #PashFam asked for a smaller version of the planner, so we launched that on Kickstarter too. It went viral. It was shared 500,000+ times on Facebook, and seen by millions of people in a matter of days. It raised $650,000 in 30 days. But the virality didn’t end there, we sold $1,200,000 on the website that same holiday season. I had become an accidental community-made millionaire in the span of 3 months.
Since 2013, we’ve grown Passion Planner from a single-person operation in my parent's garage to a 7 figure a year business with a die-hard following, earning the title of one of the fastest-growing businesses in the US. We have sold more than 3 million planners worldwide.
Accessibility is at the heart of everything we do. We have donated 650,000+ planners and $750,000 to non-profits and schools globally. Since the beginning, we’ve given away all of our PDFs for free to download and print for anyone who can’t afford a planner. We are on a mission to help everyone have the tools, community and resources to reach their dreams.
I have been interviewed and featured on NPR, The Washington Post, Refinery29, and more. Passion Planner has been featured in Forbes, CNN, Good Morning America, and more.
I’ve given a TED talk, climbed Base Camp Mt. Everest, and still manage to keep most of my houseplants alive.
Good luck, bad luck...
who knows?
Highlights and lowlights of my life.
Blessins’ - Biggest W’s
Raised $2.2M on Kickstarter over 7 campaigns
Sold 3M + planners worldwide
Donated 650,000+ planners and $750,000 to non-profits and schools globally
Graduated college with no debt, as a first-gen American, due to applying to scholarships like it was my part-time job
Read 450+ self-help and entrepreneurship books
Have provided full health, dental and vision benefits, an annual week-long passion week, mental health days, a health stipend and 401(k) for my full-time team members of 28 in San Diego for 8+ years
Gave back to my parents, friends and loved ones by traveling and experiencing what life has to offer
Lessons - Biggest L’s
Spent $120,000 and 3 months working on a documentary in the Philippines that never was released
Was outed in high school while being raised in a very conservative Christian household
Was infiltrated by (& eventually ousted) a spy who wanted to sabotage Passion Planner
Upset thousands of customers after Passion Planner went viral and shipments were delayed (due to port strikes) and spent $178,000 to airmail a reprint of planners
Lost $500k in 2024 when our fulfillment partner went unexpectedly bankrupt