For more than three decades, Marilou “Monette” Sandique’s life in the United Arab Emirates was largely about building a better future for her family back home.

Now, at 58, after 34 years in the UAE, the longtime OFW, mother, and corporate professional is building something for herself—and creating opportunities for others along the way.

Sandique is the founder of MJS Global Innovations Group, a UAE–Philippines business ecosystem that aims to connect entrepreneurs, professionals, businesses, and communities across the two countries.

But before becoming an entrepreneur, Sandique was an OFW mother who had to make one of the most difficult choices familiar to millions of Filipino migrant workers: leaving her children in the Philippines to provide them with a better life.

“My story is, first and foremost, the story of a mother,” Sandique shared.

“I came to the UAE more than three decades ago, leaving my children in the Philippines to work and build a better future for our family. Like many OFW mothers, leaving was never simply a career decision. It came with sacrifice, distance, missed moments, difficult choices, and the constant responsibility of providing for the people you love while being away from them.”

What was initially a journey for her family eventually became a life spanning more than three decades in the UAE.

For most of those years, Sandique developed her professional career in Human Resources and Government Relations, gaining experience and building relationships while navigating life as an overseas Filipino worker.

The UAE eventually became her second home, but she remained closely connected to the Philippines and her identity as an OFW.

Then came a decision that would open an entirely different chapter.

After decades as an employee, Sandique decided to become an entrepreneur—at an age when many professionals might already be thinking about slowing down or retirement.

For Sandique, turning 58 was not a reason to abandon the possibility of building something new.

“You do not have to be young to start. You do not have to erase your previous life and begin from zero. Sometimes, you begin with everything life has already taught you,” she said.

Rather than looking at the previous decades as time that had passed before she could pursue entrepreneurship, Sandique considers those years part of the preparation.

Her corporate experience, relationships, community involvement, mistakes and lessons—as well as the resilience she developed as an OFW and mother—eventually became the foundation of MJS Global Innovations.

MJS Global Innovations operates through five interconnected pillars covering Business Setup and Market Entry; Travel and Tours; Events and Learning Experiences; E-Commerce; and People and Shared Services.

Through its business setup and market-entry services, the company assists entrepreneurs and businesses seeking to establish themselves or explore opportunities in the UAE while facilitating business connections between the UAE and the Philippines.

Its travel arm provides mobility and travel solutions for individuals, families, groups, and businesses, while its events division develops and collaborates on programs involving business, leadership, community building, and personal development.

MJS also explores opportunities in e-commerce, including products, brands, merchandise, and cross-border trade.

Sandique’s decades of experience in human resources are reflected in the group’s People and Shared Services pillar, which covers HR and people management, recruitment, organizational development, standard operating procedures, training, and other forms of business support.

For Sandique, these ventures were not created simply for the sake of operating multiple businesses.

“These five pillars were not created simply because I wanted to own several businesses. They grew from the experience, relationships, knowledge, and opportunities accumulated throughout my years in the UAE,” she explained.

She now envisions MJS Global Innovations as a bridge connecting people and opportunities between her home country and the place that has been her second home for more than half her life.

Behind Sandique’s growing entrepreneurial journey remains the story of the OFW mother who originally traveled abroad because of her responsibilities to her children.

Her circumstances may have changed, but she sees a direct line connecting that young mother to the entrepreneur she is today.

“My journey started with a mother leaving home because she wanted to provide for her children,” she said.

“Thirty-four years later, that same journey is teaching me something different: There can still be another dream after the sacrifice.”

It is also the message Sandique hopes to share with fellow OFWs, mothers, women, and longtime professionals who may believe that their opportunity to pursue another dream has already passed.

“Age is not the reason to stop yourself from starting what you still want to do,” she said.

For an OFW who spent decades building a future for the people she loved, becoming an entrepreneur at 58 is not about starting over.

It is about building from everything those 34 years have already given her.

As Sandique puts it: “Sometimes the years you think have passed you by are actually the years that prepared you for what comes next.” (with reports from Cassiopeia Janelle Calamaya)