By DENISE H. ROCO
Gown, hair and makeup by FANNY SERRANO
From model to housewife to entrepreneur, Mags Cue shows how she can easily master different roles as fast as she shifts from one to another.
Mags Lopez Calpito Cue wears her heart on her sleeve, a sleeve that won’t ever match the size of her heart, for the latter is too big.
Born in Batangas City and raised in Manila, she was not only prayerful but was also actively involved in church activities. Her inner beauty extended externally, and this was quickly noticed while she was completing her BS Psychology degree at the Far Eastern University. This budding fashionista juggled commercial modeling with her studies.
Moving down the highways of her life, Mags met and married her prince charming, Oliver Cue from Cotabato City, bidding farewell to a modeling career and saying hello to motherhood. And even with three sons and a husband to care for, being a housewife was not the end all and be all of this glamorous bombshell.
Out of sheer boredom, Mags decided to take a leap of faith. “I put up a store at a side street in Cagayan de Oro selling anything and everything to keep myself busy while my husband was at work and the kids were at school. I also wanted to earn for myself. Even if I didn’t have much capital during that time, I was able to make things happen through hard work, patience and humility,†says this gorgeous Person of the Year of the Mindanao Goldstar Daily.
Just a year after putting up her 40-sqm. space in De Leon Plaza in 2003, Mags established her own clothing line for women at the Limketkai Mall. Mags Boutique was such a success that she branched out to other bustling cities.
Neither wealth nor status has clouded her outlook. In fact, these have grounded her more to a life dedicated to uplifting others. “I’m the social directress of Mutya ng Pilipinas beauty pageant. I help in promoting the beauty tourism not only in the Philippines but to the world. I also help in their charitable projects,†proudly shares one of the Country’s Top Inspiring Women as chosen by Project Headshot and SM Supermalls. Needless to say, she is overwhelmed to be part of Philippine Cancer Society’s Best Dressed Women.
This active member of the Rotary Club of CDO East Urban and JCI 24k Macalajar continues to organize her annual “Mags on the Catwalk†to empower women and boost their self-esteem through fashion by giving them a chance (when others may not) at walking on the runway with confidence. If that’s not enough to fill her plate, she has also ventured into the restaurant business by getting a franchise of her favorite Filipino restaurant, Mesa, which she opened in Ayala Centrio Mall in Cagayan De Oro.
“My secret to happiness is to simply make the people around me happy,†Mags claims. But that doesn’t mean one puts her aspirations on the backburner. Mags boldly went after her dreams, and her happiness from achieving her dreams naturally spread like wildfire.
