TBeing a sales person can be considered a career of a lifetime. However, it is also considered as the highest and lowest paying job. It offers an income without ceiling for people who work hard to be able to make a sale. It is the lowest paying job for those who are lazy. Sales agents do not have fixed income. They only depend on the sales that they make and on the little amount the company gives them when they hit their quota. There is competition everyday and their success is determined through their sales performance.

Mrs. Teresita Calizo, 51 years old, is a simple woman with big dreams. She tried her luck in different jobs. She had been a teacher in a day care center, a clerk, a sales agent of household products and insurance. She eventually landed in the field of real estate and conquered it.

Ate Diding has three children and some relatives also lived with her family. She and her husband were from Aklan. When her husband resigned from work they decided to put up a tailoring shop. They used the money her husband got when he left the company. Her husband managed the shop while she sold insurance.

Mrs. Calizo or Ate Diding, as her colleagues called her, is one of the top Business Partners (brokers in common language) of Ramonita County Homes (RCH) Realty Division 1. She is into real estate for 18 years. Since then she has mastered her craft. She earned an average of P80,000.00 on closed sales a month.

Her Niece, Marylyn Calizo, said that her aunt had her share of ups and downs. She told her story with humor. Be it a good or bad experience. She survived it all.

And how did she become a real estate agent? It all started in 1986 when she met Ms. Luna C. Gallaza through her cousin. Ate Diding's cousin and Luna were neighbors. When they were introduced Luna invited Ate Diding to become an agent. Since then they are inseparable.

Before they came to RCH Realty Ate Diding and Luna were sales agents of other developers and projects. The two would often reminisce and make fun of their so- called "adventures" together.

If they have projects to sell, they often rent a nearby room or barong-barong that would serve as their office during the day and sleeping quarters at night. When they were marketing a project in Cavite they happened to rent a small house near a slum area. At night they would sleep with knives underneath their pillows for self defense.

There were times when they don't have enough money to buy food, pay for their rent and fare. She said that before they can make a sale they have to shell out their personal money when they accompany their clients to the site. They even spend for the food of the client and added to that they also have to spend for their personal needs.

An experience that Ate Diding cannot forget was the time when they have no kerosene left on their small stove. She admits that this is one of her funniest experiences.

"Bumili kami ng kanin sa karinderia. Tapos bumili kami ng tuyo. Pagdating namin sa bahay walang gaas ang stove! Paano namin maluluto ang tuyo? Binalot ni Luna and tuyo sa dyrayo. Tapos sinindihan nya ang papel. Nung sunog na ang papel, luto na ang tuyo namin!"( we don't have enough to buy food so bought rice and dried fish for viand. Since we don't have kerosene Luna wrapped the dried fish inside the papers and lit it.)

As she continued with her job she always alloted time to go home to her family. She arrived at their home around 11 o'clock in the evening and left the next morning at four o'clock. Her neighbors even thought that she was working abroad because they have not seen her for a long time.

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