Meet Jackie Wild: Entrepreneur, volunteer and culture keeper

This is one of nine profiles on outstanding Manitoba women in honour of International Women's Day. The CBC Creator Network project was written by Carmen Ponto and illustrated by artist Joanna Turner. Some answers have been edited for space and clarity.

Jackie Wild, 32, is a second-generation Filipina immigrant and a mother who opened Tito Boy, the only Filipino food restaurant in Winnipeg's south end.

A community champion, Wild has been volunteering since she was 15 and is the first female president of the Manitoba Filipino Business Council.

What is the impact you hope to have on your community?

My dad and I created this restaurant together. We wanted to create an intergenerational community hub where we had the space to celebrate what it means to be a Philippine today.

It took awhile for me to reconnect with my Philippine culture and identity, and some of the people who visit the restaurant are in the same place.

We're all learning how to show up for each other, which is, in our culture, often done through food.- Jackie Wild

Our community here lives at the intersection of scarcity and abundance, which I think is inherent in being a community of immigrants. We're all learning how to show up for each other, which is, in our culture, often done through food.

This restaurant is my way of showing up for a community that is so rich and valuable to me and my identity. It's also how I show up for my parents, who sacrificed so much for me to have the life I do.

What advice do you want to give racialized young women?

The best advice I could ever offer is, don't feel like you need to follow the conventional path. There are so many preset notions of what it means to be a racialized woman.

When you look at the data points, we face the most adversity when it comes to discrimination, wealth creation and misogyny. There's so much strength in not being afraid to reach out for help if you need and want it, to let go of that pride and the expectations of those around you.

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