Merly at Nelson Balicao have come a long way from working as servers at the UP Los Baños cafeteria to owning a famous bakery whose signature heart-shaped chocolate cake is not only famous among Laguna locals but also among people in the metro. How did the married couple make it to the top?

Broadcast journalist Karen Davila shares the story of how the married couple and high school graduates started their business from scratch and steered it to success in ABS-CBN’s “My Puhunan” this Wednesday (Dec 11).

While working at the UPLB cafeteria in the 70s, Merly and Nelson learned how to bake, but it wasn’t until ten years later that they put up Mer-Nel’s Bakery.

With just P800, they produced the first ever Mer-Nel’s banana cake. Now, Mer-Nel’s already sells 600 cakes a day with a P20 million-building that houses its bakery, restaurant, and function rooms.

“My Puhunan” also features Centerstage, a KTV and bar co-owned by host and singer-actress Karylle and her ex-boyfriend Dingdong Dantes. Although Karylle was initially reluctant to start a business, she was able to expand Centerstage that now has three branches.

Meanwhile, Doris Bigornia gives an early Christmas gift to a married couple in tomorrow’s (Dec 10) “Mutya ng Masa.” Their only wish is to have a steady source of income so they can provide for their six children.
Don’t miss “My Puhunan” this Wednesday (Dec 11), and “Mutya ng Masa” tomorrow (Dec 10), 4:15PM on ABS-CBN. For updates, follow @mypuhunan and @MutyaNgMasa on Twitter or like www.facebook.com/MyPuhunan and www.facebook.com/MutyaNgMasa.